Property Management Blog

Well it has been awhile since I had a chance to blog. I started real estate school. I would go to school for 4 hours in the morning and work for 3 hours in the afternoon. I would have to rush home to pick my son up from football and start dinner, help the kids with their homework, do my own homework and work on stuff for soccer. If it wasn’t one thing it was another. I was obviously too busy to do anything, including getting sick which is exactly what happened as soon as football, soccer, and my school ended. I have had a runny/stuffy nose, my head has been clogged, a horrible dry cough, and sometimes it feels like someone is sitting on my chest for like 6 days now.

Enough about me and all my whining (as my friend Julie would say). Let’s talk about something else. What should we talk about? (I am looking around my office for inspiration). My office is filled with beautiful pictures of my family and letters from my kids but we always talk about my kids. So……………well that is just sad. Unless I am talking about my kids I have nothing to talk about.

I was talking with my sister in law Amy yesterday as I drove home and I was explaining to her how much I love driving up College Ave in the fall. The leaves are such beautiful colors. I love the burnt orange and the reds.

I was on facebook the other day and I was looking at my feeds and seeing my friends update their status. I loved seeing that a few of the girls that I hung out with in high school are all Moms now and are about to be again. I love seeing that they are making Apple Pies from scratch and helping build houses with Habitat for Humanity. Makes me realize that I hung out with some pretty awesome people.

I have a new friendship brewing with another old high classmate, Lauren. We have been helping each other out with the real estate class. She just passed her state exam and is on the road to being an Indiana Licensee/Broker. I am so proud of her!!! Those test are HARD!!! I have passed my class but have to now past the State Exam.

I am super excited because my best friend in the whole entire world, Erin is moving back state side. She currently lives in Hawaii and even though I am upset that I don’t get to visit Hawaii (plane tickets are crazy expensive) I am happy to have her state side. She will be coming home for a few days as I get to soak up some of her time.

Well….......I finally found something to talk about (besides friends) today is National Back to the Future Day. Back in 1985, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale wrote a movie about a boy who used a DeLorean to travel back and forth in time. The movie starred Michael J. Fox which was almost NOT the case. Michael was approached for the part and had to turn it down because of the show Family Ties. Michael J. Fox had to turn down the role as Marty McFly. Eric Stoltz took the role as Marty McFly however, after 4 weeks of shooting, the directors decided that Stoltz wasn’t right for the part and they turned back to Michael J. Fox. His schedule had opened up some but was told he could only do the movie if he made sure that Family Ties wouldn’t suffer.

The Character of Doc was played by Christopher Lloyd however, the directors originally wanted John Lithgow. Christopher Lloyd then turned down the role but then changed his mind after reading the script with his wife and they let him change some of the scenes.

Lea Thompson was cast as Lorraine McFly because she had worked with the 1^st Marty McFly, Eric Sholtz but they liked her in the part and decided not to recast her once Sholtz left.

Claudia Wells, who plays Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer was also a recast after Scholtz left. The original Jennifer was played by Melora Hardin but once Michael J. Fox signed on as Marty they felt that she was too tall for him and let her go. She never got to film one scene.

Back to the Future opened on July 3^rd, 1985 on 1,200 screens in North America. It spent 11 weeks at #1 at the Box Office. The film grossed $210.61 million in North America and $173.2 million in other countries.

Well that is all for now. I will send you off with these important dates

~10 days until Halloween

~11 days until Day Light Saving Time Ends

~36 days until Thanksgiving (My favorite Holiday)

~62 days until Winter

~65 days until Christmas

Isn’t it amazing how one day can change everything? Labor Day was on Monday and it was so hot. I was hosting a BBQ at my house. We had invited some friends and family over to eat a lot of good food and play corn-hole and euchre. We all sat around talking and having so much fun. It was a really beautiful day. Fast Forward one day and the weather is cloudy and the wind has a certain chill in the air. You can tell Fall is approaching fast. I couldn’t be happier. I love Fall almost as much as I love Spring. Fall has some of the most beautiful colors. I love watching the leaves change from green to orange and red. Driving down the road it seems almost peaceful. Like you are in a painting.

