Week 28 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Laura Lee Miethe for winning the drawing for last weeks challenge and a $10 AMC gift card! The correct place was of course the Statue of Liberty. As you know we visited new York in July and of course this was on our lists of must see’s.  Unfortunately we were not able to climb to the crown as you must purchase your tickets three to four months in advance.  So if you have plans to visit New York and the Statue of liberty, make sure you purchase your tickets far in advance to insure you will get to climb to the top.  Even though we did not get to climb to the crown it was still cool to go to the Liberty Island and get up close to her,  It truly is a magnificent statue.  Here is the un-cropped picture and a link to explain the history of this statue.

http://www.history.com/topics/statue-of-liberty

Wow! What a crazy week it has been! Back to school for 3 young boys gets you very busy when you wait till the last minute to do your shopping.  I thought it was gonna be very stressful, but I actually enjoyed spending the day with the boys shopping.  I didn’t like spending all that money though! I’m sure you can imagine how back to school for 3 young boys hurts your wallet! Ugh, but they all look good struttin in their new fresh cloths.  We were out all day on Saturday going from store to store finding everything they needed/wanted.  We didn’t finish until 9 p.m. when the mall closed and then ended the day with a late night movie at the Garland Theater.  We watched “Spy”… I love Melissa McCarthy! She’s hilarious!

On Sunday I helped my cousins Summer and Chase trim out their new house.  I sold them a home and they closed and moved in early July.  the living room and hallway had wood paneling throughout.  They immediately tore it down and prepped all the dry wall for texture and paint.  If you have ever done this kind of work to a home then you would know this was a very big project! They finally got all the texture and paint done so we stained, cut and installed the trim over the weekend.  Its not quite done yet though… we still have to install the crown molding, but it looks amazing.  It doesn’t even look like the same house!

Ok, on to this weeks challenge.  I want to apologize again for being late.  We had some computer issues.  The hard drive in Colten’s laptop crashed. Of course this happens the night before the first day of school. So I had to lend him my laptop which left me without one on Sunday.  Then last night, he had to install some programs on my laptop that were needed in order for him to complete his assignments through blackboard for one of his online courses.  Either way, here I am. We are ordering the recovery CD and hard drive for his laptop tomorrow so hopefully he will be up and running in the next week or so.  Anyway, lets get on with it.  This week I am giving away a $5 Starbucks card.  Where is this structure located? And if you can guess what very well known movie this was in then I will give you a $5 bonus.  The movie i am thinking of was filmed in the 90’s and starred a young blonde boy and two unlawful characters.  Good luck!

Week 27 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Roberta Provost for winning the drawing for last weeks challenge and a gift card to Froyo! Funny that you should win last weeks challenge since you just won a Froyo gift card 2 challenges ago, lol.  The correct place is in fact the Yankees Stadium.  David, Colten and Davids sister Arlene went to a Yankees game while we were in New York.  I didn’t go, one because I’m not into sports.  Yes, I know… Its the Yankee Stadium.  But honestly, I wanted to spend that time with my dear friend Sara, whom I never get to see.  And I’m so glad I did!  I had a great time having some cocktails on her boyfriends roof top deck which had a beautiful view of the city! Then dinner in Soho after.  Great company, great view, great food and amazing company! I can’t wait to do it again! So here is a picture of the Yankee stadium.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/ballpark/information/index.jsp

Before I post this weeks challenge I just want to thank all of you that have been following this blog and participating in the challenges.  I hope the gifts that you are winning are useful, fun and appetizing :-).  As you can imagine it has been a busy month.  Trying to get things ready for the boys to go back to school, tying up some end of summer loose ends and taking care of Belle who broke her foot a few weeks ago has kept me super busy.  So I do apologize that this blog is a couple weeks late :-/.  I do try to post these blogs on time but sometimes my week just gets the best of me.  As you’ve noticed, I have been posting pics from our New York vacation that we took about a month ago.  We are almost done with those pics as we were only able to see and do so many things in the 3 days that we were there! I guess that means I will need to make some more memories around here in Spokane, lol.  But I do have a ton of pictures so I’m sure I will post some of our past adventures from time to time.

