We finally did it! Before the kids went back to school, we packed up our Yukon XL and took the family to Jellystone Park camping resort in Marion, NC. It was absolutely wonderful! We stayed in brand new, wooden cabins that were fully featured with a screened porch, air conditioning, a full kitchen, a full bathroom, dining table, satelite TV, a master bedroom and a futon for the kids and an upper loft for adventurous kids with sleeping bags.
We had our own fire ring outside our door. We enjoyed campfires each night and the kids loved roasting marsh-mallows! I even played my guitar by the campfire!
The park had it's own lake, put-put range, volleyball, paddle boats, dock for fishing, kayaks, swimming pool, huge triple-loop water slide, and much more to do. Each night after the campfire, my boys and I went on a "frog hunt" with our flashlights. It was so much fun to watch my boy's responses when they found a big frog with their flashlights. Pretty cute stuff!
We had such a wonderful time and I can't believe we took so long to finally get out and have so much fun and also relax so much and decompress our brains and reduce our stress-levels. It was much needed and when I got back, my brain was still in "vacation-mode" for at least a few days. That's the power of a good vacation!
My wife is seriously excited about the notion of having a screened porch built on the back of our house. I had assumed that we would call the same builders that my neighbors used for their screen porch as they were happy, and it looks great and it's made of wood. The thought to consider other building materials never crossed my mind. Then, I decided to have a local specialist who builds aluminum screened porches come over and give me a quote. He certainly impressed me with the price, the look, the notion of low maintenance, etc.
I guess since I have never gone through this process before, I figured I would send out a request to my colleagues on Active Rain for any pearls of wisdom on this topic.
Wood-framed or aluminum-framed screened porch on the rear of my house?
What do you suggest?
Well, now that Obama let the cat out of the bag on his pick of Biden for his V.P., the news channels are burning up, going non-stop with talk of the duo. The only topic that seems to be in second place on the news channels is big question of who McCain will pick for his V.P.
There was no shortage of heated debates this past week as there was speculation and/or rumors that McCain might pick Joe Lieberman as his V.P.
Rush Limbaugh was on the air stating in no uncertian terms that such a decision by McCain would destroy the Republican party!
So, who should McCain pick as his V.P. ?????
OK, log this one under "off topic-humor"...
After having spent almost the last 20 years of my life in California, first living in apartments, then a condo and then a townhome, I never had a formal dining room. Thus, my wife and I only owned a nice sized kitchen table with six chairs.
When we moved to Greenville we suddenly had a large home with a formal dining room...and no formal dining room set.
Being the frugal person that I am, I convinced my wife to wait, and hold off on the investment in a decent formal dining room set. We visit relatives in North Carolina anyway, for most "sit down and eat" type holidays, and our six person kitchen table still works just fine!
I eventually snuck a Foosball table into the dining room, as well as a synthesizer keyboard for the kids to play with.
Today, after having been out on real estate calls, I came home and noticed something shockingly pathetic, and yet quite funny!
My wife had repositioned the foosball table and the rug underneath it to go the other way under the dining room chandelier. Instead of going the long way with the room, it was going the other way, with the length of the foosball table and rug pointing towards our 2 story foyer.
I asked my wife about it and she said that she was trying to envision what it will look like someday if we had a dining room table in there, going in "that" direction instead of the long way, with the room.
I'm just laughing at myself and feeling like quite a jack-ass! God bless my wife for putting up with me and my ridiculous frugality! I have deprived her of a formal dining room set and stuck a beer-stained, frat-house foosball table in the dining room instead!
The notion that she might be happier looking at it "if only it were going the other way" is pathetic and hillarious all at once!
My heart sank over her display of patience with my insanity and I will be buying my beloved, beautiful wife a formal dining room set before Christmas!
"Due to popular demand..."
Ok, I just had to say that! Sorry. But seriously, I will be teaching a repeat of a hands-on workshop for Active Rain newbies on September 3rd at the Keller Williams Greenville Central office training room. If you happen to be a Realtor in the Upstate, SC region please do not hesitate to come on by and enjoy the class! Even if you're with another Keller Williams office, or if you're with Remax or Century 21, or Caldwell, or Prudential....I don't care! I'd love to have you stop on by and enjoy this comprehensive, hands-on workshop! Just shoot me an email if you'd like to attend: kirk@kwrealtyagent.com
Thanks, hope to see you there!
