Author Archives: Vicki Reed

Recap of 12 Wishes of Christmas from last season….

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It seems like yesterday that I was writing the 12 Wishes of Christmas series, hard to believe it’s been a year!  I thought it was time to run through them again and see where we are in 2013…

Wish # 1 – I wish for my family and friends to find happiness and success in their everyday lives….let’s see…we’ve had a few job changes and promotions, a pregnancy (slightly unexpected), a wedding (no it’s not the same one), a couple of deaths and a more successful year in real estate for me.  All in all, things improving or at least moving in the right direction…

Wish # 2 – My second wish is that everyone feel loved and valued…I found that over the last year, I have made an impact on a number of lives of friends and even the new agents in our Keller Williams office…I simply do what I do and several have graciously shared with me that I have had an impact on their lives…makes me cry tears of joy, but I’m weepy at this time of year anyway!

Wish #3 – Everyone remember to be human, not just during the holiday season, but all year long.  I have tried to pay more attention to those around me this year, held doors for others whose load was greater than mine, taken the time to speak when in the past I might have been caught up in my mind (or my phone!) and not paid attention.  I intend to continue this trend, it gives me a warm feeling inside and I’m sure it translates to my outside!

Wish #4 – we, as a society, remember the victims of senseless acts of violence and make changes in how we treat ourselves, our loved ones, and one another.  This was written immediately following the Newton school shooting.  I struggle with our media as it creates a “psuedo-celebrity” of those who commit the crime and doesn’t focus enough on the victims.  They are looking for their “15 minutes”, let’s not give it to them!

Wish # 5 – is that society curb their consumerism.  I don’t know about you, but I truly need…nothing.  I have clothes, furniture, shoes (way more than I need, but love them all!), bags, accessories, well, just everything!  in 2013, I bought 2 long-sleeve white t-shirts (on sale total was $21) and a pair of black sandals on sale for $20 – mine broke in the middle of my day and Payless was closer!  That’s it…what did you buy?

Wish # 6 – goes along with Wish # 5 is that we as individuals work to reduce our debt on a path to eliminating it.  I have!  I can say that I no longer carry any credit card debt!  I do still owe my Dad for a few things, but he will be taken care of by the end of 2014…on thing at a time.  I’ve also working on The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey – the man makes sense, wish someone had introduced me to this years ago!

Wish # 7 – that we turn off  the television more often and lessen the constant bombardment of advertising, noise and a 24/7 news cycle.  I’m the first to admit, I am a TV junkie…but only for the noise! I am one of those people who have the TV on all the time, I am likely not really watching it, but it is on while I’m reading, working at home, or cooking, eating…I’m still working on this one!

Wish # 8 – that I would win the lottery…I’ve won about $12 this year, haven’t been able to make a big change with this, but I’m still wishing!

Wish # 9 – that we open ourselves to receiving help from others when we need it and not being shy about asking for help from our family and friends.  This can be humbling, but sometime necessary…be grateful that you have people in your life who are so willing to share what they have and be ready to share with them in the future.

Wish # 10 – that we curb our excess eating and drinking and work toward a healthier lifestyle.  I have failed miserably on this one…my 2013 has been very stressful, the hope is that 2014 will be easier and I can get myself together!

Wish # 11 – that we allow ourselves more spontaneity in our lives and be more lighthearted, it is important to see the joy in your life.  I have continued to enjoy this aspect of my life as a Realtor – if I have a “break” in my schedule…I love the ability to pop in and have lunch with a friend or stop by a clients home…try to find it for yourself next year!

Wish # 12 – I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and my wish is that all your wishes for positive change come true.  Ditto for 2014!

Christmas

Vicki Reed

Indianapolis Symphony Yuletide Celebration

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In its 28th year on the Hilbert Circle Theatre stage, the Yuletide Celebration is still considered Indiana‘s greatest holiday tradition. Five-time Grammy Award-winner and Indiana favorite Sandi Patty returns to take the stage with Jack Everly, the ISO and a cast of Broadway’s best singers and dancers.  For those of us who are fans of The Sound of Music and to story of Captain and Maria von Trapp…The von Trapp Family Singers, the great-grandchildren of Captain von Trapp, performing a Sound of Music medley and other classic holiday music.