With the Fall like weather comes FOOOOOOOOOTBALL!!!! My favorite sport. I love my Indianapolis Colts. They are my team!!!! I turn into a total dude (minus the beer part). I love when my husband makes good food and we get to sit around and scream at our T.V. My poor husband, God love him, definitely drew the short in of the stick when he married me. That poor man cooks and cooks and cooks some more. Not only does he cook full time for his job but he got a second part time job as a private chef for a wonderful couple in Zionsville area. The husband was on dialyses because he was in kidney failure but because of an angel was able to receive a kidney this past Friday. He is now on the fast track to healing and is so happy to have mashed potatoes. Isn’t that funny? This man just went through hours of surgery to get a new kidney and he was super satisfied just having mashed potatoes. Makes you think about what is really important in life. NOW on top of all that cooking my husband makes a meal once a week for 25 hungry 8^th grade football players. I signed up for the job thinking I could be able to handle it when in fact I couldn’t and it got placed on my husband’s lap. Luckily for me, he has been a true sport about it all. Now for the real kicker…..he even cooks us dinner (including my mother) almost every night of the week. I definitely feel like I am the winner between the two of us.

Another one of my favorite things about Fall is bonfires. I love sitting in my back yard with a pair of sweats, a hoodie, and a glass of wine. It is serene listening to the wood crackle under the heat of the flames, the music lightly playing in the background, the fact that it gets darker sooner so I have to fight less with my kids about going to bed. Fall is calm to me.

Now with Fall fast approaching it is time to do some Fall cleaning. Time to get the jeans, sweatshirts, and warm blankets out and get them washed. It is time to open those windows that have been shut all summer long so you can let the cool Fall air in and rejuvenate you. It is time to wash walls, windows, clean carpets, and get ready to bunker down for the winter. Enjoy your last few weeks of being outside without seeing your breath.

Here are somethings to look forward to:

~Tonight starts off FOOTBALL SEASON

~3 days until the Colts start their season

~11 days until Fall actually starts

~50 days until Halloween

~51 days until Day Light Saving Time Ends

~76 days until Thanksgiving (My favorite Holiday)

~102 days until Winter

~105 days until Christmas

~112 days until the New Year

Until Next Time………….

Sooner or later it we all knew it would come. Those big Yellow School buses would begin to flood our streets, children standing on the corner waiting for it to come and pick them up, and parents rejoicing that they finally it to go back to a little bit of a normal routine. The last two weeks have been extremely busy with getting my kids registered for school, getting their school supplies, new clothes, doctor appointments, football practice for the boy and soccer practice for the girl. Tomorrow is the day. The BIG DAY. It is my daughter's first year in Middle School and it is my son's last year. Bittersweet in some ways

.

Luckily for me, both my kids are very athletic, outgoing, and outstanding kids. They should be able to make friends fast.

Some say summer came and went too fast but not me. We took our vacation and the beginning of Summer and ever since I have been waiting for the kids to go back to school. Ali, my daughter, loves school. She is ready to go back as well. My son, Julian, not so much. He likes to hang with his friends and play sports but homework and teachers are not his thing. Luckily, the two go hand in hand. If he wants to play sports he has to get good grades.

Now, we have had an interesting summer this year. We took the kids to California and they rode on a plane for the first time. The kids got to go to the Monon Center and go swimming. They played baseball and soccer. Ali went to Kings Island a couple of times. The coolest thing was when my dad took Ali to the Indianapolis Colt practice on Tuesday of last week. They got really close. So close that Ali's phone with flying out of her hands and landing on Pat McAfee. He picks up the phone and starts taking selfies with her. She was on cloud 9. She would stop talking about it for days.

Afterwards he signed her hat. He is such a great trooper. He made Ali's day. She got a autograph from Matt Overton and Jack Dole.

