You never know when a contact will come in handy. Even if you think that person will NEVER be any use in the future, you might be surprised. Some of the people I didn’t like at first ended up being the best of friends/contacts to have. You can never have too many friends. Look at Dorothy. She picked up some crazy characters on her way to Oz, but they all helped her in their own way.

People that I thought I’d never get along with, actually weren’t half bad after I gave them a chance. I had to work harder at their friendship. I think because of this, it ended up making the friendship stronger.I’ve learned that you really need to watch people that come on too strong in the beginning. I’m not so sure about that Glinda chick. Yeah, she gave Dorothy some cool shoes, but who does that when they first meet someone. On top of that, she lived in a bubble.  The day that bubble burst, watch out.  She’s going to go all postal, turn the munchkins into slaves and get all crazy on some prozac.

Some bridges are better off burned. Dorothy will not be going shopping with the Wicked Witch any time soon. Of course, she did drop a house on the witch’s sister. (women hold such grudges!) But none the less, the witch probably wouldn’t be the best person to have on your team. You have to be careful who you pick as friends. She’s a little crazy. First, she’s green with envy. (haha) I know the ruby red slippers were awesome shoes, but throwing a ball of fire at Dorothy and her compadres was probably not the best way to get her pointy fingers on them. Who has their castle in the middle of crazy woods with living trees?!  And what’s up with the flying monkeys?   I’m just saying it’s okay not to be friends with everyone. (this was a hard lesson for me to learn. I thought everyone had to like me)

You need to find a friend that will break you out of a castle if you were being held hostage (or bail you out of jail when you had a little too much fun) But will also skip down the yellow brick road with you. Usually you will find these types of friends when you least expect it as you follow the yellow brick road of life.  Friendship is like love. It can’t be forced. I have found people that I REALLY wanted to be "close" friends with. No matter how hard I tried, it just didn’t happen. Then, when I least expected it, I found someone that had the same morals, views and shopping habits I do. I wouldn’t trade her for anything. You know the type of friendship I’m talking about. You let them see your house how you actually live in it and not how you have it when you KNOW someone’s coming over. The friend that will tell you when that shirt you are about to buy will give you buyer’s remorse as soon as you get it home. The friend you call and pour your heart out to or just talk about nothing at all. I bet Dorothy stayed on the phone all night with the Lion talking him in to living life, went shopping with the Scarecrow to replace those patchy clothes he had and went and got Manicures with the Tinman (at least keeping him oiled up)

One thing I learned in Co-Op Class with Mrs. Flatt, it’s all about Networking. Not only do you need to make friends through life, keep all your contacts! I’m sure you’ve heard the saying " It’s not what you know, it’s who you know." You can find contacts at the grocery store, the bank or even the ballfield. You just need to pay attention. Have conversations with people. If you don’t have a contact for a particular situation, I bet someone you know does. Referrals help everyone. You know you are going to get a good job because some has recommended this person. The friend feels good because they helped you out and the next time they need to use that person, I bet they’ll get a discount. And the recommended person gets business! But be careful, your name is on the line if you recommend someone.

As promised, here is my spill about insurance and coverage.

Your Homeowners Policy has 3 key coverages: Your Home, You, and your Stuff.

Home

When is the last time you had someone tell you how much it would cost to rebuild your house in today’s dollars? Probably when you bought it (your appraisal). If your house is covered for $200,000, but it actually costs $275,000 to rebuild it, YOU  my friend have two options. You can come up with the extra $75,000 or you can build a smaller house. This is why it is so important to make sure you have the correct coverage.

You

Most people don’t think that their homeowners can actually protect them personally. This is basically in case someone gets hurt on your property. As you’ve seen on tv, people can sue you for anything. If your dog bites someone, if someone falls on your property, your homeowners will step in and help you out.

Your Stuff

The best way to describe this is if you could take your house and turn it upside down. Everything that fell out, that’s your stuff. Most companies insure your personal belongings for 50-75% of your dwelling coverage. Again, if you had a $200,000 house, your belongings would be covered for $150,000. There are limits to this depending on what you own. Guns, jewelry and furs have specific limits. So it may be best to schedule these items.

Now, as I told you yesterday, I procrastinated and didn’t change my homeowners policy. Allstate has what’s called Claim Rate Guard. Basically, you are allowed 1 claim every 5 years, and your premium will not go up just because of that claim. This, my dear friends, is where I screwed myself. If you do not have this on your policy, and you have a claim, your rates can go up as much as 40%.  In this same package (The Platinum Package) We have a Claim Bonus. For every year you don’t have a claim, you’ll get 5% back on your renewal.  Plus, Allstate will not drop you just because you have a claim. After being robbed, I am kicking myself for not changing our policy before now.

Now, if you are still reading this, thank you. Please, please make sure you go over your policy and KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE. When it comes time to use it, it’ll be too late. You are stuck with whatever you picked.

Now, I think it’s even more important to make sure you have enough AUTO coverage. You are more likely to use your Auto insurance than your home.

Your Auto Policy has 3 key coverages : The other person, You, and your Car.

