You Get What You Pay For

Shortly after I started working in real estate I was offered an opportunity to get a free head shot.  The goal was to get a picture I could use on the company website, my personal website (when I actually get it up and running), as well as any documentation I print out.

I have never photographed all that well, but after getting the photographers "best shots" I felt very disappointed.  Below is the picture that I felt was the best of the 6 or so pictures I was given.  I felt like I was a baby bird looking up at it's mother asking begging for food.

Yesterday, I was given another opportunity to have a head shot taken.  The session would be free and my preferred picture would be sent to my employer for them to use on the company website.  If I wanted the picture to use elsewhere it was my option to pay for that right.  Before going in I decided what I would be willing to pay.  When I was told it would cost twice that amount, I paused briefly but decided it was worth it.  Not only did I get to pick my favorite 2 shots, but I watched them touch them up (and even told them to undo something).  This experience just solidifies in my mind the saying that you get what you pay for.

Now that you've seen both pictures on the same page, do you agree?

Settling In - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Part 3

We have been in Port Charlotte for a week now and guess what?  We are now officially Florida residents!  Today we were able to get our driver's licenses and transfer titles and tags over for the truck and trailers and request our voting registration cards.  We even went to the bank and got a safety deposit box.  The only thing left to do to make me feel more "local" is to get our library cards, which I plan on doing tomorrow.  Yeah!

Being that this will be the last "settling in" post I do, I figured it was time to share some of my thoughts about the house and the area.

I'm loving the inside of the house.  I love the layout, the furniture, and mostly I love that I have a dishwasher and a washer and dryer that I don't have to use quarters to use.  I've also been able to bake using full size pans.  Yippy!  My only complaint about the house is the landscaping.  There is actually too much of it.  The area I was hoping to plant a garden is covered by a trellis with flowering plants on it (and lots of bees), so now I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to have a garden.

Front of the house

Living / dining room

Kitchen

We've been able to use the pool a couple of times already and it's a wonderful thing.  I have always loved to swim so this is a dream come true for me.  It doesn't hurt that it's a great way to have fun with the kids (as well as wear them out). 

And the view from the back of the house is almost as good as you can get (better would be directly over a beach rather than across a canal at the back of other houses).  Here is a picture of a sunset I saw the other night.

We've also done some exploring around the area.  We've found that just about every store and restaurant I could possibly want are within a 10 minute drive.  There are a few exceptions, but I'm pretty sure I will be able to survive.  Now all I need is a babysitter, so we can go out to dinner and a movie (did I mention there is a movie theater in town as well?)

Why exactly did we wait so long to move South?