Someone’s in trouble
Great article in my local paper this morning talking about the U.S. Treasury Department investigating Mortgage Fraud. I for one hope that the true criminals behind all this mess we are busy working our way out of spend some quality time in a penitentiary not of their choosing. Take a moment and follow the link and read the article. I think we all need to be aware of what went on and how to avoid being an unwitting participant to crap like this in the future.
Kelly…
Excuses, Excuses
90 day flip rule for FHA loans. Who are they trying to protect? Don’t tell me the consumer because I will call Bull poop. Now I hear that some PMI companies are not insuring convetional loans citing the FHA 90 day flip rule. Wow, excuses, excuses.
Kelly…
Interest rates are GREAT!
Hey, guess what I was just told?! FHA interest rates are at 5.625% this morning and conforming Conventional 30 Year fixed is at 5.875%. Now those are awesome rates!
Kelly…
South American Wines – Argentina
Over the past couple months I have been lucky enough to attend a few wine events that included line ups of some remarkable wines and found that wines from Argentina are crazy delicious! The wines coming out of this South American country are incredibly flavorful, complex, and more often than not, of extremely high quality.
Argentina grows a variety of common grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, but is also known for producing unique varietal wines including Malbec and Torrontés.
Malbec originates from the Cahors region in Southern France where it is known as Côt and is also one of the blending varietals in Bordeaux wines. The grape was brought to Argentina in the mid 19th century and Argentinian producers found this red grape adapted very well to the country’s climate and soils. Malbec is similar to Cabernet Sauvignon as it can produce young, fruity, simple wines but can also be made into rich, complex wines worthy of extended cellaring. The color of Malbec wine is intense – very dark purple black – and is generally soft and lush with aromas of ripe prunes, plums, and anise. This wine tastes great with dark meats, rich sauces, and hard cheeses.
Torrontés is a white wine that is truly unique to Argentina. Its origins are still questionable, but wine experts agree that it is very similar to Muscat grown in wine regions near the Mediterranean. I would compare Torrontés to Viognier as it has that fragrant, floral aroma with sweet honey and a hint of spicyness. This grape also makes exceptional sparkling and fortified wines. Torrontés pairs well with spicy dishes and strong cheeses.
I recently tried the following wines and found them to be great examples of what Argentina has to offer.
2006 Colome Torrontés, $13
This wine is intensely aromatic and floral with notes of roses, honeysuckle, jasmine, and a slight citrus twist. Stone and citrus fruit are revealed on the palate, which culminate in a crisp, clean finish. This wine is brought to the U.S. by Hess in Napa so it should be widely available.
2003 Catena Alta Chardonnay, $45
Chardonnay is another important white wine grape in Argentina and the Catena Family produces an excellent age-worthy Chardonnay. This wine was made from grapes grown at the Catena Family’s Adriana Vineyard, which is located 5,000 feet in elevation, making it the highest vineyard in Argentina’s most celebrated growing region, Mendoza. The resulting wine has powerful aromatics with great acidity and concentrated flavors on the palate. Minerals and ripe stone fruit with notes of honey and vanilla from oak aging all meld together to create an elegant wine with the potential to age for another 5+ years.
2004 Achaval Ferrer Finca Altamira Malbec, $80
The ultimate Malbec - this wine shows just how complex and age-worthy an Argentinian Malbec can be! This opaque, purple-black Malbec is incredibly smooth with aromas and flavors of blackberry, blueberry, earth, leather, and hints of vanilla. Can drink now but I would hold onto it for a few more years as time in the bottle will further develop this already complex wine.
Goal setting for a new year
As we all know it is very important for those who succeed year after year in any business to have well defined written goals. We all have attended the workshops and sales seminars stressing this very point. Problem is, an overwhelming majority of us start out with such good intentions and then we let life get in the way. I am one of the worst offenders. Oddly enough as I go through the goals I set last year for this, there are a few things on the list that I did accomplish and of course a bunch that I did not.
I, like many others, have a tendency to make the list, look it over, oh…. say through the end of January and then poof I get busy and let life take over. This year I vow one more time to look at my goals at least once a week, okay once a month, yea right, how about once a quarter?
STOP! to be truly successful we need to look at our goals on a consistent basis and reorganize them as life changes or take some goals out of the picture. You know, the ones that really weren’t goals in the first place but you wrote them down anyway. So, review your goals, mark down what progress you have made in attaining them and keep moving forward.
Below is a website that I found to be helpful and believe me there are a million sites to help you with this task. Some want you to join or buy something and some are just helpful. So now is the perfect time to look at your goals, write them down and make next year a much more productive and Happy year.
Happy Goal Setting.
Kelly…
