Sondra Meyer

Summer is here! Are you ready to beat the heat? This is perfect weather to be out at the lake water skiing. In the Bryan / College Station area, we are fortunate to be within an easy driving distance of Lake Somerville. Lake Sommerville is a multi-use 11,400 acre lake that is controlled by the Army Corp of Engineers and the town of Sommerville. Unlike other lakes, there are no private residences bordering the lake. From College Station, it takes maybe 45 minutes to get to Rocky Creek, Birch Creek or Welch Park. The Lake and facilities have always been well maintained whenever I have gone.

There are places for fishing, boating, swimming, camping, hiking, picnicking, trail riding, all terrain vehicles, and sightseeing. There are both electrical and non-electrical campsites, including equestrian campsites. The following link is a map of the lake with the amenities at each of the parks. http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/somerville/Information/Lake%20Map.pdf

The Best Place to Water Ski:

I've spent many, many days out at lake Sommerville boating. My family loved to water ski. More often than not, we would go during the week when it was less crowded - thus smoother. (If I recall correctly, all the lake pictures attached were taken during the week.)

The area that my Dad has always referred to as "Pecan" is the best place to ski. It is in a large cove, so to speak, so the water is usually the smoothest there. Pecan is an unfinished park and has been for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure that over night camping is allowed there anymore.

To get to Pecan by boat, it is best to use the boat ramps at Birch Creek and drive across the lake to get to it. From College Station, that is by far the fastest way to get to Pecan. If you were to try to find Pecan on the Lake Sommerville map, it is between off of Roberts Road. On the map, it shows as a Army Corp of Engineer Access Point.

There are 11 park areas that have boat ramps.

• Birch Creek (2 areas)
• Nails Creek
• Rocky Creek (2 areas)
• Yegua (2 areas)
• Welch Park
• Overlook
• Big Creek Park
• Apache Hills

You can find a map of the boat ramps at:

http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/somerville/Recreation/Boating/Boatramp.pdf

Have fun. Boat Safe.

Written and posted by

Sondra Meyer CPA/Real Estate Broker

United Country Brazos Valley Realty

1275 Flying Ace Ranch Circle

College Station TX 77845

979-575-2700

For professional real estate advisory services,

Call or email Sondra Meyer at

sondra77845@yahoo.com

Howdy!!!

Here is my Aggie profile. It actually made me take a nice walk in the past down memory lane.

I was born and raised in College Station. Initially, I planned to get a degree in Agriculture Education, so A&M was the natural choice. That first semester I mostly learned about the Dixie Chicken, Texas Hall of Fame, Graham Central Station, midnight yell practices and football games. That was a fun time. My grades were not too good, but I did learn how to dance and play pool.

In the middle of the second semester, I ended up deciding to go work for the Bryan Police Department instead of sitting in classes. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was already infected with the Aggie Spirit and my blood had turned maroon.

This was the very first Bonfire that I attended as an A&M student. I still find it hard to believe that bonfire, as we knew it, is no more. This picture is when the street was still named Jersey. Reveille was able to see the scoreboard from her grave. There was no Zone.

A few years went by, I eventually ended up living in Germany. Upon coming back to the United States, I came back to College Station, was readmitted into Texas A&M and finished my degree. I graduated in 1992 with a BBA in Accounting.

Although I love to travel, College Station is my home. I am a real estate broker/CPA that specializes in College Station, horse property and country property. I also teach real estate classes at Blinn College. (This fall it will be Real Estate Investments and Real Estate Math.) I'm involved with our Association of Realtors and serve on several committees: Education, Legislative Affairs, and the Farm and Ranch.

While digging around in pictures, I found this newspaper clipping, dated January 27, 1985. I'm not sure why I kept it, but I thought it would be fun to share it. I guess it was the most controversial topic at the time. Times have changed.

Written and posted by

Sondra Meyer CPA/Real Estate Broker

United Country Brazos Valley Realty

1275 Flying Ace Ranch Circle

College Station TX 77845

979-575-2700

For professional real estate advisory services,

Call or email Sondra Meyer at

sondra77845@yahoo.com

Here in Texas we love our football. In College Station, the home of Texas A&M University, the majority of us love the Aggies. A significant percentage of us ARE Aggies.

