Let’s just say that blogging on this personal site has been on the back burner for 2011.  But considering that it’s the last day of the year, I might as well post, just so that I can continue to call myself a blogger.  Granted, 19 blog posts in one year hardly qualifies me for “Blogger” status in my opinion, but I’m taking on the fact that I’ve been doing some blogging on other important sites too.

In recap, 2011 had both highs and lows.  And I’m not just talking about my blood sugar levels.

Early 2011 we took a family trip to Disney World and had a magical time and we also took a road trip to see family we have in Pennsylvania.  One of the stops we made was in Hershey, PA where we toured the Hershey Factory and made our own chocolate bars!

Somewhere in the middle of 2011, things got super busy with work (common and typical).  I again served as a Director on the Greater Springfield Board of REALTORS® MLS and in 2012, I will be the 1st Vice President and I’m looking forward to a term as President in 2013.  The Board itself is doing some incredible things with an MLS Regionalization project that I’m very involved in helping with.

The Donald and I, working as a team, have continued to sell a lot of real estate, rent a lot of property and we spoke at the National Association of REALTORS® Annual Conference for the third year in a row!  It was an exciting time in Anaheim, California.

I am very excited about what 2012 holds for my career with my work with the local, state and national Associations of REALTORS®. I am serving on quite a few state and national committees, including vice-chairing the NAR Property Management Forum!

In addition to continuing to write continuing education courses for REALTORS®, we also worked on a bigger web project called Landlord Red List.  The site is designed to assist Landlords from across the country in how to process rental applications that they receive from potential tenants.  The project has currently been put on hold as we are looking at some re-design and hope to launch it soon.

At the end of the year, my office moved into bigger and nicer digz.  Since I’m still in the process of getting things settled and hanging pictures on the wall, I will have to post more pictures and invite you to our Open House soon.  It’s an incredible building and we’re excited about the growth of Dizmang Properties.  The new place has beautiful office space, including classroom space for us to teach real estate classes.  There is also a large warehouse space in the back that will allow us to efficiently run our property management maintenance out of.  It’s nice to ditch the 3 or 4 storage units we have had and have all the supplies and crews under one roof.  However, watching them take down my old office was really a reflective moment for me.  I had spent 11 years in that office and have accomplished A LOT.

JDRF has of course made some big changes including a new logo in 2011.  It thrills me that they are somewhat re-branding themselves to be the ultimate leader for finding the cure for type 1 diabetes for BOTH children and adults.  (See the “T1D” within the logo between the “J” and “D”?)  They have seen that there are many adults that have type 1 and it’s not just the children that we are finding this cure for.  Locally here, JDRF Ozarks held their 2nd annual Jingle Bell Bash in December and it raised $78,000 for type 1 diabetes research!  Who would’ve thought that the our local chapter would have come so far, so quickly?

Thankfully, the hubs still has a cush job with AT&T and he really is my ultimate support to get the things done that I need to get done every day.  He also leaves me sweet notes in the garage each week so that I see them as I’m coming and going out.  Yeah, it’s the little things that keep me going.  We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary in October and had a good time gambling it up at Downstream Casino.  Ahhh, the crazy things we do!

And today my sweet baby youngest child, Collin, turns 8 today on New Years Eve.  He and his brother, Jake, and their Dad sure make my world go ’round.

I didn’t mail out Christmas cards this year, so if you’re a close friend/family member reading this post, don’t be offended. I still have a passion for shoes, I have loved watching my niece and nephew grow up and having them live so close…  Sheesh! 2011 has been a wild ride.  Clearly you can see that I’ve been pretty busy, hence the slow blog posting.  I will make an effort to keep things fresh in 2012.  Don’t call it a resolution, call it a comeback.

Happy New Year y’all!

I am embracing some new things/changes with my daily grind.  Not sure what all it entails yet, but I need to tie up some loose ends on outstanding projects and really make a break on some new ones that are brewing in my head.  It’s a stretch-and-grow thing for me as there may be a shift in the company direction of the day job.  (It’s all good things, I promise!)  Nonetheless, I need to get my feet wet in some areas that I’m not quite used to, in regards to real estate brokerage projects.

