A Working Mom in Real Estate

I can still clearly remember the day I chose to go into Real Estate. I was working as a receptionist at an auto body shop, and an agent came in to get his car fixed. It was May 2005 and I was so tired of people yelling at me because they needed a new alternator. My husband and I had talked about me becoming a Realtor for a long time, but I didn't think I had what it took. But I couldn't stand the thought of getting yelled at any more for $7.50 an hour 40's a week!
I wanted to work, I needed to work, so I decided to take the plunge! I bought my course and went to work for the agent who had come into the shop. I would later learn, that was my first mistake in Real Estate.
Half way though my course I found out we were having our first baby. Let me tell ya how fun it was sitting in the testing room taking my CO and National licensing test! I was about 4 months along and would have to run out of the room every 15 min to puke in the bathroom! Needless to say I finally passed my exam and after my daughter was born, she started coming to work with me.
I'll be honest, a good 1/2 of my career has been a bit of a blur. Mostly since my second child was born. There has been moments when I was in the middle of trying to save a deal over a water filtration system, when my mother in law calls and tells me my son has an ear infection and since its bleeding I might want to come home and take him to the Dr. I even once hid from my husband (who is a major germ a phobic) who was gagging, carrying a toddler with poopy pants looking for me just so I could secure a listing.
Not really proud of that last one, but got some great laughs when my husband found me.
Now this is the part where you say, sanctimoniously, that I need to set boundaries with my clients or work hours. You know what? I tried. Honestly I tried time blocking (which worked for a while), but the fact is that in the Real Estate industry there are time sensitive issues that come up at the MOST inconvenient times. And my children are pros at making sure I have plenty of obstacles!
In the past I have sat down, created the most efficient, well balanced schedule, and inevitability some one comes in that morning and pukes on me! Within less than 24 hours my perfect calendar will fall to pieces.

When it comes down to it, it may seem as if I'm a walking disaster, but I honestly believe that as a mom, that makes me a great Realtor. Working with first time home buyers, I am tirelessly trying to help them make pertinent decisions.  And if anyone tries to mess with them, my "momma bear" instinct will kick in! If you have had a major life change, I will be there, worrying with you and trying my best to make the process easier for you. As a parent, I know how difficult children can be, so when you are 15 minutes late to a showing, or to meet me at my office because your kids refused to put on their pants, don't worry! You won't here me say a thing except, "I have toys in the corner or what DVD would you like to watch while I talk to your mom and dad?"
The fact is, is that it is not only my duty to make you feel like your interests are being protected, its my JOB to SHOW you this!
I have just entered into my 8th year as a Realtor. It has taken me a while to figure out that I can't squeeze 45 min of work into a 25 min time span. But I have learned  valuable lessons in these 8 years, I have met some amazing people, and learned that being a Realtor has afforded me opportunities to be involved with my children in ways I could never be if I had a 8-5 job! This is something I will NEVER regret doing!
Here is one final thought:

Laundry Fairy

So there is a "mommy blog" out there that I have fallen in love with. Its not like the blogs I posted about a few weeks ago. This one is super funny, and more realistic. By the way, big shout out to my friend Jamie who helped me discover this one!:)
I read a post from this woman the other day that was talking about how her mother loves, and I mean LOVES to do laundry. It struck a cord with me. When I was about to marry my honey, one of the biggest things I could not wait to do was wash, fold and put away his laundry. I promise I wasn't on crack! Just the thought of taking care of him like that made me happy.
Fast forward 14.5 years & 2 kids later....I'm ready for my laundry fairy!
When my mom use to come visit me, that was one of the things that I loved the most. She as well loves to do laundry. The only thing she hates about it is putting it away. I remember when I was little, she was so happy sitting on our couch folding laundry, we kids would line up and she would hand us piles to put away.
We moved my mom here 3 years ago and now instead of coming over and doing my laundry, she has just decided to add to it. The other thing my mom loves is buying socks and underwear. I never have to buy my kids or husband these items because she does it! Which, don't get me wrong is really nice, but....it makes more laundry......
I'm hoping that maybe there was a laundry fairy, but I'm pretty sure I may find her dead at the bottom of my laundry hamper.

I HAVE A GUEST BLOGGER!!

Ok we can all admit I'm not the best blogger. But what I have begun to notice is that on a lot of popular blogs, the originator of the blog isn't either!
They have guest bloggers, their mom's, their co-workers, best friends, you name it!
So I have decided to go with the flow. To day I have asked a wonderful friend to be a guest blogger for me.
And when I say she is wonderful, I mean it in every sense of the word. She is the kind of friend that pushes you at the gym, bakes hundreds of goodies for her kids bake sales, is humble to a fault, and you had better not mess with her friends! And looking gorgeous while doing it all! She won't admit any of it, but I promise it is all true!
So with out further ado, her Andrea Oaks-Jarmillo!

