Two years ago today, I tripped over Active Rain.

I started off by looking around the place, and stumbled across some puzzling posts.

I'm going to sell me a house!!!!  by Broker Bryant caught my attention, and then, of course, I clicked the link to, um, just what is a TLW?  And I discovered How About A Little Patsy Cline With That Whine...Roar!

Is this site for real?  Is there any serious real estate talk on Active Rain?  Well, yes.  And before I continue, I must admit that I have learned so much from Broker Bryants serious posts, especially on short sales.  But I digress.

Next I found Lenn Harly's REAL ESTATE IN LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA IS A BUYERS' MARKET,  Then I read one of her featured posts (at the time, I didn't quite understand the significance of the coveted gold star at the bottom of the post) EVERY DOG GET'S ONE BITE - Buyers and Sellers Often Learn the Hard Way and quickly decided that there were, indeed, some "serious" bloggers here.

So after looking around a bit more, I joined and wrote my first post, The Joys of Home Ownership, where I met Margaret Woda in the comments section.  Then, a few hours later, I posted Condo Envy, about a friend and neighbor who was living in a glamorous condo rental near Logan Circle while her house was being restored after a devastating fire.  And it got ZERO COMMENTS!  Still today, ZERO!  If you want to score points with Pat you can click the link and leave a comment.  Any comment will do!

A lot of the time, I felt like I was writing for myself and my dog, Willie the Labradoodle!  It took until late August to finally get a real feature on a post called New Construction and Earnest Money,  I'd been showing a lot of new homes, some still expensive holes in the ground, to some favorite clients, and I started getting nervous about a feeling that the market was about to undergo a huge shift.

Over the next few weeks and months, I discovered some bloggers who have become wonderful friends.  I remember our first meet up with Margaret Woda, Brian Block, Cindy Jones and me in Arlington.  And I liked these people as much as I liked their posts!  Since then, there have been bunches of face to face meetings, parties, Inman, RE Bar Camps, NAR gatherings and basically any excuse to get together with bloggers!

And during the two years I've been blogging, I've learned so much from my colleagues!  If I had to do a short sale, I think I could after reading about the subject right here.  It's also been great for my business, not only by helping me adopt better practices, but also from the network of excellent agents all over the country where I can sent and receive referrals.  And my writing is getting better - and writing skills are so important to our business!

So, I'm totally addicted to this place!  And I'm looking forward to continued fun and learning!