We keep reading posts telling us how great things have been happening for people here on Active Rain, and that's really awesome!
Well, my week this week turned out to have been touched by a bit of the great rain of Active Rain, as well!
I received a call from a reporter, Jeff Schlegel from the New York Times, who was working on an article about my own town of Portsmouth New Hampshire. The main thrust of his article was how Portsmouth has been a 'destination area' for many years, and now many of those who have visited the area have since made this great little city their new home after falling in love with Portsmouth on their visits. And he was looking for my help with that!
I asked him at one point how he found me, and he said he found my Active Rain blog when he googled me, and then said he also found me on yahoo as well. OK, now we're talking - I CAN be found through my posts here on Active Rain and Localism!! LOVE IT!!
That article came out today, and really is a great write-up on the Portsmouth NH area. Most of the info I gave him, over the course of multiple phone calls, ended up being used as background info in the article, but I was quoted a couple of times, and I got a free property ad as part of the article, too.
He asked if he could interview one of my clients who might have vacationed here and then bought a home here, making this their new home town. I had the perfect clients for him, as these buyers had done just that a few months back.
And my client was thrilled to be included in this article. They had owned a vacation home/condo in the area, and just really wanted to make Portsmouth their year-round home. It was a great interview, as is conveyed in the article. And they bought a gorgeous waterfront home from me - one to drool over for sure!
My second bit of great rain that happened to me this week was receiving an email from what has turned out to be a newfound relative I didn't know I had! How cool is that??!!?
My cousin, we think we're 4th or 5th cousins but still trying to figure that out, found me through my Active Rain blog. Months ago I had written my first Meme Post, and in that post I mentioned that I am the 6th generation of my family born in Clermont Florida, and how my ancestors were the founders of Clermont. He must have been doing some research online, and that particular post of mine came up.
His email said he'd read in my blog that I was a descendant from the original settlers of Clermont, and he asked if I was related to Herring Hooks. I SURE AM!! And the emails carried on from there. I shared the emails with my mom's sister and my dad, and my mom's sister filled in some of the blanks for us, still some to fill in, but we are definitely related. How great, huh?
So, in addition to all the friends we make here within Active Rain, you just never know what connections you may be making outside Active Rain or who your posts may be touching. This newfound relative and the NY Times reporter finding me are proof of that this week!
My thanks to Active Rain for providing this network and for all the great things that have come our way and are yet to come our way!
UPDATE on 8/25/2007: I just wanted to let everyone know that this article in the NY Times and the ad I got to have with the article has already brought in phone calls from potential buyers, who referenced the article and/or the ad on the waterfront home in Portsmouth. Pretty cool, huh?!!?!
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