Yay for 2010 and stuff :)

So Ben and I are looking forward to the new year, and are pretty happy about recent happenings.

First of all, we must be really blessed or something, because despite what the news is saying about real estate, the last two winters in the business have been our most profitable times! It's kinda backwards, but I'm not complaining. It definitely helps out right now, when there is so much unsurety in the market and obviously the recovery will be a slow one.

I'm continuing to grow property management services in Utah. Also, I'm helping Ben with some out of state REO investments - some that we are turning quickly, and some that we are servicing on seller finance. It's going well so far and we're looking forward to the long-term cashflow as well.

What else is new? Well, Ben is planning on attending law school in the fall which we are way excited about. I had toyed around with the idea myself for a while, but it makes so much more sense to have him go with the way that we want to implement it into our long-term business goals. He will be focusing on real estate law and entertainment law. And I'm sure that I will end up being pretty involved with that in the future!

Ben took the LSAT in December and got a 170 - an excellent score (in the 98th percentile - now I am just bragging about him, but he deserves some bragging rights. He will never brag, so I figured I'd just do it for him :).

What else? Well, we had a great time seeing lots of both sides of the family over the holidays. We missed Brian & Thoung and their fam though! Dang it - we'll have to make a trip down your way to visit brother!

Besides that I am thoroughly not enjoying the winter - sorry, too cold for me. So, hoping I will suddenly wake up one day and it will all be a fading memory :) I have a blog for Chocolate Lover's that I enjoy posting recipes on: http://eatchocolateresponsibly.blogspot.com/ so you should all check it out. I have also enjoyed making lots of soup and curry lately with Benny who is an excellent cook himself. Keeps us warm. Our dog, Dax, is still doing well. Seventy pounds, hyper as always, and willing to do anything for a treat.

Oh, my hair is brown by the way. It's been crazy running into familiar faces, and they just squint at me for a while until they figure out that yes, it is in fact, me. It's been dark since about July - but I must not get out much or something, because people that I even keep in close contact with still ask me about the "recent" change. I like it. I don't know if I'll make it a permanent thing, but it was a good change at the time. Maybe I'll have to get some pictures up here so you can all recognize me or something.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

The Incredible Lakey Family!

So, we decided to have fun this Halloween, but still on a budget. Ben spent days deliberating about what we could do..... then he got the perfect idea.

The Incredibles! But wait, not the parents (we are not that OLD yet). So we instead chose to go as Dash and Violet. It was really an easy decision - I have recently changed my hair color to a pretty dark look, and it's as straight as it gets. As for Ben, he's getting quite a mop so easy to slick back for the "Dash" effect.

We bought some red long sleeve t-shirts at WalMart, some women's pajama pants for Ben, red tights (triple-layered) for me. Top that off with some women's silky underwear. I wore my black boots; Ben "borrowed" some from his dad. I pulled the logo off of a website, photoshopped it, and used some iron-on transfer paper to get that portion done. Ben's mom helped us out with hems here and there, touching up the logo (it came out transparentish because we really needed to have the iron-on transfer paper that is for darker clothing), and also making the beautiful orange utility belts! Some gloves and paint-on masks to top off the ensemble! Too bad we're too old to go trick-or-treating. Instead we just hit up the local social gatherings and the other super-hero scenes.

Don't forget Dax. We didn't want him to feel left out - so of course Ben's mom once again took care things:

 

INCREDIDOG! What a good sport.

Hope you all had a great Halloween as well!

Dax: Lost and Found

So, the scariness for the day. We were just finishing the last session of general conference and then Dax was scratching a lot to go outside, so about 30 minutes before it was over, Ben went to take him outside. Dax ran ahead to go into the back yard by our condos (like he usually does), but when Ben got there, he was nowhere to be seen. I guess he looked around for a few minutes – it’s not like Dax to run off like that and not come back really quickly or at least still be close by within viewing distance. However, he rushed in a couple minutes later telling me he couldn’t find him so I ran out to help.

I got really nervous at first, but then just reminded myself to calm down. I ran around the whole condo complex to search around – nowhere to be found. The reason I get nervous is because we literally live right next to the freeway – the off ramp comes off right next to the edge of the complex. There’s a fence, but there is also one little spot where he can get out. Anyway, I jumped in the car, we drove around a little bit more, and then came back to see if he’d resurfaced – still no dog. But, when I came back to our door, I peeked over the breezeway balcony and noticed that there was a cat staring straight at me from the other side of the fence (by the freeway exit). I knew that’s what must’ve done it – Dax has a craziness about chasing cats. It like triggers crazy eye and then he jets. So I had a strong feeling that he had seen the cat and snuck through the hole at the end of that fence to go for a chase.

Well I jumped back in the car, drove around a bit more where I thought he would’ve surfaced if that was the case – still nothing. I decided to jump on the freeway so I could head back up that direction. Nothing – but at least no dead dog on the freeway either…..