Other highlights include a Holiday Motown Medley, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and of course, the Tap Dancing Santas! And as always, you can enjoy pre-concert holiday cheer with cookies and wassail for sale, the magnificent Christmas tree in the main lobby, and live reindeer in the front of the theatre.

There is still time to see it this year and I highly recommend it!  I had the opportunity to attend last night with my friends as well as clients, the Denkers and a great time was enjoyed by all! Below are the dates and times of the remaining shows this season…you really don’t want to miss this!

December 14, 2pm & 8pm
December 15, 2pm & 6pm
December 17, 7:30pm*
December 18, 7:30pm*
December 19, 7:30pm
December 20, 8pm
December 21, 2pm** & 8pm**
December 22, 2pm** & 6pm**
December 23, 2pm** & 8pm**

Click here for more information…heck there is still time to go tonight!

2013 yuletide

Vicki Reed

You look good for 197!

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Indiana turned 197 years old today, as it was admitted to the Union on December 11, 1816.  Though we often think of something or someone having a birthday, this occasion is called Statehood Day.  Governor Pence hosted a day of events and speeches at the Old State Capitol and birthday cake at the old governor’s headquarters in Corydon yesterday.

The Old State Capitol program included historical impersonators portraying debating delegates to Indiana’s first constitutional convention, as well as Elizabeth Pennington, the wife of convention delegate and future state Senate leader Dennis Pennington.  Pennington wrote the resolution which moved Indiana’s territorial capital to Corydon from Vincennes in 1813. It remained the capital for the first nine years of statehood.

Today, Governor Pence will host a program at the State Capital in Indianapolis.  Fourth-graders will also gather for Statehood Day observances in Indianapolis at the statehouse, Indiana State Museum, Indiana State Library and Indiana Historical Society.  Click here for today’s agenda of events.

The state museum and the state bicentennial commission are already working with Harrison County tourism officials on plans for the state’s 200th birthday in 2016. Convention and Visitors Bureau interim president Jeremy Yackle says subcommittees are floating ideas for arts, education, and agricultural observances, as well as a bicentennial ball or other community celebration.

As for all birthdays…at least as an adult…it becomes a day of reflection…where you’ve been, where you are today and where you are going.  So here are a few things about where we are today:

Credit Rating:  Governor Mike Pence announced on December 5 that Indiana has maintained its AAA credit ratings from all three bond agencies: Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch Ratings. Indiana has held AAA ratings with all three agencies since April of 2010.

From the press release:  “Fiscal discipline is the foundation of our prosperity,” said Governor Pence. “Today’s news is a testament to the hard work and discipline of State employees at every level and the fiscal leadership of the Indiana General Assembly. In the years ahead, our administration remains committed to maintaining a fiscally stable environment within our state for the betterment of both Hoosier families and businesses.”

And what about Hoosier jobs?  From a November 22, 2013 release:  Indiana’s unemployment rate is more than one percentage point below where it was in January, which is definitely significant” said Scott B. Sanders, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. “The steady private sector job growth the Hoosier State has been experiencing for some time now is finally beginning to be reflected in the unemployment rate, which many businesses and individuals rely on to make important economic decisions.”

With the Pacers win over the Miami Heat last night…and of course, the IU win over Oakland…kinda feels good to be a Hoosier.  Happy Birthday Indiana…

Indiana

Vicki Reed

Who should be Time’s 2013 Person of the Year?

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Today, time released the finalists for their 2013 Person of the Year…The award is given to “the person who’s had the most impact on events this year for better or for worse,” Time Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs said Monday…I’m not sure that explains why Miley Cyrus is included with Pope Francis.

