House Hunting.....

Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room.....

Buying a new home as many of you may know is one of the most stressful times in our lives and at the same time it is also one of the most exciting of times.

We have sold our apartment in Florida and as Arvid so fondly says we are now homeless in Florida......

In today's market you would think the easiest thing to do right now is to buy...prices are good and there are tons of deals to be made.  The problem we are facing is that even though we ourselves are Realtors we always have to go through another realtor...the one with the listing.

This sounds pretty straightforward and simple...and the truth is it should be.  Well surprise.  Not really the case.  There are so many Realtors out there that never return your call.  Never even answer back on an email.  This makes it a lot more difficult to see properties...but not impossible.  Our strength lies in that we are persistent and we divvy up the work so we get more accomplished.

Being a Realtor allows me to access properties listed in the MLS.  Our search takes us to Fort Lauderdale Real Estate....which is where we are looking for our new place again in Florida.

Fort Lauderdale is beautiful and the weather can't be beat in the winter months.  For that reason we will soon be leaving Chicago and heading back to the warm weather in sunny Florida.

With that in mind Arvid and I are heading out to Florida (Fort Lauderdale) for the next three days....we are going to search for a place to call home again in Florida.

Will be a few hectic days packed with tons of properties to see.  Excited about seeing them.  Being a Realtor we know many of the buildings but when it comes to choosing our own home I really want to see it before we make an offer...:)  There is so much to look at so in the next few days we will have to really be on the ball and just go...go...go..

With this in mind we are looking forward to seeing what we can get for our money and hopefully we will be able to find something we both like and would one day call home again.....it has to have a view and a window so that Brutus can sit and watch the boats go by like he did before....

For now it is off to finding ourselves a home in Fort Lauderdale......we are having a wonderful time through this whole process.

A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.

until next time...

Goodbye Home....

If you ask us where is home for us without hesitation we will say Chicago...strange isn't it because home has been Florida...Fort Lauderdale for so long where we have a beautiful apartment for a week or so more...

That's where Arvid and I met, where we fell in love and got married and had our home always.....that's where Brutus came into our lives so it seems strange that when we think of home we think of our place in Chicago. 

We have sold our apartment in Florida and will hopefully close on it this coming week.  If you ask me what I will miss about the apartment I will have to say nothing really....but what saddens me (and this is weird), is that Brutus will no longer see the place that was his first home.  He will no longer sit at his favorite window spot and look at the boats...we will no longer be able to chase him around the apartment anymore nor will he drink from the Jacuzzi again......strange but that is what makes me sad.

Also another thing that makes me sad is that my friend Liliana will no longer pet sit Brutus.  She loves him as much as we do and he in turn loves her.  She is awfully sad at this as well....of course we will always be friends and she can come visit Brutus anytime she likes....even though we are a bit sad we are also very happy because soon a new phase begins.

Goodbye home...we have has some very good times there.....

I did not realize how sad this would be.....

Saying goodbye, going away

Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say

Touching a hand, wondering why

It's time for saying goodbye

to the place we called home for so long.....

Saying goodbye, why is it sad?

Makes us remember the good times we've had

Much more to say, foolish to try

It's time to say goodbye

to the place we brought Brutus into our lives....

It's time for saying goodbye

 

Brutus' new favorite resting spot.....

until next time...

Selling Our Home....

"Now is the time..."

As you all may know by now we are in the process of trying to sell our apartment.  We live downtown Fort Lauderdale.  With the market being what it is it has not been easy.  We are having lots of showings.....almost everyday but, no luck.

This process is very tiring.  We are supposed to have a 24 hours notice prior to someone coming but, lately we have been lucky if we've had an hours notice.

Even so Arvid and I do manage to get everything in order and to be ready for customers.  You've got to do what you've got to do if you want results.

It has been extremely stressful for Brutus more than anyone.  He is not your typical cat.  Brutus is just afraid of everything and everyone except for Arvid and I.  He is just so gentle and he just loves curling up around Arvid's chlorine covered feet.  Makes him feel safe. Whenever we have people coming to see the apartment, Brutus knows about it a good 10 minutes or so before they come through the door.  He is just looking at the door ready to bolt.  All of this stress had caused him to lose hair in different areas of his back.  Poor kitty his quiet routines have been altered and if you have a pet especially a cat you know how they love their routines.  Just like Arvid actually.  He is also a man of routines.....  me I like it varied and always hoping for something different....

Today we have showed the apartment 2 times same as yesterday and the day before. It has gotten to a point where we are not even making lunch at home anymore...sad because I really prefer to eat at home than to eat out.  I like cooking. Hopefully all of this showing will soon lead to a sale.....Arvid and I are forever optimistic about it....

We know sooner or later it will sell....in the meantime we are having fun!!!

"Life is a series of near misses. But a lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future."

 

until next time..