Then since I wasn’t having any luck, I decided to drive through the neighborhoods again where we usually take him for a walk. No Dax, but I decided I would drive on the freeway again just one more time.

This time, I got off of the exit – hadn’t seen him. And then as I was approaching the stoplight right off the exit, there he was, taking a nice dump on the grassy hill sloping off of the gas station. Crazy! I had to hurry and turn the corner to find a spot to pull over. He’d started off again before I got out, so I ran up the hill and started calling his name. He ran to me wagging that big old tail of his just as hard as ever. By the way, it has started raining on me at this point (just to make things more fun!).

Oh man, what a relief! I was just so worried I was going to see his big black body lifeless on the side of the freeway. I just thank God for answering our prayers because, believe me, I was praying the whole time that we were looking!

Dax is such an awesome part of our family – I could not imagine losing him. I want him to be here when we have kids and till he grows old. He is the first dog that I have ever had. I could not have pets growing up because my dad is very allergic to animals. I was so nervous when we first got Dax because I didn’t know much about taking care of a pet. But he is so awesome and so much fun. I’m glad that we found him.

Well, as you can see, we have a good reason to be looking for other housing options. Granted, we got this condo on a great deal since we bought it at a foreclosure sale, and property values were still on a great incline after that, but there are definitely some downsides to living here. First, the freeway and some major intersections are way too close for this dog to ever be wandering alone (not like any dog should ever be wandering around the streets alone anyway obviously). Second, Dax could use the yard to get out some more of that crazy energy that he still has (I could use a yard, too!). I could go on, but you get the point.

Anyway he’s back! Yay!

Man Scouts

So this is a new project that Seth (our friend) and Ben are working on. They are starting a series of shorts called "Man Scouts" on YouTube. This first one is a skit - a "911" call to action to save a kid from underage smoking.

There will be more to come: public service announcements, interactive trainings, and more! We're excited - this is a fun project and we hope that all can enjoy!

Some Good News

1. Ben is at his last drill this weekend. Although it is an overnight 3-day drill (which is way lame), it is the last one! He gets out on Jan 6. This will be pretty dang nice for us.

2. Our dog, Dax, is basically awesome. He's getting really big - well over 50 lbs now. He's also a sweety! I'll have to try to get some new pictures or video of him on here. He turned 6 months old on November 5. So he's still got some growing to do. He does have his bouts of naughtiness - mostly with Ben's socks and my bras. Fun, fun!

3. We are alive and well! I have to remember what a blessing that is!

4. We have awesome family and friends! Thanks everyone. We really appreciate you all. Seriously.

5. We get to eat turkey soon and sleep and lounge around all day. Who could ask for more?

Total Money Makeover

You should all read this book - "TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER" by Dave Ramsey. I think that it is a good dose of common sense for everyone. Ben and I have been reading it, and we are going to work hard to make some changes in our life so that we can live completely debt-free! Maybe the federal government should read this book.........

Happy Autumn!

Well, the weather seems to have changed drastically here - at least in the mornings and evenings. I'm not sure if I'm happy about it yet, being that spring was short-changed. I would opt for a little more warmth personally..... Anyway, it is fun to be able to put on a cool sweater again, eh?



Anyway, so what's new? Well, if you really want to know, just go to my facebook account - I am a lot better at keeping in touch on that and updating..... But, for those who just aren't the facebook type, I'll give you a little news here.



So first and most fun, Ben and I got an addition to our family..... a puppy named Dax! He's five months old now. We've had him for almost a month. He is a border collie/malamute mix. We are excited to see how big he gets. He is already 35-40 pounds, and very strong! He is pretty obedient..... most of the time :) He loves his squeaky toy and loves chewing on things - we try to encourage that habit by supplying rawhide bones, water bottles, and stuffed animals. He's pretty good at sticking to his own stuff. He is also very food motivated and, therefore, has been learning some tricks :) He has definitely perfected the puppy-dog eye look when you are eating something that he wants a taste of, but we have to resist so we keep him healthy. He also has recently picked up swimming - we went out for a test last week. What a smart kid.



So what else? Ben is going to school very full time at the U this semester (18 credit hours). He's looking forward to being done, and hence the cramming. I actually have been going to one of his classes with him - RE Development. The professor gets these amazing guest speakers, so it has really been cool.



I'm still doing real estate in this crawling market. I will rate it as okay at the moment. However, I've recently found an opportunity that I hope pans out where I will be able to get involved in property management. It's something that I would like to pursue more in the future, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.......



The film that Ben co-produced is going to the Austin Film Festival in October. It's also in negotiations for some other good stuff.....I'll just leave it at that for the moment :)



We are starting our fall aerating. Business was good in the spring and we're excited to keep this going and be able to expand into other areas as well. So, just a plug, if you need your lawn done, you should call me and I'll strike you a deal ;)



Well, that's about all besides new babies the past couple months on my side and on Ben's side. That's always fun. We figure that we'd better go and visit them all eventually since they are spread all over the place right now.



Happy Autumn Everyone!