Why I Love Our Realtor

What started as a general 'Why Hire a Realtor?' post based on our ongoing house-hunting experience, accidentally turned into an 'I Love Tami Hicks' post...#sorrynotsorry



A few of you know this, but Josh and I have been house hunting to some extent for basically the whole time we've been married. Yes, for seven years we've had our house radar in the 'on' position just so we know what's happening with interest rates and the market...and so we can completely exhaust, stress out, and frustrate ourselves for fun.

Coincidentally I'm sure this exhausts our poor realtor...who at this point has probably shown us 50+ properties in the past five years. We've purchased one, with a pretty mediocre price tag. After working for Tami for 3+ years, I am the first to realize WE ARE BASICALLY THE WORST CLIENTS EVER.

The plan was to live in our Ames house for 3-5 years before upgrading, but during that time we bought an acreage (mainly for it's old barn and dream-location) to use as a rental until we're ready to build. So that changed the timeline a little and we've found ourselves still needing a third 'in between' property to grow the business until we truly need to build our dream home.

I'm using the word 'need' completely wrong, and I want you to know I realize that...we don't 'need' a third house (that's insane!) and I am forcing us to be patient and content in this house until we die if God doesn't bring about the 'right' property with easy-open doors.

It's so hard to know what direction to pursue...we want to spend our money as wisely as possible and we really would just like a giant red flashing sign that tells us exactly what to do. Since we can't have that, we have the next best thing...a realtor. And her name is Tami Hicks.

I have to take credit for making Tami show me THIS gem...she dropped what she was doing on a Friday night and drove to Maxwell for a house saturated in dog pee...but it's a fixer-upper with outbuildings in a location we're interested in so of course, she showed it to us with a good attitude, as per usual.

They know everything. Seriously. I can ask Tami what she thinks we should be charging for rent; how much a new septic tank will cost; or which restaurant in Ames has the best Thai food and SHE KNOWS. Josh's favorite question after we look at a house is: "Ok Tami. How much would YOU pay for this house." To which she informatively, and indirectly replies to let us decide what (or if) we want to offer. She instinctively knows when something is overpriced based on the market and the location and all kinds of other things. She knows when a house has good resale value or when we would get a good return on a fixer upper.

A few weeks ago I got a letter in the mail saying our assessed value went up nearly FIFTY GRAND and my very first reaction was to text Tami to ask her opinion because hers is the only one Josh and I BOTH trust. It means Josh and I don't have to discuss/argue about it...we just do what Tami suggests. lol. Start the appeal process? OK!

They are patient. I mentioned this before but Tami has traipsed all over Central Iowa showing us acreages and she has never once said, "I don't think this will be the one for you guys" or "This seems like the wrong location for what you" or "Why am I spending my Saturday night looking at a house I know you're not going to buy?" Baaahahaha. I have no idea how she does it because I'M ANNOYED WITH US. Instead she says things like, "It would definitely not be a waste of my time to show you a house" and she's always sending beautiful calendars in the mail and stopping by our house WITH GIFTS. What in the literal heck.

They aren't pushy. At the end of a showing we usually stand by the car for a little bit while she asks what we liked, what we didn't like...we chat about the pros and cons of each place and probably waste way more of her time than the typical client, because we know her as our friend too. She listens to us and then casually says, "ok well let me know if you want to make an offer" and then Josh asks her more questions and then we NEVER DO. Ok that's not true, we've made two official offers, one that resulted in a house, so I guess that's not terrible...but we've come super close to making an offer two or three other times (once during the middle of church a few weeks ago...talk about annoying clients) and I would guess doing all that texting/calling/paperwork isn't exactly a thrill.

They're direct. Things like ignoring the assessed value and stupid 'Zestimate' on Zillow or only using Realtor.com to search for houses (because it's a direct feed from the MLS!) are just a few of the tips Tami's given us. Her emails aren't wordy, but they're full of valuable advice and information. I remember the first time she sent me an email that included CAPS and no smiley-face punctuation...I thought she was yelling and mad (which, if you know Tami is pretty much never the case). I've come to thoroughly appreciate her directness and even copy how she communicates.

