Results Realty Buzz: December 2010

"Yes I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."  Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

The last few years I have sent out cards using send out cards and using my own picture.  This year I did not have a picture that struck me and found these cards in my Christmas supplies. I think this card gives the essence of the reason for the season.

I bought these cards several years ago from DaySpring cards. Just a little aside when I went to their website to get the link I found they had some great bargains if you want to store away for next year.

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texasand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia. If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

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Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *No One Else But Jesus!!*

My Kodak moment took place March 9th 2009 in Fort Hood TX.  This picture took place at our son's Welcome Home ceremony from his second tour of Iraq in  Fort Hood TX. (I can still look at the picture and get all weepy.)

Tarren surprised us straight out of high school and decided to join the Army as an Intelligence Analyst.  We were surprised as we are not a military family. Part of the reason he joined the Army was that was the same branch of service my Dad was in during World War II; the other part had to do with some darn good recruiters. As I said we are not necessarily a military family but my husband's side and my side do have a long history of men serving our country when needed.

Tarren ended up doing two tour of Iraq.  The first tour was AWFUL. He was stationed at a little town called Hit; just northwest of Ramadi. This happened to be the time when the insurgents were coming in to Iraq and this base was along the route they took. The base was mortared the entire 14 months that he was stationed there. He would tell me they were really bad shots but that did not make a Mom feel better.

After finishing his first tour the base he was stationed at in Germany was closed. I can remember how excited I was when I found he would be based here in Texas at Fort Hood.  That excitement turned to dread when I found out that he was getting the stop loss and was being put with a unit that would be heading straight back to Iraq. At the time I was so upset with God for sending him back.  As usual our heavenly Father knew better than me. 

Thank God his second tour was nothing like the first one.  He was based at a fairly large base in Baghdad.  At this point things had calmed down in Iraq and he had lots of time for reflection.  As I said he got the stop loss so he was an additional 10 months in the Army past the 4 years he signed up for. Being in the desert he spent lots of time studying the ocean (lol). He got out of the Army in June of 2009 and is now a Sophomore at Texas A&M getting a degree in Ocean Engineering.

Going back to the picture if you look behind us you will see a lot of activity a soldier on his cell phone (probably trying to find his family in the hubbub) a little boy probably looking for his Daddy etc. This was our first welcome home ceremony as the other tour he came back to Germany. There was a large tent that was for the families to wait in with a huge big screen television that tracked the plane.  When the plane landed we saw it land on the big screen.  The soldiers came off at the landing field and we watched them walk off on the big screen as they played; Signed, Sealed Delivered Baby I'm yours.  We then waited outside at the parade field for what seemed like a long time. The buses all arrived and then pulled away and there were our soldiers. They all marched up to the parade field there was a short ceremony and then they said find your soldier.  If you would like to see some videos of the welcome home ceremony please visit my most favorite post at Welcome Home to Texas - 4th Infantry.

I was one of the lucky ones whose son came home from Iraq safe and sound.  As I see what is going on in Afghanistan right now it reminds me of Tarren's first tour.  Please join me in keeping our men and women who serve in our military in your prayers.  Freedom is not FREE!!

This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain 'Kodak Moments' contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera

To participate in the ActiveRain contest, visit the blog post announcing the contest from Kodak and ActiveRain. 

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texasand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia. If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

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Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *Kodak moment - Welcome home from Iraq!!*

Meet Santa Baby!  Baby is our neighbor's dog and she was all decked out for our bible study Christmas party. She looks cute enough to pet but if you are not a member of my neighbor's family you might want to think twice.  Baby thinks that she is a Doberman and is very protective of her family.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texasand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia. If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *Christmas Photo Challenge - Santa Baby!!*

I have sent the following post out every year that I have been on the rain and I'm sad to say that I almost forgot this year. I have to admit it was easier to remember when it was our son that was deployed. I'm not sure what jogged my memory tonight but I'm glad I remembered as there's still time to get packages to our troops before Christmas. 

