Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Mexico!

The countdown is here! 1 month and 3 days from now, my husband and I will have our toes in the sand, sipping a strawberry colada and listening to the waves crash on the Pacific Ocean shoreline. :) Doesn't that just sound like heaven?

We're staying at an all-inclusive resort in Ixtapa, 10 minutes from Zihuatanejo. If you've seen The Shawshank Redemption, you've heard of this city. We'll be spoiled with 8 restaurants and 4 bars for 5 nights. CAN. NOT. WAIT. Check it out: http://www.sunscaperesorts.com/doradopacifico/

We weren't going to vacation at all this year, so a special thanks to our tax return for making this trip possible! After booking the trip this week, we celebrated with margaritas and guacamole. WOO!


It's March 11th and tonight we are supposed to get 8 inches of snow. To say we're ready to get outta here is an understatement!


Monday, March 10, 2014

The Season of Becoming

Wow, it's almost been a month since my last post. Lots has gone on in the past month! I'm finally beginning to feel like I have the swing of my job. I've spent time at Open Houses, knocked on doors (and stuck flyers in storm doors) and done just about everything else I can think of to keep reminding people I'm in Real Estate. The goal is when someone I know is talking to someone they know and somehow "I'm thinking about selling my house" or "I'm thinking it may be time to buy a house"comes up, I'm thought of and recommended.

One thing is for sure - This is a TOUGH business. I totally understand the statistic that 8 of every 10 new agents will drop out in the first year. It's especially tough getting started as the referral base isn't in place yet and there are skeptics who'd rather NOT work with someone they know in one of the most important financial transactions of their lives. I get that. However, I also have 100% confidence in myself and my abilities and encourage anyone who may be cautious to work with a newer agent to trust me. I've picked the #1 office in our area to affiliate with and that comes with a roster of experienced, talented agents who have consistently offered to help in any way they can. We have this flyer at my company - "when you hire one of us, you hire all of us" - I have found that couldn't be more true.

Life has truly changed for me, too. It's taken a 180, actually. I find myself so much happier because I'm able to control my day-to-day. This statement is actually quite an oxy-moron because in a sense, I control what's going on that day... will I run errands? work from home? work in the office? meet a friend for coffee? Of course, the second the phone rings, I switch gears to accommodate a client and his/her schedule. You never know what the day might hold but I DO know I have control over it. Instead of only seeing my house when it's dark outside, I can work in my comfies in the morning or write a blog post from my living room with a cup of coffee at my side. :)

More than anything, I feel so content with the hard decision to leave a stable job at a fantastic company with incredible coworkers to take a HUGE chance, live off of some savings and one salary to ultimately follow my dream. I am blessed with a supportive husband who encourages me every day.

Shauna Niequist writes about being 25 in her book Bittersweet and offers these poignant words:
"Don't get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. Walk away, try something new. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don't lose yourself at happy hour, but don't lose yourself on the corporate ladder either."