They have valuable experience. Stuff like lost abstracts and crazy sellers don't scare them (so. much. crazy.). Dark, rotten, moldy basements don't even scare them! They know exactly what to do and how to go about getting it done. I LOVE that Tami just gets crap done all day, every day. It probably helps that I've wittenessed her in action, but seriously. At the beginning of the year she casually makes goals like 'Memorize Proverbs' and 'Sell 60 Houses' AND THEN SHE DOES THOSE THINGS. I'm telling you...in a market that is saying you can FSBO your house and (insert dramatic finger quotes here) "SAVE A TON OF MONEY" (to be honest, you probably can) there is just NO WAY we want to do it that way. And I say that having been in that exact situation a few months ago. After casually looking at a friend's FSBO without Tami (and literally feeling naked at a showing without her) we knew we needed her for everything from writing the PA to negotiating to the inspection and we didn't want to 'fake' it through legal things like that on our own.

I guess this stuff really only applies if you're realtor is as good as ours. She puts up with us when we're ten minutes late. Shows us houses at ridiculous times. Invites us to her house to drink wine and eat cheese and THEN GIVES US A FREE PIE to take home. She's just the best all-around. So I guess what I'm trying to say is...if you don't have a realtor you love, I do and you should call her. If you do, I'm glad you have someone helping make the stress of house hunting easier, and I wish you luck!

...but not if you're looking for an acreage between Ames and Ankeny with a couple metal buildings...in that case...umm...maybe you should try your search without a realtor. It will totally work just fine. ;) ;) ;)

MmB

Easter Brunching

Happy day after Easter, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful, worshipful, day of resting and enjoying family and friends yesterday...and the most important part about Easter, remembering that Jesus rose from the grave TO SAVE US!

We hosted my parents, my grandma's, and aunt at our house yesterday and it was lovely. Small, relaxing, zero-stress and lovely. There is something great about big, hullaballoo, crazy gatherings...but don't count out the value that can be found in the small, intimate, simple get together. When you factor in different family dynamics, one G'ma coming from a nursing home in a wheelchair, and dealing with a 1.5 year-old on a BIG day...sometimes it's best to just keep things as small and simple as possible. We rarely host Josh's family AND mine at once because there is just too much crazy from all sides. It gets huge, not to mention expensive, so we've stuck to rotating all holiday's and jumping in to host whenever we can.

This Easter was our turn to host my family, and with Mav being the only kiddo around, I decided to go a little overboard with the pretty table. The G'mas loved the pretty dishes, and I always like to make sure and point out to my G'ma Phyllis that I'm using her special silverware (it's actually what we use everyday!). We did a brunch-theme for food, even though we ate at noon and it was so EASY! I think I want to do brunch EVERY TIME we host something!

Menu:
Quiche
Breakfast Potatoes
Sausage
Blueberries
Powdered Donuts (only because they're Josh's fave)
Muffins
Kringla
Yogurt Bar
Orange Juice
Coffee + Cupcakes for afternoon dessert

We were heavy on the pastries, but people volunteered to bring stuff at the last minute and I welcomed that. It made the spread a little "fuller," but didn't take any extra work on my part.

We did 9:00 church, egg hunt at 11, brunch at noon, nap at 1, coffee and chatting until he woke up around 3, everyone left, and we hit the park. The day's events just could not have been more perfect. I'll reiterate...doing everything I can to keep Mav's schedule generally the same (even on big, fun day's like this when a 3-hour nap isn't the 'most convenient') is the BEST thing I can do for our family. Keeping that part of our life smooth and stress-free is super important when everything else is so crazy.

Here are some pictures from our day with some explanation about where I found certain things or why I like setting a table this way...

This sweet little Easter banner came from Target last year and I love it so much. Aside from two One Spot bunnies I added to the collection this year, it's the only 'Easter Decorating' I do.

An extravagant centerpiece for something like this is a big NO for me. The trough of tulips was easily moved to the buffet for the day. I like whatever I use to be really low and long or really tall and skinny. As you can see, I went with tall and skinny, and stuck Maverick on one side so the view didn't really matter.

I prefer a table 'runner' most of the time to a table cloth...I feel like it still lends some color and texture, without being so overwhelming as a giant table cloth...like this colorful pattern would have been TOO MUCH. It's also easier for kiddos and G'mas to deal with...no one gets tangled up while they're trying to get up and down and eat. I made this one from leftover fabric I had after making my pillow cases.

