Lara O'Keefe (Hunter's Creek, Melissa)

This is a picture of Baxter when he was about ten weeks old.

He had been sneaking into the closet, looking for trouble, and he found this gift bag. I saved it from being chewed to shreds, but thought it would make a cute picture. It took many, many tries to keep this energetic litlle devil in the bag!

I have been wanting to use this picture in my marketing to Realtors (usually spec home related.)

Does anyone have a clever tag line that I could use with this picture?

For more information please contact Lara O'Keefe at 972.838.9156 or visit Hunter's Creek.

McKinney, Texas is close to Dallas, but so different from it.

Located just 30 miles north of Dallas, McKinney's rolling hills, tree-lined neighborhoods, historic downtown and beautiful parks give the city a quaint, small town feel. It's quite different from the DFW Metroplex's urban sprawl.

The friendly charm and comfortable pace makes for a great place to live and raise a family. In fact McKinney, with a population of approximately 119,000 people, is one of the fastest-growing cities in America.

Spend Some Time in McKinney
Visitors with an eye for history will enjoy touring the City's historic neighborhoods, with beautifully restored homes from another century.

The city's downtown square offers more than 100 unique shops and more than a dozen unique restaurants, including upscale restaurants featuring award-winning chefs, sandwich and coffee shops, outdoor patio dining and neighborhood pubs.

If shopping is your thing, satisfy your craving for the fun and unusual in downtown McKinney, which offers an assortment of specialty shops, art galleries featuring the works of local artists, furniture stores, exquisite antique collections, gift shops and apparel boutiques.

The original Collin County Courthouse stands at the center of McKinney's historic downtown square. Reborn in 2006 as the McKinney Performing Arts Center at the Historic Collin County Courthouse, the performing arts venue features a 480 seat theater suitable for intimate arts performances, lectures and events. In addition to the theater, MPAC includes several multi-purpose spaces, including a reception hall, auditorium, rehearsal space, audiovisual equipped classrooms, art gallery and executive suites.

With McKinney's remarkable growth has come a growth of new retail and restaurants. New shopping and dining establishments are popping up nearly every day at Eldorado and US 75 and throughout the city.

Outdoor and sports enthusiasts will find much to love in McKinney. The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary is a 289 acre outdoor preserve and nature museum. Erwin Park offers one of the most demanding mountain bike trails in the area.

The picturesque Towne Lake recreation area, one of McKinney's beautiful city parks, features a lake with Swan paddle boats, trails, picnic pavilions and playgrounds.

Spend a Lifetime
McKinney has a unique neighborhood for every lifestyle and income level. Whether you are in the market for a starter house to country club living to a restored historic house, McKinney has a home for you.

McKinney offers outstanding schools. The city currently has three high schools McKinney High School, McKinney North High School and McKinney Boyd High School.

Play Ball!
The city hosts the annual Mickey Mantle baseball tournament and is home to the McKinney Marshals, a Texas Collegiate League team. The Marshals play at the new Ballfields at Craig Ranch, a 14-field, 75 acre baseball, softball and physical-training complex. The McKinney Soccer Complex at Craig Ranch is located next to the Ballfields and features 13 tournament-ready soccer fields.

Craig Ranch is also home to the new Tournament Players Club at Craig Ranch, the only PGA Tour owned and operated golf course in Texas. The TPC is one of nine beautiful courses in McKinney, which is home to a number of professional golfers and world-class golf instruction. We invite you to come out and play a round of golf at

The Golf Club at McKinney.

Fly In
Collin County Regional Airport is rapidly emerging as the new corporate airport of choice for businesses operating in the North Dallas area. The airport is currently home to several corporate tenants, including Texas Instruments, EDS, Crossmark, Inc., Encore Wire, United American Insurance, McKinney Aerospace, Lattimore Materials, Pinjet Aviation and North Dallas Aviation.

When combined, general aviation tenants and visitors at CCRA are responsible for $65.7 million in total economic output, approximately 470 full-time positions, and $13.1 million in payroll.

Uniquely Business Friendly
McKinney's population is energetic, affluent and well-educated. 48 percent of McKinney residents have college degrees while another 23 percent have attended or are currently attending college. The median age is 31 and the estimated average household income is $94,000.

The City's diverse economy includes a healthy mix of retail, office and manufacturing. Some of McKinney's leading employers include Raytheon, Blockbuster, Lattimore Materials, Encore Wire, the McKinney Medical Center, United American Insurance, Timber Blind Manufacturing, Orthofix and Simpson Strong-Tie.

Businesses found it was easy being green in McKinney. Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney, the nation's first LEED certified automobile dealership, joined Wal-Mart's "McKinney Experiment" as high-profile, environmentally friendly businesses operating in McKinney.

The green facilities by the world's largest retailer and world's second-largest automobile company, as well as four environmentally friendly schools and the first privately developed, LEED certified Platinum office building in the country.

For more information please contact Lara O'Keefe at 972.838.9156 or visit Hunter's Creek.

For more information please contact Lara O'Keefe at 972.838.9156 or visit Hunter's Creek.

Here is a picture of my dogs, Bailey and Baxter, after a long day of swimming at my parents house. I saw the picture of the dog sleeping on the bed which was hanging over the bed and thought that it offered nice symmetry.

My mother was not nearly as pleased as I was with the results. She couldn't believe that I had let two damp dogs on her clean, white bed spread.

It was all in the name of art :-)

For more information please contact Lara O'Keefe at 972.838.9156 or visit Hunter's Creek.

I think that you know my answer from the picture!

Our first dog, Bailey, was sweet and quiet and adjusted well to crate training at night and when we were not home. We just had to do it for the first couple of "puppy brain" years.

He was so good that we got a second "child." We picked Baxter because he was sweet and quiet. That is until we got some food in him and this dog barked for everything! Needless to say, crate training did not go nearly as well. Baxter barked and whined and cried some more! The second night we wrapped an alarm clock in a towel and put it in a pouch so he could be soothed by the fake beating heart so he would not miss his mother.

Not Baxter, he ripped it up and tore it to shreds and then barked some more!

After the 3rd night of no sleep, we gave in and let him sleep on our bed. Well, he still sleeps in the bed. He has even convinced the "good dog" to join us on occasion.

Thank goodness for king sized beds!

Do you let your dogs sleep on your bed?

For more information please contact Lara O'Keefe at 972.838.9156 or visit Hunter's Creek.