Property Taxes are now due in Dona Ana County NM and dont forget to Protest your property Valuations for 2014. Arent we excited to see our new 2014 Valuations?  The assessor in Las Cruces, Dona Ana County has sent out our 2014 Notice of Value.  If you want to appeal the valuation you can do that next spring.  If you think your valuation is unfairly high, or low, you can fill out a protest form to have the Dona Ana County Assessor take a closer look at what they are charging you for property taxes. I recommend everyone that has Real Property in Las Cruces take a good close look at the notice of Value.  Do you believe your property value has gone down in the last year.  If other properties in your area have sold for less and less yours may be worth less as well.  It is no guarantee that t... 04/04/2011

For more great information on tips when you are selling your Las Cruces New Mexico home you can contact me anytime at 575 496-0141 Pet Odor Can Chase Away Buyers Don’t let pet odors derail your home sale. Read Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this. Copyright 2011 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 03/26/2011

Las Cruces is blessed with amazing artists, entertainers and writers.  There are so many wonderful museums and galleries, bookstores and events where locals can get up and personal with the people who create works of art, fiction and more.  One in particular has been in Las Cruces for many years, has volunteered her time with so many groups and is one of those Las Cruceans' who embodies what the Spirit of the Mesilla Valley is all about. Her name is Audrey Hartley and when she isn't busy working in her 9-5 (read that 24/7) job, you can find her volunteering for various groups, singing with the New Desert Harmony Singers and, most importantly, promoting her new book called "Colors For Michaela". This is a wonderful children's story about a little girl learning about how to overcome adver... 03/02/2011

03/02/2011

I had a very interesting conversation with a potential seller this morning. They're are thinking about listing their home but aren't too sure since the market hasn't been that brisk.  They're older and looking forward to moving and being closer to their grandkids.  At one point in the conversation, the husband asked, "So...what is it that you do do?"  After a few chuckles, and a little clarification from him, I told him what I would/could and wouldn't/couldn't do for him should they decide to list their house. As an associate broker in New Mexico, I have a lot of tools available to me.  One of my best tools is called a CMA - a comparative market analysis.  This shows you what is currently on the market that is similar to your home and what the list prices are as well as pending and comp... 02/23/2011

Suffice to say, Mother Nature brought one heck of a winter wallop to beautiful Las Cruces over the last couple of weeks.  We desert dwellers just aren't used to cold temperatures! We had our share of problems - serious drains on the electrical grid along with mechanical failures resulted in rolling blackouts.  Water pipes burst all over town causing water outages.  Down south in El Paso, Texas, the city had to put serious water rationing into affect because of low levels in reservoirs. The news broadcasts called in Winter Storm 2011, dramatic music included. A winter storm like this one is very rare.  Negative wind chill numbers just don't happen around here!  Sure, it gets cold in the winter with lows in the mid teens but the days are very comfortable, reaching temps in the mid 50's bu... 02/10/2011

  Bare with me while I brag a little about living in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It's December 10th and, today, we saw a high temp of about 73 or so.  I love to tease my friends who live up north about the beautiful weather down here.  I usually get 'nasty-grams' (with love, of course) from them when I post up these photos. I can't help it.  It's like living in paradise.  Here's tonight's sunset.   12/10/2010

  We're are in full holiday mode around Las Cruces and one thing to definitely put on your list is the 6th Annual Old Fashioned Holiday Display at the Las Cruces Railroad Museum, which is going on tomorrow - December 3rd from 5pm to 9pm. The railroad is a huge part of our history, stretching back to 1881 when the first train rolled into town, bringing supplies and passengers via the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. Tomorrow you will have an opportunity to see holiday train models, a beautiful luminaria display, enjoy refreshments and even talk with Santa Claus to see which list he has you on this year.  Personally, I'm hoping for Nice but I'm prepared for anything. To Get There: The Depot is located at 351 N. Mesilla St., at the intersection of Las Cruces Ave. and Mesilla St. Tr... 12/02/2010

For me, it's just not the Christmas season until I've gone to the La Casa Holiday Bazaar - and I get to do that this Friday!  Friday is the preview - or "First Night" and it's wonderful to be one of the first folks to be able to walk through and see what's being offered. This is a landmark year for the Bazaar - the event will be the first official event for the brand new Convention Center in Las Cruces!  It's been a hard fought battle for many years to get this funded and built.  Now that it's up and running, we are very excited! The Bazaar raises funds for our local womens and childrens shelter.  I've volunteered there many times and any funds that head their way is a huge blessing.  They do such wonderful work there and it is always a pleasure to spend time helping out where I can. T... 12/01/2010

When it comes to perfect golf weather, Las Cruces is the place.  We have four golf courses in town and each one is quite different to play.       Sonoma Ranch Sonoma Ranch is the 'newest' of the golf courses in Las Cruces.  Located on the east side of town, this course is very highly rated - holding a 3 1/2 star rating out of 4 stars on the Best Places to Play list.  It was designed by Cal Olson.  It has its challenges - rolling hills, sand traps that appear out of nowhere and greens that will make you scratch your head. From the championship tees, the course is 7,082 yards. NMSU Golf Course The New Mexico State University golf course is home to our womens and mens golf teams.  You'll find a beautiful and challenging 18 hole course situated just in front of "A" Mountain, just east of ca... 11/04/2010

http://www.las-cruces-arts.org/   My Lords and Ladies You are hereby cordially invited to attend the 39th Annual Renaissance Arts Fairehosted by the Dona Ana Arts Council     For two days, Las Cruces' Young Park is transformed into a medieval playland, full of Royalty, knights, ladies in waiting and even an appearance by Magellan, The Young Park Lake Dragon.  (He's behaved for a long time - who knows what could happen this weekend!) Vendors from all over the southwest - 150 in all - sell their wares.  You'll find beautiful southwest art and pottery, handwoven items, musical instruments....the list goes on and on.  You can also find costumes, swords and that suit of armor you've always wanted.  Well, maybe not the suit of armor but you will find a nice sword to take home to the family! ... 11/04/2010

