The Rose Bush

I have a yellow rose bush that my mother gave me years ago for my birthday. It is located besides our back deck. My husband told me we would have to more than likely move it to another location because we are in the process of replacing the siding/windows/deck. I didn't even think about pruning it back this year knowing all this.

This year my rose bush has grown and also produced so many buds. Absolutely beautiful and along with my morning "java" it brings me a warm fuzzy feeling when I look at it through my kitchen window. Then the storm came...

My beautiful rose bush took such a beating this past weekend. I bought a trellis for it hoping that would help it but the winds and rain were too much. So, today with the beautiful sunshine I decided to go "aid" my rose bush. I put the trellis into the ground as deep as I could push it and tied the branches to the trellis. The thorns reminded me they also were a part of this bush. Now then, that should do it. It STILL drooped! Then I remembered a concrete block I had, so I went and moved it behind the trellis to give it support. It worked!

While I was doing all this God spoke to me...He said, "Alicia, you are this rose bush. Your life has the beauty of the rose along with the thorns that prick you sometimes. The trellis is your church/family/friends/job..everything you "tie yourself to." Then He said, "And I? I am that concrete block that supports it all."

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the words you have spoken to me today. You remind me of your omni presence and may I always be reminded of this.

Women On A Mission....

According to the National Association of REALTORS April 2010 Issue, a significant share of homebuyers are single women. To read the entire article go to the following site: http://www.realtor.org/research/reinsights/marketintelligence

I read this article and realized that I am currently working with two single women buyers and my last closing was a single woman. Apparently, there is "something" to these findings and maybe we need to figure out a way to make use of them. Also wondering...how many more are trying to meet the April 30th tax deadline? If this is you, please do not hesistate to contact me because I am another woman on a mission....to sell you a home! If you happen to not be of this gender, still call....I want YOUR business also!

If you need a little "motivation"...listen to the following video and then call me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXs-_xmyTiA

Does Your Listing Feel Like "An Albatross"?

After 359 days on the market, a listing I had SOLD yesterday! I was beginning to think this listing had become an albatross around my neck. Now now...don't laugh, I KNOW at some point in time, if you are an agent, you have shared these EXACT feelings. Tell the truth.............

Even when doing research on this post at Answers.com check out site they "related" it to Real Estate: A heavy burden of guilt that becomes an obstacle to success, as in The failed real estate scheme became an albatross around her neck, for now she could not interest other investors in a new project. This idiom comes from Samuel Coleridge's narrative poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), which is based on the widespread superstition that it is unlucky to kill this large white sea bird. In the poem a sailor does kill an albatross, and when the ship then is becalmed near the equator and runs out of water, his shipmates blame him and force him to wear the dead bird around his neck.

This was a bank owned property that had never been occupied however was in a subdivision dealing with alot of foreclosures. Much less the existing foreclosures in the county. As a former broker of mine once said, "there is a bottom for every chair" and I am thankful our bottom was found!

And being thankful, I am going to end this post with words of encouragement by Lee Iacocca: Boys, there ain't no free lunches in this country. And don't go spending your whole life commiserating that you got the raw deals. You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it. It's called perseverance.

Alicia In Wonderland...

My name is Spanish and in English it means "Alice" so I think I have the right to claim my title. Especially after these last few weeks. I am very thankful for the work however there are times when I feel like a combination of the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts and Alice.

Ever have a week where you wanted to shout, "Off With Their Head!"? I have a property under contract that has already been extended one week, a closing time set for one time then rescheduled for a later time. At least, so far, we are still planning on having a closing for today. However, I have been told since we are now closing later that funding may not be until Monday. At this point, I am ready to just say let's wait until Monday, have closing AND funding. In case you don't know what I mean by "funding" that means for me, in a nut shell, getting paid=$!

Today, I have office duty from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., have a new buyer meeting me at 11:30 a.m. and going to view properties and then hopefully attending a 4:00 p.m. closing, then back to the office to turn in closing file/paperwork, supper with husband's father/family. When what I REALLY want to do is go view the new Alice In Wonderland movie that comes out today! So, I can sit there in the theater and when the Queen of Hearts yells "Off With Their Heads!" I can feel soooo much better! That's okay, I will beat opening night crowd and go tomorrow. Here is a trailer of the movie, hope you enjoy!

I Took The Cart Before The Horse

When I entered the world of blogging a couple years ago, I had NO IDEA what I was doing. Here I am sitting in Blogging For Business 2. I took Blogging For Business 1 a couple weeks ago and knew from that class that I wanted to and had to learn M-O-R-E!!!

The Instructor, Juanita McDowell with InMotion Real Estate Institute http://www.inmotionrei.com/ makes all her classes so informative. I met Juanita when she taught several courses at our GAR Conference in Charleston, S.C. in February 2010. Check out that blog on ActiveRain.

If you are thinking about going into the blogsphere, I HIGHLY recommend you take these courses. If not located in Georgia find a teaching source in your area. I "thought" I was doing most of it the right way but through these courses, I realize it is a BIG WORLD out there in blogsphere! I am excited and cannot wait to implement some of these ideas.