Last week my Aunt and Uncle had to say Good bye to a very dear member of their family, their longtime pet - Ryder. It is never an easy decision to make but they knew it was time, as he was quite old and his body was failing him. 

My family was referred to a local Veteranarian's office - BC Animal Hospital  and they offered to come to their home to help Ryder pass peacefully in the comfort of his own home instead of a clinical office. Most people would want to die in the comfort of their own home surrounded by their family, I can only imagine how much more calming it would be for a pet to pass in their own home surrounded by the ones they love. In his last days, we figure he knew it was time as he sensed the family's sadness and showered them with love.

Dr. Brandon Chan the owner and operator of the BC Animal Hospital helped the family through one of the most difficult decisions they ever had to make. When my grandfather passed away last year I talked about how it was an honour and a privilege to have been a part of that experience. I think that was how my Aunt and Uncle felt, Dr. Chan walked them through the process and let them be with Ryder until the end. Even though I was not there, I am sure there were tears of love and loss...but I am also sure he made them feel at peace with their decision.

I only wish when our dog - Spencer passed away 10 years ago that we had that service. To have let him go in our home instead of having to take our 8 year old daughter to a cold clinic...where even though they did their best to try and make us all comfortable. There really is no way to be comfortable when you aren't in your own surroundings. 

There was another service offered that we would have loved....BC Animal Hospital works with another company for Cremation services Paws to Remember where they offer a variety of cost effective and environmentally friendly cremation options. But more importantly they will take imprints of your pets paws and make "Paw print castings" for families to have a special piece of their loved pet forever. For many the ashes are important, for me I think the castings would mean that much more. I highly recommend if your veteranarian doesn't already work with Paws to Remember that you insist they do for you and your pet when the time comes. If your veteranarian doesn't offer home visits to help on that difficult time then I would highly recommend contacting Dr. Chan at the BC Animal Hospital. 

RIP Ryder, you are already dearly missed.

For the 3rd year in a row I am proud to say because of our amazing clients our team has achieved the top 10% of Realtors here in the Fraser Valley. We thank each and everyone for their continued support of our team. But I also want to say THANK YOU to an incredible team KARA BERMAN and LISA SPEERS without either of them we wouldn't have finished the year off so strong! The age old saying there is no "I" in team and I would have to say that saying has never been more true!

We are all looking forward to 2015 being just as good, but always striving to be even better.

From our Families to Yours all of us at the Bettina Reid Group wish you all the best throughout the holidays and into the New Year! We hope you get to spend some time making memories with your families and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving to All of our American Friends and Family from all of us at The Bettina Reid Group!

We hope that everyone has the oppportunity to share some time with family and friends at some point this weekend.

Realtors Care Blanket Drive

Every year around this time as the days get shorter and a lot colder, the Realtors Care Blanket Drive gets under way here in the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver area to help give some warmth to those in need. This year is the 20th annual Realtors Care Blanket Drive

You can help by donating the following items for men, women and children:

new or gently used
  •  blankets, sleeping bags
  •  warm clothing - coats, jeans, pants, sweaters
  •  scarves, gloves, mitts, hats
  •  socks (new)
  •  underwear (new)

All donations collected in a community stay in that community. 

For a drop -off location in your community please visit the following link:

Realtors Care Blanket Drive 

Or, feel free to give us a call today and we would be happy to pick up any of your donations!

I can't believe its been 4 years since I worked on the Government Relations committee at our Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. It was one of the best experiences as it gave me an opportunity to learn more about our politics. 

The above video is one I put out back in April 2011 and I thought it would be good to post again. 

Everyone has an opinion about the traffic they go through in their commute each day or the construction they must endure in their neighbourhoods. Maybe its the development in their community or lack of schools. If you have ever commented or complained about anything in your community then you should get out and vote and make your voice heard. As I said in the video "Be the change you wish to make in the world" by Mahatma Ghandi. Get out, vote this Saturday November 15th and support the candidates that will help you make your voice heard.

