Kimberly Wilson REALTOR Douglasville, GA Real Estate Specialist

WHEN? Now is the time. Now is the best time. To BUY..that is!

WHY? Interest rates fell sharply last week to a little over 5% ! That, combined with the fact that many sellers are desperately trying to sell their homes before the new year starts- the prices are terrific!

HOW? All of Dawson and Lumpkin County qualifies for the Rural Development Loan Program! Don't just assume that no one is buying and that you can't either. This government backed program is terrific and can help you buy a home with little or no money down!

What? What should you do now? Don't hesitate! Call me today and let's see if we can help you get a great deal on a home of your own!

Where? I have properties available in Forsyth, Dawson & Lumpkin Counties, from under $100,000 to over $375,000.

Don't listen to the media's doom and gloom predictions. News reports on Black Friday should have shown you that things are not nearly as bad as they led you to believe. There were literally millions of shoppers spending money, all over the United States. And while everyone else is settling down to their shopping lists, and planning their family affairs..get a jump start on 2009 and make the most important move you can make for your financial future.

I'm just a phone call away... The first move is yours!

contact Kimberly Wilson, your Dawsonville Real Estate Specialist 404-543-5384

It was quite a debate this morning over my subject matter. I thought about writing about my latest experience with a buyer. I thought about writing about the market, and how many calls I have had lately. But the biggest issue in my thoughts today have nothing to do with real estate, and I'm just going to go with my gut.

I have a Tony Robbins CD that I listen to in the mornings when I work out. If you are familiar, you know that there's a part where he says to speak out loud all the things you are grateful for. Then, anticipating that someone will be growling back, he says: "ok, WHAT WOULD YOU BE GRATEFUL ABOUT IF YOU WERE BEING GRATEFUL?" 2008 has been a very trying year for many people. If it has not negatively affected you, you probably know 5-10 people that it has. If you are finding it hard to be grateful, I'm here to tell you that you are not alone. One can easily get depressed and dwell in misery. I think we all have our moments. The key is not to stay there!

I would like to say that I am so grateful for Active Rain. Thank you to all of you who have made it possible. This is the greatest thing I have ever become involved with in my entire career. And the best part is that it's free! Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met through AR. Some of you have no idea that I read your blogs every day, and the materials and advice you have shared have been invaluable to me.

I was watching the news over the weekend and there was a story about a man with his 2 small children standing on the corner somewhere HERE IN AMERICA with a sign, begging for food. The man told how he had lost his job, and was looking for a job. No matter what your opinion of the man, the children should not have to suffer because of it. Then, the newscaster went to the next story. "Twilight" the movie made 70.6 MILLION dollars at the box office over the weekend. .......and children in America are hungry???

Please take time this week to extend a hand to a needy family. Call your local food bank, senior center, or church to find someone who is in need.

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving with your friends and family.

On this Veteran's Day 2008......

SLEEP LAST NIGHT?

Bed a little lumpy?

Toss and turn any?

Wish the heat was higher?

Maybe the a/c wasn't on?

Had to go to the john?

Need a drink of water?

Yes.. It is like that!

Count your blessings, pray for them,


The next time when...

The other car cuts you off and you must hit the brakes,
Or you have to park a little further from Walmart than you want to be,
Or you're served slightly warm food at the restaurant,
Or you're sitting and cursing the traffic in front of you,

Or the shower runs out of hot water,

Think of them...

Protecting your freedom!

The proud warriors of Baker Company wanted to do
Something to pay tribute
To our fallen comrades So since we are part of the only
Marine Infantry Battalion left in Iraq the one way that we could
Think of d oing that is By taking a picture of
Baker Company saying the way we feel.
It would be awesome if you could find a way to share
This with our fellow countrymen.
I was wondering if there was any way to
Get this into your
Papers to let the world know that
'WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN'
And are proud to serve our country.
' Semper Fi1stSgt Dave Jobe.'

The attached photo was forwarded from one of the last U.S. Marine companies in Iraq
They would like to have it passed to as many people as possible, to let the folks back home know
That they remember why they're there and that they remember those who've been lost.

Dawsonville, GA We invite you to join us for our 4th Annual Veterans Day Celebration on November 11, 2008.

Join us as we celebrate and pay tribute to our Veterans, active duty military personnel, as well as loyal public servants: Dawson County Sheriff's Department, Fire Department and Emergency Services.

The Veterans Day National Committee approved Dawsonville as a Veterans Day Regional Site. Atlanta and Dawsonville are the only two Regional Sites in Georgia to receive this honor.

The parade line-up will begin at the Dawson County Library at 2:30 pm, followed by a moving service at 4:00 pm at the Dawsonville County Middle School, Walls Stadium.

Our Honorary Grand Marshal will be: WWII Veteran George David

Master of Ceremony: Captain Larry Freeland

Keynote speaker: Colonel Jesse Johnson

The meaning of Veterans Day is powerful. It is a day that we show respect toward the men and women who risk their lives to keep us free. Recently Dawson County Students were asked to describe the meaning of Veterans Day and submit an essay. The contest was sponsored by the Veterans Affairs of Dawson County.

Cameron Millholland, a seventh grader at Dawson County Middle School, was chosen as the overall winner. This is Cameron's esay.

Veterans Day is very emotional for me because my father serves as a Major in the Marines. He is leaving in January to go back to Iraq for his third time. It is very hard to have your family go to war. You don't know if you will ever see them again. You think about the little girls and boys who won't see their mom or dad anymore. It is very sad.

