If you hang around ActiveRain long enough, you will inevitably receive an email from Mr. Neal Bloom...asking if you would like to take a turn doing the Week in Review. Actually...Neal has a way of finding me when I've been away from the Rain too long and bringing me home. Thanks, Neal!!
If you have ever had the honor of doing a Week in Review, you know that it is incredibly difficult to decide which posts to include...as there are so many brilliant bloggers from which to choose. After many hours of reading hundreds of posts from this past week, I have chosen to share the posts that truly speak to me. I invite you to sit down with a good cup of coffee or hot tea and take your time to enjoy the best of the best of this past week on ActiveRain.
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One of the first posts I read this week was Do real men wear make-up? by Mike Frazier. From his title, I was expecting a good laugh, but he tricked me. This story about his daughter, Lauren, will touch you deeply and make your heart smile.
Now that you are smiling, it is the perfect time to read Giving Back to Your Community as a School Volunteer by Russell Lewis. In this post, Russell exposes his.... (I'm NOT going to spoil the surprise!!)
Speaking of giving back...my good friend, Nick Bastian, is always the first one in line for an opportunity to give. Please take a moment to read Nick Bastian and RailLife.com want you to help us fight Cancer! and support Nick in his efforts.
"Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, but by those who fought, fell, and rose again." I do not know who first said those words, but I remember the first time I heard them. For me, they were life-changing.
My heroes have always been people who face life's greatest challenges with a determination to persevere and overcome. They emerge from the wreckage with a greater passion for life...and they inevitably choose to make a difference in the world. Jammin' for Julian - An Update Date on a 5 Year Old in Need by Christine Donovan tells of one such family. This post is a wonderful reminder that each one of us has a responsibility to make the world a better place.
In a little over a year here at ActiveRain, I have become friends with some of the most amazing humans on the planet. One of my New Years resolutions is to meet many of those wonderful people this year face-to-face. So...I was a little jealous when I came across these next few posts: Meeting Active Rain Members Kristin and Sheila Moran in Greune (San Antonio) -Texas! by Liz Moras and ActiveRain International Dinner in Austin, Texas! (Okay, so maybe that sounds a bit dramatic). by Jason Crouch. Okay, Liz, how about a trip to North Carolina sometime soon, girlfriend???
ActiveRain is the best place on the internet to build lasting friendships. Need proof? Read Carole Provenzale's touching story My BEST ActiveRain SUCCESS Story: He Had me at Hello : )
Need MORE PROOF? I Just Gave out A Referral to An Active Rain Agent...and I Liked IT!!!!!!! by the one and only Larry Bettag will give you the motivation you need to keep those brilliant posts coming!
Okay...at the core, ActiveRain is about real estate. So naturally, some of my picks of the week are actually about real estate. (Imagine that!!)
In When is a Gift Not a Gift but a Bribe?, Elizabeth Weintraub shares a pretty unbelievable experience with clients who had unrealistic expectations. Has this ever happened to you?
This is a story about Guns and Unwelcome Guests..........BEWARE! by Ann Allen reminds all of us in this profession to be careful. This is a must read!
Mirela Monte must have been reading my mind when she wrote This is no Longer a Career; It's a Disease! I bet you feel this way sometimes, also.
In Progress Report - I Can Do ALL Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me, Loreena Yeo shares how she handles the stress and pressures of this business. She is one amazing woman! If you have not had the pleasure of reading her blog, you will be hooked from the first post.
Dream It, Believe It and Do It by Kathy Clulow is packed with truth and motivation for anyone who needs a gentle 'push' toward greatness.
I can always count on Jesse Clifton to deliver great advice and wisdom with just the right balance of humor. The best agent to use just might be the one who tells you the truth... lives up to all my expectations of him.
Gary Woltal is the undisputed king of positivity who continually inspires us all. His recent post Getting Better Means Growing Through It is especially meaningful to me right now.
This past week was filled with moments few of us will ever forget. My final, featured posts were written to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King...a man whose life work paved the way for the events we have just witnessed.
Honoring Martin Luther King This Day... by Broker Bryant Tutas is a bit of a walk down memory lane for BB. In this raw and honest post, he shares his insights and experiences from a perspective that many of us have never seen.
A Thank You to Dr. Martin Luther King - May Your Vision of Peace and Unity Be Realized by my dear friend, Carol Smith, reminds us that it is our responsibility to continue to fight for Dr. King's dream of a country without racism.
100 Quotes: The Legacy of a Man - a dream realized. by Alan May will infuse you with passion and purpose. I cannot think of a better way to end a celebration of another wonderful week at ActiveRain.
