License to Sell

It's official, I finally have my Real Estate License and am able to take buyers out.  It's been a long time coming but it's finally happening.  This past weekend I was able to go out with my boss with 3 different buyers to look at 2 different properties (we looked at one twice).  Overall it was great to listen to her interact with the buyers and give her feedback on what she could work on so I know what areas I will need to focus on in the future.

Today we met up with a potential buyer who gave us a verbal offer on a house and my boss presented the offer to the seller and they will entertain the offer if the buyer puts it in writing.  I'm now on the verge of possibly having a contract to write on a house or have buyers to work with if this house is what they are really looking for.

All in all a huge sigh of relief is felt since I now know that I am legal and can really start talking to buyers.  My first open house will be this weekend...Halloween.  Not too sure if that's good or bad but I'll take it!

Winery Trip

It was another very busy weekend.  Saturday started with a little volleyball in Clayton.  Nothing like watching 7th grade volleyball.  Although I didn't get to watch too much of the game as I was entertaining a 4 year old and signing up Scott for the Go St. Louis Halloween 10K.  But Elizabeth's team won their first match of the season Saturday morning so it was a big deal!  Mathew and I managed to get some soccer practice in as well.

I did sign Scott up for the Halloween 10K that was Sunday morning.  After the volleyball game I ran the kids back to their house and they were off to the zoo and I was off to the Augusta wineries for a 30th birthday party bash for people I've never met before.

I met up with Kristin and we then met up with the group and hopped on the party bus and drank and ate and drove out to Augusta.  The drive wasn't that bad, especially since we didn't have to worry about anything.  We stopped at 2 different, Mount Pleasant and Sugar Creek.  Both wineries were packed.  It was a beautiful day in St. Louis and everyone is taking advantage of being outside.  So our hour at each place went super fast.  We even stopped at the biker bar on our drive back.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon...much better than watching Nebraska lose to unranked Texas.



Sunday was race day.  I got up to cheer on Scott and Ellen while they ran the 10K.  Elizabeth and I were able to watch the start of the race and see all the costumes go by and then get a perfect spot for the finish line.  We saw the winner finish the 10K in under 31 minutes!  Here is Ellen about to cross the finish.  We completely missed Scott running past us.

[caption id="attachment_769" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ellen in pink "][/caption]

Here are a couple good pictures of the costumes:

Real Estate Business

It's official, I'm a REALTOR^®!  After many frustrating tries at the National and Missouri Real Estate tests, I've passed and have sent all my information into the the Missouri Real Estate Commission (MREC).

I've started training with my brokerage firm.  I'm back on a schedule.  Monday's are contract training, Tuesday's are office meetings and caravan, Wednesday - Friday is training with our broker-owner and then making calls or meetings.

It is very exciting starting a new career with many possibilities.  I'm starting as a Buyer's Agent with an established agent.  I have so much to learn from her that I'm looking forward to any feedback that I get from her on any project that she has me doing.

Summer in October

This weekend felt like summer.  It was back in the mid 80s Saturday and Sunday and for a while it felt like a San Antonio fall day.  Something that I didn't really care too much about.  However, my weekend really started on Thursday with me finally passing my Missouri Real Estate exam.  This means I am finally done with testing and am almost a licensed Realtor!

I celebrated by meeting up with the Birch's at Benton's soccer game, my second game of the week.  Both games were very intense and close.  One went into OT and then PK's, Crossroads won that game but on Thursday the other team scored late to break the tie and won the game.  Afterwards, I took Mathew to Kindermusik class and Elizabeth tagged along to get some homework done.  After Mathew's music class we went back to the Birch house to watch the Nebraska game!  It was a great win and an even more fun night to watch the game with the kids, even though they are Mizzou fans!



Friday I dropped off my paperwork at the office and was told that my application to get my real estate license was going to be overnighted!  Very exciting news!  I then had the day to enjoy the fact that I didn't have to study any more!  Friday night we BBQ'ed and cooked at home and then went out to see  The Town.  Not a bad little Ben Affleck movie.  I'm always surprised with his directing abilities.

Saturday was another busy day.  Reily and I took a walk at Creve Cour park.  It seems the only time we make it out there is when there is an event going on at the same time.  This past Saturday there was a walk for Diabetes, too bad we showed up a little too late to sign up.  It was already in the mid 70s but 10:30 Saturday morning.  Reily was really wanting to jump in the lake but she settled for getting her paws wet.