Bitter Cold Days....

It has been so cold here in Florida lately that one would think we were living in some Northern State.

While for many this cold is maybe a mild summer for us Floridians it is harsh.  This weekend I wore 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of pants, jacket, gloves and scarf and I was still cold.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0109/Snow-in-Florida-Big-chill-culling-unwanted-iguanas-and-pythons

It has been much worse for the animals and the crops.  Sad because so many people depend on this for a living.  Check out the link above and see for yourself.

Just look at Brutus.  He is all bundled up the poor thing is also frozen to death....he is also a bit spoilt and we do pamper him so.
Here he is resting his little head on my pillow and covered up with my sweater.....he slept that way for hours.

Hopefully will be going t the hot tub in a bit to warm up.....how are the rest of you faring out there???

No matter what we always make the best of what life dishes out...I may think this is cold but for others this may just be the perfect weather...iit's all in the eye of te beholder....

If we were in Eleuthera right now it would ne much warmer than here....I could be in shorts.....

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

until next time...

Home Again.....

This promises to be a beautiful weekend for Super Bowl 2010.  Yes, it is taking place here in Miami, Florida and it is amazing to see all the activity and partying going on.  The crowd is just bursting with excitement.  I don't really get it.....

When we landed yesterday the airport was lined up with rows and rows of private jets all coming here for The Super Bowl 44.  Also, the Intracoastal and The New River is lined with boats and more boats.  A very spectacular site.  I am not crazy about football (hope my nephew does not see this because boy is he a fan.  Has been waiting for this weekend it seems forever  Max...love you and have a great time at the games...!!!).   I do like the ads.  They are the best, very funny and super clever. 

Since getting back home we have been organizing and organizing getting back into the rhythm of our routines.  The first thing we did upon getting home was to of course make sure Brutus was well taken care of.  He got into the swing of things right away.  No problem there.  The very next thing for us was to head to the hot tub....so very relaxing after a long and tiring day.   It is good to be home but right away we can tell the diffrence between being here and being in Eleuthera.  Arvid right away starts honking the horn, our driving becomes more agressive and we seem to be tense without really realizing it.  Of course the phone calls come in at all hours.  If you can't sleep or have nothing beter to do that does not mean we can't or that we don't.  It Eleuthera we never unplugged our phones here we have to do it all the time just to get some peace in he evenings....

What I am really looking forward to doing right now is heading out to the nearest Starbucks and getting me my cafe latte.....can actually taste it.  City life does have its merits after all.....

Eleuthera actually does have a restaurant that serves specialty coffees among other things...it's called Pina Cafe......

Well that's it for now.  Have lots to do and to take care of.  It's back to business as usual here in Fort Lauderdale......and I am loving it.  

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”

until next time....

Homeward Bound....

A good home must be made, not bought.

Our stay in Eleuthera has come to an end...at least for this trip.  We have had a very good time (as usual) but, now it's time to go back home.  We love it here in Eleuthera but we also love our home back in Fort Lauderdale so we are also looking forward to that.   Have missed our pool and hot tub (pictured above).

Back home in Florida we go to the pool/hot tub at least 2 times a week.  Here in Eleuthera we go to the beach...right on our doorstep everyday.  Either way we love it and have a great time.

At home in Florida we live at a different pace....much more hectic and more aggressive, compared to the laid back lifestyle we have here in Eleuthera.

Right now I am ready for that change.  Makes me feel alive and vibrant.  I love a good challenge and just dealing with everyday life is a challenge.  Already our thoughts are ready for all the things we have to do and take care of once we get home.

Brutus is so relaxed here but, he also has his favorite spots at home.  Being a city cat he loves to look out of the floor to ceiling windows and just observe......right now Brutus is so into his island lifestyle I am not sure he is ready to go back home.  Even Arvid said he was sad because he did not wish to go back home as yet either.  Truth be told we need to get home.  We have our business to take care of. 

We come to Eleuthera once a month and this is the perfect blend for us.  We work very hard when in Florida and just when we think we can't take it any more it's time to come back to Eleuthera.

We have a beautiful home with all the comfort and amenities we can wish for....( check the link on my page titled Our Apartment) right now I am looking forward to a very looooooooooong, hot shower.  In Eleuthera we have to be a little more careful with our water supply because we have a water tank and do not want to waste a single drop.  At home I am a little less cautious.

On our last evening here in Eleuthera we went out to celebrate again.  This time it was for another great trip we've had here.  We went to Cocodimama one very beautiful Resort.  Just check the link.

http://www.cocodimama.com/

Known for their mojitos and no one better than Sammy, the bartender to make the perfect mojito.

For now it's goodbye Eleuthera until our next time here.

As usual we have had a wonderful time here in our island.  It is sad to leave but, we will be back.  For now we have to go back home and take care of business........

The purpose of our lives is to be happy

until next time....