Amy Ballain

I have a bit of a Cinderella story to tell you that you might enjoy, and please forgive me if I gush and go on and on but one of the agents on my team who happens to also be a dear friend of mine was just recently named 2009 NORTH METRO DENVER REALTOR ASSOCIATION ROOKIE OF THE YEAR!!!

Her name is Heidi Marshall and she is an excellent, and wonderful Realtor. She has only been licensed for 1 year and she had over 2 million in production in her first 6 months of being an agent.

Heidi started out in real estate industry since 2001 first as a New Home Counselor for John Laing Homes, and now as a licensed Realtor with Keller Williams Northwest - Red Door Group since October of 2008.

Heidi is full of energy, enthusiasm and ethics. She prospects, farms, attends the NMDRA marketing meetings, is a team player both in her Keller Williams office and on our team. Heidi is also involved in community service and last but not least she is a great mother and fantastic wife. She has a wonderful and supportive husband, Gui and a beautiful daughter Emy.

Heidi also has raving fans. Her clients love the way she works, and she adds her own personal touch to each transaction. Heidi has been a friend and coworker of mine since I first met her in 2001. She is a true friend, a true professional, and a class act. I am honored to work with this spunky, go-getter and hope that her career keeps on bringing her many blessings! Way to go Heidi!!!! Love you gal!!!!

Ode to Otis

I had to share my feelings of excitement that I experienced while shopping at Costco yesterday. There amongst the frozen food items was a box with a name that brought back many memories from my days as an on-site new home counselor for John Laing Homes. The name was Otis Spunkmeyer. Otis Spunkmeyer is a great company that began in California. They have the number one selling cookie dough in the food service industry. While I worked at John Laing Homes we baked fresh cookies daily and our customers loved the smell while the cookies baked and visiting children and adults LOVED to enjoy the fresh-out-of the-oven treat. My longtime co-worker and good friend Linda even loved eating the dough frozen!

Now that they are selling the cookie dough at Costco I can create the same homey feeling at my open houses. I can also use the cookies to quickly and efficiently make up care packages for my clients. The box of Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough sells for $12.99 and makes 75 cookies. The best part is the cookies are already formed into small dough balls ready to just put in the oven. It's simple, cheap and Zero trans fats!

So if you are out and about in Broomfield and see one of my open houses please stop in for a treat!

One of the traditions we have in our family is that we plant our garden on Mother's Day each year. We prep and plant, water, fertilize, weed, and watch the garden become a beautiful and producing little raised bed. My kids get so excited and we all love seeing the changes happen on a daily basis. We have learned year to year what to do to prep the soil the right way, which plants work best on the hot west side of our backyard in sunny Broomfield Colorado, and what to do to keep the bunnies away! Most of all, we love enjoying the fruits of our labor like the delicious tomatoes, yummy zucchini and cucumbers.

Enjoying the fruits of your labor is an agricultural metaphor. An apple tree farmer, for example, labors to plant, water, and prune his trees so that it can yield lots of delicious apples. Those are literally fruits of his labor. In the same way, the fruits of your labor are the rewards that come from a job well done. Whether that be a closing, a happy homeowner, a thriving real estate team, a nice fat paycheck, or whatever benefit you gain from your investment of work. To enjoy those fruits simply implies that, for the enjoyer, the effort was worth it.

To enjoy the harvest one must put in the effort to reap what they sow. In real estate this means putting in the time, doing the prospecting, asking for referrals, treating your clients like precious plants that will produce fruit!!! Just like with a garden what you do TODAY will produce fruit in a couple of months.

I hope you are all enjoying your harvest!

It's that time of year when everyone that loves Halloween is in pursuit of the perfect pumpkin. Every year my family piles into the car and goes to my favorite pumpkin picking spot -Rock Creek Farm located in the City of Broomfield Colorado.

Rock Creek farm has gorgeous pumpkins and is situated on 100 acres with beautiful Rocky Mountain views. This visit to Rock Creek Farm pumpkin patch has become a tradition for our family and many families we know in the Broomfield and Boulder areas.

At Rock Creek there are many things to do besides just picking the perfect pumpkin. There is a wonderful corn maze that the kids and adults can enjoy. There is a farm animal display and an area that has all kinds of pumpkins, squash, hay and cornstalks you can purchase to decorate your front porch perfectly for the season. One of the other big bonuses of visiting the Rock Creek Farm is the caramel apples they sell. These are a once a year treat so the kids and my sister-in-law get pretty excited about the heavenly apples.

One of the other benefits of visiting the farm is that the people who work there are just darn friendly! Every year we have a great experience and that is really what it is all about.

If you are in the area be sure to check out this great place for the Halloween festivities. You'll be happy you did!

Dog Daze at the Broomfield Bay

Have you noticed the ever-so-popular trend that keeps growing over the past several years? Pet marketing! Yes, folks we've all seen it in one form or another and I am a big fan since my Boxer dog, Scout, is one of my favorite people I mean things in this whole-wide world. Businesses everywhere are really starting to focus on not just marketing to people's kids but to people's pets.

Here are some examples - I love the fact that my vet sends all correspondence in the mail ( except bills! ) addressed to Scout Ballain instead of me. I love that my dog has just as much of a selection of Halloween costumes as my kids do at some stores. I love that dog parks keep popping up all over the place. I love that there are new dog bakeries everywhere. I think it's hilarious that there are certain hotels that are now catering to you and your pet. I also love what the Broomfield Bay and Aquatic Center does to promote its dog-loving attitude every year at the end of the swimming season - Dog Daze at the Bay.

The Bay Aquatic Center is an awesome place to go with your kids on a regular swimming day but wait till you see the amusement and hear the laughter that Dog Daze at the Bay provides. First, you have to call the City of Broomfieldand register your pooch and pay the $5.00 admission fee. When you get to Dog Daze at the Bay you and your pup get checked in and then the leash comes off and your dog will most likely run off humming the song "Born Free." They are free to go in the pool, do tons of the "dog-handshake" (sniffing ) , fetch tennis balls in the pool, and then run around chasing each other and maybe go down a water slide or two.

A couple of things I recommend taking with you on this outing. Bring your camera so you can capture some funny moments. Tennis balls are great to throw in the water. A treat so you can bribe your precious pooch to come to you when it's time to go home. I also would bring a towel to put on the seat of your car.

This truly is one of the most talked about dog-event s in Broomfield so if you are here or you live nearby please check it out.