Fall is, by far, my favorite season..

Fall is by far my favorite time of year. The smell when I step outside, the coolness of the air, the changing leaves - I just can't put my finger on what exactly makes me love it so much, but I do. Each year, there seems to be 1 particular day for me that signals the onset of fall, and today is that day. I can't tell you exactly what brought about the change today, but to me, today is fall.

Fall not only brings changes in my surroundings, but I change too. The meals I cook change, the things I do around the house change, the way I feel changes. Funny how such a small change in your surroundings can change the way you feel about so many things.

So here are a few things that I absolutely LOVE about fall:

• Burning my Pumpkin Pie Gold Canyon Candle
  
• red, gold, and brown leaves
• cool morning and evening air so I can open windows and air out the house
• making "harvest type" deserts (pumpkin, apples)
• digging up fresh Idaho potatoes
  
• Halloween (and the Decor that goes with it)
• driving in the country with the windows down
• Wearing cute sweaters
• Having my husband home for dinner
• Making casseroles
• Breaking out my extensive boot collection
• All my network shows are back on TV
• Cream Soups and Chili
• fresh Utah peaches
  

So now that fall "has arrived" for me, I will have to be careful and not put on 10 pounds with all of the deserts, casseroles, and cream soups!

Dyson's Are NOT GOOD VACUUMS!

So the place we currently live has the "Idaho standard" carpet - that is what I call it since I had never seen it til I moved here. It is just a speckled shag carpet. I thought it was crap carpet. I vacuum 3 to 4 times a week and it still always looked like crap. It got all matted down in the high traffic areas and basically just looked like poo.

So I have a $450 Dyson vacuum that is supposed to be the best vacuum out there. It seems to pick up dirt cause every time I vacuum I have to empty the canister - mostly just fuzz and stuff, but there is some dirt. Dave kept saying it was a crappy vacuum and totally not living up to its name.

So Last night I went to Walmart and bought myself a $139 Eureka vacuum. Right on the front of the box it said "Cleans 60% Better Than Dyson". So I grabbed it and went home. Dave put it together for me and I started vacuuming.

Let me tell you - my carpet is not crappy! It was the vacuum! Just the upstairs yielded an entire bag full of dirt. And it was like the really fine sand type - you could hear it as I was vacuuming. I could not believe how GROSS that was. Me being somewhat of a neat freak - ugh, I thought I would die knowing that all that dirt was in my carpet! And I just had them shampooed 2 months ago, so that is only 2 months worth of dirt!

Now my carpet actually shows footprints after you vacuum and then walk on it. My Dyson is going in the TRASH! Even if this new vacuum only lasts 3 or 4 years, then for the same price as my Dyson, I can by a new vacuum every 4 years and it will be 16 years before I spend the same money!

Labor Day as a Family

It was so nice to sleep in this morning! I think we all rolled out of bed long about 10:30 - which must be some sort of record. The weather turned a bit cold today with a fall storm moving through the area so normal Labor Day activities like going to the river or having a BBQ were out.

We decided have the girls do an outdoor photo shoot in one of the more beautiful areas around. We found some great locations and were able to get some pretty cute pictures of them.

I guess today was the first time I really realized that Haley is no longer a little girl, but has grown into a beautiful young lady. She is quite photogenic and loves to pose for the camera.

Reagan is still my baby and still looks like a little girl, which I hope to keep that way for awhile longer. I am not ready quite yet to have 2 young women.

It was so nice to spend some family time together with Dave around. Tomorrow will be back to work as usual though. The weather is supposed to warm up a bit so we have not officially entered fall... although I can't wait! Fall is by far my most favorite season and there is a distinct feeling and smell in the air when it arrives. I will most certainly post a blog when I feel like it has officially arrived, and will list all of the reasons why I love it!

Thank Goodness School Started

Well last week I had my hardest week yet in my Real Estate Career. I have 3 deals going on all at once, and all 3 of them had major issues. 2 are now done and closed, but I have 1 more that is still a bit tricky, but I hope to have it closed by the end of next week. Thank goodness school started last week so at least I had 1 less thing to worry about.

Reagan absolutely LOVED her first day. She was so happy to start 7th grade (middle school here). She has loved everyday since then too, and has even done her homework without being asked - 2 days in a row!

Haley does not get as excited about school, but was thrilled to have her cousins Seth and Rachael go with her. She can drive this year and since the Volvo has some how seemed to miraculously heal itself (isn't that always the case when you buy a new car the old one is suddenly better), I feel pretty comfortable with her driving her and her cousins to school. They also have open campus so she has been able to leave for lunch too.

