heather crawford realtor: The Summer That Never Was
- 08/17/10 04:41 PM
I never thought I'd be complaining about how cool the weather is. Normally where I live, in Southern California, it is at least 95 degrees right now, and things are warming up as we head into "Fire Season". Last year at this time we were cleaning ash off of our cars as the numerous brush fires were going strong. Not so this year. I even had to apologize to one of our foreign exchange students about the unusual cloud cover every morning. What we call "June Gloom" had leaked over to July, and even to August. The trips planned to the beach … (8 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Last Train To Niceville
- 07/21/10 02:48 AM
I was busy doing the mom/realtor thing the other day when I stopped to check one of my social media sites. To my horror, a couple who I had been helping search for homes on an informal basis had posted the following update: "We are excited to put our house up for sale as we have put a bid in on another!". WHAM! Right between the eyes! I couldn't believe it. I was in denial. The last time I had talked with them they were going to stay put for a while, then possibly start looking again in the Fall. But this … (7 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Slow Is As Slow Does
- 07/06/10 01:45 PM
Do you remember that movie "Forrest Gump"? How slow and deliberate Forrest was in everything he did? I had a chance for that this past holiday weekend when my husband and I drove up north to visit his parents. I'm not good with long drives (this one was 7 hours), so I kept myself busy by surfing the internet, completing some RE stuff, and chatting with a relative for about 2 hours. The next thing I know, I'm there! Then I have to start over again and try and unwind. We were in a small town in California's Gold Rush country, … (6 comments)
heather crawford realtor: The Bird's The Word
- 06/22/10 05:05 PM
I was stuck in traffic the other day, driving back from showing some houses to a nice couple and their daughter. It was kind of cool, so I had my window cracked a bit, and heard it before I saw it. A loud screech and then a seagull swooped down and almost hit my windshield! Well, I slammed on my brakes and then realized that I had other cars following close behind me. They slammed on their brakes also, and I could see one of them waving at me, but not using all of their fingers. The light ahead had turned … (6 comments)
heather crawford realtor: WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!
- 06/01/10 03:23 AM
I was reading in the newspaper the other day about a couple that lives in a neighboring city who won $233 million in the lottery. First I was jealous of their good fortune, then I started thinking about all the stories about prior winners who later wished they had never won. What's wrong with this picture? My husband told me a story of a good friend from his high school days who won the lottery. There were 3 sons in the family, and the mom would buy three lotto tickets each week and hand them out. My husband's friend was a … (7 comments)
heather crawford realtor: We do not know what we ought to pray for...
- 05/14/10 07:49 AM
Bear with me as I share an amazing passage from a small little devotional I have found to be such a source of encouragement and thought it worthy of passing on... Often it is simply the answers to our prayers that cause many of the difficulties in the Christian life. We pray for patience, and our Father sends demanding people our way who test us to the limit, "because... suffering produces perseverance" (Rom 5:3) We pray for a submissive spirit, and God sends suffering again, for we learn to be obedient in the same way Christ "learned obedience from what he suffered" (Heb.5:8). We … (2 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Lost In Translation
- 04/09/10 05:02 PM
Now that we're assured of living in our house for at least the next 6 years after our loan mod came through, we took a step of faith and signed up to host foreign exchange students. There is a program at the local college where students from all over the world come to our city to learn how to speak English better, and become "immersed" in American culture (which can be scary!). So Elaine arrived last Saturday from Seoul, Korea for her 3 month stay. Sweet girl, speaks some English already, and can write some too. It's her first time in … (9 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Faith Like A Tree Trimmer
- 03/15/10 03:34 PM
Since my last post when I shared our success at getting a loan modification, some plans have changed. Instead of figuring out where to move when we sold our house, now my husband and I are going to have a foreign exchange student stay in one of the spare bedrooms upstairs. The program is through Whittier College, and since we live about 2 blocks away, the person running the program was very excited to have us on board. So while we are waiting for our first boarder, there are a few things around the house that we decided to do, since … (1 comments)
heather crawford realtor: One Step Closer
- 02/26/10 04:19 AM
Wow! It really happened! We were approved for our loan modification. After my husband was laid off almost a year ago, we've been trying to stay in our house and work out a lower mortgage payment. It's been a long, tedious, stressful process, but finally VICTORY! Does going through the process make us an expert? I don't know, but if you need any advice, e-mail me. Our loan rate has been modified to 3.2% for 2 years, then after that it raises up 1 percent for the next two years. After that, we don't care! We are just happy to be … (7 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Can't Wait For Spring To Be Sprung!
- 02/22/10 03:16 AM
Hello Everyone - Long Time/No Post. I can't claim being overwhelming busy, but I can claim being busy with life. It looks like most of the rainstorms here in Southern California are over, and the hillsides are green and the weeds are high. My husband and I are always talking about moving to a less-populated place, somewhere where we can get out of the fast-paced world of what is our life. We also realized that the main culprit in our dilemma is.................US! We buy into the world around us and let it affect our way of life and well-being. You know … (4 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Underdog Flies Again!
