In the beginning of my yoga journey, honestly, the goal was to be more fit and help with weight loss.  I had heard it was great for staying in shape! So, I started with ONLY that in mind.  I was hesitant, because I knew it would be challenging and I questioned how much it would benefit me if I wasn’t great at it… but I also knew keeping with the same routine was no longer working if I wanted to change my lifestyle. So, I signed up with a studio that had great online reviews.  At my first class it became clear to me this would be no ordinary fitness routine.  I felt out of ..read more

Valentines’ day is upon us! What an amazing day to make the people you care about feel extra loved. Taking a little bit of time to plan, and make the day special for your loved one, makes ALL the difference!   Much like planning for Valentine’s Day, putting a little love and time into your premarket prep, can really make those buyers FALL. IN. LOVE!! Ready to push those buyers over the commitment line?  Use these tips to get your home ready for the market. 1. Paint all the walls in your home neutral corresponding colors. Tans, whites, and grays are always a safe choice. Paint trim a ..read more

Associations often have a bad rap… you know, the reputation that they have so many rules, or how they, ‘tell you what you can do with your OWN property!’ While this is the case, sometimes rules, boundaries, and standards are a GOOD THING!  So, let’s chat. First, let’s start by answering the question, “What is a Homeowners Association /Property Owners Association?”  An HOA or POA is an organization made up of residents that are owners of a specific subdivision or housing community. They manage aspects of those properties by creating, enforcing, and overseeing rules and regulations fo ..read more

You never think it’s going to happen to you…It all starts with a suspicious email that looks innocent enough. You are to wire the closing costs and/or downpayment to your title company or risk delay in the closing date! You are busy, tired, and perhaps just ready to close on your new house. You don’t think about the fact that the email might not really be from who it says…after all, the address line looks real enough. Right? Wrong! Scammers are tricky and here’s how to avoid losing thousands of dollars to their schemes! 5 Tips to Avoid Wire Fraud Where are your devices logged in and when was ..read more

Ok, so you may or may not be old enough to hear iconic song from the band Europe in your head when you read that title, but nonetheless you get my point! It’s the FINAL walk through.. FINAL being the key word! The final walk through is your last chance, as a buyer, to inspect the home which within a day or two (closing) will be yours FOREVER… to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part, according to God's holy ordinance…. OK OK, maybe not that serious, BUT you should treat it ..read more

Make no mistake about it… they certainly are! And that is SCARY! BUT it is the reality, so let’s get READY! Appraisers are human. They have feelings, opinions, and preferences just like we all do. It is important to understand this. It is important to also understand why we teach you how to get your house ready for a buyer showings - we are technically prepping you for the real showdown of home inspectors and appraisers! The appraisers job is to validate that the house is worth what the buyer is willing to pay! So we need it to look like it did, or better than, when the buyer originally saw i ..read more

By basics, I MEAN basics… like if you do nothing else, you should do these things! Make sure all light fixtures have bulbs AND are the same color light… especially if they are in the same line of sight! Change your air filter and clean the air filter grate. Caulking… any and all of it should be clean! Don’t say you have scrubbed it and can’t get the black out… if that’s the case, it needs to be redone! This includes showers, tubs, kitchen and bathrooms sinks and countertops! If you decide to DIY the replacement of the caulk - make sure it looks good! No sloppy jobs here! Wipe off all ..read more

Today I will be taking you on my latest adventure! This time I switched up the elements - we are going from the water to the AIR. Come along on this adrenaline packed experience of my first time skydiving! A few buddies and I ventured out to the coastal beaches of the Outer Banks in North Carolina to jump at Skydive OBX in Manteo, NC. The site was about a 2-hour drive from our current location here in coastal Virginia. Let’s take a trip!  We booked the trip a week in advance and showed up about 10 minutes early the morning of the jump. When we arrived at Skydive OBX, we were greeted by a ..read more

For our next adventure, the group decided to travel north toward Richmond, Virginia to check out the Mattaponi and Pamunkey River. Our destination for this trip was the South Anna River, which is a relaxing yet exhilarating 6 mile paddle from Route 33 to Route 54. The South Anna River has steady moving water flowing downriver, with numerous class 1 rapids along the way. This added a little extra excitement (and anxiety) amongst the group! We unloaded our kayaks off of Route 33 at Ground Squirrel Bridge Boat Ramp, which has a convenient concrete ramp, making it easy to launch your kayak. We br ..read more

Our first exploration took us to Hampton, VA. The boating and kayak launch site is located at Fox Hill Boat Ramp at 365 Dandy Point Rd in Hampton, VA. There is a great sized parking lot with several launch sites for boats, jet skis and a designated launch ramp for kayaks. So easy! By the launch site, there are porta-johns as well as a small bait and tackle shop. You will find parking near the ramp to unload and plenty of parking spots to leave your car while you are out adventuring!  It was time to load up our kayaks and set off into the Chesapeake Bay! We navigated around the large ..read more