Dinner with friends

Funny how easy it is to forget to write about fun stuff in your blog! Over the 4th Rick and I went to visit his sister and brother in law in Wisconsin. We had a fantastic time! Although flying has lost it's glamor, once we actually arrived at the Appleton, WI airport we had tons of fun. Ricks sister, Dawn, and her husband Mike, are very fun, kind, cool people. We spent a night in their beautiful Victorian farm house, then headed to their lake house for the remainder of our stay. It worked out great since Rick's mom, brother, sister in-law and their two kids stayed on the farm.

Being back in the midwest was refreshing in many ways. Back "home" if you will. That and the temps were in the mid 70's compared to our 100+ degree days!

So tonight Rick and I had our friends Woody and Martin over for dinner. BBQ'd chicken breasts on the grill, summer squash and zucchini with asiago cheese and a great salad with Claire's famous dressing. YUM.

Neither Woody nor Martin had played any of the new gaming systems....Rick and I have way too many toys so we shared. We started with a few games of guitar hero on the PS3, then moved to mariocart on the wii. Good times.

Baby Grady is crashed out on the couch next to me as Rick and Woody are playing mario cart...check out the cute pics.... ;)

Fun conversations...

Recently I had the opportunity to reconnect with someone from my home town. Diane, the mother of a friend I used to work a the local health center with, is perhaps the top real estate agent in Boone, IA where I grew up.

As my parents and are are discussing (negotiating? debating?) their potential move to Austin, we're at the point where we need a good idea of what they can get for their house. Like many people, this is their largest asset, and it is scary for them to consider selling it.

So after talking with a few friends in the area I decided Diane was the best person to call. She and I had a fantastic conversation, it was very cool to reconnect and learn just a bit about what's been going on with her for the past 10 years since I left Iowa.

Here's my challenge to you: think about someone from your past, and give them a call. You'll enjoy the outcome!

Why we do what we do...

Do you find yourself thinking....WHY did I do that? Or repeating something that you've done over and over...maybe in a job or a relationship? Ever wonder why you do what you do?

Click on the title above to hear a great talk by Tony Robbins. It'll make you think.....

A trip to the lake....

Grady and I just got back from a short 2 day trip to our condo on Canyon Lake. It's always great to get out of town for a while!

Traditionally, we have a frozen stuffed crust pizza and a salad on our first night, then eat the cold pizza in the morning for leftovers. To spice things up a bit, I made a banana shake and we sat on the balcony and watched the sun set - the photo above is from about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 19, 2008. Very pretty and relaxing.

Grady went in to San Marcos and spent the day at the spa. He always comes back looking so cute. I had lunch with an old friend of mine at a San Marcos favorite - Herberts Taco Hut.

I made the obligatory trip to the outlet mall and went by Tommy Bahama's store. "Buy 5 items and get 50% off your entire purchase!" the employees shouted as people walked in. Normally I can't find 5 things I'd want to pay Tommy Bahama prices for...but on this trip I was able to get 4 fantastic panel back shirts and a great pair of shorts.

Today I'm back at the office wrapping up some loose ends and looking at next months marketing. I've also been spending a few brain waves thinking about really kicking it in on the Systemized Touchpoints business and potentially picking up a tanning salon in San Marcos. We'll see...I need to sell some more houses first!

That said, when you're talking to your friends and loved ones and they mention they're looking for a home, think of me first and put us in touch with one another!

Prioritizing....

Do you remember the first time you thought how great it was to be able to do multiple things at once - or multi-task? I remember being in college thinking I was a hot-shot because I could "multi-task" - when being intereviewed for campus leadership positions it was a huge buzz word - one I used and one I heard.

My coach Scott Gordon and I have had a few conversations about this whole multi-tasking stuff. Joe Stumpf, likely the best real estate trainer in the country, also has a lot to say about multi-tasking. The main point...it's really not good. When we've got a bunch of stuff on our plate and we're trying to do a little on one project and a little on the other projects, it leads to poor quality and slower results.

So what should we do? Prioritize. What's the most important thing to accomplish RIGHT NOW - the highest and best use of your time and brain waves. Sometimes I have a really hard time figuring that out. When it is choose between activity A and activity B, it's easy. When I have a list of 12 things - it's not quite that easy.

The other day Scott shared a great tool with me - the Prioritizer.

http://prioritizer.idea-sandbox.com/

Click on the link or put the URL above in your browser, then put in your list of activities or chores. Click next. You'll go through several questions, and end up with a prioritized list.

Cool stuff. I hope it's as helpful to you as it has been to me.

Lake Conroe

It has been a few years since I've spent the day on the lake....man do I miss it. Rick and I went to Spring, TX to visit one of his patients, who has a boat on Lake Conroe. We drove up Saturday, hit the lake about 3 and stayed until about 7:30.

While we were driving around I noticed some buildings that looked like Silverleaf Resorts Presidential units....we drove over and sure enough, there was Silverleaf's Piney Shores resort. Hopefully next time we go we'll stay at the resort and have a little more lake time, with an easy retreat from the sun to re-energize.