Neal Bloom has kept the Week In Review alive and well and if you would like to take a stab at doing the next one please contact him!
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Weston Florida Real Estate Blog, Neal"The Real Deal"Bloom Neal Bloom-Realtor ® Assoc.-CRS-Weston FL - Weston, FL |
**There will be no recreations of any type regarding the titles or content of this group or Review without the permission and expressed written consent of the Groups founder-Copyright 2008"
Thanks, Elizabeth. What a week! You had it nailed. Great posts. I bookmarked a few to read later. Too much for one sitting. But, how inspiring! You really made it the Readers Digest of a week! Great work!
EN! Where have you been? I have missed you so! Meeting Liz was spectacular. She looks like a 17 year old in person & is loads of fun. KM
Elizabeth, My Friend, I knew you were "missing" but I knew it was for good reasons :) I have never done a week in review and can imagine how difficult it must be. Thank you so much for choosing one of mine and some that I have missed and would love to read. Glad you're back! GBU!
Elizabeth.... a very nice job on this, because with so many good blogs written daily and weekly, it has to be very hard to pick the top 10 to 15. And it's good to see someone from the mortgage side of things actually make the week in review. I sometimes wonder if us loan officers are forgotten... lol In any case, thanks for doing this, considering that I missed most of these.
Wow! I don't know how you did it, but what an amazing review! I missed some of the ones you mentioned, so now I will have to play catch up! Thanks, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth, A very nice week in review!!
Yes, Elizabeth - we've missed you. Great to see you back in action.
Thanks for a great list of things for me to go check out. I didn't get to catch many of these posts the first time around!
Elizabeth you did a wonderful job picking and choosing....some of these were my favorites too! It is truely amazing all the tallent here on Active Rain!! Take Care!
Yo sis! Great (and thorough) job on the week in review. Thanks for including my post about meeting Liz for dinner. Hopefully, sometime in 2009, I will have a chance to write a post about meeting you, too!
Elizabeth, terrific job with the Week In Review and thanks for my mention. You picked a whole slew of great articles for the week. Liz Moras and her tour through Texas came to life for all of us in North Texas as she stopped by to say hi.
I do a lot of AR reading, but I did miss some of these. You have been one busy girl, Elizabeth. Great job!
Thanks for helping us see their posts. Great job!
Jenny Alston
Your pic just reminded me that I'm out of orange juice. Nice to see the posts about giving back. Thanks for your recap, Elizabeth!
Eli - Thanks for including me in this honorable post. I only write what I feel, so ....
We are only as strong as our beliefs. And if we help each other believe in something, then we have made a small step in the right direction.
Thank you, Elizabeth... I found and enjoyed reading the MLK posts, because of your labor. I appreciate you!
Elizabeth, thanks so much for taking the time to put all of this together. You always do such amazing job at anything you put your mind to. I am so glad to call you a friend.
Thanks so much for the mention along with these excellent posts.
Elizabeth, I missed a bunch of these and they look great. This will help keep me reading! Thank you so much for writing the Week in Review. You always do a great job! Thank you for the efforts and for picking such great posts. Have a good week.
Later in the rain~Deb
Wonderful WIR....lots of hard work and effort doing these....thanks a bunch!
Elizabeth, Thank you for your time in gathering this great selection. I've read some and hope to read others this week....hopefully before the next selection.
Have a great week!
Olga
Thanks! I really like the Week in Review concept. You pointed out several great posts that I had missed.
Very thorough list Elizabeth !
... that has to be a lot more work than we can all imagine ! ... but very helpful to those of us who missed many of these great posts.
Great job, and thanks for your time and effort putting it together :o)
Cheers !
Sheldon
Elizabeth,
Thank you for spotlighting Julian and his family and for giving me so many more posts to go read.
Elizabeth, you have compiled a terrific list of posts and each one deserving of recognition. I must say it looks like you spent a long time on putting this "Week in Review" together and thank you for those efforts. Take care and happy blogging!
Elizabeth, you are a great blogger yourself, but it is nice that you have recognized some of the very best AR has to offer. I have read a few of the posts, but now feel the need to read the rest that you have mentioned. It may take a few cups of coffee/tea to get through all of them.
thanks for the all inclusive list - I missed a few of these and will have to go back and read
Quite the responsibility to make that compilation of the weeks best postings. You did a good job many of those articles are very worthwhile to read.
Good Morning Elizabeth! I woke up early this am and did just what you suggested, I poured a cup of coffee and came to see what was going on in the Rain. I saw you first and knew I hadn't seen you in a while. Welcome back. Speaking of meeting AR members, I was looking at going to an RETech meeting in March in Atlanta. Is that too far for you? I thought if would be fun to organize a SE region get together. What do you think?