My sister finally closed on her house after much fighting with underwriters (man they are buggers these days) and is currently on her way back to Oregon to pick up the rest of their stuff. Her school age kids are here with me until she gets back on Saturday night.

All in all it was quite an eventful summer, but I am so happy that is has come to an end and I can finally get some work done without feeling like I am neglecting my kids. What made it worse was that Dave worked an average of 90 hours a week for the entire summer (starting in mid-may) so I was basically doing it all myself. I know he is glad that work is winding down and I know I certainly am (although I will miss the big fat paychecks) - but it will be great to have him around again!

Does Everyone Think They Can Negotiate EVERYTHING?

What's with people these days? I just don't get it. When you go to the doctor, do you tell him once he has done whatever it is that he is doing, that you want him to take a 50% pay cut? Do you walk into Nordstroms and find a dress you really like and when they ring it up, tell the sales person that you don't want to pay full price for the dress so could they please take whatever they were supposed to get in commission off the price of the dress? NEVER HAPPENS!

So why to me, more often than not lately. Is my driving all over town (with gas at $4 a gallon), the money I spend to keep my real estate license active, cost for continuing education which I am required to take, monthly office fees, and MY TIME, not worth them money I am compensated as a Real Estate Agent? It's not like I close on a house every day of the week with a 5 or 6 thousand dollar commission on each - if that were the case, everyone would be a real estate agent.

But for some reason, the last 2 buyers I have been working with, are asking me to cut my commission to get them a better deal on an already outstanding deal on a home purchase. Now I realize that a home purchase is a huge expense, and everyone wants to get the best deal they can on it. But the reason they found the house in the first place is because a REAL ESTATE AGENT listed it in the multiple listing service, and then a REAL ESTATE AGENT pulled it up and showed it to them.

This whole system of listing and selling homes is set up to bring buyers and sellers together, who otherwise would not have found eachother. That's why sellers pay commission - so that they can get someone to buy their home. Selling agents pay out tons of money to advertise and promote the homes they list. The buyers don't pay ANYTHING.... No up front costs, no hourly rate, no nothing. We drive them around - sometimes to over 100 different homes over a period of MONTHS.

And it doesn't end there! Once a buyer decides on a house, as an agent, we have to research taxes, utilities, the neighborhood, CC&R's, and whatever other specific questions the buyers have about the property, then we have to negotiate a price (that can take days and even weeks), and it doesn't end there. We have to coordinate inspections, appraisals, title work, make sure paperwork is in order and complete, schedule and attend the final walk through, schedule the closing, attend the closing, help get utilities switched over, and that is just what happens on an "easy closing". The list gets 3 times as long if a problem arises.

So for some reason, people think that all of that time and effort is not worth the paycheck that we get once the deal closes. And again, we get paid NOTHING if the deal doesn't close. And that happens - we get all the way to closing, having completed everything on the list, and the deal falls apart..... weeks of work and no paycheck.

So if I can gain anything from this you-know-what-session, it is that anyone who reads it will have a new appreciation for their real estate agent - and NOT ASK THEM TO CUT THEIR COMMISSION.... we have to feed our families too!

Ever Have one of "Those Days"

I feel like I have had "one of those days" for a whole week! Work has been busy, Dave has been gone, Haley is at Youth Conference, and my HOUSE IS A MESS! I can't even seem to catch up. I think the kids go behind me and mess up everything I do. I get home from work every day and do 3 to 4 loads of laundry, the dishes, and pick up the upstairs. I get home the next day and all of that is undone, and I start all over. I can't wait for school to start! At least if I come home when the kids get home from school I can prevent messes before they start! Maybe then I can catch up! I had everything under control at the beginning of the summer. My house was so clean I had to search for other things to clean! I cleaned out drawers, under couches, organized bookshelves and DVD's, steam cleaned the carpets, cleaned out my closet, and even went downstairs (I hate going in the basement - not sure why) and ultra cleaned the whole family room down there(Reagan would have gotten much better grades last year if she had turned in all of the completed homework I found shoved in various corners in the family room). So the count down begins..... Only 2 weeks til school starts and I can get my life back in order!

Teenagers and Feety Pajamas!

So Haley had her friend Taylor spend the night last night. They slept out on the trampoline (or did not sleep I should say) and then woke up early this morning so that I could take them to Smitty's for breakfast. They wore their feety pajamas! To Smitty's! In Public! You should have seen some of the looks we got. 2 teenage girls wearing feety pajamas to breakfast. Pretty funny. The picture was taken with Haley's camera phone so the quality is not that great - Haley has pink feety pajamas with frogs on them and Taylor's are green with dinosaurs. Ridiculous!