We arrived back in Austin around 1 today....one of the things I had forgotten was how much energy the lake/sun can suck out of you. Now that I've had my three hour nap, vacuumed and dusted, folded laundry and run the dishwasher....it's time to think about dinner.

Cheddars? Red Lobster? Chili's? Applebees? I really want a cheap nasty buffet but Rick is a weenie and won't go to any with me.....so if any of you reading are up for a buffet visit - let me know...mexican, chinese, american, doesn't matter...LET'S EAT.

Which reminds me of a book I want to check out, called The Cardio Free Diet. I'll let you know if I actually read it... ;)

Meet the parents.....

Many of you know I moved here in 1999 to get someplace where it doesn't snow. At the time I had several job offers, the Texas State offer was the only one that would get me away from snow. And I chuckled when people told me that when it does snow here, everything else stops. That's actually pretty cool inmy opinion....

The biggest concern I had about moving to Texas was leaving my family. I knew I'd mostly miss my mom and dad, but I also have aunts and uncles and cousins and neices and nephews and brothers and sisters there. Times were going to be different for sure but I figured part of "becoming a man" included making things work on my own.

Now I'm working on trying to convince my parents to move here. Mom is having her second knee replaced in July, and would be down here right now if she could. Dad is just plain old getting old, and really doesn't need the commitment of a house and yard to take care of. While mom is ready to go now, dad isn't quite so sure. Yesterday he told me that he's lived in IA for 70+ years and he wasn't sure he could make that big of change. Honestly that would be kinda scarey. But I reminded him of all the places that are just a few blocks from the house they'd be living in - that seemed to help some. Then I told him I'd give him my TomTom so he could push "home" wherever he was and it would bring him back home.

Thinking of having my parents close again is kind of exciting. When Rick and I move to our new house we'll have the place we're currently in available for them. I like knowing that they will be here - we can have dinner once or twice a week, go to some of the fun activities that Austin has to offer, have family holidays without airfare, etc. Should be fun. Now....help me out.....mentally focus on my dad agreeing to sell everything he owns and leave everything he knows... ;)

Exciting News

Yes, I admit it, I am an education junkie. I love to learn stuff. All kinds of stuff. I also like to share stuff I know with others, and learn from them.

One of my very favorite past experiences was teaching University Seminar and Educational Psychology at Texas State University. I consistently received extremely high evaluations, and always had a great time. I loved it when I walked in to a class of students annoyed because they were "forced" to take a "stupid class" and after a few class sessions, they were having a great time and getting some real value from the course.

This week, I received approval from the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) to teach Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) courses. At the end of this month I'll attend a full day workshop at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M in College Station. Once complete, I will be authorized to teach Legal and Ethics courses for both new and experienced agents.

I'm pretty stoked about this....I love to teach, I love to meet people, I love to learn from people, and I enjoy spending time making a difference.

Once the course at A&M is complete, I'll be working on approval for additional courses....marketing, business building, agency, contracts, principals, etc. Then, I'll be working toward certification from the Texas Association of REALTORS® to teach the GRI series and Quickstart. Very exciting times!

Look for me in a classroom near you!

What happened to April!?!?!?

Funny isn't it....it's now May 2! Is time speeding up?

So you've got to check out the new Cheddars in South Austin. It's good. The people there smile. If they goof, they make it right. Very nice.

Today I was in San Marcos, showing properties. It's really quite amazing how much the area has changed in the past few years. When I first moved here in 1999 there was a distinct gap between Austin, Buda, Kyle and San Marcos. Today, there's barely any way to tell that you're "in between" towns is when you run into the sign that you're entering the next town. Wild, huh?

The Blogoal (Blog Goal - fancy huh!) for May is at least one entry a week. Watch for'em!

what happened to March?

You know this blogging thing is kind of like working out for me. I like the blog, and I like to share information and stories with people.... and I'll do it and enjoy it ...then take a "small break"....much like I do with my exercise program.

Sometimes the small breaks are a little larger than I really want them to be. What can I say?

As the great Scott Gordon says - progress not perfection. So here we go...back on track!

Last week I spent a few days in Dallas, Texas at the Hyatt Regency - the one with the big lighted ball next to it. It was my second "Main Event" conference as a part of the By Referral Only network. The three day conference was great - time to catch up with folks I met last year in San Diego, time to evaluate where I'm at and where I want to go, and time to be thankful for where I am today.

So, watch the blog...it is my intention to have more regular news, more information about Austin and why I love living here, and more information about why I'm one of the happiest guys I know. And yes, I'll continue to have some interesting real estate related information.

One last updat - today was the 4th Annual Crawfish Boil, hosted by my friends Blanca and Tres....and what a fantastic day for an outdoor gathering. As always, fun was had by all. Thanks to everyone there for the laughs, and a special thank you to Blanca and Tres for coordinating the festivities.