Below are specific instructions on how to send flat rate packages to our troops.  Truth be told this is information that you can use all year as our troops love getting packages.  As you can see last year I won a photo-blogger award for this post.  I'm keeping it on there as maybe that will help the post get noticed.  So here's the post:

It is hard for out troops being away from friends and family during the holiday season. This makes it an ideal time to send them a flat rate package. Last year at this time our son was in the middle of his second tour of Iraq and he loved getting goodies from home. With him doing two tours I learned the ins and outs of sending him flat rate packages. On our son's first tour he was based at a town called Hit just northwest of Ramadi; the base was so small they really didn't even have a PX to speak of. For 6 months of his tour he was on the graveyard shift so if we didn't send food he was pretty much stuck eating MRE's. Needless to say I became an expert at sending care packages so I am going to pass my knowledge forward as I know there are many other soldiers like him who would love some extra care packages.

If you don't know a soldier but would like to help a soldier you can adopt a soldier through Soldiers Angels. You adopt them for the duration of their tour though, it is not just a one time thing. Our son told me there are a lot of soldiers that are alienated from families for one reason or another and don't receive much. Soldier's Angels sounds like the remedy for that problem.

You must mail your package to a particular soldier. You cannot send a package without a soldier's name or it will be just discarded. Another way to find a soldier is to ask friends and family if they know anyone. You will be amazed at how many people know of someone that has been deployed.

Figuring out how to send these packages was a learning experience. The first time I sent one I arrived at the post office with this big heavy box and spent something like $30 in shipping. I happened upon a really nice postal worker. He saw I was shipping to an APO in Iraq and turned me on to Flat rate shipping provided by our USPS. He told me that I could send several of the flat rate boxes for less than it would cost me to send the one big box.

When I sent him boxes on his first tour there were only two sizes available but there are now four different sizes of flat rate boxes. The two smaller boxes hold about the same amount but are made totally different. One is long and narrow and the other is short and squatty. The new larger box holds about 50% more and since I found out about it I have used it exclusively. It cost me $10.95 to ship using this box and I can make it as heavy as I want to. Normally this flat rate box cost $12.95 but the postal service gives a $2.00 discount when you ship to an APO. To be quite honest I'm not even sure what the current charge is on the smaller box as I now only use the large one. Any amount of material may be enclosed as long as the box is not modified and the contents fit inside. .

These boxes are provided to us free from our USPS and you can pick them up at most post offices prior to shipping. The only time I had trouble finding them was the Christmas season as the post office was having problems keeping them in stock. At the same time you pick the flat rate boxes up you will also want to pick up some "Customs Declaration and Dispatch Notices" and some priority mail address labels. You will need to fill out the Customs Declaration and you are going to need to put in a description of what you are sending. It says detailed but you can just write things like 6 cans of soup, 2 packages of crackers, candy, 3 cans of tuna etc. That will suffice for detailed. You will need to put in a value and I always marked treat as abandoned. You will then need to date and sign the form. You have to press hard as there are 6 copies to go through. I always filled out an address label also and put it on the box. I had a postal worker tell me to fill both out just in case the customs declaration came off.

I am sorry but there are no short cuts to standing in line. YOU CAN NOT USE THE SPEEDY CHECK OUT MACHINE. My neighbor did that the first time she sent a package to her son and it came back to her because she had not added the customs declaration page.

The soldiers love getting useful stuff. Our daughter is a flight attendant for a charter company that moves our troops and she told me that someone sent some marines off with lei's which they proceeded to give to the flight attendants. The thought was nice but I think they would have preferred something that was useful to them. I sent things like soup, tuna, crackers, summer sausage, non-perishable cheese, candy. You get the idea anything that is non-perishable. At Christmas I always sent homemade cookies and candy to our son. He isn't that crazy about sweets but he always shared them. You can be assured that if the soldier you are sending to doesn't like what you sent they will pass it on to someone that does.

So should you hear about someone that is stationed over in Iraq or Afghanistan you now know how to mail them a box of goodies using these wonderful flat rate boxes provided to us by our postal service.

Amazingly I found these packages typically got to their destination in less than a week. Whether I was sending them to Germany (as that was where our son was first stationed) or Iraq they always arrived. One time I sent the package to his old Germany APO address and the package went back to Fort Hood and then on to Iraq (it took about a month but it arrived safe and sound). About the only time I did not us the flat rate boxes was when I sent Ramon noodles or the time I sent an air mattress bed as it didn't fit.

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texasand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia. If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *How to send flat rate packages to our troops!!*

I attended the Spring Klein chamber luncheon today.  Our speaker was Carl Pittman a Criminal Investigator/Deputy Sheriff at Harris County Sheriff's Office.  He spoke to us about business safety.