Now I need to go read...
Very interesting - I was wondering how random people where deciding to do the week in review. I really like the idea since there is soooooo much good content that we miss on AR.
So does this mean I'm important if you call me Mr.? No Mr. is needed but thanks for another great review...I'm starting to run out of people again...I'm glad you took care of it.
Hi Elizabeth,
I wondered where you were and what you were up to do, now I know! The WIR has a way of taking over your life for a week! Thanks for a job well done and you have pointed me to some posts I did not find last week.
Elizabeth,
Oops, the anonymous comment is mine--thought I was logged in but wasn't.
Wow ! That is a pretty nice summary and some great posts that are highlighted. You just gave us some more reading material !
Elizabeth, Thanks for the list and your insight..I know it was a lot of work and it is appreciated.
Elizabeth,
A great job in reviewing! I found some post through your review that I did not see..Thank you!
Great summary of what has gone on with the wonderful members of AR Elizabeth!
Hey Elizabeth thanks for the review. I have been out of the rain a lot lately and this will be a good review to get me back into it. Have a great week.
Thanks for spotlighting all the links in this post. I missed a few of them and was glad to read and comment on the ones I didn't see before.
Hi Elizabeth. Having done this for Neal once, I know just how much work this is! Thank you for your efforts and for highlighting such great posts.
Elizabeth, thanks so much for mentioning me in your review. The funniest part is that I have hesitated for years before revealing my "secret"!
Elizabeth,
It is good to see you back and active again, thank you for the week in review and your selections. All are very good reads. GBU
Hey Sis! Great group of blogs and great group of bloggers too! Thanks for putting this together for us and I hope you have a blessed week!
Elizabeth-You did a great job gathering up the week in review posts. Glad to see you back in the rain.
Great selections and glad to see the week in review up again! :)
Hi Elizabeth,
Nice job putting together the week in review, now I can go catch up! Thank you :)
Elizabeth,
Great job with this.
I honestly don't know if I could commit the time to doing a week in review, I certainly appreciate your time investment in it. :)
It was such a busy AR week that I'm not sure how you managed to finish this post, but you did a great job! Thanks :)
Very nice selections! I know how hard and long you have to work to pull this together...thank you for doing this for us this week!
Thanks for putting these together! I was sick this week so I missed out on a bit!
I love that you took the time to assemble these great articles and it's a good way to see the cream of the crop!
Great editorial review, this is a time saver and I didn't even know it existed. Is the history of these here somewhere?
Hi Elizabeth. Thanks for taking the time to do the review this week. And thanks for mentioning my MLK post. Writing that post brought back a whole bunch of memories......some good and some very very bad.
Hi Elizabeth - I really enjoyed your presentation of your selections for this week-in-review - great commentary about each. And now I'm off to read those that caught my eye.
Ann
Good job, Elizabeth. You have been missed. I know you're busy. I love this feature and always get so much out of it.
Elizabeth, I know a lot of work goes into preparing one of these Week in Reviews.....great job, thanks for the mention, and I don't know how you found the time with all that business you got going on!
Elizabeth... thanks for the recap. It's weird, I read most of the posts you mention... Wow it was quite a week, especially for a (so called) 4 day... Life, sometimes, seems like a constant stream of events with no look back. Thanks... it gives perspective...
Rene'
Elizabeth - Thanks for the love link. I know it takes alot of time and many more hours in the Rain to be able to come up with a list like that.
By the way, email me for an answer if this question is too personal. You havent been in the Rain too much. What's going on?
Elizabeth: I'm sure there is a lot of time spent and much dedication to continue a week inreview post.. Great work and many excelent post.
What a great week-in-review, Elizabeth. These posts are a lot of work but you did a bang up job. Thanks for the mention and the kind words. God bless!
Elizabeth dear Elizabeth - I've mssed you these past 3 Weeks - I was hoping everything was ok out your way - but now I see you were just busy! Thanks for the 2 posts.......that you featured about the trip to Texas......and I just wanted to mention my Dallas buddies too! Elizabeth I hope to meet you real soon........I did meet 2 of your co-patriots though - your OP and TL - and sent you a note via them and an e-mail - hope you got them! :-)
You did a wonderful job with the week in Review - as always....:-))....I'll catch up on them all this week...thank you!......Love you! Liz
Elizabeth - well, you have done it again! I missed most of these and will finish out your list later, thanks.
Elizabeth - Like you I have not been as active in the rain over the last little while and almost missed this one. ... As Napoleon Hill said "No one can keep you down but yourself."