It's a great time to look back over the past year and evaluate where you've come.  What are your three most favorite memories created in 2007?  What are you anticipating for 2008?  The biggest highlight for me was the continual celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary.  We had two parties, one at The Drake in Burlington, and one at our cabin up north.  We enjoyed connecting with old friends and new and being with our family and extended family.  What does this have to do with real estate?  We started out in a basement apartment in Ames when we were seniors in college.  When my husband left for the Navy, I went to live on the family farm in NE Iowa.  That was an unforgetable experience where a lifelong bond developed between me and his parents.  It was a shocker for me----- a new bride living with in-laws in an old farmhouse where my husband was born.  No central heat and no running water during a winter of way below zero temperatures was a real challenge.  From there it was on to a small apartment in San Diego and a few months in Navy housing at Mare Island near San Francisco.  The next deployment found me and a new baby in Navy housing in San Diego.  After the Navy, we bought our first home in Albert Lea, Minnesota.  We borrowed $2000 for the downpayment and sold it two years later for $1500 less than we paid for it.  When we bought our next house in Newton, we were still paying off our $2000 loan for our first house.   The next move was to a rental house in Ames.  Then we bought an older two story house, and after a couple of years, we built a new home.  Before long we made a move to Burlington, which was our 15th move in 16 years!  We lived on 8 acres with a pond,  tennis court, 5 kids, 5 horses and numerous other pets until we became "empty nesters".  Now we are living in a loft apartment in downtown Burlington.  It has been an interesting adventure.  For over 30 years now, I have helped first time home buyers, and retired couples, and everything in between, to find appropriate housing.  I'd like to help you too!