I just had to share this story from my AR friend - Teresa Harris-Lake Norman NC Residential Real Estate Broker Teresa and I both are animal and dog lovers! I am praying that the Lord will touch someone's heart that can help these precious puppies. God bless,
Today I received an email from Melissa, a local lady that read one of my blog posts. As most people who subscribe to my blogs know I blog a lot about localism in the Lake Norman and Charlotte areas, about living green, and about pets. I am a firm believer that pets have an innocent way of enhancing our life’s if given a chance.
Melissa had read my, ‘Operation Noah’s Ark’ post which was about the rescue of hundreds of animals in an animal hording case. In fact this post has created more emails and calls than any other that I have written thus far; emails and calls asking who to contact to adopt these animals.
For the past month I have wanted to have a pet of the week or month that needs to be adopted, in hopes of being a link in assisting pets get a second chance.
Today, I was given the sign that now is the time to do my part.
The reason Melissa emailed me today was to find out if ‘Operation Noah’s Ark’ could take on two more dogs that were left at her house. Although, the organization will be contacted, I really doubt that they will be able to take on two more, with the hundreds and hundreds that they have to keep until the case goes to trial ….
Melissa's reason for having to give up these precious pets is because her mother in New York has stage 4 cancer and she is going to have to leave North Carolina by or before Thanksgiving to help care for her. I don't know and I doubt Melissa knows how long she will have to be in New York, but if we could possibly find someone who would be able to foster these two until she gets back to North Carolina may work.
Trust me I know that most all shelters and humane societies are maxed out, but I just can’t help but think that maybe someone in cyberspace is possibility looking for a great pet and will see these pictures and fall in love with them and decide to adopt them.
So Melissa this one is for you ~ my very first Pet Feature goes to Bear and Bella!
Please Meet Bear and Bella
They are sisters, who are beagle mixed, approximately one year old. Since they are sisters and they have been raised together since birth, it is Melissa’s wishes to try and keep them together.
If you are interested in more information about Bear and Bella or if you have a pet that needs a new home that you would like featured please email me or call me at 704-458-1807. Pet Feature is FREE!
About the author:
Teresa Harris is a Lake Norman Residential Real Estate Broker who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in Lake Norman and surrounding counties. Please visit www.TeresaMHarris.com for your relocation and/or your local needs.
The Catawba Valley Camera Club in Hickory NC has been around since 1947 and they are always looking for new members that love photography. They have meetings the first and third Wednesdays from 7 - 9pm in the North Annex of the Arts Center in Hickory (SALT Block). Come and learn from some of the best photographers in the Hickory area.
Right now, they are focused on THE IMAGE*INATION COMPETITION !!
The Catawba Valley Camera Club in conjunction with
The Hickory Museum of Art presents
2nd Annual Photo Competition
OPEN COMPETITION
Non Professional AMATEUR ADULT and YOUTH DIVISIONS
SUBMIT YOUR BEST PHOTOGRAPHS ENTRY FEE - $10.00 UP TO 2 ENTRIES
CASH PRIZES Plus one-year membership to the Hickory Museum of Art and Catawba Valley Camera Club
HURRY !! The last entry date is Saturday, November 15th, 2008
The Catawba Valley Camera Club meets on the first and third Wednesdays of each month in the North Annex of the Arts Center in Hickory. Meetings consist of competition among members as well as instructional lectures. Field trips are planned throughout the year to enable members to share and demonstrate techniques as well as spend time enjoying photography together.
We would like to invite anyone with an interest in photography to join us at our meetings and on our field trips. We would like the opportunity to share our knowledge with you as well as the chance to learn from you. Membership is not required to attend meetings or participate in field trip activities. Membership is required to participate in club competitions.
Membership dues are $35.00 per year ($15.00 for students). Anyone interested can attend our regular meetings at the Arts Center or contact the following for additional information:
Ed Lane: 322-6226 (Office) 322-8675 (Home) John Setzler, Jr.: 234-3557
Active Rain is full of "hidden" talent and I mean true artistic talent ! Sure, AR has lots of talented people but I have been so impressed with the artists that I have found here.
I KNOW there are many more! PLEASE pass this along and SHARE your art or artistic Active Rain friends here in the comments!! Let's discover all the great art here in the Rain !! Show us your ARTWORK !!