A few years ago, right before school started I wrote and open letter and put it on Facebook. No matter how excited I am to put my kids on the bus that first day of school it is always scary. You don't know what will happen to them after those doors close. I wanted to share it with you:

There is nothing better than Family, Friends, Fun and of course FOOD! The best part of summers are spending it with the ones you love, doing awesome things, and eating great food. Every 4th of July we do just that. Our friend Stephanie and her husband Craig host an awesome 4th of July party. We all pitch in and bring food, the kids swim and we all sit around by the pool drink and get splashed by the kids. We always bring my husband's homemade guacamole and salsa. Everyone loves it. They are just so yummy.

Family: I love getting dressed up in our red white and blue as we show support for this great country. My nephews and children are just as much into the Holiday as we are. They always look so cute. Ali and JJ are two peas in a pod. They are the best of friends and love doing everything together. Julian and Jacob, well, they are more of the crazy bunch. They make you want to pull out your hair but when they are good they are soooooo good.

Friends and Fun: I love hanging out with Friends. They always make things more fun. Whether it is hanging by the pool, drinking at a bar, or standing across the street from each other talking on the phone because it is way easier than actually crossing the street and talking to them face to face.

Food: You can never have enough food and with the group of friends that I have you will never starve. They are all awesome cooks. We grill out, have all sorts of dips, a variety of fruits, cheese, and veggie trays, a wonderful amount of sweet sweet desserts. I made a red and blue velvet cake with cream cheese frosting!! There wasn't a piece left.

Last but definitely not least FIREWORKS: I love watching the fireworks soar into the sky and then explode into something so beautiful and magical. Sometimes they make me jump and other times I am just so enchanted with them it doesn't phase me. You can be like my nephew and be so extremely tired from the day filled of food and fun that you bundle yourself up and fall asleep before the fireworks even start and continue to sleep right through them. Sweet little boy.

Until Next Time...........

We are in full fledge summer-on-the-go mode. Schools out and the kids are bored of doing the same old thing day in and day out. So many things cost so much and sometimes you just don't have the extra cash to spend. Well good thing for you Indy is full of free and cheap things. Take a look at all these wonderful things I have found for you and your kids to do.

I found a few websites that have a list of free and/or cheap things to do with your kids.

http://indywithkids.com/category/outdoor-family-fun-with-kids/

http://indywithkids.com/kids-bowl-free-all-summer-indy-franklin-greenwood-greencastle-fishers-beech-grove/

http://indywithkids.com/category/indoor-places-to-play/

http://indywithkids.com/category/food-for-families-and-kids/

http://www.mykidseatfree.com/states/Indiana_City_Results.asp

What are some of your favorite things to do over the summer?

Until Next Time.........

I don't know about the rest of you but I am feeling like it is actually SPRING!!!! The weather this weekend was not too shabby. I know the old saying is April's showers bring May flowers and that is exactly what it is doing. I have these beautiful plants in the front of my house that began to bud over the weekend and when I left for work this morning one of them had bloomed. It was so pretty. I wish I wasn't running late so I could have stopped and actually taken in all of its beauty.

Spring has always been my favorite season. I love the weather and all of its craziness. I love watching the trees turn green. I love seeing all the different colors begin to POP. I love everything about Spring.

The month of May is usually a busy month for me however this one was a CRAZY one. My daughter, who is Miss I Can Do Anything has done exactly that EVERYTHING. For the past several weeks she has been doing Pups running (track and field), Girls on the Run (training for a Marathon) and Soccer. She had something to do every single day of the week. Which means Mommy had something to do everyday of the week. Since May is winding down so are her activities (thank you Lord). My daughter is very active. She likes to be moving around. The busiest day this month was by far May 9th. Ali ran her 5K marathon in 40 minutes. As soon as she crossed the finish line and received her metal we rushed off across town so that Ali could participate in her pups run meet which she ran a 100 meter and 400 meter. She placed 1st in her heat for the 100 and 7th in her heat for the 400 Meter. As soon as she was finished with her pups run meet we had to rush off to her soccer game, where she scored the first goal. You'd think she would be tired but she was up playing around at her brother's baseball game that immediately followed her soccer game. We left our house at 7:30 in the morning and didn't return home until 6:15. I was so tired. Ali and I both ended up taking a nap.