I am going to make this post short because it is my youngest sons, Kylan, birthday today.  We just finished dinner, yup eating pretty late as usual, and he wants me to come out and watch some episodes of the Walking Dead from the first few seasons that I messed.  So for that I will get on with it.  This should be easy, if you follow these blogs, lol.  Go back to my Facebook Post that brought you here and leave your comments in the comment section of that post.  All of you that guess correctly will be entered into a drawing to win a $10 AMC Movie card.  Good luck!

Week 26 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Wow! And the winner AGAIN is Chrissy Ladke! Awesome, Chrissy, its your lucky month!  You’ve been winning a lot lately, lol.  Good job! Chrissy won a $10 gift card to Red Robin by winning the drawing for last weeks challenge.  The correct place was the Empire State Building.  It was our first stop as soon as we got off the plane and got our rental car… well second actually.  As we were driving to the Empire State Building, we saw a 99 cent pizza by the slice.  It was a whole in the wall but I will tell you the pizza was amazing!  We went back 3 more times during our visit to New York, lol.  The views from the observation deck atop the Empire State Building are amazing!! If you have never been, you MUST go! so here is a link and a picture…

http://www.esbnyc.com/explore

Well we have made it half way through the 52 weeks of challenges! That means we are half way to the Super Prize.  Let me remind you that the winner of the Super Prize will win a gift that amounts to around $200.  I have not decided on the gift yet…. maybe a spa getaway or a night at the davenport or a “date night” or??? I’m open to any ideas you may have.

Well we had a great weekend! My mother, little sister, and little brother came on for the weekend.  Its always great to see them.  We had lunch with my Grandmas (my dad’s mom) who my mother hasn’t seen in 10+ years so that was really nice.  We walked the boardwalk in CDA and sat by the beach for a little while.  We also had my cousin and best friend Summer, her daughter Taylor and son Hunter over for my famous Chicken Fettuccine on Friday night.  That right, this Real Estate Dad of 3 can also cook!! And I cook pretty good I might add ;-).

Belle is feeling better but still hating her cast.  She got a new one this weekend as they have to change it every week.  She tries so hard to bite it off but has yet to succeed… although she’s working this one pretty hard and just might get it off. She still has to stay in her kennel when I am not home to limit her activity and is still isolated from our other dogs for the time being… I feel so bad for her :-(.

The boys are getting ready for school.  Well, should I say I am trying to prepare myself for the sticker shock of school cloths and school supplies that will be hitting my card in the very near future.  Ugh, this time of year kind of sucks… the end to summer and the expenses of a new school year.  Oh well, it is fun to see my boys grow up.  Two in High School this year and one in Middle school.  I have no more in grade school… does that mean I’m getting old? Lets just say I’m more experienced and mature, lol.  Ya, we’ll say that 😛

Ok, So for this week, I am giving away another Froyo card.  Summer is almost over and who doesn’t like Froyo on a hot summer day??? Guess where this picture was taken, go back to my Facebook post that brought you here, leave your guess in the comment section of that post.  If you guess correctly you will be entered into a drawing to win  $5 Froyo Card and a chance to win the Super Prize at the end of the 52 weeks.  As I’ve said before, the super prize will be well worth guessing on all these challenges!  Ok, here is the picture…

Week 25 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Roberta Provost for winning the drawing for last weeks challenge and a Frozen Yogurt gift card!  I love going out for Frozen Yogurt.  Its a fun experience and tastes good!  I hope you enjoy it.  So yes, the correct place was central Park. We visited this place on the last day of our visit.  Its a very cool place.  We didn’t have a whole lot of time to stay there but we saw some pretty cool stuff.  We saw where Madonnas apartment is and where John Lennon used to live along with strawberry fields which is obviously dedicated to Mr. Lennon.  So here is a link and picture to this one of a kind park.

http://www.centralpark.com/

This has been a crazy week.  I’ve been working on marketing for the 4 properties that I currently have listed and as some of you may have seen on my Facebook… I placed 3rd within my office as top listing agent for the month of July! Pretty good accomplishment considering I’m in my 1st year of Real Estate! I truly enjoy working with both sellers and buyers in helping them accomplish their goals and knowing I’m doing so well at it just makes me so happy that I finally sat down, bit the bullet and completed my studies.  This was something I have thought about for over 10 years.  But, I finally set my mind to it and I’m so happy that I did!