I've written a bit about the amazing mexican food that awaits you in the Mesilla Valley but, believe it or not, there is some incredible Italian food around here as well.  Those that know me may say that I'm a bit biased but, to me, that's a good thing!   Lorenzo's Italian RestaurantS - there are three of them here - is the first choice of many for Italian.  Most will say they are there for the bread which is mouth-watering.  The recipe is closely guarded by owner Vince Vaccaro and his sister Mary.  NO amount of cash has been able to secure the recipe and, trust me, I've tried a few times. The menu consists of delicious standards such as chicken parmesan, raviolis, pastas, delicious salads and pizza.  The pizza crust is the bread I talked about above.  I did an informal poll a while bac... 10/24/2010

Wow.  What a week in Southern New Mexico! It all started last Tuesday when the International Symposium for Personal and Commerical Spaceflight opened in Las Cruces at the Farm and Ranch Museum and New Mexico State University.  The schedule was jam-packed with amazing speakers from the aerospace industry, former astronauts, local officials and internationally recognized experts. Let me step back and explain to you why this was going on. About 5 years ago, Richard Branson of Virgin everything approached Govenor Bill Richardson about creating a place in the New Mexico desert where flights to space would happen.  New Mexico would build the facilities, Sir Richard would provide the air/space craft on which travelers would journey into space. The place chosen was Upham, New Mexico - just east... 10/23/2010

What's October without going to an Octoberfest??  I don't know about you but it's been a tradition of mine since I was a little kid growing up in El Paso, Texas.  Back then, the German Air Force -Luftwaffe - was stationed at Fort Bliss and, through my father's business connections, we were invited to their festivities every year.  There's nothing quite like a German polka band and authentic german sausage!! Tomorrow, I'm going to keep my tradition alive and I hope that you'll join me if you're in the Las Cruces area.  Sonoma Ranch is celebrating in style from 5pm to 10pm at their Club House - with live music, lots of give aways, great food and drink and, if that wasn't enough, yours truly will be your Mistress of Ceremonies for the night.  On Sunday. there will be open houses in the Son... 10/22/2010

The Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference is celebrating it's 17th year with amazing performances, workshops and the Mariachi Mass on November 14th.  All of the weekend events are held at the Pan American Center on the campus of New Mexico State University. The workshops are geared towards student mariachi groups from around the country.  The video below features a high school mariachi group from San Diego, California.  After all of the practicing - for both instrument players and vocalists - a spectacular showcase is held on Saturday night.  According to the LCIMC website, the showcase includes over 750 workshop students performing along side popular artists including Mariachi Cobre and Shaila Durcal. Where to stay:  Las Cruces doesn't have a big airport so convention goers fly... 10/20/2010

  In the history of television, I don't think there was ever a better TV show than "The West Wing".  I learned so much from it and, well, it was just good stuff. There is a wonderful scene from the show that is going to help me introduce my blog topic -   "Schools should be palaces. Teachers should make six figures." I don't think there is anyone who could argue against those statements. Schools should inspire our kids to greater things. They should be excited to learn and not just dream of the possibilities that might happen to them. Earlier this year, I attended a forum for Spaceport America where the panel were top educators in the region - representatives from the school districts and NMSU. They were on hand to discuss what the Spaceport meant to our local education and to our kids.... 10/11/2010

It's pink here in Las Cruces.  No matter where you look, it's pink.  Pink flags are flying along University Avenue and on the streets of NMSU, retailers and other businesses have gussied up their windows as well.  Everywhere you go, people are sporting pink shirts, socks, tennis shoes and, in some cases, bright pink hair. We take our fight against breast cancer VERY seriously. I've blogged about it before but Las Cruces' campaign has been ranked number 1 in the world for the last two years.  Started four years ago, the campaign has 'pinked' out not just football games but volleyball, basket ball and other sporting events on campus and around town. An important partner in the Tough Enough campaign is Cowboys for Cancer Research of New Mexico.  They started back in 1981 and have been goin... 10/08/2010

The Las Cruces Symphony is one of those rare treasures in the Mesilla Valley.  You wouldn't expect that a town of around 100,000 would have something like this...but we do!     Our illustrious maestro is Lonnie Klein.  I won't list his CV but I will tell you this - he is very passionate about bringing amazing music to our little town.  One of the wonderful things about Maestro is the fact that he is adamant about bringing music to our children.  One of the annual events he does is the Childrens Instrument Petting Zoo which gives kids a chance to get an up close look and talk to the players.  There's nothing quite like seeing a 5 year old looking at a huge cello for the first time! Each year, there are 3 catagories of concerts - classical, pops and family.  This year, the pops portion wi... 10/05/2010

10/03/2010

When I moved to Las Cruces in 1993, one of the first big events I went to was the Southern New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo.  I'd never been to a state fair before.  I'd heard about the midway, the rides, the shows and so on but what I was really interested in was seeing the livestock exhibitions - especially the kids.  Being a 'city girl', I'd heard about FFA but never really seen what it involved.  I was quite impressed.  These kids worked so hard raising their goats or pigs or calves.  They were so proud when they were showing them, too. I also remember checking out the vintage farm equipment, watching the different acts and spending Saturday night at the Southern New Mexico Speedway - a dirt track whose drivers have a TON of attitude. Back then, it was all about the funnel cakes.  I... 10/01/2010