Awards Night - NEK

Quite a few Northeast Kansas Realtors were able to join together for a nice evening last Thursday (12/11/08) at the Holton House Bed and Breakfast. We enjoyed a HUGE meal of Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, relishes and sides to stuff. It was my final meeting as the Northeast Kansas Board of Realtors President. It has been a wonderful 2 years full of networking with quality agents in the area and continual education for our business!

Northeast Kansas...There's no place like home!

Greetings from your Northeast Kansas Agent Resource! As the Today Show put it last Friday..."Northeast Kansas...there's no place like home!" Click on the link : http://www.capfednews.com/ to hear what the NBC's Today Show had to say about our community! In the New Year, consider the Fox Team for all of your Northeast Kansas real estate needs. Our Team looks to conservative resourcing and cutting edge top of the line service. We wish you each a Happy Holiday and a prosperous NEW YEAR!

Making Sense of Energy Ratings

Using the most efficient appliances and products in your home can significantly cut your utility bills. It will also reduce air pollution and damage to the envt! So how do you read one of these crazy labels? The wattage rating listed on a label indicates how fast it uses electricity. The govt has added a feature onto these labels that show standard rati ngs and estimated annual usage. All furnaces, heat pumps and central air conditioners will have one of the following ratings noted below. A higher number indicates a higher efficiency...initially the models that are more efficient are more pricy up front. Have a professional help you decide what model and version would be best for your particular home. HSPF - heating seasonal performance factor - this is a heating efficiency rating that compares the seasonal electricity use of heat pumps. SEER - seasonal energy efficiency ratio - this is a cooling efficiency rating that compares units. EER - Energy Efficiency Ratio - this is the cooling efficiency rating that compares the electricity use for window and portable a/c units. It is less accurate than SEER. AFUE - Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency - this is the heating efficiency rating that compares the fuel use of natural gas, propane and oil furnaces. Water heater efficiency is compared to by EF - Energy Factor. Water heaters havea yellow guide too that lists an approximte energy cost. Visit the Association of Appliance and Equipment Association Web Site - www.gamanet.org to find efficiency ratings and output capacities of heating appliacnes and www.ari.org for air conditioning and refrigeration. You can also visit www.energystar.gov for more information.

Decorate Safely for the Holidays

Here are some tips for using electrical products safely during the holidays: 1) Before decorating, read and follow manufacturers' instructions concerning installation and maintenance of all decorative electrical products. 2) Indors and out, use lights and other electrical decorations certified by a recognized, independent firm such as UL 3) Use lights certified for outdoor use only for outdoor use. The same goes for indoor lights 4) Carefully inspect each light before plugging it into a socket. Cracked, frayed, loose or bare wires may cause a serious electric shock or start a fire. 5) Do not mount or support light strings in any way that might damage the cord's insulation. Never nail or staple light strings or extension cords 6) Always unplug an electrical decoration before replacing lightbulbs or fuses 7) Keep all extension cords and light strings clear of snow and standing water. 8) Do not allow children or pets to play with electrical decorations. (Excerpt from Kansas Country Living Dec 2008) And Most Importantly - Enjoy the Holidays and decorations - its such a magical time!

Christmas Traditions

I had to laugh at our traditional tree decorating experience again this evening. Since Craig and I have been married we've skipped over purchasing a tree and gone out to cut one down. The tradition began when we had been married just a few years - I was still at Washburn Univ. and interning 40-60 hours a week on top of my full school schedule - Craig had long hours and we were driving an hour away several times a week to check on our cattle and we just seemed to let the Christmas season skip by us...I still remember telling mom just a few days before Christmas that year that we didn't have a tree - so mom MADE us drive down there that afternoon and we brought home our 2 foot tall Charlie Brown Christmas Tree from her pasture. I think it was able to hold only 4 ornaments and a 3 foot strand of lights circled twice around! There set forth our own tradition of hiking out into the pasture and finding the perfect Charlie Brown Christmas Tree - either 1/2 of the tree is missing branches or what seems like a 4-5 foot tree outside ends up being 8 foot tall and 8 foot wide once placed in the living room, and we have to rearrange all the furniture again! This year was no different, in fact - it would be even more special as we were unable to enjoy the lights and sounds of the holiday season last year with our 2 week crippling ice storm for the 2007 season! This year's humor could be yet another fun memory of the Christmas holiday. We had 2 ornaments left to put on and as I stand in the doorway, the boys go running by the tree and one of them caught ahold of it and the tree came slamming down in the dining room - on the brick tiles. The look on their faces was priceless - I almost burst into tears with the shock but had to just smile - as I picked up the 7-8 broken ornaments off the floor and both boys were saying over and over again how sorry they were, I remembered these were just material things and looking at their sweet little faces was really all I needed at Christmas. Our tree, while perfect in our eyes, may be a grin to another - as it is now being tied up to the upper stair rail by a Men's neck tie and the upper 1/2 of the lights do not work from the hard floor jolt and we're missing a few of the more memorable ornaments - others are being glued together. As Therron hung the last ornament up that had broken - it was a Boyds Bear on a Wagon, which was now missing all of its wheels, he said "Its okay mommy, the bear is just riding a sled now, not a wagon - you can't ride wagons at Christmas time anyway!" And he is right...