On Thursday, one of our dogs broke her foot in 3 places jumping off the back deck to the grass below.  The deck is only about a foot off the ground and she has been jumping it for 3 years now but she must have landed wrong this time.  It was very sad a scary to see her this way.  I rushed her to the Vet and they examined her and took some X-rays and then put her in a Spoon Splint.  She will be in this splint for 2 months.  The Vet wants us to isolate her from the other dogs, wants her to have as little activity as possible and of course to give her lots of attention.  Its going to be a long 2 months and she absolutely hates the position she is in but she will get through it.  I cannot wait until she’s out of the splint!

Ok, onto this weeks challenge.  We only had 3 people join the challenge last week 😦 but for those that did join the challenge that only increased your chances of winning, lol.  We are just about 1/2 way through the 52 weeks and to the Super Prize.  Remember, it will be a gift worth about $200.  Spa package or date night or something.  Whatever it is, it will be worth it, so keep playing to increase your chances of winning the Super Prize!  So here is the picture, go back to my Facebook post that brought you here, put your guess in the comment section of that post.  If your guess is correct, you will be put into a drawing to win a $10 Red Robin gift card! Share my Facebook post to get your friends involved 🙂

Here’s a hint… This was our fist stop on our last mini vacation… I hope youve been paying attention 😉

Week 24 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Christine Ladke for winning the drawing for last weeks challenge and a Starbucks gift card.  The correct place was the 9/11 Memorial.  It is a beautiful memorial and had a peaceful feeling about it.  I’ve been wanting to visit the memorial and so glad we did.  The only thing we missed was the 9/11 museum.  I was bummed about that but didn’t even know about it until after we were there.  Oh well, I guess that will be on the agenda for our next visit! Here is a picture and a link to the memorial.

http://www.911memorial.org/

Yes, I’m late again, Ugh! I need a clone.  Its not my fault, lol.  I’m just always so busy.  I took another listing last week so I’ve been busy with marketing and showings and all the fun stuff that goes in to real estate.  I also closed with my buyer and best friend, Summer.  So I’ve been over at her old house helping clean and at her new house helping do some improvements.  We took some wood paneling down this weekend to get the walls prepped for new sheet-rock and paint.  Its going to look great! I talked to another seller that is prepping his duplex to get on the market with me.  That will make 5 listings 🙂  Keep them coming because I love what I do!  Ok, I have a date with my bed and some relaxing so I’m keeping this post short, so on to this weeks challenge. You know what to do… go back to my Facebook post that brought you here.  Leave your guess in the comment section of that post. The winner of the drawing for this weeks challenge will win a $5 Frozen yogurt card to the Frozen yogurt place of your choice.  We are almost half way to the Super Prize so keep the guesses coming to get your chance to win!  Here we go.  Where were we? If your unsure just think about where else you would find a bunch of trees in the middle of Manhattan 😉

Week 23 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Tanya Buettner for winning the drawing for last weeks Challenge.  You are correct; the picture was taken in Time Square, Manhattan NY.  It was our second stop on the first night we were there and one of my favorite visits while we were in New York.  If you ever get the chance you must go! At 1:00 in the morning it was shoulder to shoulder people, lots of vendors and street artists.  I can’t wait to go back next year! As always, here is a link and a picture to Time Square.

http://www.timessquarenyc.org/index.aspx

Well it was back to work this week.  Its a good thing I love doing Real Estate otherwise going back to work after a vacation, even a mini vacation, sucks! lol  But the market is hot! I had 2 transactions close this month and took two more listings this month as well… that means I currently have four active listings on the market.  Not bad for a busy dad in his first year as a Broker!  I must congratulation my cousin and best friend Summer O’Connell in this blog for buying her first house! I am so happy for her and thankful I was able to be her agent and help her through this process. It was fun and definitely an experience we will never forget!

