I again want to stress the importance of giving this Holiday season.

My husband and I delivered the 2 hampers this weekend and were very humbled by it. The 1st was delivered to a family of 4 living in a 1 bedroom basement apartment. The father was so modest the only thing they asked for were groceries for a Christmas dinner and Lego for their boys. So, when we arrived and asked for his help to unload our very full trunk...he was at a loss for words when we explained it was all for them. It took everything for me not to cry, especially seeing the tears in his eyes.
The 2nd family was just as heart wrenching. A single Mom taking care of her very ill mother and 3 year old daughter. She hadn't even had a chance to decorate her home for Christmas. When the boxes and bags of gifts and groceries kept coming she did not know what to do. 

I am so proud of my co-workers at Homelife Benchmark Realty Cloverdale and my family this Christmas for coming through for both of these deserving families.

You do not have to give $$$ or gifts to feel the spirit of Christmas. There are many ways to give: your time, your heart and even just your kindness with a smile will go a long way. Give the spirit of Christmas this holiday season and feel the joy in giving!!!

I am so proud of the office I work in, the Pacific Titans, and my family for helping to make this Christmas special for 2 families in need. I wanted to share this story from one of our families because it is a reminder to us all why we need to give back to those in need not only at Christmas, but all year long. It was important for me for many reasons. My own family was in need many times throughout my childhood and some wonderful people helped to make Christmas special for my siblings and me. For anyone who reads this if I can ask one thing of you this Christmas....give to others in need in any way you can- Visit the elderly, serve in a soup kitchen, help out at the food bank, donate toys, food, clothing, etc. A smile brought to others will warm your hearts and your souls. Merry Christmas!

A box of tissues might be useful as you read :)

"Hi Bettina, I just want to start by saying thank u soooo so very much from the bottom of my heart. I have never been in this kind of situation before, because (as much as I was unaware of it at the time) my mom helped me out whenever I needed anything and financially supported me more than I ever knew. .
About a year ago, she developed an infection in her leg that just wont heal. she also has had holes in her heart and is very much in need of a new pace maker and valve surgery but is unable to undergo surgery until the wounds are healed... they are thinking now of skin graphs being a possible answer. She has been on medication that is apparently as hard as chemotherapy to get better with still no sign of healing. She also found out while in the hospital that she now has an enlarged spleen and liver due to meds, plus possibly diabetes, and also a rare blood disease. she was the one who took care of my little girl while I was in school so I had to put school on hold until this coming march at least, to be there for my little girl and to take care of my mom. I was the one who gave her IV medication at home for seven weeks and there was no one else to do it, so I couldn’t be away from her at all for those two months for more than two or three hours at a time- plus she is going to have to start undergoing a bunch of pretty risky heart surgeries, etc, as soon as the wounds heal so we have a ways to go before I am able to be back in school. ( I am just pray CPP but until that kicks in which they said that can take 6 months to a year- she is absolutely broke as well. So, needless to say, I cannot rely on my mother this time. So, here I am. Social assistance is not even close to enough to support one person, let alone two AND not for extras like Christmas. I thank god for this opportunity to be able to give my daughter a good Christmas so thank u so so much again and again. With that said...
You asked me to write out a list of things that I can think of that either we need or my daughter wants, and given that she's turning three haha, she has quite a list. So, I will write down some of the things that she has told me she really wants ( and just so you know, I do not 'expect' anything that I write, and will be absolutely grateful with anything that you chose to bless us with)
 
She is a total girly girl and adores ANYTHING princess and dollies and Barbies...she loves music, Dora, Disney princess, Barbie, and anything to do with dogs and puppies. SHE LOOOVES ANIMALS! Oh, and Her favorite princess is Ariel. lol
 
I got her a few things, but small things. These are the things she has said she really wants for Christmas.
 
 
The number one thing she would absolutely love is She really wants A real looking vacuum (I think its fisher price) (From I think toys R us?) to
help clean with mommy (she’s a clean freak haha) Her cousin has one and she is very jealous of that haha
 
Also, we rented the movie Santa puppies DVD and she fell in love with it. But I could not justify spending 18 dollars on a movie when I can barely afford diapers. But she would melt to have that movie. .
 
playdough and playdough things like I guess cutters and stuff
 
She really wants an easel, but its pretty expensive...I’ve even looked on craigslist because second hand is absolutely more than ok
 
Anything that makes music that she can sing or dance to.
 