My son plays baseball. He likes to pitch (which I think everyone does) and he likes catcher. He isn't a fan of the outfield (which I don't think anyone is). He is getting better at batting. He is a great catcher. He doesn't let the ball get behind him too much. I don't think it is because they are allowed to steal but because it is so far back to the fence that he just gets worn out to easily. He can throw from home to 2nd base. He just moved up a field so I think the adjust is working well for him.

SPRING IS ALIVE!!!!!

Sun shining, flowers are beginning to bloom and trees are starting to show signs of life. I love spring. Spring is my favorite season. I love how everything starts to shine and all the beautiful colors come alive. I love hearing the birds chirp and the smell of BBQs filling the air. I love sitting around a campfire and roasting marshmallows with the kids. Everything about spring makes me happy.

One of my favorite things about spring is when it is warm enough outside to open your windows and smell that fresh air after being cooped up all winter long. I love feeling the breeze come in through the living room as it moves past my house and out the back door. It takes that dusty musty wintery smell out of my house.

When spring arrives the first thing on my list is SPRING CLEANING!!!! Inside and out. Sometimes it gets overwhelming. We have 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, screened in back porch, garage, a fenced in back yard, a front yard with 2 flower beds and 2 side yards. With both of us working full time jobs and the kids in sports it is hard to find time to get it all done. Here is a list of Spring Cleaning Tips that I would like to share with you.

1)       Open your windows: Get Fresh air in and the smell of winter out of your house. Take a deep long breath in and exhale.

2)       Make a music playlist: Nothing makes cleaning better, faster and fun. Make sure to only have upbeat music. The last thing you need is some slow sappy love song playing while you are in the groove.

3)       Declutter, donate and pitch: Make piles for things that are broken and need to be pitched, a pile of stuff that you know is too small or going to be too small for you next year, and a pile of things that you need to comprise into one tote. Decluttering will help your house feel less dirty because you don’t have some many items sprawled around the house. Dollar General, Family Dollar or even the Dollar store has really awesome cleaning supplies for really cheap and they have little organizers to for your closets. If you have a Five Below around you they have these bags you can put winter clothes in and store under your bed.

4)       Make a checklist. Creating a cleaning checklist for each room will help you stay focused and you can feel satisfied when you complete your checklist.

5)       Remember that you dust top to bottom before you vacuum. Don’t do the easy stuff first because you’ll end up with a bigger mess than you planned.

6)       Nothing frustrates me more than washing windows and seeing the white paper towel fuzz still on them when I am done. I learned a few tricks I would like to share with you

a.)     Use coffee filters or newspaper when cleaning windows

b.)    Spray your shower first and let it soak while cleaning the rest of the house

c.)     Same for the toilets. Put toilet bowel cleaner in the toilet and let it sit while you are cleaning other areas of the house. This makes it a lot easier to clean when you are ready to clean the bathrooms.

d.)    When using a sponge make sure you clean it after every new room by putting it in the microwave for two minutes.

e.)     Do you have nasty stove burners? Hate scrubbing them? Well here is an easier way. Take about ¼ cup of ammonia and seal it in a large Ziploc bag.

1)       Do this before you do anything else in your house and make it the last thing you clean. The longer you let them sit the easier it is to clean them.

f.)      When cleaning the faucets in the shower and or sink use a lemon that has been cut in half. Take a lemon cut in half and rub it on your fixtures and then rinse. The spots disappear and it leaves the faucets shiny.

g.)    To clean your shower head, pour distilled white vinegar in a plastic baggy and secure it to the shower head with a rubber band. Let it soak for 1 hour. Wipe clean with a wet cloth. Easy fix for a clogged shower head!

h.)    Cleaning the blinds. No one likes this job because there is no easy away about it. No one wants to take the blinds down, clean them and then place them back up. You can’t dust them because that doesn’t always work. If you have a cup of white distilled vinegar and old sock you are set. In a bowl place equal parts of Vinegar and water. Dip hand in mixture and then wipe the dirt and dust away. When sock gets dirty just dip your hand back in the mixture and repeat.   

7)       Use your vacuum extension tools. They can help you get in the small cracks where the floor meets the wall. If your house is anything like mine this is where all the dog hair hides.