I’m pulling it all together by taking a break from the business planning and taking a much-needed vacation road trip with the hubs and Thing 1 and Thing 2 this week.  What better time to bond than over an 18-hour road trip to Canton, Pennsylvania?  (Small town just on the NY/PA state line where the hubs is from… so we’re visiting family.) On the journey, I start in on a deep conversation with the hubs talking about the new direction I’m looking at taking and how I need to really get my feet wet in some new areas of my business.  All of the sudden I feel a splash of cold water on my feet in the car.  It freaks me out and I shriek like a little girl!  (Not to worry, it’s just a drip from the A/C condensation line in the car.  Good grief it’s 110 degrees outside, cut it some slack.)

I will take it as a sign to move forward… I don’t mean to be cryptic, I promise I will keep you posted.

Who teaches their 10 year old to drink? Apparently I do, and that makes me special.  This will be even funnier when he hands it to me at age 21. I love my children, they make me laugh everyday. Wishing all you Mothers out there a very happy Mother’s Day 2011.

Six weeks have gone by.  I promise I haven’t forgotten about you.  And I’m coming back, if not this week then it will be next week.

But for now you can put me on your mediocre, sucky-at-updating blogroll.  It’s cool.  It is what it is.

My friend, Daniel Rothamel, is on the cusp of a ridiculously frivolous lawsuit.  Daniel is THE Real Estate Zebra, as he has branded his blog and himself on Twitter as this because of his love for real estate and his love for refereeing basketball games.  Hence, the Real Estate Zebra.  However, some unknown real estate marketing group out of Washington (more than 2,100 miles away from Daniel) is suing him for trademark infringement and for over $75,000 in damages because they claim that they had the idea first.  One of our mutual friends, Jay Thompson, wrote about it on his blog and I implore you to read it here as it explains all of the details.

I met Daniel in 2008 at a real estate conference in Orlando and then several times again since.  Needless to say, he is a friend and that is why I need to publish this post so that we can spread the word that extreme sue-happy intentions are not cool.  Oh and so we can also help out the zebra’s defense fund.  At the very least, show your support by liking the page on Facebook. #savethezebra

Meeting The Zebra in 2008

I’ve been harboring a little secret desire over the last year or so.  I want to design my own shoe line.  No doubt, I have an obsession for shoes, especially ones with red soles, but now I want to create my own.  I don’t need another project, but this one is quickly rising to the top of my priority list.

You see, I like to create things.  And now I want to create things, like shoes, that are:

a) comfortable for a real estate agent to wear while showing houses.
b) durable for a property manager to wear on site while checking work at a house that she’s flipping.
c) practical for a diabetic who strives to take care of herself and yet still look fabulous.
d) expensive to the point where not everyone is wearing them, but affordable enough for the typical real estate agent/property manager type is wearing them.  I want to be able to afford my own shoe line.

I have done a lot of research, it’s amazing what you can find with The Google. I have the financial backing of a dedicated, not-so-silent investor. I have the husband with an art degree to help draw my visions out, I have even already named the shoe line and the first five shoes.  I read the shoe blogs.  And I have already named the shoe line.

I don’t expect to be the next Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo, and truthfully, I don’t really care to make something of my name.  I just want to create something that I love and feel good about doing it.  Chances are my shoe line may never get off the ground but I can dream, can’t I?

My first shoe sketch concept, lacking the embellishments. Wait 'till you see the label!

The story has been told so many times, that if you truly set your mind to something, you can get it done.  Okay, granted it takes a little hard work too.  This past year, I have seen a dream of mine become a reality and develop into something official.  No, it’s not something as shallow as my new shoes, nor is it the satisfaction of paying down debt, but it’s something my heart is very tied to.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has a mission to raise money for research to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes or juvenile diabetes.  It’s something that I was diagnosed with 16 years ago and I’m just as desperate to get rid of it today as I was back then.  In my medium-sized town of Springfield, Missouri (approx 250,000 people), there was no local chapter of JDRF until now.  The closest chapter was in St. Louis, about 3 hours away.  To me, this was unacceptable.  Our town has a lot of people affected by Type 1 diabetes, and we deserve more than the mediocre support that was being offered by other organizations.  So in late 2007, I set out to start an official chapter of JDRF here in Springfield.

On a volunteer basis. (I have that day job, remember?)