Now, I know just because someone lives in College Station does not mean that they are automatically an Aggie fan. As an Aggie, class of 1994, I must sadly claim that my Dad is a fan of the University of Texas Longhorns. Even worse is that he corrupted my boys and they love t.u.

For the longest time, only the bravest Texas fans wore burnt orange around College Station. Then, in 2005-06 football season, when Vince Young led UT to the National Football championship - I think the spirit of the state of Texas pride took over somewhat. Even as an Aggie, I was proud that a Texas team won the National Championship.

After that, it seems like Academy Sporting Goods and the other stores carry more UT stuff now. I never worried about my son's safety for wearing Texas shirts practically every day in high school.....I thank God that he decided to go to Notre Dame instead UT. (Actually, I'm really proud that he is going to Notre Dame)

Now one day, I'm driving down the feeder road on Highway 6, probably going to Academy Sporting Goods or to visit someone in Emerald Forest, when I catch this unusual site out of the corner of my eye.

Did I really see a Longhorn? A real live Longhorn? Since, I was going 60 or 55 or whatever the speed limit is on the feeder road, I didn't have time to do a double take. A few days later, I went that way again. Yep....there were longhorns in that pasture. Imagine that. Longhorns in College Station.

For those of you that are not too familiar with College Station, we've got a lot of people that are working to bring "culture" to our area. And, I'm not complaining about it. But, at the same time, I love the fact that we still have cow pastures inside the city limits. It is just that most cow pastures do not have a herd of longhorns grazing in them.

Do any of you all have cows grazing inside your city limits?

P.S. The longhorn on the right side of the above pictures ended up being a rather friendly lady. Not a very photogenic longhorn though......

No rain. Hot temperatures. Clay soils. If you have dealing with those three things, you may need to be thinking about your foundation.

We have a lot of clay soil in the College Station, Texas area. When it gets hot and there is no rain, the clay soils dries up and shrinks. It may even start cracking. Then, when it finally does rain, the clay soaks up the water and swells. It expands.

Both pictures were taken today, here in College Station. In the picture to the right, the clay soil is shrinking and pulling away from the driveway.

When the clay soils expands and contracts, it affects many houses if precautionary measures have not been taken.

Sometimes, it is just minor, cosmetic cracks in the sheetrock. Other times, the bricks of a home may pull away from each other. In the worst case that I've seen while out showing houses, the window's were cracked in addition to extreme cracks and bricks pulling away.

Foundation repairs can be very costly. Is there anything that that can be done to prevent or at least minimize foundation damage or the settling?

I've always heard that if you water the areas around your foundation this will help prevent the shrinking. Are there any inspectors or engineers out there that have any more specific suggestions?

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Disclaimer: Please note, I'm not a home inspector or a structural engineer...I'm just sharing what I have seen as result of having lived in this area close to forever. I always recommend my buyers get a home inspection. The inspector looks for signs of foundation problems. If there are issues that appear to be more than just cosmetic, the inspector's I have dealt with generally suggest a structural engineer be brought in.

Last Chance......

Yikes...I can't believe it is already June 14^th. Saturday, June 14^th. I've gotten behind on my planned posts. I've almost waited too late to be able to get this one in. Oops.

June 14th --- That means that tonight is the last concert in the City of College Station's Starlight Music Series - 2008 at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater. Admission is free. Gates open at 6. For more info, check out http://www2.cstx.gov/pc/starlight

Tonight, The Big Time is playing. They are supposed to be one of the biggest show bands in Texas. They play everything for 1950's rock, pop, and soul to today's top hits.

I'm hoping to be there. I am wondering if this band will replace my current favorite, Mustang Sally, from this years line up. Mustang Sally was the opening act for Earl Thomas Conley. My friends and I has so much fun that evening.

Also, since it looks like I'm not going to get my post on Central Park done today, I better remind everyone that the 17^th Annual Rod Run, an old car show is taking place at Central Park...Today Saturday June 14th. My dad normally takes my son, Sean, to that car show. However, this year he is at some huge motorcycle rally in Austin.

Posted by Sondra Meyer CPA/Real Estate Broker

United Country Brazos Valley Realty

For professional real estate advisory services, please do not hesitate to email: sondra77845@yahoo.com or call 979-575-2700