He started out asking if there's was any CSI watcher's in the room.  Of course a bunch of hands went up.  He went on to say it is television; crimes are not solved in 38 minutes. As a criminal investigator he wants to make sure that he has solid evidence to make the most solid case possible so criminals are locked up for a long time.

DNA is the fastest growing science in law enforcement.  Many cases would have gone unsolved except for DNA.  He told us that if we got up from our chairs his investigators could come in and swab the chairs and decipher who was sitting where.  Fingerprints use to be the standard but not any longer; if the crook has enough money they can remove their fingerprints.

Here in Texas every time an offender goes to prison a biological sample is taken. This profile is then uploaded in to a state system.  It use to take 6 to 7 months to get a hit using DNA and now it can take as little as 30 to 50 days.   He stressed to us that if we are robbed either in our business or our home DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.  It is our natural tendency to want to clean up but DON'T. Everything the crook has handled gives the chance of getting good DNA.  They can then take these unknown samples and compare them with profiles and they get matches. He is then able to get a probable cause warrant.  This puts a warrant in the system for the person's arrest.  Every state maintains a state database of these profiles which they share with a national database; that does take a little longer though.

The question was asked if a suspect came in for questioning could you give them a glass to hold to get the DNA.  He said it is perfectly okay to get DNA that way.  He also said that when people do come in of their own free will it is amazing what they will tell you; if you just know how to ask.

I am highlighting this next tip as I thought it was a GREAT suggestion.

He asked us how many people had their electronic signatures captured.  Not a soul raised their hand on that one.  He told us a good many of us had smart phones and we should go around our home and office and capture all those electronic QR codes for our items.  He suggested keeping that record right there on your cell phone.  Should you be robbed you immediately have a record to share.  By doing this you have a good chance of recovering your items. He said that typically the criminal will immediately take these items to pawn shops.  The pawn shop must wait 30 days before they put the items up for sale. If you have these signatures saved this lag time could get your item back to you.

The last thing he talked about was for those businesses who deposit quantities of cash.  It is good to have two different banks that you go to and it is also good to not have a routine.  A crook will look for routines.  You don't want to send someone to the bank at the same time every day.  Also don't put cash in obvious envelopes; you want to keep your deposits nondescript. 

He believes in our second amendment right to bear arms but he said if you are going to use that right you need to know how to use your weapon.  In closing he said to be a good witness but there is nothing in our home or office that is worth dying for.  If you have someone who is robbing you just give them what they want.   It is just stuff!

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TXand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *Spring Klein Chamber of Commerce - Criminal Investigator Carl Pittman - Business safety!*

Yesterday was our annual Conroe Yacht Club Toys for Tots sailing regatta and also the official end of the sailing season.  We were so blessed with INCREDIBLE weather. Yesterday it was almost 80 degrees and today 60 degrees. This is one of those regattas where you don't know what the weather is going to be like until the day of the regatta.  I have memories of miserable Toys for Tots regattas. I'm a fair weather sailor and won't commit to crewing until I know the weather (lol).

We had our son ans his girlfriend as our crew which was VERY COOL.  It was only two years ago at this time that our son was still in the Army and in Iraq. 

We ended the day with a couple of Japanese Zero's flying over our Yacht club which was very cool.  I'm not sure if they were real Japanese Zero's but they were painted that way.  It was a wonderful way to end the season and all for a good cause.  The entry fee was a toy for a tot to be be given to the Marines.  We had a bunch of toys piled up to go to Toys for Tots.

If you are on Facebook and can't see the pictures click here. If you are on Active Rain and can't see the slide show my only suggestion is to try another browser. I have contacted AR about the problem and they feel it is a browser problem. I use Internet Explorer so I know that works.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TXand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *Conroe Yacht Club - Toys for Tots Regatta!!*!*

Yesterday I posted Dundy's Christmas picture that we used for last year's Christmas card.  This is the picture that didn't make it to the card.  I thought the reindeer ears were a great idea but as you can tell Dundy did not!  As soon as I took the ears off her perked right up and I got yesterday's snapshot.  He makes a sad reindeer!__________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TX and need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *Christmas Photo Challenge - Dundy makes an unhappy reindeer!*  

This was our Christmas card last year.  I'm not sure how we are going to one up that this year.  Maybe the cats?  Well on second thought maybe not! The only way I'm getting a Christmas picture of the cats is if they decide they want to model for me.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TX and need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *Christmas Photo Challenge - Dundy!*