Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Spot Light on Iowa




The spotlight on Iowa is soon to be over. Enjoy it while you can. Go downtown, East Village, look for the media satellite trucks and see who you can spot. Email us your photos so we can see who you've spotted. We have the opportunity to see people like Magic Johnson, President Clinton, Oprah Winfrey...and the list goes on. Then there's our favorite "talking heads" they've all been here, are here or will be here. We'd love to know who you're trying to see...and how you manuever yourself to make it happen.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Too Many Party Invitations? You need this site!


This fun site will help you lighten your schedule during this busy time. Tell the site a little about your party, your hosts, why you do not want to go. It will generate a well-worded excuse to your host/hostess and even send it if you want. Party Excuse Maker It will make you smile!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Olde Town Altoona Christmas








We participated in the Olde Town Altoona Christmas celebration. It was cold and it was fun. We were assigned a warm spot in the back of the Insurance Station (thanks Mike and crew) with the cookie decorating. The families that came in were thankful for a chance to warm up and the kids enjoyed having their pictures taken with Frosty. Then they decorated a frame for the picture, packaged snowman seeds and colored a paper mug for hot tea.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Drake Bulldogs Tickets - Men's Basketball




We've purchased 2 season tickets to the men's basketball tickets at Drake. They do a great job entertaining you at the Knapp Center. Check out the website for dates..http://godrakebulldogs.com/ . We'll be having some trivia questions so you can win them, or let us know if there's a special game you really want to go to.

Monday, November 12, 2007

New at East Village - Books!



New at the East Village - A book store! It is East Village Books, in a new building, with great selections. Isn't it great to have a book store that isn't a big box---same everywhere you go store? You can check them out on the web - eastvillagebooks.com. They are having a grand opening on Nov. 16. That coordinates with the East Village Promenade. Support your local business - see you there!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Case of the Monday's ... Chased Away







The Monday Blues were chased away at our Ice Cream Social. Thanks to the Sugar Shack for providing a great set-up and location for our get-together. Thanks to all our friends and clients for coming and enjoying. For those of you who missed out - too bad, you missed out! Seriously we thinking maybe it should be an annual event. Tell us what you think.

Friday, October 19, 2007

A Fun Way to Customize Your Photos



There are so many fun sites on the web. If you have some favorites, pass them on to us. Here's a fun one I just found. It takes a photo, and breaks it up into separate "polaroid" shots and merges into a collage. Here are the same two photos from the Taste of Altoona after having gone through this process.Find it at this link.

Eisenlauer Team at the Taste of Altoona



We had a great time tailgating at the Taste of Altoona on Thursday evening and our soup was a great hit! Thank you to all who stopped by and especially those who played our football game! Here are the recipes for our soups:

Crockpot Potato Soup

8 cups coarsely chopped peeled potatoes

1 small onion, chopped (1/3 cup)

1/2 lb. bacon - crisp cooked drained and crumbled

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

3 14.5 oz. cans reduced sodium chicken broth

1 10.75 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 t. white pepper

1. In a 4-qt. electric crockery cooker, stir together the potatoes and onion. Stir in the bacon.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup and pepper.

3. Cover and cook the soup on low heat for 8-10 hours or on high heat for 4-5 hours. If you like, mash the potatoes slightly for a thicker consistency before serving.


Tortilla Chicken Vegetable Soup

3 lbs. chicken pieces

4 qts. water

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 large onion, diced

1 28 oz. can tomato chunks

2 chicken bouillion cubes

2 carrots or 1 red bell pepper

1/2 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1 10 oz. pkg. frozen corn

1-2 bunches green onion, sliced thin

2 cups cooked long grain white rice

salt

tortilla chips

1. Place chicken and water in a stockpot, and onion, celery & garlic. cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is tender, about 45 minutes.

2. Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool. Skim off fat. Smash cooked garlic cloves against side of pot. Add undrained tomatoes, carrots, cumin, cayenne pepper, white pepper and bouillon cubes to the broth. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

3. Add corn, green onion. Simmer 10 minutes longer.

4. Skin and bone chicken, then dice or shred into bite-sized pieces. Add chicken to soup along with cooked rice. Heat through. Season with salt to taste. Ladle into bowls, garnish with cheese and tortilla chips.

Friday, October 5, 2007

GREAT SITE...VISIT THIS !



This is a great site if you are even thinking about painting a room, or the exterior of your home. It allows you to pick a room: living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom...and then pick a sample room and paint it! It's great, with a simple choose and drag the color, you can paint the walls, trim, accents and choose colors for the furniture. If you don't like it, pick a different color. If you do like it, save the colors and you can purchase the paint. Go to sherwin-williams.comhttp://sherwin-williams.com/ .

Friday, September 21, 2007

Changing Seasons-Time to Declutter the Closet


With the weather changing, it's time to move summer clothes out and warmer clothes into your closet. That makes an opportune time to declutter your closet. And that is sure to give you a feeling of accomplishment. Find the rest of the principles to follow in this article at http://www.organizedhome.com/. There are also downloadable charts and many more organizing articles to learn from.

Congratulations to the Winners


Congratulations to the people who had the right answers to the Renaissance Trivia Questions. Ruby Olsen, Chris Caliguri, Tiffany Allison, and Adrian Shafer all won tickets to the Renaissance Faire at Sleepy Hollow. This is the second year for the Faire and it was great weather and great fun. Thanks for participating!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

BLOGGING 101 Beginners READ THIS

In order to win your prize...you must post or publish a comment...and have the right answer. At the bottom of each of our "postings" is (a number) Comment. Click on Comment. The next screen gives you the space to type in your quess to our question or anything you'd like to communicate to us and other readers. If you're a Google/Blogger you can log in. Second choice is Other. That choice allows you to give your name and/or your web page. The third choice is Anonymous. This choice will give you no prize, no recognition for a clever or correct answer - because we won't know who you are! After any of those three choices, you must click Publish Comment. Thanks for participating! Don't forget we are Full-time Realtors and would love to help you with your real estate needs...and any of your friends/co-workers/family.

TRIVIA QUIZ QUESTION- WIN TICKETS












There is a magical surprise hidden in Pleasant Hill behind Sleepy Hollow. It's the permanent grounds for the Renaissance Faire!. You won't believe it until you see it. Cross the bridge over the moat and you enter a whole new world...another time and place. A European village, a pirate ship, a castle, good eats, entertainment - it's all here. You still have the next two weekends to get in on the fun. AND if you can be the first to answer one of these questions, we'll award you two complimentary tickets to the Faire.



1. Renaissance means _______ in Latin?



2. Bubonic plague or Black Death was rampant during the Middle Ages. What two live critters were the main contact for spreading the disease?



3. What was Michelangelo's last name?



Go to dmrenfaire.com for schedules of entertainment, hours of the Faire and more details.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

More State Fair







State Fair Pix












Tell us your favorites..or send us yours. We'll add them to our site.

Foreclosure wave hits Iowa hard

This was a headline in Thur.'s Des Moines Register. Iowa has the NINTH highest rate of home foreclosures in the nation! The top 3 reasons for the high foreclosure rate given in the article are: Poor credit. Many people who could least afford it were given mortgages at higher than normal interest rates. ARM's Adjustible Rate Mortgages. The low entry interest rates were very enticing...but as the interest rates were raised; they were not affordable. Bad Appraisals- many questionable loans were based on inflated appraisals. So- as the saying goes..if it seems to good to be true- it probably is. That is what many of those people are realizing now. The last line in the Register article is a classic. "These are bad loans that went looking for customers."
The good news could be- one of those foreclosures could be your next home! Let us know if you see one you'd like more information on. Bill 770-2455 and Bob 979-2883

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

INSTRUCTIONS ON CORNDOG QUESTION


At the bottom of the corndog posting there is a comment link. Click on comments - and there is a form to leave your answer ( or comment). If you don't identify yourself, we'll have no way to get your prize to you!