01/03/07     

I want you to know that I absolutely love Christmas and the holiday season.  However, this year it was more chaotic than ever and I thought I would share some of my life lessons with you, especially as we all prepare for the New Year.   Just to show you how far behind I was on all the Christmas preparations, here’s some of what I wrote in Christmas letter (written on December 18) to mainly my out-of-state relatives.  …”Let me summarize my life for the year.  Well, that was exciting.  It flew by so fast I can’t remember a thing.  That’s part of the problem.  I can’t remember where I put my Christmas cards (that I bought in November).  I forgot to send out my Christmas presents to my out-of-towners and therefore need to pay big money for shipping.  I forgot to tell my parents that the kids’ Christmas program is tomorrow night.  Sadly, my Christmas tree isn’t up yet AND I can’t think of anything else at the moment to complain about.”    The sad fact is that story while it was funny, was very true.  To top it off, Mike and I decided that we should try and get a picture of the kids to send out as well.  While the kids had lots of fun, Mike and I were very frustrated that they weren’t cooperating like we wanted them too.  We finally got our picture (which turned out great) but it wasn’t one of those quality family moments.    I don’t know about you, but I can say that I learned that I need to slow down and not put so much pressure on myself to get everything done.  That’s not an easy task for me since I’m highly motivated to get my task list done.  In fact, I’ve been gearing up for my 2007 Business Agenda and am excited about this year.  While I won’t be able to roll everything out in January, I have reset my goals for February 1, 2007. 

    Watching the trends of the real estate market in 2006,...

11/01/07 

 So, what do you look forward to when it comes to Thanksgiving?  Is it the long weekend?  Or the turkey dinner?  Or the huge sales on Black Friday?  I think that we forget what this holiday is all about, which brings me to a really cool front page story that hit the Grand Rapids Press.  The title of the article was "Boy's selfless spirit is cause to give thanks".

The story is about a 7 year old boy, Charlie, who hears about a pastor that was paralyzed this year due to a horrible accident in the ocean.  Soon after that, the family lost one of their 4 children, Eva who was 3 years old.  Many churches have come together to help out this pastor and his family and their mission is to build a home for this family.  When Charlie heard the details of the pastor's situation at Calvary Church, he felt compelled to raise money.

1. The first request to raise money was for Charlie to sell his bed, after all he could sleep on the floor.
2. Request #2 - Charlie's family could sell their home and live with their grandparents.  (Parents weren't sure on this one!)
3. Later, Charlie holds an impromptu garage sale and only raised $2.00, which he was very disappointed.
4. Charlie decided to print a flyer regarding the pastor and their situation and collected 550 cans and bottles around the neighborhood that he hauled around and cashed in.
5. Here's the kicker - Charlie is death in one ear and has been saving his money for a hearing aid that insurance wouldn't cover.  He had several hundred dollars saved to the purchase of this hearing aid.  Charlie said his hearing aid can wait.  His mother tried to talk him out of it.

Here's the response: Mom, if you give with a loving heart and help others, God will bless you."

This story was so moving to me and I believe that that one line says it all. 

References: The Grand Rapids Press. November 22, 2007.

7/01/07 

 Most of you know that I have three kids.  In fact, every time I write something they all want to know if they made the headlines.  Today, I decided to write about my fourth child.  (No, it's not my husband although that sometimes does apply.)  I was talking about my dog, Cody.  

    Cody is this beautiful black lab/springer spaniel mix that is supposed to be Mike's dog.  Of course, when I  bought Cody for him last January, I knew that the dog would become my responsibility.  That's why I put off getting a dog for so long even when my kids told me, "Mom, everyone else has a dog."  Like they are deprived children, or something.  So with severe hesitation, I allowed our family to get a dog. 

   Growing up, we always had a dog or animal and for me to deprive my family of those good memories would make me a terrible mom.  By the way, we lived out in Lowell and even had a goat named Suzie.  We treated her as one of the family and walked her with the dog.  Quite the site to see and many people did

a double-take when they drove by us walking the goat.

   So anyway, this dog (who is not supposed to be my dog but is) has grown on me.  Alright.  I can even say that I love him because he definitely loves me.  He follows me wherever I go which is sometimes gets annoying. 

Why I Love What I Do 

 With the ups and downs in the real estate market, people often wonder if it’s worth doing what I do.  Sometimes yes, and sometimes no.  Here’s a couple of things that reminded me of why I love doing what I do.

 Best Part of Being a Realtor…

1) Getting Paid (sorry, but it’s not fun doing this for free !).

2) Helping people find the home that’s truly for them.

3) Some great memories and newly found friends…   

Not only do I get a chance to develop friendships with the adults, but I have a couple of two year old friends, Gracie and Tia that are always happy to see me.  Gracie likes to give me big hugs and when I go to look at houses with Tia and her parents, we get to go up and down the stairs together.  I guess every time they get in the car, Tia says, “big house… Tammy.”

About a year ago, I had another little friend named Lauren.  After they moved, I got a thank you card from her parents and her and I even had a teddy bear named after me.  I guess it was the “Tammy Bear”.There are some parts of this job that are so cool !!!