I think back to all the moments and memories that me and my dad had together. I have tapes and videos of me and my dad playing with a ball in the backyard when I was about three. I get heavyhearted when I watch the videos and wonder if I will get to see him. My little brother who is two might not get to see my dad ever again. My dad won't get to see him grow up.

I try to stay positive though. Others families are having to go through this rough time. Family members lay in the desert in tents alone while we lay in air-conditioned houses. They lay there praying that one day they will be back there with their family. It makes me mad when people blame other people for sending troops over there. They are over there to protect those foolish people who say that stuff. They allow us to be able to worship who we want and dress how we want. We take stuff like that for granted because we really always had that. Freedom does not come free.

I have been to the Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and it really made me realize that is really serious and a lot of men and women risked their lives. All the memorials affect my mindset and how I pictured Veterans Day. The emotions of the people at the memorials showed me that a lot have been affected by casualties and wars.

Some people don't know what it feels like to say bye to a loved one and not know if you will get to see them again. If people were to feel how it feels, the world would be a different place. Veterans Day would be more popular than Thanksgiving or Halloween. Some people don't realize that if it wasn't for the veterans and the soldiers right now we wouldn't be able to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving.

I have started to appreciate Veterans Day a lot more than I used to. Since my dad went to Iraq for the first time Veterans Day is probably one of my favorite holidays. I try not to worry a lot because I know God is in control.

God Bless America!

For more information about the parade and Veteran's Affairs of Dawson County go to:

www.dawsoncountyveteransaffairs.com

You know I don't like getting political on AR. So I will keep this to a minimum. But did anyone else see that piece on CBS this morning yesterday about Patriotism? It seems one of our political candidate's thinks that Patriotism gets in the way of democracy. This coming from a person who admits on National Television to attending and participating in flag burning ceremonies, and admits he will not stand with hand over heart pledge to our flag, or participate in our National Anthem, but would rather hear "I'd like to teach the world to sing" instead. I have one thing to say about this. If you don't love our country, if you don't honor it, and value it as the greatest country in the world, if you don't feel moved at the sacrifices of all those who have risked or given their lives to protect it......there's a big airplane nearby wherever you are, and I will personally pay for your one-way ticket to whatever country you'd rather live in. I never thought in my lifetime there could come a time when we could even consider electing a president who will not even pledge allegiance to our flag! I respect everyone's right to vote for their choice, and normally I would remain silent. But this I just cannot accept without saying so in the only way I know how.

Ever since I was a child, I have always been so proud to be an American. From as far back as I remember, I have been moved to tears when I hear our National Anthem, or see a Veteran's Memorial Service. When I graduated high school Valedictorian of my class, my speech was a poem. It was written by Jack Hyles, a pastor and chancellor of the college I attended later that year. I typed it onto red and blue construction paper (yes..typed it! Remember those?) and glued it together making a card. Our National Anthem played softly in the background while I quoted it with all of the emotion and feeling I could muster in my heart at the tender age of 16 fighting back my tears long enough to make it to the end. I still have it- pictured above with my cap & gown.

I am still so proud to say it out loud. If you feel the need today to feel patriotic, read aloud with me.......

I LOVE AMERICA

I love Thanksgiving when we pray

And July 4^th and Labor Day

with picnics, ants and hungry flies,

and barbeques and hot French fries,

with cokes and chips and apple pies

beneath some hazy, lazy skies...

I Love America.

I love Miami's royal palm

that oozes forth a healing balm

beside the ocean's quiet calm...

I Love America.

I love Betsy Ross and Orville Wright

and dear Ben Franklin's flying kite

and Thomas Jefferson's mighty quill

the Alamo, and Bunker Hill

and Paul Revere's great midnight ride

and Wilbur Wright's successful glide....

I Love America.

I love airplanes in the skies

and baseball when the umpire cries,

"Play Ball" as thousands quietly rise

to turn their moistened sober eyes

toward waving flag that proudly flies

I Love America.

I love the park in the sweet, cool breeze,

and dairy queen, and taste freeze

and cotton candy at the zoo

and corny dogs and Big Mac's too,

and Burger Kings, and shopping malls

and hockey pucks, and basketballs,

and Mississippi's cotton fields

and Holland Michigan's spinning wheels

monotonous Midwestern plains

Florida's sun, Seattle's rains

Atlanta's lovely dogwood trails,

and Santa Fe's long clicking rails

I love the rocky mountain peaks

beneath a sky which mutely speaks...

I Love America.

I love Disney World, and Disney Land

and Georgia's fertile blood red sand

The Mississippi and Rio Grande

Wisconsin's cheese and dairy land.

I love McDonalds vanilla shakes,

and Minnesota's thousand lakes

the royal gorges mighty yawn

a sleepy Alabama dawn

The harvest moon that shineth on....

I Love America.

I'd love to gaze at Yellowstone

while licking on an ice cream cone

and Howard Johnsons Motor Lodge

and Ford, and Chevrolet, and Dodge

I love the stately Empire State

and San Francisco's Golden Gate

I love St. Louis' friendly arch

the Statue of Liberty's burning torch

the Washington Monuments prickly goad

and Colorado's Trail Ridge Road...

I Love America.

I love "My Country Tis of Thee"

Oh blessed land of liberty

Long may our glorious land be bright

With freedom's wondrous holy light

Protect us by the matchless might....

I Love America.

I love to stand with hand o'er heart

And think of those who did their part

Who left a mom a lone Gold Star

Whose bodies rest ‘neath fields afar....

I Love America.

I love New England's rolling farms,

it's quaint décor and blushing charms

I love azalea's freshened blooms

East Texas roses sparkling plumes

I love it when our church choir sings

and know the peace that worship brings...

I LOVE AMERICA!!!