I'd like to introduce you to my friend and Smoky Mountain lover, Sandy Sgrillo. Sandy owns Smoky Mountain Llama Treks near Pigeon Forge TN. Her company does hiking treks all over the Smokies with her professionally trained pack-llamas. They are easy to lead(not ride) and make for a fun time with family and friends.
Sandy went hiking this past Sunday and shared with us this great fall color report from the beautifulSmoky Mountains. She gladly agreeed to let me share it with you! Thanks Sandy!
Hiked up to the Mt Cammerer Lookout Fire Tower today(this restored 1930's fire tower is the last of it's kind in the Smokies)....was DROP DEAD GORGEOUS! If I die tomorrow, it will be OK, because today I was half-way to heaven......
Took Low Gap up to the Appalachian Trail(a constant 5 miles UPHILL...just about killed me)....colors at the top were unbelievable! They're peaking up there now......
At the Tower, it was extremely windy and chilly, upper 50's, but just beautiful. We had lunch inside and spent time walking the catwalk...
Hey locals....if you can, get up there in the next few weeks or you'll miss out!! And for you out of staters...get your butts up here!!!! Im so lucky to live here.
Enjoy the pics! Smoky Mountain Photos by Sandy Sgrillo
Folks, hurry make your plans to get to the Smokies soon before all the beautiful fall color is gone - but of course - after that everything is a lot quieter, less traffic, etc!
We have a new service in Hickory and I have been meaning to share it with you for a while. Thanks to a friend of ours named Sarah, I was reminded today by her email. She recently used the new "Hickory Hop" and was thrilled with their service..
You see, the "Hickory Hop" is a new shuttle service here in Hickory NC providing a ride to the Charlotte Douglas Airport 6 times a day, 7 days a week. What could be better than a stress free ride to the Charlotte Airport.. No parking, no hassles, no GAS!
"Hickory Hop" will even deliver you to a hotel or your home in Hickory for a small additional fee. Their vans are the cutest with the bunny tail on the back!
Gee, I wonder if they might haul furniture for me to my next home staging job/?? Now that's a thought....
Here's my friend's glowing review of the "Hop".
My sister and I recently used The Hickory "HOP" when we went to Montana and found our experience to be such a good one we want to share it with our friends and family for your consideration the next time you fly out of Charlotte.
The Hickory "HOP" is a shuttle service from the Hickory Airport to Charlotte. "Why drive when you can HOP?" "Save money" "Save the driving aggravation. Eliminates the need to find parking at Charlotte Douglas Airport." "Van Pool and Go Green with the Hop!"
Family Discounts Accompanied children 12 and under ride free! Accompanied children under 18 1/2 price! They have 6 scheduled times daily! 7 days a week
As Professional Home Stagers, we do try to be as environmentally friendly or "green" as possible. In fact, Stagers always try to work with furnishings and accessories that the client already owns thus reducing waste.
Today, I discovered another "green" product called Milk Paint. This is a product that we can use and recommend to our staging clients when they need rooms painted. According to the website, Milk Paint is an organic paint, non-toxic and zero VOCs. It even claims to be self-priming, providing a flat, consistent finish. It comes in dry form and does need to be mixed with water.
There's a great testimonial page with comments about the product from people that have allergies, pregnant, etc. They all were extremely pleased.
If anyone has tried this product, I would love to hear from you. Check out all the information at the Milk Paint website.
Did any of you ever dream of going to Oz or the Emerald City when you were a kid? Watching The Wizard Of Oz movie was a much anticipated event when I was a kid. You know, we didn't have Pay Per View, or DVDs, Tivo or even VCRs back then. We waited for the yearly TV viewing of Judy Garland off to see The Wizard......NO, I am really NOT that OLD! ;-)
I had the privilege last weekend of experiencing a little "taste" of this very special place - at least a replica of it.Beech Mountain, NC hosts "Autumn At Oz" each year the first weekend of October.
The Land of Oz was a small theme park from 1970-1980 and many children and families visited the Oz characters. It closed and over the years was vandalized and went down hill. Thankfully, a group of people started working to recover any of the items that were taken from the park. They have even asked for donations of yellow bricks that were removed.
In 1993, after much refurbishing, The Land of Oz is open for this one weekend in October. Of course, it will never be what it once was but it's still magical.
For many years, some of the original characters have come, even some of the original munchkins! They have all the characters dressed up and encourage all the visitors to dress in Ozzy wear.... and that they do! Check out these visitors! Oz fans take this very seriously!!
LOTS of little Dorothys, Lions, Glindas and witches visiting the Oz on top of Beech Mountain.