As I said in my video blog I'm not looking to sway anyone's vote, but do believe it is our duty as Canadians to get out there and not only vote, but to make an educated vote. Do your research and get out and vote for the candidates that you feel represent your views. The candidate that you think will work hard for your community.

Vote Saturday November 15th, 2014.

For a Voters Guide to see if you are elegible to vote, visit the following link:

Voters Guide

For voting locations visit the following link:

Poling stations 

Congratulations to Mikayla above and Alexis below - this year's Halloween Colouring Contest Winners. 

Alexis may have won, but we couldn't leave out her brother Cameron and sister Natalie's entries below. We wish we could showcase all of our entries as each and every one was a masterpiece. 

All of us at The Bettina Reid Group want to thank all of the children that entered our Colouring Contest. Be sure to watch the mail for a special thank you card from all of us! Look for our next colouring contest for Easter 2015.

Happy Diwali to all of our Sikh, Jain and Hindu, clients and friends.

Diwali is The Festival of Lights celebrated every year around this time. It is one of the biggest Hindi festivals of the year. Hindus celebrate this with their friends and families by lighting candles and firecrackers.

Sikhs celebrate in much the same way with their friends and family by lighting oil lamps and reading Sikh holy Texts.

I have never heard of Jain's, but they also celebrate in much the same way, lighting oil lamps, fasting and participating in charity events. 

All 3 celebrate very similarily and the children I think enjoy the many sweets along with the beautiful lights during the Festival of Lights. 

The Festival of Lights symbolize light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over darkness.

Every year I tell my family I support my clients and the community we live in by decorating my home for the Christmas holidays on November 1 in support of the Festival of Lights. Why not, gives me a reason to share in such a beautiful festival and to decorate early. :)

 

Happy Thanksgiving from All of Us at the Bettina Reid Group!

Getting ready to head out for dinner with my Aunt and her family, thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for. Very thankful to have such a great family to spend the holidays with, looking forward to it. 

More importantly I am thankful for having such an amazing husband, two beautiful daughters, a career I love and such a wonderful team to work with me. I am healthy and happy than I have ever been and I really do have so much to be thankful for. I hope that everyone has had the oppportunity to share some time with family and friends at some point this weekend. 

Below is a photo of the beautiful fall colours that you can find back east at this time of year...always one of my favourite things about Thanksgiving is getting to see the Fall Colours. If you haven't been to central or eastern Canada it should definitely be on your bucket list of places to see. 

I think all parents in BC are looking forward to the first day of School more than ever before! Certainly strange to be saying Happy First Day of Fall and Back to School in the same sentence. But we are all Happy kids are back in School tomorrow and look forward to a good year going forward!

Happy Fall and Happy first Day of School from all of us at The Bettina Reid Group!

Happy BC Family Day from all of us at The Bettina Reid Group! We hope you enjoyed this gorgeous long weekend with family and friends in the sunshine. 

For all of you who read my blogs, you know I have been writing them off and on for years. In 2012 I committed to write a minimum of 5 blogs a week and many weeks, I wrote a new blog everyday.

Blogging has been around since before I started in the business. When I started in real estate, our office brought in speakers to encourage us to write a blog once a week or even just once a month. I couldn't figure out how to in the beginning, I kept over thinking it and had a really hard time coming up with topics that I thought would interest my readers. 

Then when I set my New Years goal for 2012 to write a blog as frequently as I did, I realized it didn't matter what I wrote about as long as I started writing. Over the last few years I have written not only real estate blogs but blogs about the community, local restaurants and anything I thought might be interesting to write about. 

My grammar may not be the best, because I tend to write like I speak...:) That was one of the reasons I didn't write blogs in the beginning. But now I figure my writing will give people a sense of who I am. 

I have been approached a few times to have guest bloggers and tended to shy away from it until this year. Going forward if the writing doesn't seem like mine...it probably isn't. I have decided to change things up a bit and allow select people to become guest bloggers for my site and look forward to starting a new phase in my blogging by doing this. I have also joined the Yummy Mummy Club which is a large forum of bloggers, blogging about everything and anything. 

If you are interested in being a guest blogger on our website feel free to pop me an email or give me a call.