Have we become a society that is more interested in psuedo-celebs (Yes, I’m talking about the K’s) and the misbehavior of a brat, no matter how talented?  To name them Person of the Year?

The tradition of selecting a “Man of the Year” began in 1927, with Time editors contemplating newsworthy stories possible during a slow news week. The idea was also an attempt to remedy the editorial embarrassment earlier that year of not having aviator Charles Lindbergh on its cover following his historic trans-Atlantic flight. By the end of the year, it was decided that a cover story featuring Lindbergh as the Man of the Year would serve both purposes.

Since 1927, individuals, classes of people, a “Machine of the Year”, and “Planet of the Year” have been selected for the special year-end issue. Despite the magazine’s frequent statements to the contrary, the designation is often regarded as an honor, and spoken of as an award or prize, simply based on many previous selections of admirable people making an impact of society.  There has also been such controversial figures as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev and Ayatollah Khomeini have also been granted the title.  

In 1999 to become more “politically correct”, the title was changed to Person of the Year. However, the only women to specifically win the recognition have been “The Whistleblowers” (Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley and Sherron Watkins, in 2002) and Melinda Gates (jointly with Bill Gates and Bono, in 2005). Before then, the title was changed four times and these ladies were granted the title as individual “Woman of the Year” – Wallis Simpson(1936), Soong May-ling (1937), Queen Elizabeth II (1952) and Corazon Aquino (1986).

I’m saddened by our collective fascination with celebraties, the truly talented live their lives well, want respect for their privacy, work as hard as most of us do daily and just try to live their lives.  Those like Miley…simply show that we have become a society with little self-respect and a need to be in the spotlight.

Who do you think should be this year’s Person of the Year?

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Vicki Reed

Well…this wasn’t something I thought about before…

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I’m working with a great couple, newly married in October….in Jamaica no less…and we’re shopping for their first home!  Their lease ends at the end of February, so we are getting a great start on the search, pre-qualification…done and the home search is on!

Clients always start the search with location, number of bedrooms/baths…you get the picture, but this client has a special need…he’s 6 feet 7 inches tall and a former college football player!  This is a big man and he needs big rooms.  I’m finding myself thinking of a lot of things that I really hadn’t thought about before…the width of the hallways, the height of the ceilings, even the height of the doorways.  We were in a home on Friday that was great, they both really liked and then we went upstairs…he had to duck to go through the doorways to the bedrooms and closets…ceiling height was about 10′, but doorway height was about 6’4″…and the shower…he’d have to sit on a stool to get under the spray!

The client prefers remodeled, older homes of the Old Northside and Fall Creek Place area, most of which have tall ceilings, but small bedrooms – a king size bed it a must for this couple so I’m taking more time in selecting listings to send for their review…have to make certain that master bath isn’t in a converted attic space with slanted ceilings…that just won’t work!

I have another other active buyer client right now, he is 5’4″ and 12 foot ceilings and huge walk-in showers make him feel really small…talk about the other end of the spectrum!

As I grow my business and my client base, I’m constantly changing the way I look at homes for my clients, I care enough to take the time to really make certain the time we spend looking at homes is not wasted by looking at properties that simply won’t work for them…and my clients are so appreciative!  Each of their needs are taken into consideration, I listen as they walk through homes, make notes and then look for what they said…sometimes we are so far away from what they originally said they wanted, it’s kind of funny!

So what are your special needs in a home?

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Vicki Reed

So cool…

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So it’s Friday night and I’m sitting here watching…Garth Brooks live from the Wynn in Vegas!  I’ve missed this man, his music and his personality!  I saw him in concert 3 times, twice with his wife Trisha Yearwood…she is my all time favorite female artist and loved it each and every time!  He is a true showman and made enough money from 1989 to 2001 to retire!  Imagine, making enough money in 12 years that you don’t ever have to worry about money again.

Yeah, he made a few missteps…the whole Chris Gaines thing was a little strange, but this guy is amazing! He has many influences and heroes across the genre’s, this show is filled from the beginning with all this amazing stuff!  Tricia joined him and switched his hat and we got pure Garth from there on…so much fun!