After cleaning up we headed to Millstadt, Illinois for some apple picking at Eckerts.  Thankfully we might have missed the rush at Eckerts by going a little later.  Although we did have to wait a while for the tractors to take us out to the apples but it wasn't too bad.  We did have to get some water to stay cool!  We picked some Golden Delicious and Fiji's and now have plenty of apples for pies, cobblers and sauces that I need to make!  After getting our apples we headed to the pumpkin patch.  We then walked around a bit to find the perfect pumpkin out of thousands!  Grabbed our pumpkin and then headed back to the tractor for our ride back to the main farm.  We bought about 15lbs of apples and a 17lb pumpkin while we were there.  Going to Eckerts, any location is a must St. Louis Fall activity.  I remember doing that when I was 3 with my grandma, although it was much cooler when we went.







Sunday was the Columbus Day parade on The Hill.  We decided to get there a little early to get a good seat on the parade route.  Last year we just went to the festivities in Berra Park and missed the parade.  This year we were going to see the parade and skip the park.  I think we made the better decision this year.  We grabbed a bench in front of my cousin's restaurant, Rizzo's Station Pizzeria and waited.  For a while it looked like Debbie, my cousin, wasn't going to be able to open and Scott volunteered to be a waiter if she really needed him.  But her help arrived just in time for the parade to start.  Watching the parade was a lot of fun.  Lots of candy came flying our way and even ran into a friend who I've known since I was 3!





After the parade we headed to the Highlander to watch the Rams game...hoping they were putting up a fight by the time we got there.  However, they looked horrible.  It was an embarrassing loss.  Thankfully there were about 10 other games going on at the same time to distract me from watching the horrible Rams.

It was another great busy weekend and now time for a busy week to start.  Happy Columbus Day!

Let's Go Blues!

It's officially hockey season and I cannot be happier!  It's a great time of year, hockey started, football is in full swing, and it's almost World Series time.

The Blues had their home opener on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers and after leading most of the game the Flyers tied the game to cause OT.   However, Carlo Colaiacovo came through and won the game!  The only down side to this game was the injury to Cam Janssen.  He received a concussion and will be out for 2 weeks.

The second game was on Columbus Day.  The Blues killed the Ducks!  The game was hard hitting and very exciting.  Ryan Reaves was brought up to fill in for Janssen and filled his spot well.  He played hard and even gave the crowd the fight they deserved.  Overall, the Blues played with power and I can't wait to keep watching!

Let's Go Blues!

Fall

I love Fall.  It was the one season I did not get to experience when I lived in Texas.  The leave rarely changed colors down there.  All of a sudden they went from green to brown and on the ground.  Or they never turned green because of the summer heat.  But being back in the Midwest I've been able to really appreciate the Fall foliage.  Just driving down the highway I love seeing the trees going from green, to red, orange, and yellow.  I am amazed that I forgot about that while I was away.  So far here is the only pictures I have...





More will come as the weather keeps changing, gotta love crazy St. Louis weather.  One day it's cold and the next it's back in the high 70s!

Taste of St. Louis

I love going to Taste of St. Louis.  It is so overwhelming to see all the food and restaurants there but then again it is amazing to be able to pick and choose a little of everything.  I made it down to the Taste on Sunday afternoon after the Rams game (a win, the second in a row!) and the Cardinals game (a win and the last of the season).  But amazingly the streets aren't crazy packed like last year. We are able to walk up and down and see all the food booths before deciding what we are going to eat.  After we get to the end of the long row of booths I am starving, the smells of all the great food is overwhelming.  There are really too many options.

I settled with some calamari from Savoy for an appetizer and really I would have gone back there for more of their food options!  Then we went to Mama Campisi's and tried their chicken spedini and it was really lacking flavor.  The sauce was bland but it looked great, guess that's why looks can be deceiving.  My dad's spedini is so much better.    And then lastly I had a pulled pork slider from Edmonds 15 and it was ok.  Kristin did have some great fish tacos from a Mexican place in Old Webster Groves that I would like to try.

After filling up we checked out the art scene on the other side of Soldier's Memorial Park.  They had a lot of local artists, a few new ones that I hadn't seen before and a few that I've seen at other events.  Also, there was a lot of live music this year.  It seemed that every corner had someone performing.  We managed to catch Nikko Smith's act.  I can see why he didn't win American Idol but I was hoping to see Ozzie in the crowd somewhere...



I now can't wait to check it out next year!