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Category Archives: Our Team

Small Town or Big City? Where Do You Want to Live?

Small-town living has its advantages. Photo credit: @jo_elg via Twenty20

I think most people are faced with choices in their life of whether to move to a small town or a big city. The pros and cons for each can be overwhelming.

I thought about moving once, a while back, because property values in a certain area out of Texas were reasonable, and sales prices were really low for very nice properties. Seemed like a no brainer to move until I realized that it was in the center of “Tornado Alley.” Then the low sales prices made sense, as did the fact that almost all of the properties in that area ranged from brand new to less than 5 years old. Hard pass, thanks!

That was my only thought of moving from my little hometown. Cameron is much like any other small town I have ever heard about. Everyone knows everyone and all their families. When you are from here and do happen to meet someone else from here they ask, “Now who was your Mom/Dad/Aunt/Uncle/Sibling/Grandparents/etc.?” Because if they don’t know you personally, they probably know your family member(s). It made it hard for me as a rebellious teen to act out, because I didn’t kick up any dust that my parents didn’t know about before I could get home, and this was long before the days of social media and cell phones, y’all.

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Exploring the Gaps

Here we go, off exploring and learning. Lee’s a lot happier about it than he appears to be!

We are deep in the exploration phase of our new direction. Books are rolling in the door. We are sharing interesting websites with each other. We are finding people to talk to. We are even looking into more classes to take. We like getting educated!

You might also benefit from the exercise of thinking about where there is a need in your community that is not being met. If you specialize in real estate, look there. If your avocation is elsewhere, look around and see where you could be of the most help. Entrepreneurs who succeed do so because they have a vision and see an unfilled gap, somewhere, in something. They have that entrepreneurial mindset we want to have, too.

Once you see a need, make sure you don’t reinvent the wheel. Check to see who else is working in your area. Learn from their mistakes. See where they need help and determine if you can help in that area.

It’s possible to make the world a better place AND feed your family. That’s our goal.

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Renewed and Energized

Carol and Russell enjoying the view at Point Venture, where the Gnarly Gar is located.

This weekend, our Directors (me, Lee, Carol, and Russell) had our annual retreat, which is required for LLCs. That means we’ve been in business four years! Dang!

Our goal was to do something fun but not too far from where we lived. So, I used some of our vacation points and booked a two-bedroom condo in Lago Vista (not far from our Lakeland house, which we checked on and were happy to see it is gorgeous). It was not a fancy place (Lee will share about some interesting choices its owners have made in another post), but it had space, peace and quiet, and a LOT of extremely tame deer (see my personal blog post on that).

Look at all them fishies.

Our goal at the meeting was twofold: first, we just wanted to spend some time relaxing together as a team. Most of the time, when we talk, there is some goal, or there is some time constraint, and we don’t talk much about our lives, and we don’t get time to have extended conversations on topics that matter to us. Plus, we wanted to have fun together. Continue reading →

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One Year of Taming Rattlesnakes

It’s our one-year anniversary of moving in! It has gone by so fast! There are still some things to do and of course things to fix. It all has a plan and a list of what and when. The “when” is not a date, but an order of things to do. Just as I suspected, I really do love it out there! The dogs are happy, kids are happy, I am happy, cats are happy. What else could you want?

My horse trough bathtub has seen its share of catfish cleanings, and we have gotten to host some pretty amazing events out there. I can’t wait for more! I am planning on a Halloween party like the ones I used to throw years ago, and that will be a lot of fun! I hope to be able to offer a hay ride like we used to. We will see.

Last year I didn’t get to decorate much because of the move, but this year (once I find what we did with the decorations) I plan to go nuts. You are all forewarned.

I find a lot of comfort in the evenings on my balcony. The skies are really painted well out there at sunset. I like to leave my curtains open in my bedroom so that I can look at the stars from my bed when the TV goes off and the lights get turned off.

The kids and dogs have all adjusted into their respective spaces and sometimes that overlaps. Maggie (the little piebald dachshund) loves running laps around the yard every morning and Wink (the husky) follows her. There is much barking when the coyotes and other critters get moving around out there.

The first year out here has been an adventure, and I’m so glad to say that I have finally found my home.

I hope you enjoy some pictures from the last year at Rattlesnake. I tried to keep it to a minimum. Enjoy!

 

Pre-storm sky from my balcony. It’s just beautiful there.

This is the look I get when I don’t put her under the covers and turn the lights off by 10.

The seams on the ottoman are stressed, and Merlin sleeps in the weirdest poses…

Sometimes Merlin uses the kids for a pillow though.

Post storm sky from my balcony. It smelled really good too.

I don’t know where the couch cushions were. I can only assume that they were part of the fort.

This is a view from the other side of my balcony at sunset. No matter where I look, it’s beautiful!

One of the catfish that were caught at the neighboring ranch. We’re working on a freezer full.

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Snazzing Up the Office

Just look at all those leaves and pumpkins.

It’s gonna be autumn any day now, so the calendar says. So Mandi and I felt it important to de-summer-ize the office decor and add a touch of something to make us at least feel like it’s cooling off here in Central Texas.

So, there are autumn leaves, pumpkins, and fall flowers strewn throughout the office, featuring some of the finest decorations the dollar store can provide. It actually doesn’t look all that bad, and it cheered us up on a day when we both had headaches.

At least these appear to be what we ordered.

Also in the cheering up department is the arrival of the new light fixtures for the office. Too bad the electrical box to go with them did not arrive. Instead, we got a box jam-packed with some weird type of staple. Lee took it back when he went to Temple to pick up our new phone equipment, which had been hiding in the Verizon office rather than being delivered to us. We are beginning to think this building is some kind of black hole for mail and parcels.

Now you can see the sign!

At least people will be able to find the front basement entrance more easily now. Mandi took it upon herself to screw the sign into the brick wall. Then she remembered she wasn’t supposed to do that with her shoulder issues. Oops. But it looks good!

Anita will get to enjoy our elegant piano display.

Tomorrow should be fun. Anita is going to come up and inspect the Nash house, to see if she wants to throw some money at that renovation.

 

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