This little collection of dishes I have going is great for so many reasons, but here are my top two:
1. Something gets broken? Oh well, it's not from anyone/where special and at the MOST cost me $3 (the bigger platters and bowls are usually between $4 and $6 for a really pretty one...otherwise it's 50-cent plates!). So it's beautiful and breakable, but at the same time, really low-maintenance.
2. Nothing has to match! The more mismatched, the better! Makes adding to the collection easy, and when stuff gets broken it doesn't throw the whole set off (funny...none of these pieces have gotten broken yet, but our wedding glasses sure didn't survive long).

The previous caption about all of our wedding glasses all breaking...is the reason we now just buy another flat of mason jars when the cupboards start getting bare. Plus they look kind of perfect on a vintage farm table like this. The bunny place card holders came from the One Spot (2 for $3) and because we generally like to host Easter as much as we can for both sides of the family, I thought they would get a lot of good use (as long as I can keep them from breaking).

I don't decorate with very much color throughout our house, so this table was super fun for me to play with. And then it was fun to wash, put away, and get back everything back to normal today. ;)

I didn't plan on holding this banner every year, but since we started it last year, we might as well. ;) 

Initial thoughts on this picture: Never underestimate the power of a good spray tan and makeup leftover from a wedding the day/night before. #praisehands

MmB

An Unlikely Switchfoot Fangirl

The Heartland Tour w/ Lecrae...we did meet and greet tickets for this one!

Let me tell you a little about how I grew to become one of the biggest Switchfoot Fangirls there ever was. It's a bit of a love story. 

I was in 8th or 9th grade...whenever A Walk To Remember came out and every teenage girl was going NUTS, that was about the time. Switchfoot wrote (and sings) a few songs on the movie soundtrack and since I was obsessed, I saved my money, went to Target, bought the $14 CD, and memorized every single song...Switchfoot songs included.

Fast forward five-ish years. I meet Josh Boersma freshman year of college and Jon Foreman (lead singer of Switchfoot) is the screensaver on his laptop. It's a sweaty, loooong-haired, UP CLOSE, picture of Jon singing into his microphone. Josh was RAVING about THAT'S HOW CLOSE HE WAS TO HIM (terrifying). And I just DID. NOT. get it. The Switchfoot songs were usually the ones I skipped on my Wow CD's (bless)...and they only had like, one song on the radio. 

Disclaimer: 2007 Mollie didn't realize there was a lot more to the music industry than just what was played on MTV music videos and Star 102.5 in the mornings.

So the first time I saw Josh's ridiculous computer background picture I seriously said to him, "Who is that?! It's super creepy you have him as your background. Everyone who sits behind you in class will see that huge face." And then Josh goes, "That's Jon Foreman! He's the 13th Disciple!" Which I thought was EVEN WEIRDER. Of course he had to add, "I have a BIG man crush on Jon. I've seen him in concert five times. Met him twice. He remembered me, so...yea."

College Josh Boersma, man. I wish you all had the chance to meet him. He was really something.

Full disclosure...guess who also now has about 20 up-close pictures of Jon Foreman's sweaty face? One, Mollie Boersma.

Time went on and this weird friend of mine turned into my best friend in the world. We even ended up at the same Relient K/Switchfoot Concert in Cedar Falls (he with another girl, and me with another guy...I was there to see Relient K sing Sadie Hawkins Dance, Josh was obviously there to see his boy, Jon). A few years later my best friend became my boyfriend. 11 months went by and that boyfriend asked me to marry him...six months after, this fiancee became my husband. There's our little love story in a nutshell.

Do you know how much time Josh and I spent driving in the car during that time? Back and forth from Ames to Manson to Ankeny to Ames and around again for holidays and weekend visits and to do loads of laundry?

A lot. We spent a LOT of time in the car together.

And do you know what we did in the car? Mostly we argued about what music we wanted to listen to. Because we were both big babies, we got a little mean about it. He wanted to listen to the new Switchfoot albums that came out every couple of years over and over and over and I wanted to listen to...not that.

Do you know what happened when I finally gave in and realized, "This is my life now. We can either fight about stupid things, or I can learn to love Jon Foreman The 13th Disciple and Switchfoot as much as Josh loves them." 