Ok so on to this weeks challenge. As you know, post your guess in the comment section of my Facebook post that brought you to this blog.  The winner of this weeks challenge will win a $5 Froyo card.  Since there is so many, I will ask the winner which Froyo they prefer and will be sure to send a card to that particular place 🙂  Here we go. Its pretty easy… but if your having trouble take a good look at the background and think about where we just visited.  Where was this picture taken?

Week 22 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Gina Johnson for winning the drawing for last weeks challenge and the Mini Super prize which is a $50 gift card to P.F. Changs! See it pays pays to join these challenges… Gina has one a several times… A couple movie passes,  and coffee cards, I believe.  Anyhow, I like Sushi Maru.  Its a pretty cool experience and great for when your starving or just want a light lunch or dinner.  The plates pass by the tables on a conveyor belt and you just take what you want.  The plates are color coded to prices.  You pay for what you take or you can order and they will make it fresh for you! Here is a picture and a link to Sushi Maru.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g58759-d1986789-Reviews-Sushi_Maru-Spokane_Washington.html

I had an amazing week in New York with David and Colten.  We were gone for 5 days.  With a day of flying there and a day of flying back, that only gave us three days there; but it was an amazing three days!  We flew out of Spokane on Wednesday the 15th at 9 a.m.  and landed at JFK International Airport in New York at 7:30 p.m.  We got our rental car from the airport then went straight to Manhattan. Our first stop was the Empire State Building, after stopping for some great New York Pizza that we saw along the way, lol.  We went up to the observation deck and saw some amazing views! After that we went to Times Square.  It was better than I ever imagined.  Sooo many people.  Sooo many lights.  It was so bright that it almost seemed like it was daylight out.  We got some more food, walked around, checked out all the vendors and bought a few street paintings from a guy that painted the New York skyline, buildings and bridge in about 4 minutes using spray paint. Very cool paintings.  We framed them and will hang them up this weekend.  We finally decided to call it a night and headed to Staten Island where we were staying with David’s Aunt and Uncle.

The next day we got up a little late.  We didn’t get to Manhattan until about noon. We took the ferry in to avoid trying to find a parking spot.  Our fist stop this day was to the 9/11 memorial.  Its so surreal walking up to it and imagining how that day was.  The memorial is beautiful and the waterfalls with all of the victims names really made you reflect on that day and those that lost their lives.  There was a tree in the memorial called the Survivor Tree.  It was the last living thing to be pulled from the wreckage.  I can’t believe it survived, but it did and it is there.  We spent quite a bit of time there and then had to go get coffee as my lack of sleep was getting to me, lol.  We decided to catch the Ferry back to Manhattan to get our car.  We then drove to Brooklyn to visit Coney Island.

Coney Island was pretty cool.  We met David’s other Aunt and cousins there.  We ate White Castle and Nathan’s because we could and because we don’t have them here.  We rode some rides and had some drinks.  I even rode the Sling Shot which i said I would never do! It was definitely a rush! Of course we bought the Souvenir thumb drive bracelet so we could hold that memory on video 🙂 By the time we made it back to Staten Island it was 2 a.m. We passed out, lol

Day 2 we got up early.  Up at 7 and drove back to Manhattan, parked the car in a parking garage and walked over to the Statue of Liberty Ferry.  I can’t believe I was here at this point.  You see it in pictures and movies all the time but to see it in person is such an experience.  We took lots of pictures, ate some food of course, shopped the gift shop and then back to Manhattan.  On our way to get the car we saw a guy drawing Charactertures… Of course we had to do this! And of course I’m the one that got the goofy rabbit teeth!! Oh well, the picture turned out pretty cool.  We framed that one too and will hang it this weekend somewhere.  After all that we drove to Jersey to see David’s Mom.  this was my first time meeting her and David didn’t tell here we where there so she was surprised.  She was so excited to see her son and to meet Colten and I.  She is a very sweet lady… I wish we could have spent more time with her but she just had shoulder surgery and needed her rest, so David, Colten and David’s Sister Arlene went to a Yankees game.  I’m not really a fan of Baseball and I wanted to see my friend Sara so I skipped out on the game and hung with Sara and her Boyfriend, Yuval, for the evening.  We hung out on Yuval’s rooftop balcony which overlooked Manhattan, the Freedom Tower and the Empire State Building and has some drinks.  What a beautiful view! Loved it.  We then met David, Arlene and Colten for Dinner at a restaurant in Soho befor heading back to Staten Island at 2 a.m. again!

