This has been a beautiful evening with a full harvest moon. Up here in North Dakota the leaves have been falling and we have had a couple of frosty nights. Tonight my bride and I raked leaves with the help of our little ones (Tina 8 & Timmothy 7). It was nice to get the most out of our short evenings as the sun is now down by 7PM. Timmothy wasn't a lot of help tonight as early on he stepped in some dog do-do and then whined about it for half an hour. Burning leaves in our Fire Department approved fire pit is one thing I look forward to every fall, just love the smell. I mention the Fire Department approved fire pit because one of my neighbors who obviously doesn't care for the smell always calls the Fire Department every time I light it. I actually look forward to greeting my Fire Depar... 10/16/2008

10/02/2008

Yes it gets cold up here but for heavens sake it's not cold year around. I'm sure no matter where you live you get some pretty crazy questions. Most often I'm asked if it ever warms up in North Dakota. The answer is of course, YES! Our springs are a little slow to come around, like late April to early May. My birthday is in mid May and it is highly unusual for things NOT to be budding and turning green. One big plus with our late spring is we hardly ever see any misquetoes until late June or July. As of today we have not seen a frost yet but it will be coming soon. That however does not mean the end of nice days. Although the temp dipped into the 30's this morning it regained nicely to about 80. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids enjoying the "Splash Pad" at Oak Park this weekend. 09/27/2008

Every website, every blog, and every agent out there is going to tell you how wonderful they are and ask you to "consider" them. I want you to "consider" this: If you want to list a house make sure you have made up your mind as to if you want to sell or if you want to stay. If you are looking for a home make sure you have made the decision to buy. I know my time is valuable and so is the time of my clients. If you want to sell your house and you want to list it with me then it will be priced properly or you can list with a liar who will inflate the price and your hopes and you will stay. If you are just looking at houses and not serious about buying then call another Realtor, I don't want you! I'd rather spend my time with real buyers, my family, my Church family, or about anywhere tha... 09/20/2008

This weekend I had the good fortune to meet the beautiful and gracious Alayne Okland, Executive Director of The 2nd Story Club. I met Alayne like I've met a whole lot of people, at a rummage sale. I almost passed up this rummage sale because it was a downtown address in the heart of the business section of Minot ND. I'm sure glad I didn't. The rummage sale was being held by The 2nd Story Club of Minot which is a social club for adults with developmental disabilities. I like that their literature says "For Exceptional Persons", I certainly could feel that as I was there. The club was started 33 years ago and they receive NO State or Federal funding. Alayne and her assistant run the show with a lot of wonderful volunteers. The facility includes a reception area, TV room (see the picture b... 09/11/2008

This post is for ALL Realtors as well as folks moving to Minot North Dakota. A lot of people, myself included, like to hunt for bargains so as community promoters (Realtors) we should be able to tell clients where the bargain shops are. I work with a lot of young families due to the Minot Air Force Base and these kids can use all the help they can get. I also work with some very affluent people and they often ask where they can donate items that they have updated or items they just don't use. Everybody can use a Thrift Store for one reason or another. I found a neat site that can inform you of Thrift Stores in your area. It's called ThriftShopper.com. It's not perfect, It missed three in Minot ND but it's a start. In Minot North Dakota the thrift shops are: 1) The Restore 112 2nd Ave SW... 08/20/2008

Things have been so crazy busy here in Minot I have not been able to keep up with my goal of sharing one great thing about Minot North Dakota every day. Therefore I will share a few thing today just to get caught up. Speaking of "GREAT", last Thursday was the 20th Annual "The Great Tomato Festival". Picture courtesy of KXMC-TV News in Minot   The Great Tomato Festival is a wonderful event that is put on by three different groups in town, The Minot Public Library, The Western Plains Opera, and The Taube Museum Of Art (pronounced Taw-bee). Each year the thee groups and many volunteers get together and put on this event. Although they all work together all the proceeds benefit one of the groups for that year and then it rotates each year. This year it was the Minot Public Library and they ... 08/20/2008

I feel Roosevelt Park is Minot's most under acknowledged park and one of the least heralded attractions. This is a GREAT Park with something for the whole family. A part of the Park is the Roosevelt Park Zoo which I have acknowledged in an earlier post so this post will concentrate on the Park itself. Please enjoy, all 30 some pictures were taken on August 9th 2008. Park Entrance at Burdick Expressway and 13th Street SE Soo Line Locomotive This gazebo gets a lot of use for weddings. Just beyond the gazebo. ND Medal Of Honor Memorial. South Entrance. Behind the gazebo. The Ten Commandments. Not believed to be the originals. Hey did you see that Mel Brooks film, History of the World part One? I loved that bit with Moses and the fifteen err ahh Ten Commandments. Beautiful HUGE Bronze statu... 08/09/2008

One thing well worth blogging about within Minot North Dakota is an event called The Norsk Hostfest. The Scandinavion heritage of this area is emphesised through out the Minot community but this event in particular brings us visiters from all around the World. This event is much like the State Fair in the manor that it hosts many top billing stars over the 10 day period of celebration. Also it is held on the North Dakota State Fair Grounds. The only thing missing is the carnavil rides. However the carnavil atmosphere is present as venders bring, make, and sell their items of Scandinavion interest. This is an event for the entire family with activities running all day long and well into the night.Just how BIG is the Nork Hostfest? Royalty of Norway attend it. Not only is every hotel/mote... 07/08/2008

If you want to work then you need to head move UP to Minot North Dakota. We are way short of employees for every occupation (except Real Estate professionals) in Minot so if you have clients that are looking for good paying jobs please tell them that we need them up here in Minot.Here is the senario: The largest oil field in history has just been discovered in ND and Minot is in the middle of it. Plus Congress just approved The Minot Air Force Base to receive a new squadren of B-52's which means another 1,000 troops will be brought it to man/equip the squadren. Plus two of the largest employers in Minot have announced they will be making large increases in staff. Plus several retailers have announced they will be building stores in Minot (ie Home Depot). Plus it is projected that our po... 05/02/2008

Hello....Thanks Steph for sending the invitation to get registered here.  I can't get my picture to show up...Any words of advice?     03/25/2008