When Molly asked me to be a guest blogger I was naturally uber excited, what a privilege to be included in someone else’s world of blogging. Then, I had a moment of panic! What was I going to write about? Was I going to funny or serious, witty, am I witty? I settled on this, kid stuff, this I know well. I am not claiming to be a “wonder” parent that I am not. I, like all other good parents, am hoping to instill love, values, compassion and understanding within my kids and at some point get a full nights’ sleep again. Sometime.

            With two older kids (7 and 9) I see a lot pressure to succeed, be the best at sports, excel academically, be a child protégée. That’s all great, I am my kids’ biggest fan but, what about being a kid? Playing in the dirt, paint your face with liberal amounts of color that never come out of washcloths and telling secrets in treehouses? We need to remember to cheer our kids on but let them enjoy themselves. Not everyone is going win, that’s why it’s called a competition. Losing is ok, it’s a learning experience. Not everyone is going to be a CEO, heaven knows I’m not the head of an international travel company that samples chocolate.

My point is, they grow up too quickly, we try to force a lot upon them. I’m guilty of it too. I have seen a lot of parents trying to live vicariously through their kids, DON’T. It’s bad for you and them. They are going to be the best they can be because you taught them to believe in themselves and to get back up when they stumble. If you want accolades for achievements in sports or fitness put down your latte and go to the gym for a minute. Your body will thank you and your kids will shine on their own. This goes for art, music and academics. Teach your kids that you are willing to learn and falter with them. I guarantee that they will be as proud of you as you are of them.

Gearing Up For A Super Weekend!

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it or not but I live in Colorado. So I'm sure that you can understand the title of this post is very important since it's Super Bowl weekend and the Broncos are playing this year!
My husband and his family are, bronco fans (brother-in-law especially, avidly), as am I to a certain extent. The game of football is been explained to me many times, but I just don't care to keep the knowledge in my head. So I ask my husband every year, which I'm sure drives him crazy, but he always smiles politely and explains it to me again.
Since we are still in the process of building our house we were invited over to a friends for a Super Bowl party. It's great because our friends that invited us over have been close friends for several years, they have invited several other close friends. We all have kids so they run around like crazy, (I will apologize in advance to Alicia for my children making a mess out of her house), there's always way too much food, good beer, and tons of laughter!
We never really do a formal dinner when we all get together, it's more like everybody brings appetizers.
My husband and I have been experimenting with a few different things that we wanted to take this year ( and by we, I mean I cook it and my husband eats it, then approves or disapproves. Must be hard on the poor guy!)
Believe it or not our first recipe was a hit and we decided to take it. So here it goes, my recipe for my Super Bowl appetizer: stuffed mushrooms wrapped in bacon
( you can adjust the recipe depending on how many people you will be feeding. I will be feeding close to 30 people so I'm not going to put the ingredients for that many people)
Ingredients:
2 jalapeno peppers
1 pound of sausage ( I use Jimmy Dean pork sausage)
2 lbs of white button mushrooms
1 package of cream cheese
2 lbs of cheap bacon
A pinch of garlic salt, salt and pepper

Start browning the sausage, dice the jalapenos and put in meat.
Once done, add cream cheese to meat.
In the mean time, stem and core out the mushrooms.

Kitchen helper #1 

Kitchen helper #2, Keith making Elk Fajitas while I do the mushrooms

Kitchen helper #3, ok not really helping, wanted to lay on my dirty floor & pester me!

Diced goodness!!!

No much sexier than a man in the kitchen!!

Ok, is cuteness a culinary skill? If so he's got it down!!

Stuff the mushrooms with sausage cream cheese mixture

Wrap them in bacon and bake at 375 for 30-40 min. 

Eat and enjoy!!

Even though the Broncos lost, the sun will still set in blue and orange since I live in Bronco country!

Blogging on Mommy Bloggers

So far this week seems to be dragging on. I'm not sure if its because I think spring should be around the corner or because I am officially over this cold weather.

