Bobbi McKinnon, Realtor, Northern Nevada

As Veteran's Day approaches tomorrow, my family is especially touched by the tributes to those that have and are protecting our country. Thank you to everyone that sent there concerns and inquiries during last week's horrific events!

My son-in-law Nate is stationed in Texas. I was out with clients showing houses totally unaware of the developing tragedy at Fort Hood when I received the first call from my step mom. She asked in a panic, "Where's Nate? Is he OK?" Since he was on leave visiting us here in Northern Nevada, I laughed and said, "he was sitting on my coach watching TV when I left this morning, why?" She proceeded to give me sketchy details about a mass shooting in Texas, at the time she was not sure where, only that it had been on an Army base.

Nate and my daughter Kelly had been at a movie with their phones off so they were shocked when returning home they turned on their cells to find over 20 messages each. As we all tuned in to hear what was happening, we soon discovered with relief that the shootings did not occur at Nate's home base of Fort Bliss.

That relief was quickly replaced by a terrible sadness and empathy for those families affected. The entire Army family has been deeply wounded, and Nate's squad felt a disconcerting uneasiness, since they had just been through the processing center last week in preparation for their coming deployment.

Yesterday, Nate left Reno to head back to Texas. His unit leaves for somewhere in Iraq next week. I helplessly watched my daughter say goodbye to her husband whom she is unlikely to see for a year or so. I can only pray for his and every other military personnel's safety, abroad and here at home!

The debt we owe to all that serve should not be remembered only one or two days a year, but tomorrow, try and take a moment and really think about the sacrifices made by the brave men and women of all branches of the military. And give thanks!

As a member of the Reno Sparks Chamber of Commerce Diplomats, I attended two ribbon cuttings over the past couple of weeks for two new hotel offerings here in Northern Nevada . The Hyatt Place and Hawthorn Suites both offer a great new options for travelers to the Reno Area.

Typhoon hits Northern Nevada.....Well, kind of. The Northern Nevada area had some very unusual weather the past few days. A warm, wet storm hit and dropped over an inch of rain. That's almost record setting for this area, this time of year. I know....all of you in Seattle are wondering what the big deal is, but the high desert has been particularly dry so the rain and snow (at the higher elevations) were welcomed! Of course the 60 mph winds we could have done without. The gusts over the ridges in the Sierras were expected to reach 130 miles per hour. Yes those are Typhoon or Hurricane force winds in most areas of the world, here in Northern Nevada, we call them gusts!!

With the unusual weather, my dog and my daughter's dog and cat took drastic measures to stay cozy.

I love living and working in Northern Nevada.

My daughter and I participated with some great folks in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure , this morning. The Keller Williams team walking in the event in Reno was depleted due to some flu season casualties, but our group still represented and had a great time doing it.

This great event was held this year at the University of Nevada at Reno campus and thousands braved the fall cold to support this fabulous cause. While the morning was brisk, the weather ended up being much milder than forecasted, which had called for cold, wind and snow!

The Race for the Cure is part of the nation wide activities for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it raises money to fund breast cancer research. The survivor stories were heart wrenching, but the overall atmosphere is one of hope and energy!!! While Reno is really a tiny city, it never fails to move me to see it open it's tremendous heart to help.

The Reno Sparks Chamber of Commerce had a few ribbon cuttings this week. I had a great time at the two ceremonies I attended.

The first one was at the Rack & Pinz. This is the new Sports Bar that opened at the Cadillac Ranch, at Legends at Sparks Marina. They offer a wide variety of stadium style casual food and all kinds of drinks are available. Really impressive are the massive big screens throughout the place. What a great location to catch any and all games or to hang out after your games with your team!

The second ribbon cutting was for the huge expansion at Bulb Daddy on Greg Street in Sparks. The gang at Bulb Daddy have moved to allow for their expanded business needs and to accommodate the space needed for their participation in the recycling program with NV Energy. The folks at Bulb Daddy, really know how to put on a party, the food spread they had for the celebration was fantastic!

We are proud to have both of these great businesses as part of our community here in the Reno, Sparks, Northern Nevada Area