One of the most amazing things about him is he still seems humble, despite divorce from his daughters mother, maintained a relationship that allow them to grow up as normally as possible and signed off the show with “thank you for my life”, understanding that without the fans willingness to pay for the shows, cd’s and dvd’s, he has none of what he achieved in these last 25 years.  What an enjoyable 2 hours, they just flew by!

For those of you who know me, I listen to all music, love the 80’s hairbands, the 70’s rockers and all the way back to the 50’s and 60’s as well as the “old” country that I grew up with – Conway and Loretta, George and Tammy, and of course, Elvis – all invokes memories of home and family.  So what music brings it all back for you?

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Vicki Reed

What are you Thankful for???

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Sitting here thinking about the Thanksgiving holiday and feeling grateful for so much in my life I decided I’d share a little with you all, give you something to think about as you prepare your “I’m thankful for…” addresses for the family table tomorrow…

I’m thankful for…

1.  My Family…some here, some passed on, but always on my mind.  I’m thankful for my parents who’s unconditional love and support have allowed me to become the person I am…the world’s greatest Realtor!  All kidding aside, Mom and Dad are simply amazing people who tomorrow will be celebrating 51 years of marriage and while they’ve had their ups and downs, raised 3 very strong, independent women who have followed their own paths regardless of popular opinion.  And then we have my nieces…can I just say WOW an incredible group that I am so thankful to be a part of.

2.  My Friends…They say there are those that pass through your life, only there to serve a need for a short period, then those who stay much longer…Mary, Nancy, Jason and Dan…I am so thankful for your friendship, “group” dinners and the unwavering support I’ve received from each of you over the years…thank you for being my friends.  There are so many others…Tina, you are awesome, Gretchen, I wouldn’t have survived my first few years in the biz without you! and so many more of you that  it would take too many posts to count.

3.  My Keller Williams Family…I’ve never met a group of people so willing to help each other, not just in business, but in life!  Tonya, Staci, Natalie, Patti, Beth, Kris, Ann, Kim, Tony, Stephanie, Amber, actually, just everyone in the Keller Williams Indy Metro NE office…being part of this family has been life-changing and I so look forward to continuing this experience and growing my business.

There is so much and so many more to be grateful for, I challenge you all to really think about your life and those that have encouraged your dreams and stayed with you during your failures….these are those to be truly thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone…

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Vicki Reed

Thinking of Selling in the Spring?

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You do realize that if that’s you, you need to think about how you do your final yard clean-up to insure you are ready to go in February/March – before you even get the mower out of the garage!  I know, I know February/March seems early to be part of the “spring selling season”, but that’s when homes start hitting the market and if you are thinking of selling, you need to be ready!

I would love to work with you!  Let’s talk…we can look at a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and see where you are falling now, look at what projects you can work on this winter will increase your homes value and then look at the numbers again in February and get it going!  Now…about that fall clean-up…

Proper fall yard maintenance lowers the risk of plant diseases next spring. Raking the lawn ensures your grass won’t smother under a burden of fallen leaves. Of course, fall yard maintenance means winterizing: putting your plants to bed properly, all the hard work on those perinnials can pay off when spring has sprung and your yard is in bloom.

What needs doing in the fall yard before you can call it a year and start relaxing? Well, it would almost be easier to ask what does not need doing. You have your work cut out for you, especially if you have a big lawn. There’s more to fall landscaping than decorating for the Holidays. Consult this checklist to make sure your yard is in proper shape before the snow starts falling!

Beginners have some vague notion of having to “put the lawn and garden to bed” for the winter, but they are foggy on the specifics. This resource answers some commonly posed queries about fall yard maintenance. For example, how deep into fall do you have to continue mowing? What about watering your grass in fall?

Think about it, when you own a home, you always want anything you do to add value…what better way to make a good first impression as to have the best curb appeal…even in the winter.  Call me…let’s talk!