When I started this blog I had such great ambitions to "fill the social net work about the funnies of being a working mom" and maybe throw out there some helpful tips on Real Estate in the process. But, it seems like I have not accomplished either one.
Not for lack of want, but lack of writing ability.
I decided to do a search on top mommy blogs, thinking it might give me some inspiration. "What are working mom's blogging about??" I asked myself, hoping to find some funny anecdotes, or work horror stories that might make some of mine not seem so terrible.
You know what I found? Nothing............ Maybe, if I had felt like browsing though 9 zillion blogs, I could have found something, but I like many moms, suffer from MUDD, (Motherhood Unintentional Distraction Disorder).
What I did find is that there is a TON of mommy blogs that have moms who do DIY everything, make meal plans 3 years in advance (all organic of course), remodel their homes with out contractors, have full time jobs and 10 kids. And on top of it all they find time for date nights with the hubby.
All I could think about reading these is "How in the heck do they do all this?!".
I mean, most of the time I am the queen of time frames! I'm so obsessed with them that I will think about times days in advance. Example: Had to travel for work last Wednesday, hubby decided to go (who by the way has no concept of time),I thought about what time to tell him for 3 days before hand so I would not be late! (which I still was because, again he has no concept of time).
So Mommy Blog World, here is my question to you: HOW DO YOU DO IT? How do you do get up in the morning make breakfast,  pack lunches for all kids, take them to school, soccer practice, do 20 loads of laundry (washed, folded and put away) make freezer meals for 2 months and 4 DIY projects all in one day? Did you find an extra 12 hours in the day?
Hopefully anyone reading this won't think I'm a hater of these mommy bloggers! Its quite the opposite, I'm mesmerized by them.
PLEASE, PLEASE mommy bloggers, I am your Padawan! I'm willing and ready....oh wait gotta go pick up my kids....

No, I'm not that mom

Before I had my kids I defiantly had a vision of what kind of mom I would be. And by this I mean I would be in restaurants where children were running around screaming with spaghetti plastered to every inch of themselves and think to myself, NEVER, never will I allow my future children to do this!

And to some extend I have managed that. When we go out to eat the kids are not allowed to wonder the restaurant and behave like hyenas. However I have had my moments in the grocery store where if I am not walking down the middle of the isle, my son has an amazing "wing span" and will grab anything and everything  and throw it on the floor or in our cart. 

I am very blessed in the sense that my office manager allows me to bring my kids to the office when I need to. Some days babysitters are just not available and I needed a job that would be sensitive to my situation. I'm also blessed that Real Estate affords me to do this.

Daphne has been coming to work with me literally since she was a month old. Jaxon as been a bit of a different story. He has come with me as well, but dynamite comes in small packages. He was not content sitting there watching videos. No, he is mostly about chaos and mess. Case in point:

But though out my journey thus far as a mom, I have come to the conclusion that, no I'm not that mom that I originally thought I would be.

I will end up giving my kids candy with high fructose corn syrup. I will give them cold pizza in the morning because I'm too rushed and too tired to make breakfast at 6 am.  I will be giving my son chocolate milk in the mornings because that is the only way I can get him to drink milk period.

I have ended up picking up my daughter from school in my PJ's just because I was just to sick to think about what all the other mom's would think of me! (something that I also told myself I would never do!)

And in the end will my children remember the mom who gave them chocolate milk in the morning and they were happy, or will they be mad because I should have read labels and not given them No. 2 yellow dye in their mac & cheese?

For now, I like to think that they would be happy with the chocolate milk. 

Summer 2013 Camping!!

I know its been quite a long time since I have been blogging, however I do have a good excuse. SUMMER!
Yes, not only is summer one of my busiest times of year Real Estate wise, its also the only time we have to really get out in full blown nature with the kids. We decided to take a whole 5 days this year and packed it up to the hills with the kids and some close friends for a camping trip! Had a wonderful time!

This is La Jara Reservoir 

Our camping spot overlooked this lovely piece of the mountains! We rode dirt bikes, did a little hiking, fishing, and Daphne got her first BB gun so Dad of course started the proper lessons:)

Jaxon was busy doing what ever he could, which was fine with me since usually I'm trying my best to keep him out of things at home. Here we see him with a wild beast of nature!! If you ever encounter one in the wild, PLEASE use extreme caution! lol

We took naps!

Played with GLOW STICKS!

And of course Daphne's art work had to be displayed for the next campers to enjoy. It was a blast watching her paint!

Jaxon saw his first double Rainbow! Reminds us of how precious God's promise is! What a great way to teach our children how fully He keeps his word!

Of course I had to tame the most wild creature found in the forest! Love!

And of course no camping trip would be complete with out friends/family!

Oh and at least one kid being dumped off a small motorcycle into a mud puddle....

Hope you and your family had a splendid summer making beautiful family memories!