WE DID IT!

I am thrilled! Kim and I landed our first listing today. We had a goal to obtain one signed listing agreement this month and we did it, just in the nick of time I might add. Thanks to our dear friend, Kristen, who recommended us to her parents! THANK YOU, KRISTEN!!!!

I felt the presentation went really well. I was proud of Kim and I because this is the 2nd presentation we've done. We tweaked our presentation from the first time we presented it and it really flowed much better. It helped to have such a sweet couple to present it to.

It is time to make goals for February. Kim, are you ready? I am aiming for 3! It will be tough especially since February is a shorter month but I have faith and now all the world can see it in writing!

News on the family....Courtney stayed home yesterday and today with a fever. I took both kids into the doctor because Connor has had a bad cough for well over a month, on and off. Turns out Courtney just has a cold and Connor needed some Zithromax to help his cough. No strep or flu! I am hoping to have a HEALTHY month in February. Between me, the kids and my nephew, I have had!

Just wanted to share the exciting news....

Never a dull moment.

Well, the weekend started off with bad news. My 4 month old nephew, Gavin (Kim & Kevin's son) has been sick with what appeared to be a cold and teething last week. Friday he just wasn't getting better so Kim took him into the doctor. He was hospitalized with double ear infections, thrush and RSV. As many of you know our mother had severe respiratory problems and finding this out freaked Kim out, me too. She is afraid Gavin has inherited some of her problems. I'm sure that he won't and will be a strong and healthy boy. Many praises as Gavin got to come home this evening and tomorrow is Kim's birthday! Many Thanks to those who have prayed for their family, please continue to do so.


Courtney went to Boyd High School's Mini Bailadora's dance clinic today and had a blast.

Courtney & Katie

Connor had a game at the Y and they lost 28 to 8, much better than their first game. He played well and is really enjoying it.

I showed houses in Richardson to help Kim out today. Really sweet couple. It's been a long day and I am glad to be home!

P.S. Are you an organ donor? If not, check out the link under my favorite links to learn more.

Waiting...

I hate waiting! Kim and I had our first listing presentation on Tuesday night. We did a great job but did not walk out with a signed listing. The seller is still interviewing agents so we still have a chance. I hope we find out soon!

I woke up Wednesday feeling very sick. I'm going to the doctor in an hour to find out what is up. Keith thinks I have an inner ear infection and that is why my equilibrium is off and I have been sick to my stomach. I wont go into details as I'm sure you can guess.

I was hoping for a bad weather day today. All the hype yesterday had me believing we would wake up to ice on the ground....I don't see any?

Courtney is doing a mini-baladora dance clinic tomorrow with Katie. It is with the drill team at Boyd High School. They did it last January and had a blast. She is taking after her Aunt Kim, she may just be on drill team when she is in high school.

Connor has another basketball game tomorrow at the Y. He is enjoying it and even won last weekends game, the other team forfeited but it still counts as a win!

Take care!

UPDATE: Just got home from doctor and I have an inner ear infection which is causing my vertigo,nausea and tummy problems. Glad to know it isn't the flu!

Finally Home!

After 12 hours of sitting in airports and travelling we are finally home. We got to the Laguardia airport at 2:30 and found out that our connecting flight in Atlanta had been delayed due to snow and ice. Can you believe that Atlanta had snow and ice and that New York was sunny and in the 40's? Once we got into Atlanta it took FOREVER! They switched our gates 2x and when we finally did get on the plane we had to de-ice. Fortunately, we upgraded our tickets to business class. After travelling in business class I never want to go back to Coach. It was awesome! We had leg room, arm room and free alcohol. I got a glass of wine and pulled out my laptop and Keith and I watched "40 year old virgin". It is so bad it is funny. We landed an hour past our original time so in all actuality we were the lucky ones. Others we talked to had been at the airport from 8 in the morning.

My brother-in-law, Steve, picked us up at the airport and we made it home around 11:30 p.m.. The kids attacked us as we pulled up in front of the house. It was great to see them and to be home.

My equalibrium is off today. I feel like I am leaning to the left. I must think I'm still on a train, plane or in a crazy taxi cab.