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Vicki Reed

Girls School Tells Girls ‘You’re not a princess’

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I want to congratulate the Mercy Academy‘s new ad campaign created by the Doe-Anderson Agency of Louisville, KY.  This was the article on the Today show Moms webpage and I say Bravo!  Don’t get me wrong, I love the stories, fairy tales, romantic comedies, and romance novels as much as the next woman (and some men) and the Doris Day movies with Rock Hudson, Cary Grant or any other of her many handsome co-stars are still some of my absolute favorites, but let’s get real…it’s time for all of us to understand that anyone can rule the world – girls and boys alike – we all have the ability to do anything we set our minds to do.  Read on for the article…personally, I love it!

Against the Cinderella culture, a Catholic high school in Kentucky has a blunt message for young girls.

“You’re not a princess,” Mercy Academy says in a new ad created by Louisville, Ky. agency Doe-Anderson.

“Don’t wait for a prince,” reads another. “Be able to rescue yourself.”

“This message empowers them to move beyond that whole fairy tale idea and to write their own story in life,” said Mercy principal Amy Elstone.

The Louisville girls’ school with 550 students launched the campaign last week, with ads on websites, billboards and bus shelters. Elstone knew it might raise eyebrows.

“We knew it was going to be risky going with this message,” Elstone told TODAY Moms. “Our girls are growing up in a society where they’re told by their parents that they’re a princess, and our message is that they’re not a princess, they’re so much more.”

The theme is also part of the school’s enrollment video.

Elstone doesn’t want students to think they need to wait for their Prince Charming.  

“That’s what TV tells them and movies and Disney tell them,” she said. “We teach our girls to prepare for real life.”

That could include a prince, she said, as long as a student is writing him into the picture, Elstone said.

The campaign, Elstone said, is true to the school’s mission of preparing girls for the 21st century.

“And we think this holds true to the Catholic tradition and our ultimate goal is to produce women of mercy,” she said.  So far, she has received only positive feedback.

“It’s been amazing,” Elstone said. “We’ve been hearing people talking about it in the community. It’s all over Facebook. It gets people talking. People are debating our message and applying it to their own life.”

Mercy students enjoyed the campaign when the school ran it by them last year, she said.  

“They all loved it,” Elstone said. “They said it is exactly what a 13- and 14-year old girl needs to hear.”

A few girls, she said, teared up, she recalled, and said, ‘Yes, I’m writing my own story.”

On TODAY, Natalie Morales credited the school with spreading a “great message.”

“You watch the Hollywood romance movies and you see the happy ending and the guy always comes in and saves everybody and everybody lives happily ever after and that’s not life,” Morales said.

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Vicki Reed

Aren’t we pushing it just a bit?

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Well…Thanksgiving as a holiday seems to be fading into oblivion…The Hallmark Channel started running Christmas movies November 1 and now, instead of waiting for the traditional “Black Friday“, many retailers are opting to join those retailers who saw favorable sales last year by opening on Thanksgiving evening and starting their Black Friday deals on Thursday!

Whatever happened to the traditional Thanksgiving?  No stores open for shopping except a few grocery stores so that you can pick up that can of cranberry glob that everyone serves and i’ve never seen anyone eat!  Now Wal-Mart, which is always open, will start their Black Friday deals at 6:00 p.m., Macy’s is opening some stores, Target and Kohl’s as well.  Is it really the wave of the future?  I know there has been some panic because of the late date of Thanksgiving this year (the 28th – Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad – 51 years! and Happy Birthday to my cousin Angie who was born the day my parents married!) only leaves 3 weeks between the holiday’s, but it seems that we are trying to wipe Thanksgiving off the calendar!  Maybe it’s the turkey’s idea…hmm, something to think about!

Will you be shopping on Thanksgiving?  Are the deals really worth it?  Would love to hear from you!  Me…I’ll be watching movies and lounging…in my very best sweats!

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Vicki Reed