Sunday, March 4, 2007

What a Weekend!

We have had a crazy weekend! Mom came up and we shopped all day, and found some great deals! Mike was in Florida Saturday and on his way home he hit a deer on I-65. He is fine, but the car is not pretty. As many of you know, I hit a deer many years ago on my way down to Auburn, and it did massive damage to my car. The state trooper said we were so lucky we were not hurt. But it is a freaky thing that happens, and since then I hate seeing them on the sides of the road. But all things happen for a reason, and due to this I found out our insurance company had erroneously listed me as having an "at fault accident"! Needless to say, removing that dropped our premium a good bit, so it all worked out.
Mike went by our house in Florida that just recently sold, and the new owners were moving in :(. I guess it bothers me because we don't know them, and have never met them. Cassie, if you are reading this, go spy on them for me!! When I come down, we will have to go over to introduce ourselves!
I hope everyone else had a great weekend!
Leslie

Friday, March 2, 2007

My New Interest

This is my first blog! Since we have just moved, and it seems all of our friends are scattered all over the place, I thought this would be a great way to keep everyone up to date on our lives and what is going on with us! Since I have "retired" and spend my days on the computer, I should be able to keep this pretty up to date! Hopefully in the near future I will be so busy with my blossoming real estate career I won't have the time (just kidding, I will always make the time!).

As some of you know, and some may not, with this move I have decided to make major life changes. After being in education for 10 years (has it been that long?) I have decided to move in a completely different direction and dive into real estate. My interests in real estate began a few years ago, with the purchase of our second home in Crestview, FL. Mike and I have done well in real estate, and I don't attribute that to luck. We have always tried to make good moves and sound financial decisions when it came to purchasing property, and it has really paid off, literally. I have become obsessed with the market in our area in Florida, but it just never seemed like the right time for me to make a change. God always opens a door, and when Boeing offered Mike this new position in Huntsville, that was my cue that changes were coming and I needed to listen. My dad thinks I am nuts, partly because he feels I should complete what I set out to do and finally get my master's degree and contract as a speech therapist. But no matter where we have lived, there has never been a school close by to afford me that opportunity, and here I would have to drive to UAB which would be a 3 hour total commute a day. Not to mention the FORTUNE I would spend in gas (I have an Expedition which gets like 3 miles to the gallon!) Anyway, I thought I would give the class a try, see how I liked it, and make my decisions from there. I absolutely LOVE the classes! My teacher, Glenn Eudy, is WONDERFUL! He keeps us in check, and some think his style is "unconventional", but I love him and forever will be grateful for all he has taught me. Now I am almost finished and dedicating the next couple of weeks to studying to take my state test. Pray for me that I do well!!! I don't want to just pass, I want to score HIGH!

As many of you know, Mike is a reservist. I have always been proud of him for his dedication to the US through the reserves, even though he has managed to dodge out of a few deployments :). He started in the Army, then we moved to Florida where there is only Air Force, so he switched, and now he has switched back to the Army since we are here close to Redstone. They ACTUALLY gave him a large 5 figure BONUS this time, which I have already spent (in my mind anyway!). That is pretty unusual, especially since his field (network administration) is highly sought out in the military. All I can say is "Thank you Lord!!!"

Dylan is doing great at his new school, and in our neighborhood. We are very blessed to live in such a great community as Madison! The schools are FABULOUS and extremely state of the art. Dylan has always excelled academically and he is continuing to do well here in Madison.

And we cannot forget about our other two children, Gracie and Snickers. Crazy as usual, that is all I can say about them. For all of you who know them, you understand. Snickers has began the practice of waking Mike up at 2 in the morning to go pee by running up and down him! Mike swears Snickers can tell time by reading our clock, because he wakes Mike up every morning at the exact same time. Gracie is getting cranky in her old age, and Snickers lives to irritate her constantly! There is always drama with those two!

Anywho, everyone have a great Friday evening, Dylan and I are going to relax at home while Mike is out of town, and my mom will be here tomorrow for an all day shopping extravaganza!!!!
Leslie