I'm looking forward to my next trip to NY. I'd love to take Courtney and do a girl's weekend. I'll have to see what I can do. I guess I better get to selling some houses.

Peace!

P.S.-While I was in NY Kim ordered our first sign since we are now our own team. We needed one because Tuesday we have our first listing appointment and we want to go in thinking we have the listing. We will order the rest of our signs with our picture on them but we need Kymmy to take it and I was gone all last week. This all just happened before my big trip. This year is starting off great!

Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty & More

Today was a BUSY day! We had lunch near the hotel in Melville at Houlihans then we headed into the city on the 12:39 train and our first tourist stop was the Empire State Building. We could walk there from Penn Station. We went up to the 86th floor to the observation deck and took a look at the city. My knees were shaking as I am afraid of heights but it was so cool to the city the bustling city below us. So many buildings in such a small space. Here are some pictures from the Observation deck:

Next we took a taxi to Battery Park where the Statue of Liberty resides. We missed the last ferry due to some bad directions at the Staten Island Ferry & Subway stop. We did however get to see the Statue of Liberty from a distance. It was really cold down by the water.We went back into Staten Island Ferry and took the #1 Subway back to 34th Street (Penn Station). We caught a cab over to Rockefeller Center and saw the Rainbow Room, NBC store and the outdoor skating rink. We grabbed dinner then took another cab to Canal Street. I was able to find another asian lady and made some purchases that will remain a secret. This lady had an actual store front so we go in and then she moves a ladder and there is a hidden door to lead us back to the high end knock offs. It is so much fun! After this we were beat so we tried to take a subway to Penn Station but couldn't firgure it out so once again grabbed a cab. We get to Penn Station and we have 50 minutes before the next train. We had been wanting some New York Cheesecake and as we look around we see the sign. NEW YORK CHEESECAKE we figure there must be cheesecake there. We walk across the street and have some delicious cheese cake. They live up to their slogan of "BEST CHEESECAKE ON EARTH". The bakery was D'Aiuto's New York New York Cheesecake.

That's All Folks!

Blue Man Group at Astor Place Theatre

We took the train into Manhattan again and went to an Italian restaurant recommended by a guy who deals with restaurants on the shuttle bus to the train station. We ate at Serafina on Lafayette & 4th Street and it was a really cool bar/restaurant. We had a great dinner then walked a short distance to the theatre. Here is Keith at dinner:

The theatre was small (in it's past life was a residence) and only held 300 people. We were on the balcony level so we had a great view but the seating was for midgets. You think airplanes give you no leg room? Well, this theatre took the cake. We were crammed in like sardines. The show was so good that it made up for the lack of comfort. I was selected to hold a prop during the show. One of the Blue Men climbed the wall to the balcony then took the box of Toblerone I was given and gave it to another member of the audience. Inside were 3 pieces of chocolate that the audience member threw and the blue man caught each one in his mouth then spit it all out into her hand. It sounds gross but was very entertaining! If you have never seen the Blue Man Group I would highly recommend it. They are awesome. You can learn more about them at: http://www.blueman.com/landing/ny/index-g.php They do not allow photography in the theatre at all. I did manage to find this picture online of them.

We are off to find knock off Coach purses. Wish me luck!

Times Square

We had a blast today. We took the Long Island Rail Road from Farmingdale into Penn Station, NYC. After getting off at Penn Station we took the subway to the World Trade Center site and took a peak at ground zero and all the construction going on. Next, we headed with Keith's coworker to a Belgium Chocolate Factory called Leonidas. It has the WORLD'S best chocolate. We bought some and hopefully will have some to share when we get home.

Then it was on to Canal Street to look at all the knock off purses, scarves, shoes, watches, etc. It was just like being in the movies. We were first approached by a gentleman selling Luis Vuitton purses which Larry wanted to get for his girlfriend. This man ran to his supplier and pulled us around a corner to look at the purses in a garbage sack. Larry bought one. Next as we are headed down the street an asian woman says.."You want Coach, Prada?" I'm like yes! She takes us half a block where we meet up with her sister who takes us around the corner and into a building. We head down the stairs into a basement type area that was really creepy and smelly. She unlocks a door in a hallway and low and behold there they are......Coach, Dooney & Burke, Prada & Channel purses. It was so cool and exhilirating plus a bit scary since this was at night. I am looking for a Coach bag to carry my laptop in and they didn't have any big enough so Keith and I will go back on Friday and try to find me one. Otherwise, I'm going back and buying one of the purses I saw from the asian lady.