She looooooves to read books. She is very very intelligent and loves anything that she can learn things from.
 
anything Barbie, princess, or dolls. She sleeps with everyone of her dollies and teddys every night. not one is ever forgotten :)
 
------------------------------------------------
 
Things that would REALLLLLLLY help us right now
 
DIAPERS huggies size 3t-4t (I get the boys ones because they leak less and her favorite color is blue so it works out just fine hehe)
 
Huggies diaper wipes
 
8 ounce bottle liners
 
You had mentioned about if she needs any clothes....  I really couldn’t tell you the last time she had a new outfit. My cousins give me their hand me downs and that is absolutely wonderful. I am so grateful for that. But she has literally no clothes to grow into because she is soooo tall she is outgrowing her older cousins. She is in a size 4 pant and a size 5 top. She does already have a snow suit and new boots for the snow so that’s great, but ANY CLOTHES would help sooooo very much. and by all means, second hand or gently used clothes are fine as well. I cant be picky right now. but I just look so forward to the day that things are back to being ok for us and we will pay it forward. I am also going to be going to a shelter or women’s shelter or food kitchen or possibly all of the above this Christmas to volunteer my time so that I am doing all I can to help others as you are helping me.
 
She has shoes but has just outgrown them. She is now going into size 9 (I wish she would just stop growing so fast just for a little while! lol) and socks would be great for little miss big foot as well. 
 
I would like to stress again how utterly grateful I am for this. Its so funny the things that make me excited now. haha before it would have been stupid immature things or things for myself, but now that I have a baby its a whole different ball game. I'm more excited about getting a hamper full of groceries than almost anything that I can think of right now! and to be able to have her open up presents on Christmas, and to be able to have food in our cupboards is going to be just AWESOME! thank u SO MUCH!
 
YOU ARE FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS
 
LOVE ALWAYS, 
K"
 

For the second year in a row, we will be sponsoring families in need for Christmas.
Last year we sponsored 1 small family, and there is no way to describe the feeling I walked away with after delivering their food and gifts.
After the rough year economically that we have had across the country, more and more families are in need and finding themselves in this tough situation.
This year we are sponsoring 2 new families who have never needed help like this before and we can only hope that we will help to make this a special Christmas to remember. Thanks to a great idea from the admin staff in our office, we held a 50/50 draw at our office Christmas party last Friday and have already started our fund raising with a bang! There truly is no better feeling than to give to others.
Merry Christmas, and my wish is for everyone to give a little this Christmas, even a little goes a long way!

The best marketing tool that I have found for my clients is the use of real estate photography. The first call I make when setting up a new listing is to SeeVirtual Marketing & Photography; they employ professional real estate photographers that are the best at what they do. All of my clients have been so impressed with the videos, photographs, and 360 panoramas, that I wouldn't even think twice about whether or not to market one of my client's homes this way. Not only do these photographers take incredible shots, they help to market the home on the web through their website www.seevirtual360.com which gets a large volume of traffic, as well as on Craigslist, Youtube, Twitter and more. This system provides my clients maximum exposure to help get the home sold quickly and for a higher price. Buyers especially appreciate the work SeeVirtual Marketing does when they visit  www.realtor.ca, as they can truly get a sense of what the home looks like before they make that call to set up a viewing. If I receive a call for a viewing, my clients and I know that the buyers are serious and aren't getting out of their home for just a lookie-loo. It also helps in the negotiations, as the buyers  have already seen the home at least twice.
The company continually improves its services by keeping up to date on the latest technologies. Recently they added Google's Street View as well as improved their floor plans to make them interactive with the 360 panoramas to give the user complete spacial awareness of the property. I use professional real estate photography and SeeVirtual's marketing tools with all my listings. Don't hesitate to contact me if you want to learn more about how I market my clients' homes and give them the level of service that should be standard in this industry.