I petitioned some help from the St. Louis chapter, and they backed me up nicely.  I put a listing on Craigslist looking for the other Type 1′s in the area and planned a meet-up.  The response I got was overwhelming and in December 2007, the grassroots members met at a little coffee shop to proceed forward with getting this off the ground.  Throughout the next year, we were met with some local opposition, but we persevered with small fundraising events and a big summer outdoor BBQ gathering with a silent auction that raised $3,000 with approximately 50 new people showing up.  In May of 2009 we held our first complete volunteer Walk To Cure Diabetes at Jordan Valley Park.  To my pleasant surprise, over 500 people showed up and we raised $35,000!  And since then, we had several meetups, support groups were formed, poker tournaments, advocacy meetings were held with important congress people, and we became more and more established in Springfield.  You couldn’t stop our ambition.

Fast forward to 2010, and the St. Louis office hired our first official staff person.  Jennifer Cotner-Jones came in and secured some big corporate names and she put some of her expertise to work in gaining families and dollars.  She helped us coordinate the second annual Walk in May 2010 which raised $75,000 and kicked off the gala season with the Jingle Bell Bash in December 2010 where we raised $28,000 for research. It’s official, JDRF is here in Springfield, there is no stopping this ambitious freight train now, even if I wanted to.

And now, with a deep sigh of satisfaction, I am up late writing the agenda to preside over the first local board meeting of 2011 scheduled for next week.  Although I refuse to rest on my laurels (whatever the heck that actually means), I can’t help but look back and reminisce at how far we have come.  I certainly couldn’t have done it all by myself, and I don’t claim to.  But it was my dream that just happened to be similar to other people’s dream.  So I made it reality for me (and them) by setting my mind to get it done and putting my heart into it. The best thing about it is that we’re are even more closer to a cure than ever before.  You have heard of the Artificial Pancreas Project, right?!

And now I’m going to put my heart into the shoe line I am designing.  Afterall we will all need something to wear at the next Walk.

Donald Trump & Paul Dizmang - Both considered to be "The Donald" in my world.

I’ve been asked why I refer to my boss, Paul Dizmang, as “The Donald” on this blog.  He’s not The Donald because I’m afraid of being fired. (Although maybe I should be after this post.)  He is “The Donald” for the following reasons:

1. He is a real estate tycoon similar to the original.
2. He is my boss.
3. I love the show “The Apprentice.”  Most days I come to work, I feel like I’m filming my own version of “The Apprentice.”
4. He my real estate Broker that has taught me the ins and outs of real estate in Springfield, Missouri.  A mentor.
5. He’d be a good star of a reality show.
6. He did try to fire me once, but I talked him out of it.  Kinda in the same way I hired myself.  Has nothing to do with Donald Trump, but eh.

He’s my friend. He’s my business partner.  I have a mountain of respect for him and I admire him.  He also gets on my nerves, but then again everyone does.  At least he has better hair.  The Donald could fire me at any time, but I’m not all that worried.  He’s trained me well over the last 10+ years.  It would be like firing a clone of himself.  I can do that point and pose thing too you know.

And it’s a new year! Although I feel like 2010 was absolutely fantastic, I am really really looking forward to 2011.

I’ve already got a jump start on my new year’s resolutions… this blog has had a little bit of an overhaul.  It’s not done yet, but it’s a start.  Did you even notice, or are you reading this in your RSS reader?  However, I’m not going to look at them as “resolutions”, more like things I want to accomplish.  So here’s the list:

• I will successfully run a 5K.
• I will develop another subdivision with The Donald like we did in 2005.
• I will get my blood sugar’s a1c under 7%.
• I will continue to cultivate the growth of Dizmang Properties School of Real Estate by writing and offering several new courses.
• I will improve the SEO of our web sites.
• I will spend more time getting to know my fabulous children, they are growing up so fast.
  

  Collin and Jake on New Year 2011

And last, and most certainly least, I will put forth a valiant effort to make this blog more interesting.

Happy New Year to you!

Every time I open WordPress, I find way too many half baked blog post drafts.  Currently there are 118 posts in the drafts section.  And it’s starting to get on my nerves.  You know what else gets on my nerves? When people say that they just don’t know what to write and that is the reason they don’t blog.

Therefore, I am dubbing the rest of this month as “No New Material” until I clean up what’s been cooking.

I’m scheduling these drafts out to publish post, so if they’re not done, then I’m screwed. Let’s hope I didn’t say something stupid. That is all.