8)       Reward yourself. You have worked hard. Get yourself flowers to add to the fresh smell of spring to your house.

Once you get all of your cleaning done grab your friends and family, pitch in some food, grill out and play your favorite outdoor game. What is your favorite thing to do in the spring? My husband is normally grilling out and the family comes over to play corn hole or euchre while the kids play basketball or baseball in the front yard.

One of our favorite things to do is take the kids and dogs and go creek stomping. They love it!! It is great exercise and it is free and fun. We have labs so they are all about being in the water. We go to the park off of 71st and College. We walk along the creek until it meets the white river and it is deep enough the kids can actually swim and also shallow enough for the dogs to play. I like to sit on the island and watch my family happy, healthy and having a blast.

Until next time…………

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Are you wearing your green? By default I am. I totally spaced St. Patrick’s Day. Did you know that St. Patrick’s Day used to be called the Feast of Saint Patrick? St. Patrick’s Day is to honor the Patron Saint of Ireland.

St. Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian Holiday in the 17^th Century. It is to celebrate the heritage and culture of the Irish. This day also commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. People usually celebrate by having parades and festivals. People normally wear green and shamrocks.

Saint Patrick. Who is he? He was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century. He was born into a wealthy family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest. At the age of 16 Saint Patrick was kidnapped by Irish Raiders. He became a slave to Gaelic Ireland. Supposedly, he spent 6 years as a shepherd. Patrick found God and was informed to flee to the coast where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After arriving home Patrick became a Priest. Saint Patrick spent many years converting the pagan Irish to Christianity. He died on March 17.

Here are some famous Irish Quotes.

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each day and night!

Be kind to those that meet you as you rise, you may pass them again as you fall.

If God shuts one door, He opens another.

May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future!

Happy St. Patty’s Day Everyone.

Remember this is the last Tuesday of Winter!!! Hope that made you smile

Until Next Time…………

I love MEMORIES. As we age our memories start to fade. Luckily someone was smart enough to invent cameras. Again we were lucky enough to have some one invent the smart phones with built in cameras so we can snap photos on the go. 

We try to go on vacation at least once a year. It is hard sometimes because my kids are in sports, math bowl, choir and orff, and almost anything else that they want to do. Sometimes it is hard to juggle everything. One year we went to Michigan another year to Myrtle Beach. This year we are going to California. It will be their first time on a plane. It is only my 3rd so I am still a little scared. I love that I can take pictures of all the fun things we do together. I find myself sitting in my living room and I just look through the thousands of pictures I have taken over the years. Almost every single picture I can tell you exactly where we were when I took it.  Ask anyone who knows me knows I take a lot of pictures. I don't want to miss a thing. I love to capture things when they happen because sometime in the far future when your memories have faded you can remember them through the pictures.

Last weekend I had a VERY busy weekend. The whole week was busy but the weekend man was it full of stuff to do. My son had a playoff game for basketball. He and his team did GREAT! They really played well together. They won and get to move on to the Championship game which is tomorrow. Julian is good at basketball. He can steal the ball and get rebounds like no other.  After his playoff game we had to go to his All-Star Game. He did great however they lost by two points. I took this picture of him because he needed a picture for 7th grade. He has definitely turned into a young man. His features are now becoming his own. Julian doesn't let me take a lot of pictures of him :( but that day he looked to handsome not to.

After Julian's playoff and all-star game we had to head to Ali's playoff game where sadly they lost. It was a hard fought game but the girls just didn't pull it out. Immediately after the game was over we had to rush home and get Ali and Chris ready for the Daddy/Daughter dance. It was really hard to get her face back to white after it was so red. I curled her hair and put on some eye shadow (I am not one for my 10 year to wear a lot of make up). After it was all said and done we slipped on her beautiful dress. I had to take a step back and look at my little girl. She didn't look so little anymore. She was my young lady. I got to sneak in a few shots when I dropped them off and when I went to pick them up. I love when you can capture TRUE happiness. Not something that is posed or stage but true and real. The look on Ali's face is priceless.

