Black Friday!  It has ruined Thanksgiving.  Even before the Thanks are given, even before the Turkey is out of the oven we have to be talking Christmas!  Radio Stations are playing Christmas music even on Thanksgiving.  It would be so nice to finish one holiday before starting the next. For my family...No Christmas talk is allowed until after the first round of leftovers are eaten.  Then we draw names adn the free for all can begin! 11/26/2010

I was sent this the other day and I got a kick out of it and thought some of you may also. Stewardship offertory: "Jesus paid it all" The music for today's service was all composed by George Fredrich Handel in the celebration of the 300th anniversary of his birth. Remember the many who are sick of our church and community The eighth graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the church basement on Friday at 7 pm.  The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy. The concert held in the fellowship hall was a great success. Special thanks are due the ministers daughter who labored all evening at the piano which as usual fell upon her. 22 members were present at the church meeting held at the home of Mrs, Marsha Crutchfield last evening. Mrs Crutchfield and Mrs Carlson sang a du... 10/18/2010

The future is a fog for the most part, but with a little planning the future can have a bit of light to follow. 2 vampire bats wake up in the middle of the night and one of them says.. "I'm hungry, lets go find us some blood." "We are new here," replied the second.  "We don't know where to go, we better wait for the others to go with us." "I can find blood anywhere," said the 1st bat, and off he flys.  Not long and he returns all covered in blood. The 2nd bat is all excited.  "Where did you find the blood?" The first bat takes his friend to the mouth of the cave..."See that black building over there?" "YEA, I see it." "Well," said the 1st...I didn't!" Without a plan or knowing a path to follow is like flying in the dead of night not knowing where your obstacles are. 09/01/2010

School is just on the horizan and families are gearing up for it.  School supplies, shoes and clothes just to name a few.  For many a parent...it is a sad and proud day.   For others...Cartwheels.  Most of the kids can't wait and others are disappointed.   Like this girl. A little girl, after just finishing her first week of school exclaimed to her Mom... "I am just waisting my time...I can't read, I can't write and they don't even let me talk!" Please...everyone be careful and watch for those little tykes running around all excited! 08/03/2010

Morning everyone...It is the 16th of april and I can breath now that the tax deadline is done.  I always wonder why so many people wait to come to me to do their taxes until the last week. Here is a cute story that one of my clients shared...hope you enjoy... Two old Jewish men, Sid and Al, we sitting in a Mexican Restraunt in Los Angeles one day.  Sid asked Al... "Do you know how many people of our faith are born in Mexico?" Al replies.."I don't know, let's ask our waiter." When the waiter arrives Al askes..."Are there any Mexican Jews?" "I don't know Senor, I ask the cooks." The waiter returns in a few minutes, "No Senor, no Mexican Jews." Al isn't satisfied, "Are you sure there aren't any Mexican Jews?" The waiter, realizing he is dealing with 'Gringos', says..."I check again." While... 04/16/2010

Yesterday I touched on a couple of credits available on the Federal return for your '09 taxes (the "Making Work Pay and Government Retiree Credit" and the additional real estate tax for those using the standard deduction versus itemized). Today I would like to emphasize an addition to income for all of those living in the state of Minnesota.  Minnesotans, please remember that just because the IRS has passed additional credits to help you on your Federal return does not mean that each state is going to accept the same credits.  That being said, you must add back the real estate tax on your M1 (Minnesota) return. Another addition to the Minnesota return (for those who received Unemployment payments), is the $2400 reduction to the taxable portion of your Unemployment benefits on your Feder... 02/15/2010

For those of you who like to be informed about new changes concerning their up-coming tax returns, I just have a couple credits to tell you about.  I'll try to keep it brief because I know many of you simply JUST GET BORED when it comes to taxes. First, there is a NEW credit this year called the "Making Work Pay and Government Retiree Credit".  This credit is 100% so even if you owe $0 in tax you will still receive the credit.  The credit is $400 ($800 if married filing joint) or adjusted down if your wages were less than $6451 ($12903 if married filing joint). And, also adjusted down, if you received an economic recovery payment in 2009.  You may have received this payment of $250 ($500 if married filing joint) if you received SS benefits, SSI, railroad retirement benefits, VA dsabilit... 02/14/2010

If any of you remember, back in March of '09 I wrote a small blog about the $7500 First-time homebuyer credit and how it would be repaid over a 15 year period.  I said I would keep you posted on any results of that credit if changes should occurr.  Well, nothing happened.  I must say that I was really a little bit put-out about the situation, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.  The '08 First-time homebuyer credit will still have to be paid back over time, but the good news is that it will only be up to $500 each year beginning with the year 2010.  Any questions, just send me an email and I'll try to answer them as best I can.  Happy Valentine's Day to all and may God Bless each and everyone of you. Randi 02/14/2010

HinckleyMinnesota Real Estate Market Conditions We here at Team PROgressive continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends. Below you will find Hinckley’s real estate statistics for June 17 – June 23, 2007. New Homes on the Market: 2 Number of homes accepting offers (pending): 0 Number of homes closing (sold): 1 Number of homes Expiring from Market: 0 Average Days on Market: 0125 To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please click here. If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Hinckley or would like to know about hot new listings before other buyers do, then give us a call at Team PROgressiveMike & Tammi VanGrinsvenGre... 08/06/2007

HinckleyMinnesota Real Estate Market Conditions We here at Team PROgressive continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends. Below you will find Hinckley’s real estate statistics for June 10 – June 16, 2007. New Homes on the Market: 2 Number of homes accepting offers (pending): 0 Number of homes closing (sold): 0 Number of homes Expiring from Market: 1 Average Days on Market: 00 To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please click here. If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Hinckley or would like to know about hot new listings before other buyers do, then give us a call at Team PROgressiveMike & Tammi VanGrinsvenGreat... 08/02/2007

If you are looking to purchase a home in Hinckley, Minnesota here are some demographics of the area that I thought would be useful to you. If you are moving to the area and would like help with financing or would like me to refer a realtor to you I would be happy to do that for you as well.Hinckley, MinnesotaPopulation:4428Major City:HINCKLEYHouseholds:1716County:PINEAverage Household Income:$36,111State:MNAverage Commute Time:27.9 Minutes Household DetailsTotal Housing Units:3395Total Households:1716Total Population in Households:4344Total Households with a member under 18:632Total Households with a member over 65:550Total Families in Households:1179Total 2-Person Families in Households:517Total 3-Person Families in Households:252Total 4-Person Families in Households:235Total 5-Person ... 07/11/2007

HinckleyMinnesota Real Estate Market Conditions We here at Team PROgressive continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends. Below you will find Hinckley’s real estate statistics for June 3 – June 9, 2007. New Homes on the Market: 9 Number of homes accepting offers (pending): 1 Number of homes closing (sold): 2 Number of homes Expiring from Market: 2 Average Days on Market: 0166 To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please click here. If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Hinckley or would like to know about hot new listings before other buyers do, then give us a call at Team PROgressiveMike & Tammi VanGrinsvenGreat... 06/21/2007

HinckleyMinnesota Real Estate Market Conditions We here at Team PROgressive continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends. Below you will find Hinckley’s real estate statistics for May 27-June 2, 2007. New Homes on the Market:2 Number of homes accepting offers (pending):1 Number of homes closing (sold):0 Number of homes Expiring from Market:3 Average Days on Market:0 To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please click here. If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Hinckley or would like to know about hot new listings before other buyers do, then give us a call at Team PROgressiveMike & Tammi VanGrinsvenGreater Midwest... 06/07/2007