Day three we slept in! We didn’t get up till noon and didn’t get to the city till about 1:00.  this was our last day in New York and we had to get up early the next day to catch our flight back to Spokane so this was a quick day to grab a couple sites we hadn’t yet seen.  We went to Central Park this day and walked around.  We saw the Building that Madonna lives in and the building that John Lennon lived in.  We walked through Strawberry Fields and saw the Famous Bridge that is a scene of Home Alone, among other movies I’m sure.  At this point we hopped on the Subway and headed to China Town and Little Italy where we grabbed some dinner and a couple more souvenirs.  Back to Manhattan early, had some drinks and visited with David’s Aunt and Uncle who I absolutely adore.  Very fun warm people.  If your in a bad mood, 10 minutes with those two will cheer you right up! They even bought us a dozen New York bagels to bring home with us.  You haven’t had a bagel if you haven’t had one from New York!  Well that was our mini vacation.  I hope you enjoyed this Blog and maybe it will give you some ideas for the next time your in New York.  I’m sure I left a few things out but I’m not trying to write a novel, lol and we need to get on with this weeks challenge.

Ok, so after all of the New York recap I’m going to get right to the point here.  I hope you read the blog because over the next several weeks I will be posting pictures for the coming challenges from our New York trip.  Some of them will be very obvious, and others not so much.  So lets get started with the first one.  Guess the location of the picture in the comment section of my Facebook post that brought you to this blog.  If you guess correctly then you will be entered into a drawing for a $5 gift card to Starbucks.  Here’s the picture… Where are we?

Week 21 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Christing Ladke for winning the drawing in last weeks challenge! You won a $5 gift card.  I just noticed that I did not specify where the gift card would be to, so message me and tell me where you want it for and I will get it to you.  The correct place was CDA Beach in CDA ID.  We were there for the 4th to watch the fireworks.  As always, it was a great show!  Here’s a link to the CDA Resort and Beach.

It was a great week!  Real Estate is good, i took on another listing and closed a deal with my buyer Gina Johnson! I am also preparing for our trip to New York coming up this Wednesday so that is very exciting! So I promised a Mini Superprise this week as a celebration for my closing this week with my buyer.  I will be giving away a $50 P.F. Changs gift card to the winner of this weeks challenge.  So make sure you guess correctly on this one!  I am making this blog short because its late and I’m exhausted so here it is.  You know the routine.  Go back to the Facebook post that brought you here and leave your guess in the comment section of that post.  All people that guess correctly will be entered into a drawing and the winner of that drawing will win the Gift card!  Good luck!

Week 20 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Donna Bolinski for guessing the correct place and winning the drawing for last weeks challenge! The correct place was in fact Alcatraz.  Its just a tiny dot in the picture, but I did give a hint and so those that guessed the correct place also won a $10 AMC theater bonus prize on top of the $5 Starbucks gift card! Enjoy your coffee and a movie Donna 🙂 David, the boys and I drove through San Francisco on our way home from our Mexico cruise last summer specifically to see the Golden Gate Bridge.  So glad we did.  It is definitely a landmark that everyone should see.  Here is a link to the Golden Gate Bridge as well as Alcatraz, along with a picture of each.

http://goldengatebridge.org/

http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/

Week 20

So we have made it through 20 weeks of this Blog.  Some weeks we have a lot of people guessing and others… well, not so much.  I have noticed however that there is not even one person that has guessed every week.  I promised a Super Prize worth about $200 or so at the end of the 52 weeks for the person that guessed every week.  Since this has not happened only 20 weeks in I need to come up with something to keep this blog going and hopefully get others into joining the challenges.  So, I am open to ideas.  Please leave a comment with this weeks challenge or private message me in my inbox as to how we can still make the Super Prize available to those who do regularly join my challenges.  I will even make it worth your while if you help me with this.  I will give you a $25 gift card to a restaurant of your choice if I choose your idea.