To top off the weekend we had a beautiful amount of snow. My dogs Cooper and Marely LOVE LOVE LOVE playing in the snow. They would stay outside for hours if I would let them however I didn't want them to freeze. Julian was such a sweetheart that he went to the neighbor's houses and removed the snow from their cars and shoveled the sidewalks. Ali, well she was like the dogs. She was all bundled up and dancing around the front yard. She would make snowballs and throw them in the air for the dogs to catch. Marely and Cooper would chase each other around. I am one of those crazy DOG ladies. My dogs are like my babies. They sleep with us, they are allowed on the furniture, they go on car rides. They have more privileges than the kids do something lol.

Cooper                                                  Marely

Memories: the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences.

So hopefully this winter will be just a memory and we can enjoy the nice Spring air. With the weather warming up remember to clean out your gutters and make sure there is no ice backed up in the down spouts. Make sure that you get your gardens and beds all ready for the pretty flowers that you are going to plant and/or the ones that will begin to bloom but most of all don't forget to stop and make some memories with the ones you love.

Until Next Time............

Valentine's Day~ a day for the exchange of tokens of affection

It is a day that candy and flower shops are at their busiest. I am a happily married woman but I hate Valentine's Day. I am not a chocolate person (unless it is ice cream), I love flowers but hate when they die, and love should be expressed throughout the whole year and not just one day. I know there are a lot of "Holidays" like this....Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparent's Day. I don't understand why we have to seclude ourselves to showing respect and love to those we care about most on these particular days. Most single people hate Valentine's Day because it reminds them that they are alone and love sucks. Most married men hate it because it is one more date they have to remember along with anniversary, birthday, and other special occasions to please their wife. Me, I am lucky. I got married on February 7th. So a long time ago my husband and I decided we will never have to celebrate Valentine's Day again. I don't want a card, I don't want flowers, and I don't want a bunch of chocolate that my Chocolate Lab is going to eat and then throw up on my bedroom floor. I would rather enjoy a nice quiet dinner at home with my husband and kids (my husband is an awesome cook). I often wonder if I am a rare breed of if other women just don't care about this "Holiday" as much as I do.

I took to Facebook and I asked 10 of my friends the following questions.

1) Would you like to receive flowers for Valentine's Day? 4 out of 10 said YES

2) Would you like to receive jewelry? 3 out of 10 said Yes

3) Would you like to receive lingerie? 7 out of 10 said No

4) Would you like to eat in or go out for dinner? 2 out of 10 said Out

5) Would you be upset if your partner forgot Valentine's Day? 2 out of 10 said Yes

I was actually shocked by there answers. I had asked 10 different women from the age of 26 and up. All of them are in a serious committed relationship. Like I said I do not want flowers, jewelry, lingerie, and I would rather stay in for dinner and I couldn't care less about this "Holiday".

Now I have asked 10 Men the following questions:

1) Do you think Valentine's Day is more about women or men? 1/2 said woman 1/2 said both

2) Would you like to have dinner IN or OUT? more than 1/2 said IN

3) What would be the best present to get for your husband/boyfriend? This was a little harder for the guys and everyone had something different but it took them a few to respond to this question. My favorite is the cheesy one about their partner's love is all they need.

4) Would you be upset if your partner forgot Valentine's Day? Only 1 of them said YES.

If you simple just showered your spouse/partner with a little extra love and a romantic dinner you would be good as gold. Women just aren't impressed with Valentine's Day anymore. Maybe it is years of disappointment while we were dating and since we have found the our one true love it doesn't matter. 

I think it is important for people in a committed relationship to show each other every day that they love each other. My husband can't say "I love you enough". He still opens doors for me, pulls out my chair, and tells me I am beautiful even though I just got done working out and my hair is in a messy ponytail and I'm in my workout sweatpants.  

Me, February is just one month closer to Spring when the air is warm, the smell of bbqs and bonfires fill the air, kids running around laughing and playing. This is when my Spring fever starts to hit and I start going through the kids clothes and determining what is going to be too small for next winter, what I need to buy them for the new Spring season, and making sure that my motorcycle is geared up and ready to go for any nice day. 

Until Next Time......