- 02/08/10 01:25 PM
We had a Super Bowl get-together yesterday in our basement. I've got one of the few basements here in Southern California, so it's kind of an oddity. They sure knew how to build them in 1910! So where was I? Oh yeah, the Super Bowl. All but four of the attendees were rooting for the Saints. And of course we heaped it on plenty at the end of the game. I think most all of us root for the underdog at some point in our lives. It's just a natural reaction when the perennial loser finally pulls off an upset. After … (2 comments)
heather crawford realtor: What Matters Most
- 01/25/10 09:43 AM
It's been a while since I had the chance to post a blog - I apologize. Life got in the way. It has a funny way of doing that. My husband and I have been busy ever since the earthquake hit Haiti. He leads a disaster relief ministry at our church, and has been attending meetings and sending out/answering e-mails on a constant basis. Our little troubles pale in comparison to what has happened there. A few days after the quake, our relief team was able to get a group of 8 men into Haiti via the Dominican Republic. They visited Port-au-Prince … (6 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Somebody Up There Likes Me
- 01/05/10 08:10 AM
First of all, happy new year to all of you! I think we all are looking forward to a better decade than the last one. There is some good news on the home front - we finally have a "negotiator" assigned to our case, and hope to hear something from her soon. The listing expired on our house, and we decided not to relist quite yet (plus we want to see how many expired packages we get!). Out of the 50-60 applications that Scott has filled out, he finally had a call and will go in for an interview!!!! After nine … (4 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Here's Looking At You, Kid
- 12/28/09 06:10 AM
I just got over Christmas and now New Year's is heading straight at me! As most of you know, 2009 is a year I'd rather forget. Scott was laid off, I switched offices, we are still trying to sell our house and we are in the middle of an attempted loan modification. For the first time ever, I won't be able to make this month's house payment. Our once stellar credit rating will no doubt take a huge hit, which will pretty much mess up any future home purchases or even renting or leasing a place. There are always bright spots … (8 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Another Dog Day
- 12/18/09 02:14 AM
Okay, here's another "walking the dog revelation". First of all, you gotta rent this movie called "Door To Door" with William H. Macy. Saw it last night and I guarantee that whatever you are going through, watching this will give you hope. Okay, back to the story. Got up earlier than usual this morning to walk Annie, so it was still dark when we started. About halfway through the route the sun started to rise. There's some clouds in the sky (unknown what kind, but not cumulus. Maybe stratus?), and at one point the combination of just the right amount of sun … (3 comments)
heather crawford realtor: There's Still Life Here!
- 12/09/09 03:11 AM
I was on my morning walk with my yellow lab "Annie", complaining to myself about how cold it was. It was 42 degrees, and I was bundled up like Randy in "A Christmas Story". I know that in other parts of the country 42 degrees would be a heat wave, but here in Southern California, that's cold! Walking my usual route, I noticed all of the leaves on the front yards of the houses that I passed. I love that sight, and it really brings home to me the cycles of life in nature and in our own. We start off … (4 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Life Goes On
- 12/02/09 08:13 AM
What a crazy year it's been for us! From 2 incomes to 1 (sometimes it seems like 1/2!), from living in our "dream home" to putting up that home for sale, from having an idea of what we were supposed to do to having NO IDEA what God is doing..................I could go on and on and, well, you get the picture. It is often said that "the best-laid plains of mice and men go astray", or something like that. So, do we plan or do we just "go with the flow"? I've often heard that God has a specific day-by-day plan … (3 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Everyone's A Winner
- 11/19/09 05:38 AM
Two nights ago my daughter's high school volleyball team traveled about 45 miles to play in a playoff game. We had beat this team last year in the playoffs, but just barely. This year they were "gunning" for us. Their coach told them at the beginning of the year that their only goals was to beat us this time and send us home losers. Our team was more mature than last year, and it showed. The girls played smart and didn't get rattled. The result was that our girls were victorious, sweeping the other team 3 straight games. As parents and … (1 comments)
heather crawford realtor: Thanks For Nothing?
- 11/12/09 08:12 AM
Hi again - This is Scott. Heather is busy doing her "real estate thing" while I hide out in the computer room at her office. We attended an awesome office seminar this morning on "Best Year Yet - Planning For 2010". The office manager here is very good at motivating the crew, and he is constantly coming up with great tools to offer to us. God offers great "tools" also. Like prayer,faith, hope, fellowship and of course His Word. Yet these are tools that I often forget to use. When my world seems to be coming apart, I either panic or … (3 comments)
heather crawford realtor: The Happiest Place On Earth?
- 11/04/09 06:47 AM
Hi, this is Scott. Heather and I decided that we need at least one dedicated day off a week, so this past Monday was it. So to truly try and "get away from it all", we decided that Disneyland was the place to go. We arrived at about 10:30 a.m., and were met by a long, long line of cars waiting to pay their $14 to park. I looked at Heather and asked, "Why aren't all of these people at work today? And look, there are school-age kids here too! Their parents should be arrested for keeping them from school!" I … (5 comments)
I never thought I'd be complaining about how cool the weather is. Normally where I live, in Southern California, it is at least 95 degrees right now, and things are warming up as we head into "Fire Season". Last year at this time we were cleaning ash off of our cars as the numerous brush fires were going strong.;)
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