Kathleen Lordbock Keller Williams Realty Brainerd Lakes

My Re$ale Design & Home Staging Partner - Allison Lordbock

The Children’s Miracle Network was selected as the official national platform for the Miss America Organization. This partnership represents the first time in the 87-year history of the Miss America Organization that they have adopted such a program.

The Children’s Miracle Network has had an 19-year history working with the Miss America
Organization, with this newest initiative signifying a permanent and on-going relationship between the two.
The new partnership will provide opportunities for the Miss America Organization to not only raise funds
and awareness for the 17 million children treated each year at the 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals,
but also for the Miss America Scholarship Program, the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for
young women, providing more than $45 million in cash and tuition scholarship assistance to them each year.

Each year the new Miss America, in addition to bringing awareness to her personal platform, will be an official goodwill ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network as she raises funds and awareness for both Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization. This partnership also extends to the woman competing at the local, state and national levels of the pageant, asking each contestant who participates to be responsible for raising funds on behalf of Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization.

Allison's personal platform is entitled - "Leaving A Legacy"

She travels as a singer and speaker throughout the United States and into foreign lands with Reggie Dabbs and Elevate Industries,

holding school assemblies encouraging students to make positive choices and to strive for excellence. These assemblies are cutting edge and intense. Reggie Dabbs uses his own personal story along with high energy dramas to leave a lasting impression on students. As Reggie says, "You can not change your past, but you can change your future." Our legacy can change others' futures.

Donate today and help change someone's future:

Allison's fundraiser page - please donate - every dollar counts

Many homes built in the past 20-30 years did not put central lighting fixtures in many rooms , such as the living-room, bedrooms, and dens or studios (now called "the home office). Unless homeowners are willing to have wires threaded through ceilings and new switches installed, home stagers are going to have to work with what you have. That means floor lamps, table lamps, buffet lamps, plug-in night lights with decorative shades, up-lights and the like. Most of these come with cords. Cords are ugly. Not only ugly, but potentially dangerous and you can not put them in a walk path over or under a rug. NO, NO!!!!

• So when strategically planning that perfect furniture arrangement - you need to consider where the wall outlets are. Better to scope them out before the furniture placements starts.

• While natural light is always a wonder to uncover - I will go against the flow and state "Maybe, don't turn on every light in the house."

photo: Flickr

• Lighting helps set the mood for a room's perceived use. Some overhead lighting such as the older style fluorescents can be quite harsh. It is hard to look good in that light, unless you are under the age of 2.

• I am not advocating that rooms be dimly lit either. People need to see what is for sale or they will wonder what is being hidden. Low light may work for a romantic candle light dinner, but not for a home showing.

• For rooms in which you may want to lower the lights down low - dimmers are a modern wonder. You will wonder what you did without them.

• You need a balance of light from whatever sources you can put in a room. A variety of light sources is the best and well thought out light placement will play up architectural details, angles, and put each room in a flattering glow. For example: rope lights along the top of a kitchen cupboard pulls the eye up and vaults the space. An up-light on a corner tall plant gives interest to that space. A small lamp on a kitchen counter or a plug -in decorative night light will do the trick there.

As with most things in life it comes down to a matter of balance.

Yesterday I took my Ethics class in the morning and then our Greater Lakes MLS Association rules in the afternoon. While most were common sense and The Golden Rule there of course were things that had not occurred to me as I had never encountered them. One was that directions be given from a neutral site or landmark and not your office. In doing my last Comparative Market Analysis I noticed several properties in our MLS system that gave directions from THE OFFICE. No advertising allowed on the MLS. Another was that no Real Estate signs be shown in the photos or in virtual tours. Ooops have seen those as well. No people, no pets- ooooops again.

If those were your listings then here is the Heads up to fix then . There is an automatic fine for some of these infringements. You may want to re- read your rules to be sure you are in compliance or better yet - take a class. School is cool!!!!

photo by Aunt Owwee

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
-Winston Churchill



The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
-Mark Twain


The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)



There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress.
-Mark Twain



What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
-Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)



A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson

Filming for " Epic: It's Gonna Be Big" continues at our house, tonight. Darth Ominous will be playing with fire as the Ninja Village is set on aflame. Be sure to attend the upcoming B.A.Y. Rally at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd, Minnesota on Wednesday, January 28th at 6:00 P.M. This video will be the second in the series and if you get there early, you can watch a replay of Part One. Brainerd Area Youth Rallies are a great time for teens from all over the Brainerd Lakes area to get together and spend a night in singing, corporate worship and hear an inspiring Christian message. The auditorium will be jumping and full so get there early for the best seating. Bring along a friend or neighbor to share the excitement. Parents feel free to accompany your younger children if you choose It may be a bit noisy but the atmosphere is electric. Get revitalized!