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Kirk's clients appreciate his honesty, integrity & work ethic! As a Certified Distressed Property Expert, Kirk helps his clients avoid foreclosure by negotiating a short sale with the mortgage lender.
Kirk Westervelt was born and raised in Grosse Pointe, MI. Kirk moved to CA and began his career path in sales, marketing and business development after graduating from San Francisco State University. Kirk Westervelt has a background that includes more than 12 years of professional sales, marketing and business development experience. If you have ever enjoyed sitting in a massage lounger or using a hand-held or foot massager at a specialty back care store, or in one of those fancy stores at the shopping mall, chances are very high that Kirk Westervelt had something to do with the design, development, manufacture, wholesale, distribution or marketing activities related to that massage lounger or personal massage product. As a former corporate executive Kirk personally launched the world's #1 selling massage chair line. More recently as the President and owner of his own company, Kirk has proudly designed, manufactured and launched some of the most desirable massage loungers and zero gravity recliners available anywhere.
Kirk has a beautiful wife named Lorena. Kirk and Lorena are the proud parents of four beautiful young boys named Jacob, Justin, Jared and Jason.
Kirk's true passion is, and always has been, real estate. Residential buyers, sellers and investors appreciate Kirk's genuine enthusiasm to serve as their professional real estate consultant. Kirk's real estate clients throughout the Greenville and Simpsonville, SC region quickly discover his confidence, integrity, tireless work ethic and professionalism. Kirk is a strong advocate and negotiator for his real estate clients and he maintains a constant level of professionalism throughout the home buying or selling process. Everything great in Kirk's life, both personally and professionally, has come about as a result of building genuine win-win relationships with people, founded on honesty, integrity, hard work and a good sense of humor! Kirk's focus is to build relationships worth having, provide superior service to his real estate clients and to earn long term repeat business and referral business as a natural result of these relationships. Call Kirk today at: (864) 451-2402
I work with a broad arrary of real estate clients, including buyers, sellers and investors throughout the Greater Greenville, SC region. One of my specialties is with relocation efforts for executives and their families. I've enjoyed working with clients who were relocating to the Greenville, SC region because of their careers which have had ties to Michelin, BMW, ICAR (International Center for Automotive Research), Furman University and Clemson University to name just a few. Having moved to Greenville from Orange County, CA, I understand everything that is involved in the process of relocating and I can clearly empathize with my clients and the stress they endure as part of the process of relocating. I help my clients understand what different areas of town have to offer in terms of the schools, shopping, restaurants, golfing, tennis, freeway access, property taxes, association dues, etc. I also help my clients who live in the Greenville or Simpsonville region with a special discount listing program which saves them money while getting top dollar for the sale of their existing home, as part of the process of utilizing my services to help them move up to a more expensive home in the region. While many of my clients are buying or selling homes in the $300k, $400k, $500k and up range, I also have a great level of expertise in assisting clients who are first time home buyers, typically seeking homes in the $125k to $250k range. I've worked diligently with real estate investors who were seeking short sales, REO, and foreclosures for the purposes of rehabbing and flipping the real estate, or renting or leasing out the property as landlords, for monthly cash flow. The regions I typically work in include Greenville, Simpsonville, Fountain Inn, Greer, Traveler's Rest, Mauldin, and other areas throughout the Greater Greenville region. One of the services I provide is to pre-screen other realtors for my clients who may be leaving the immediate area and thus I can take out much of the guess work for clients who would like to be referred to a quality realtor in the area they are moving to. My clients come to trust in me as being their overall real estate consultant. It's all about honesty, integrity, enthusiasm, and quality service! I guess one of my greatest areas of expertise is something that comes completely naturally for me, and that is the ability to build rapport with people. Most people seem to feel very comfortable speaking with me, and this usually occurs fairly quickly. I guess this a natural part of who I am, because I'm honest with people and I show a sincere interest in my client's wants and needs and I never lose sight of that. It's not about me, it's about you and your goals and needs! Call me today! It would be my pleasure to provide you with an exceptional level of service as your Realtor! Call Kirk at: (864) 451-2402.
If you would like me to forward you a copy of my references sheet, which includes testimonials from both past and present clients, please email me at: kirk@kwrealtyagent.com
Or, call me at: (864) 451-2402
Thanks!
Kirk Westervelt
Keller Williams Realty
Greenville, SC
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