We walked through China Town, Little Italy and finally took a cab to Times Square where we ate at Planet Hollywood. After a good meal we went into the Hershey's store, M&M's World and the largest Toys R' Us I've ever seen. It had a ferris wheel in it. Lots of lego creations that my son and nephew would love.

There is still so much to see but I wanted to add a few pictures before we go to bed for my sweet children. Stay tuned....

Keith & Laura - Times Square

Lego creations at Toys R' US

We made it....

We spent all day yesterday traveling but we finally made it to NY! Our hotel is really nice and I am planning our activities for today. I wanted to get some pictures posted for the kids. They wanted to see the clouds from the plane so here they are.

View from plane. (Clouds and engine)

More to come.......

Big News..

Kim and I are going out as our own team of realtors at Re/MAX Four Corners. We will no longer be a part of the Kraft Team but have formed our own Barron-Daugherty Team and our slogan is "Real Family. Real Estate". We are excited about this new opportunity and this will allow us to start listing homes. Not only will be be able to help you with your buying needs but your selling needs as well. We are so excited!

Courtney placed 4th in her class during the classroom spelling bee. She is proud of herself and so are we.

Connor had his first basketball game today with his new team "Zero Gravity" at the YMCA. It was a bit of a beating. The score was 34-4 and unfortunately we were on the loosing end. Connor was disappointed but we told him it just takes practice.

T minus 36 hours until Keith and I head out to NYC. We are so excited!!!! Please keep us and the kids in your prayers as this is the longest we have been away from them during the school year.

A big shout out to Toni for cutting my hair and Courtney's. You ROCK girl!

Later!!!

P.S. Courtney has Katie spending the night tonight. We have a new generation of poker players.

Fun news....

Well, the week started off with me almost loosing my voice. It is still in and out and alot of congestion. Just not feeling 100%!

I booked my airfare and next Monday through Saturday I will be in NYC! Keith has to go on a business trip and thanks to my mother in law watching the kids I get to go. I've only been to New York one time on business when I worked for Experian and it was a quick 2 day trip so I look forward to getting the week to site see.

The kids are back in school so we are getting back into the grove of that. It was nice having them home over the holidays and they enjoyed themselves.

Hope to have more exciting posts soon!

Just another Sunday!

Hello!

Not much excitement going on over here. I have a sore throat and congestion and showed a house today. Hopefully, I can make something happen with this couple. They need a place and like the home I showed them so you would think it's a done deal. Just not that easy in real estate.

It's a gorgeous 73 degrees outside and the kids have been outdoors most of the day riding their heelys, skateboards and bikes.

Kim and I go in to talk to David tomorrow about our goals and team goals in real estate for 2008! Wish us luck!!!

Sorry for the boring post but that is the life of the Barron's today!

Starting 2008

Hi! Well 2008 has kicked off and we are running full steam. We had fun at the Daugherty's on New Year's Eve. Here is a picture of all the girls:

We had alot of fun playing games and just hanging out. The guys were busy playing Texas Hold 'Em while we took this picture.

I worked today and although I have been away since my birthday I didn't have a lot to catch up on, sure was nice. I'm thinking of changing things up this year work wise and will post more as decisions are made.

Courtney had one of her bestfriends move in down the street back in Novemeber and they have been inseperable. Lots of sleep overs at each other's homes which she has been enjoying. I finally gave in and let Connor have his best buddy, Clay, over tonight for a sleepover. They are upstairs with my biggest kid watching the Transformers movie.

I've decided to start pilates again. It worked well for me when I did it over a year ago and now the only thing holding me back is getting the dvd player hooked up in my room so I can do the dvd's. Help me get motivated, I really want to do it but always find an excuse not to. Swim suit season is not that far off so I better get on the stick. I want this year to be all about positive changes!!!

Laura