Our freakishly large snow man

Austin gets the credit for this snow man. I kinda helped but then my hands got too cold and I went inside. When he built this snowman it was vertical but by evening it was somehow defying gravity.

The Bowen Bash

We also had a party at the Bowen house. I've never seen a little kid get more gifts in my life. When you add up the two days of parties the birthday girl was overwhelmed with gifts.

At the end of our party we had a push up contest. Alayna was the finale. She did the most push ups of us all. We're planning a rematch for Thanksgiving.

Birthday party at the Elliotts

Our littlest monkey turned three. Here are pictures from her party at the Elliott's house with all of her cute Elliott cousins.

Somebody just turned 3!

This is the birthday girl at the party store

Her sister helped her pick out the balloons.

Our little dancers

This is in my mom's basement. We have some sexy dancers on our hands! Where do they learn to dance like this?

Groovie Movie (1944). Funny jitterbug instructional video.

Now that I know how to put youtube videos in my blog I don't know if I'll be able to stop. This is one groovy movie. As most of you know I'm a Lindy Hopper and I love swing dancing so I pay homage to this type of thing. It's past midnight and I can't get dancing off my mind so I hopped on the computer and watched Groovie Movie and then I got the genious idea to share it with you. I know...I'm such a good sharer.

Far and Away (More on the American Dream)

Yes, I'm on a land kick! I can't find the exact clip I want of when Tom Cruise is having a dream/inspiration and he is remembering how his father talked about land ownership on his death bed. But this will suffice. I love America!!

Gone with the Wind

Yay, I figured out how to put youtube videos in my blog. I just love Gerald Butlers wisdom at the end of this clip. "To the Irish the land they live on is like their mother. You're just a child, it will come to you, this love of the land."

At this point in the movie Scarlett doesn't care for Terra but by the end of the movie she loves Terra with all her heart. That's how I feel about my house. When I bought it I had no emotional attachment to it. We bought it as an investment property because it had a mother-in-law basement. Over the years I've put time into my house fixing it and cleaning it and making it mine and now I dearly love my house and my land, it's a part of my family. I would never sell it.

The American Dream

Another person has just taken part in the American Dream! This one is a lovely story too because it's a short sale and the seller's bank is Bank of America. Ugg!

My client made an offer on this house last December. We were in a back up position for a few months. The bank approved the offer in first position (an investor's offer). The investor wasn't sure he wanted the property but he was willing to sell it to my client at the price my client had offered (the other agent disclosed the price of our offer without our permission). So we knew that our offer must have been significantly more than what the investors offer was. So we withdrew our offer and the investor decided he didn't want the house. So the investor walked. My client then wrote up a new offer for $15,000 less. The listing agent submitted our offer and got an approval within a month or so but there was a big catch. Her assistant had accidentally typed the wrong names into the system and Bank of America wouldn't allow us to just fix that and move on. So we had to resubmit our offer AGAIN with the correct name. Then we get a letter from B of A saying that they weren't going to accept a short sale and they were going to sell the loan to a different company. We were in limbo for a few months and then they came back to us saying, nevermind we will do a short sale. A few months later they said they would approve our offer if my client agreed to pay $1000 more than the amount he offered. So we said "FINE". Then we went through some hell with getting his loan done and finally today we closed (one day before the deadline from the bank to close). Jim and I keep letting out big sighs of releif! Ahhhhhh! FINALLY!!!

A few days ago Jim wrote me the following email:

Rachael,

I am so glad I met you and you are helping me with everything. So far you are the only competent professional I have worked with. Not to mention the previous 9 months of hassles with Bank of America and their flakiness... America First has just screwed up more paperwork for the 3rd time and the VA appraiser is still dragging his feet. Lets hope the other people involved with the closing know how to do their jobs. I think everything is actually going to work out but I am betting they procrastinate to the max and I end up closing on the 10th. If this was my first rodeo I would be nuts by now. A short sale is definitely not something I would attempt with a first timer if I were you. I just wanted to say Thank you for being so good at your job and how happy I am to have stumbled upon you.


Sincerely,
Jim

I'm grateful that Jim stumbled upon me too! He bought an awesome house at a great price and it will be a great investment for him. The past year has all been worth it!

Stop growing!

My nephew, Baylen is getting so big! Look at him!! Who said he could get such cute little chubby cheeks?

Halloween Cake

Last minute Bumble Bee

Layna was going to be a princess fairy like India but a few minutes before we ran out the door to trick or treat Layna decided that she'd rather be a bumble bee. So we switched costumes and Layna was a bumble bee AGAIN this year (this is the 3rd year of being a bumble bee). Heres a picture of her with the spoils of the night all over her face.

Pumpkin LOVE

I have diagnosed myself with pumpkin love. I never cared about carving a pumpkin till this year. I just went to town buying pumpkins and carving them. Then I felt a huge attachment to my pumpkins. Then I had such a fun time figuring out how to take pictures of pumpkins in the dark. I took about 50 pictures and I'll spare you on looking at each one. These are my favorites. I'm already looking forward to next Halloween!

Watch out!

Someone's a natural with a rifle!

Playing with the Greens

We hung out with some of our friends and had a weeney roast. Our two girls played with 5 little boys, which was very different for our girls. They found themselves getting pushed over more than they would if they were hanging out with girls.