Car rides got a whole lot more fun. Other stuff started happening too...

Looking for America Tour with Relient K.

...we ended up staying out until 1:30am last fall with a bunch of freaks listening to Jon do an Aftershow by his tour busses in the Seven Flags Event Center parking lot. #whatisourlife

...I listen to Switchfoot in our house during the day far more than any other Pandora station or artist on our iTunes. 

...I plan trips and dates around when and where Switchfoot is touring. 

...After listening to Josh's favorite songs, specifically paying attention to the lyrics, I feel like I understand my husband better. 

...I genuinely LOVE the music. If you've not heard anything from their last three or four albums, I'm not not being dramatic, YOU NEED TO (this is coming from a Top-40-Katy-Perry-lover). It's some of the best music I've ever heard. The gospel message in each album is so clear without being IN YOUR FACE CUTE CHRISTIAN MUSIC.

...I wear their concert tee's as part of my daily attire.........................who. am. i.

...Since Josh doesn't have time, I closely follow Switchfoot on social media and update him on the funny videos they post, where they'll be traveling next, or when they're dropping a new album. And I don't just 'like' the band...I follow each individual member on Instagram. When I become a cheerleader of something I GO HARD.

Real quick...let's talk about the demographics of the Switchfoot audience. There are nerdy youth group kids, 45-year-old guys wearing backpacks, moms WITH THEIR BABIES, teenagers, homeschool groups, guys being hardcore and scary in a mosh pit, and then there's me and Josh. It's the most awkward and confusingly wonderful thing I've ever witnessed.

It took some time, but I can honestly say I love those five guys and the music they make as much as Josh does. It seems like such a silly small thing...but it's funny for me to look back at our relationship, how it's changed so much...and see that freaking Switchfoot OF ALL THINGS is something that has had this little 'reserved space' in each of the past ten years we've known each other. It's become OUR favorite road tripping music, without argument. It's what WE listen to when we want to get excited about something. They're the songs we cranked at the farmhouse while we were on different floors working TOGETHER, patching cracks in the walls. I remember I could hear Josh actually singing (something he never does, even at concerts) and I thought, "Okay yea this music is pretty good."

Can I take a minute to show you what I mean? This is currently our favorite song...spend three minutes listening and try telling me you don't want need some Switchfoot in your life. 

Life is short; I wanna live it well

One life, one story to tell

Life is short; I wanna live it well

And you're the one I'm living for

Awake all my soul

Every breath that you take is a miracle

Life is short I wanna live it well

It's just funny to think that 15 years ago I was listening to Mandy Moore sing 'Only Hope' on a blue CD player in my room, and Josh was probably in Ankeny listening to Jon Foreman sing 'Only Hope' on the same CD. And now here we are. Just loving what the other one loves.

How was that for a love story? ;)

MmB

#peacelovespringcleaning

My sacred book of lists.

Some of you might believe in spring cleaning...some might not. I pretty firmly believe that, for me in my season specifically, taking care of our home to the best of my ability is part of my SAHM Job Description...and that means spring cleaning. Ugh.

This spring I'm not making excuses, I'm doing the whole flipping house, not just stopping after I've finished the bedrooms (the easiest rooms to start and finish in one day).

Here are a few things that help me...

Lists. Preferably in a cute notebook. Sometimes it's the simple things that keep me motivated. Even stupid simple things. A few nights ago I started making my master list of each room I need to clean...then in the pages that followed I broke down each individual task in each room. Right down to 'wipe switch plates/vents/door knobs'...the more you write...the more you get to cross off! See what I did there? The weird thing was...after I made all those dang lists, I was super excited to take on cleaning our bedroom the next day. And today I woke up JACKED to clean Mav's room. Lists do weird things to me.

Focus. Don't flit around mindlessly from room to room. Stick with what you're doing from start to finish. It's sooooo easy to go look for batteries for the smoke detector that's not working in the bedroom and an hour later find yourself organizing the kitchen junk drawer. Nothing will kill your productivity quicker. Even if you're tempted to throw all the sheets together in one load because that will be more efficient...fight that sensible (misguided) urge. Yesterday afternoon I came SO CLOSE to taking down curtains in the whole house and washing them at the same time, which would have resulted in mass chaos trying to hang up curtains at 8pm in rooms that were still too dusty for clean curtains. I fought that urge and am happy to report Master Bedroom and Maverick Bedroom are both completely FINISHED.