Now on to this weeks challenge.  Super easy and therefore I am giving away a $5 Gift card to the winner of the drawing for this weeks challenge.  Read my blog, please don’t forget to help me with an idea for the Super Prize, go back to my Facebook post that brought you hear and leave your guess in the comment section of that post.  And for the help on the Super Prize, you can either leave your idea in the comments with your guess for this week, private message me in my inbox or call/text me with your idea.  Its that easy.  So here is the picture… Where are we?

Week 19 of 52 Places in 52 Weeks

Congratulations to Laura Lee Miethe for winning the drawing for last weeks challenge.  The correct place was the Mummy Ride at Universal Studios in California.  That is a vacation i will never forget! David, the boys and i took a two week vacation last summer.  We drove down to Long Beach California and boarded the Carnival Imagination cruise ship for a 4 day Baja California cruise to the Catalina Islands and Ensenada Mexico.  David and I have cruised before but it was the boys’ first time and they loved it! After the cruise, we spent 5 days in California.  We spent two of those days at Universal Studios and the rest sight seeing and at the beach.  We all had an amazing time and can’t wait for the next cruise!  Here is a picture of Universal Studios and the Revenge of the Mummy Ride, as well as a link to a video of the Mummy Ride.

Spoiler alert! This link will take you to a video of the Mummy Ride so if your one of those people that like the surprise, don’t watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shSLDSK5Bgc

On to Week 19.  I like to give a little update to my week so here it is.  Man, what a crazy week!  I’ve been so busy its got me scatter brained, lol.  I’m forgetting things lately, luckily nothing of real importance but sometimes it scares me! I posted earlier this week that I need a personal assistant, among other a few other things, and I’m really thinking I need one!  Too many things to keep track of, but I am managing pretty well.  My youngest two boys left with their Mother to California last Monday.  Its been a little quiet around here but I sure do miss them a lot.  4 more weeks, I cant wait for them to come home! Colten stayed home… I guess he would just miss his Dad too much 😉  I am looking very forward to a small vacation coming up in about two weeks… I’m not going to tell you where I am going yet but I probably will next week.  Sara Bonocum knows though, right Sara?  Real estate is going good.  I have two transactions currently in Escrow… one was suppose to close on the first and the other on the 7th of July but both have been pushed back about a week due to the hot market.  Let me tell you, if your thinking of buying or selling, now is the time! Interest rates are low and so is inventory.  Great time to buy and sell!  I’m currently working 2 buyers, one of which will also be selling their current home, 2 listings… both are secondary waterfront homes and another listing I should be taking in a week or 2… the owners are just preparing their house to be put on the market.  All of my business this year is referral business… Not bad for my first year… I love it!

Ok, now I really will get on with week 19.  You all should know the rules by now but I will do quick over on them.  Read this blog, then go back to my Facebook post that brought you here.  Leave your guess as to where the picture below was taken in the comments section of that post and thats it! If you guess correctly then you will be entered into a drawing to win the prize for this week.  This is a very easy one so i will be giving another $5 Starbucks gift card away.  When you see this picture, you will automatically go to the first thing you see and want to use that as your guess.  And thats ok, but I am looking for more specific… its what is centered in the pic… you cant see it very well but that is ultimately the answer i am looking for.  So, if you guess the specific thing I am talking about then i know you read this blog; and for that I will give you a bonus.  I will also give you a $10 gift card to AMC theaters plus the $5 Starbucks card.  So here it is, what is it thats out in the bay? Its hard to see but well known.  Go!!!