It was a beautiful day in the 70s, perfect weather to walk the yellow brick road and meet Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, Auntie Em, the Wizard, the Wicked Witch, Glinda-The Good Witch and lots more. Great photo ops!
Our group with the Tin Man !
Each year, since we bought property at Beech Mountain NC four years ago, we had hoped to get to Autumn at Oz....FINALLY, we made it this year and enjoyed it thorougly!!
Today, I found a blog post written by my dear friend - Elizabeth Nieves. Amazingly, it was written one year ago but I could not believe how desparately we NEED it today! I posted a comment that I would love to reblog this and she gladly updated the post to allow it. Bless you, Elizabeth! Times are tough, finances are uncertain, nothing seems to make sense YET GOD is still in control. HE knows what we are facing so our FAITH must stand in HIM.... not the banks, the stock market or anything else! Matthew 6:33 - Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.
Some years ago, I came across an old, battered copy of Corrie Ten Boom's book, The Hiding Place. Within moments of opening the book, I was lost in its yellowed pages and Corrie's memories of being imprisoned in brutal concentration camps in The Netherlands and Germany.
In The Hiding Place, Corrie tells of a time when she and her sister Betsie were in particularly horrific conditions, and Betsie was very ill. Corrie had a little bottle of medicine that Betsie desperately needed. Carefully concealing her possession of the contraband medicine, Corrie would ration the medicine to Betsie a little each day. The bottle was dark, but Corrie could feel that the bottle was almost empty.
Corrie tells that there were many other sick women around them...hundreds, in fact, who were just as sick as Betsie. At first, Corrie wanted to keep the medicine just for Betsie...out of fear that it would run out and Betsie would die. Then, Betsie told Corrie that they needed to share...that God would perform a miracle...just as He had done for Elijah and the widow of Zarephath in the Old Testament. God used Betsie to show Corrie that she needed to trust God, and she made a choice to share the medicine with all of those who needed it.
Everyday, for weeks, Corrie would go from one person to the next giving out the precious drops of medicine. Each time she would turn the bottle up, another drop would appear. Each day, she was sure that the medicine would run out. Yet, there would always be another drop. One day, a female guard, who was sympathetic to the women, smuggled in some vitamins. On that very same day, Corrie turned the bottle, and it was dry.
In 1 Kings 17, we find the story that inspired Betsie and Corrie to trust God. Israel was suffering from a drought. During the drought, God sent the prophet Elijah to the brook Cherith. Elijah drank from the brook and the ravens fed him there twice each day. After a period of time, the brook dried up, and God told Elijah it was time to move on. Then the word of the Lord came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." So...Elijah got up and left.
When he arrived at the gates of Zarephath, he saw a widow there gathering sticks. Somehow, he knew she was the widow of which God had spoke. He asked her, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" The widow explained her situation to Elijah: that she lived in extreme poverty, that she had only enough flour and oil for one last meal, that she and her son were going to eat that last meal and then die. Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.'" She went away and did as Elijah had told her. And, just as God had promised, the flour and oil did not run out until the drought was over.
For many of us who are a part of the real estate industry, we are experiencing a period of drought. It has not rained in many months, and the brook has dried up. Many real estate professionals are leaving the industry out of fear and necessity. For those of us who have decided to 'stick it out', I want to offer this thought...
Just as Corrie shared her precious drops of medicine, and the widow shared her last handful of flour and last drops of oil...we should be looking around us and sharing with those who are less fortunate than we. When I was a child, my mother would tell me over and over...'No matter how little we have, there is always someone who has less. So, that means that we must always share what we have, because we could be so much worse off.' Her words have stuck with me my whole life. I credit her for teaching me that I have a responsibility to the world around me. Her faith in action taught me to also have faith. In fact, I'm absolutely certain...that IF the Bible were being written today...my mother would be listed as a woman of great faith.
Faith inspires faith. These women...Corrie Ten Boom, The Widow of Zarephath and my precious mother...these simple, quiet women...have inspired and challenged me in ways they never could have imagined. They inspired me to share what I have, whether I have much or little. They inspired me to believe, even when I cannot see. They inspired me to trust that I will gain more by giving than by hoarding. They inspired me to live for others...not only for myself. They inspired me to want to inspire you.
The drought will end someday. Until then...have faith!
Written and Posted by:
Elizabeth Nieves - Broker, REALTOR®
The Elizabeth Nieves Realty Group @ Keller Williams (A Bilingual Real Estate Team serving Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill NC and surrounding areas.)