Momentum. Do whatever it takes to keep the momentum going. There have been many years where I've started strong, and fizzled out after I finished the bedrooms and my bathroom...never making it across the rest of the house to the most important (and dirty room)...the kitchen. I like to start with the easy rooms so I feel really good about myself for 'getting so much done'...even though they are super easy. When I've started in the kitchen, I almost always quit after the refrigerator is cleaned. I absolutely loathe emptying and wiping out the refrigerator. I'm saving that gem for last. This way I have a week to mentally prepare myself for what's coming.

Fun. I don't care what it takes, figure out a way to make spring cleaning fun. Buy a new book to listen to. Find an excellent podcast to keep you going. Things I hate seem to go a lot quicker for me when I'm listening to something I love. Last summer when I put our IKEA dresser together by myself, I listened to Katy Perry all afternoon and couldn't believe three hours slipped by. When Kitchen Day arrives, I plan to activate the Katy Perry Station from start to finish.

Reasonable. Do not bite off more than you can chew...errr...clean. I'll say it again, it makes so much more sense NOT to tear into the whole house at once. It's less overwhelming and way easier to complete one. thing. at. a. time. I cannot live in mass chaos for a week, maybe some of you can. Multi-tasking is my mortal enemy. Today I finished cleaning and putting Maverick's room back together by 1:00, felt like I was on a roll, and wanted to start in on the bathroom. However, that would mean loading the dishwasher and finishing my Bible Study homework would be put off. Given that those are things I like to balance INTO my day, I chose to forgo tackling another room, so something else that's a priority wouldn't fall by the wayside.

Complete. This means my list is complete to the point that I'm finishing unfinished projects in each room; touching up paint where I've noticed places need it; testing and replacing batteries in our smoke detectors; putting odd things away that belong in other rooms; and organizing and donating items from closets/drawers/cupboards/shelves that need it. It ALL gets put on the list for each room and it ALL gets done before moving on. No corner is left untouched, no furniture is left unmoved (is that even a word?) Maybe you're better at spring cleaning in a less strict, more organic way (heaven forbid you clean the top of your refrigerator weekly...go you)...I have to make it a 'thing' to get me excited.

Rewards. Last night my reward for finishing our bedroom was Pinteresting and writing a new chalkboard. Ha. Today my reward for finishing Maverick's bedroom is going to Lowe's and finally buying some blackout blinds to install (he currently has three sets of curtains/fabric pinned together to make his room dark enough for naps and night...it's pathetic and I'm so over it). Create a simple, yet motivating reward for each room. It seriously helps.

Yesterday I realized the bed skirt I purchased for our bed at some point in the past five years had never been taken off and washed. CANNOT EVEN BELIEVE. Getting a queen-sized bed skirt off by yourself is hard ok?! Our showers have been neglected for far too long...this spring cleaning bit I pull is literally the only time this weird annoying stuff gets done. Please do not mistakenly think I'm amazing at any of this. It is HARD for me to WANT to clean Josh's toilet with a toothbrush. But I will because I believe it's part of my job and I want to do it well. Or something like that. Ugh. Toilets aren't coming for a few days, that's future Mollie's problem.

MmB

My 200th Blog Post + BLC's Spring Mailer

This is GLITTER AND GRASS POST NUMBER TWO-HUNDRED!

I've been doing this random-rambling-and-writing for FIVE YEARS now.

time. freaking. flies.

So apparently I've written 200 blog posts. And some of them are lame and way too long and some probably aren't very interesting to the average person. But Glitter and Grass readers are anything but average. ;) It's been fun for me to read back through...remembering the past five years of our life documented randomly and perfect right here. Enough of you seem to be reading...which keeps me interested in writing...so thanks for that.

Anyway...this isn't the mind-blowing amazing 200th blog post I had in mind, but whatever. I've been working on our BLC mailer and finally got it sent out today...posting it to the blog is on my To Do List and I want to cross it off. TADA! Here's the BLC Spring 2017 Mailer for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

Thanks for reading...you keep keep me rambling my opinions for the world wide web to hear. :)

Mollie