On Friday, we left Beech Mountain and drove down to Boone NC as a light rain fell. As we headed to the parking area on Hwy 421 to be picked up by our guides, Brandon still thought he was going rafting. When the Pinzgauer 6-wheel drive Swiss Army transport pulled up with "SCREAM TIME ZIPLINE" emblazoned on the side, I thought that he finally "got" it but later he told me when he did really get it.
As the rain continued to fall, we loaded into the vehicle with another family and headed to the Zipline location.
When we arrived at the Scream Time Zipline barn, we stepped out to see beautiful mountain scenery with cows lazily grazing in the rain. You could barely see the cable lines criss-crossing the mountain above us. WHAT A Gorgeous location - I LOVE the mountains!
Our guides helped us get suited up with harnesses, helmuts, etc. THEN, we piled back into the Army transport and pulled up a very step hill/mountain to the first of 6 ziplines! Wow, this is when Brandon finally realized the SURPRISE, he was thrilled !!
<< Brandon and Roger by the ZipMobile!
I was getting excited also, at first I thought that I would just do photos but after chatting by phone with Monie McCoury, owner of the Zipline, I changed my mind. He told me that a 90 year old lady zipped, loved it and brought back friends... GEE, if she can do it, SO CAN I !!
So, Brandon and I started our birthday adventure with my hubby, Roger to cheer us on! At the top of the mountain, we gathered at the first line with the other family. Something was said about the lady in the other group celebrating her 50th birthday and we could not believe that there were 3 of us there celebrating a birthday on September 26th!! We truly enjoyed our day with the Bridge family from the Raleigh/Durham area. Cathy Bridge had a zippin' birthday also, and we sure enjoyed sharing it with you guys!!
The Bridge Family at the Zipline >>>>>>
Brandon, Me and Roger - a little soggy in the rain but I still LOVED IT. We zipped back and forth with the 5th line going through the trees, very cool. I felt like Jane in the jungle!! I am looking forward to going back when it's not raining! Wow, one of the best birthdays I can remember!!
Since it was so rainy, I did not get as many photos or video as I would have liked. My camera is not waterproof. I hope to put up a video of Brandon zipping as soon as I load it to YouTube-I couldn't seem to load it directly from my PC. (anyone know?I might need help)
Thank you Lord and thank all of you guys for sharing our birthday.
Video of Brandon's first Zip on his 15th Birthday at Scream Time Zipline in Boone NC
Elizabeth Nieves, one of my special AR friends kindly passed the friendship ball to me on Sept 27 and guess what I found in my Google Alerts on Sept 27 ! Pretty cool !
Now, my job is to pass along the ball to two other people.... Ok, this is really tough! Drum Rolllllll pleassseee ! I have chosen my AR friend - Cheryl Willis - Real Estate Professional-Mt Vernon MO, Elaine Manes-Lakewood Colorado-Home Stager and Teresa Harris-Real Estate Broker,Denver/Lake Norman NC (I cheated and chose three).
Cheryl Willis is a Real Estate Broker in Missouri. She not only started a fantastic AR group called - AR My Name Is Cheryl, she also recently won the AR Unique Marketing Contest. Cheryl is truly one of a kind! I was the first to join her group and we have spoken on the phone several times. She is such a caring person. hardworking and she can make a mean quilt also! She keeps promising to visit NC hopefully soon!
Teresa Harris is a real estate broker just down the road from me.She lives and works in the lovely Denver/Lake Norman area of North Carolina just outside of Charlotte. Teresa works hard for her clients and has a soft spot for animals. We have chatted via AR for a good while now and plan to have lunch as soon as gas is not so scarce!
So, ladies here's the Friendship Ball for you to pass along !!
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of talented people but I have been so impressed with the artists that I have found here. 
Took Low Gap up to the Appalachian Trail(a constant 5 miles UPHILL...just about killed me)....colors at the top were unbelievable! They're peaking up there now......
According to the website, Milk Paint is an organic paint, non-toxic and zero VOCs. It even claims to be self-priming, providing a flat, consistent finish. It comes in dry form and does need to be mixed with water.
Of Oz movie was a much anticipated event when I was a kid. You know, we didn't have Pay Per View, or DVDs, Tivo or even VCRs back then. We waited for the yearly TV viewing of Judy Garland off to see The Wizard......NO, I am really NOT that OLD! ;-)
;)
;)