Other person

If you were driving home last night, and you killed someone in an accident, how much do you think they’d sue you for? All they can get, right? If your liability limits on your policy were 25/50 (TN State Minimum) Your insurance company would write a check for $25,000 and you would be stuck paying the rest. Attorneys can go after the equity in your home, take any savings and/or investments you have, they can even garnish your wages up to 25% . This is why its so important to make sure you have the right coverage.

YOU

Ok, let’s turn that accident around and say you were the one killed in that accident last night? How much do you think your family would need to replace your income, or at least be able to live like they did while you were here? If the accident was the other person’s fault, and the were uninsured or underinsured, your family would get $25,000.00. That’s it. Unless of course you have any life insurance policies.  This is another reason why its so important to make sure your coverage is adequate for you and your family

Car

Of course, your car insurance covers your car. Let’s say your deductibles for Comp and Collision were $500/$500. This means if you were driving down the road, you look down to change your radio and you hit a tree, that would be covered under your collision. You would be responsible for the first $500 to fix your car. If there was a lightning storm and that tree fell and hit your car, that would be covered under comprehensive (things out of your control – rocks hits your windshield, deer runs out in front of you etc.)  You would still be responsible for the first $500.  I personally think your comp should br $0. If a rock hits your windshield, its going to cost only probably $300 to fix it, so you’d never get to use this part of your policy. And Comp claims do not count against you at Allstate. So why not ?

Your options at Allstate are the same two packages, Platinum and Gold.

Platinum Package

Safe Driving Bonus -  I’m sure you’ve seen this on tv. For every 6 months you do not have wreck, you will get up to 5% back in the form of a check, sent to your house.

Accident Forgiveness-  Your rates will not go up because of an accident (for multiple accidents)

Deductibe Rewards-  I think this is pretty cool. For every year you do not have an accident, you will get $100 off your collision deductible. (up to $500) So if you go 5 years, your deductible could very well be $0.

Ok, that’s my spill. I hope this helps you better understand your policy. If you have questions, please let me know. I’d be more than happy to go over it with you. If you are interested in Allstate, let me run you a quote. If it’s cheaper, AWESOME! If not, that’s okay too. I’m not going to push you into buying something that’s more expensive (as long as your coverages are okay for you and your family) (go to www.allstate.com for more info)

For those of you who don’t know, Josh and I were broken into Monday. Due to these circumstances and the fact that I recently became an insurance agent, I feel the need to write about insurance. Josh and I procrastinated on some things. On some accounts, this worked to our advantage, and it also kicked us in the ass. I know what you are thinking, she’s just trying to sell me something. Wrong. Matter of fact, I am going to write this post as a prelude to my insurance spill. So if you really don’t care to hear what I have to say, don’t read the next post. All I ask is you hear me out.

Being robbed is one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. Especially beings I was the one that came home and found out what had happened. First, I didn’t believe it. The tv was on, maybe I forgot to turn it off. The laptop is missing, perhaps I just didn’t put it up last night. The rolled change is gone, shit! Then I was scared. I called Josh and told him what was going on and for him to get home asap. I called the police and they didn’t help much. They advised me to go outside and wait for the cops to get there and not to touch anything. (Later I find out the robbers could have still been in the house!!) That night, after we changed the locks, I felt violated. They freakin’ sat on our couch and watched TV! Then saw our pictures, went through my drawers. Then I got ticked.  What makes them think they have the right to take the things that we worked so hard to get. There is nothing worse than a thief. I did, however, remember the thief on the cross next to Jesus. If he can forgive him, I should to. I’m trying, I really am. But it’s hard.

My suggestion to you is this, don’t think it won’t happen to you. It will. Go through your house and inventory what is important to you. Get serial numbers off of computers, guns, etc. and store information off site. Take pictures to prove you have what you have. Then, go to your local bank and get a lockbox there. Put your important paperwork and your inventory list in it. Yes, it may be a bit of an inconvenience, but I promise you trying to stop some crooks from stealing your identity is a worse inconvenience. Also, don’t keep all your eggs in one basket at your home. We had all of our important documents in one place. If we had strategically placed them through the house, they would have been less likely to find it.

Procrastination was a double edged sword in this case. We had talked about inventorying our house. Man, I wish we would have. There is something missing but we can’t figure out what it is. All we have is a blank spot on Josh’s desk where something used to sit. Also, we had talked about changing our homeowners insurance. I was waiting until I got out of school. I wish we would have went ahead and done it. If we would have, our insurance would not be going up 40% over the next 3 years. However, I had my Social Security Card out and had been meaning to put it back. Because I didn’t, the S.O.B.’s didn’t get it. I also was going to put some OLD OLD family pictures in the lockbox so if the house burned down, they’d be safe. I’m SO GLAD I didn’t.  We had been talking about getting a lockbox. If we had done it before now, they may not have gotten all that they did.

I’ve said all of this to say this. Please, PLEASE make sure you are adequately covered with your current insurance. This goes for home and auto. (this is actually more important in auto as far as coverage goes) You have no idea how much you need insurance until you have to use it. People try to cheap out, then get ticked when they go to use it and they don’t have enough. I will get into this more in my later post.

Please take the precautionary steps to protect you and your family. I think everything happens for a reason. If I can help my friends and family better protect them and their belongings, then I’m okay with what happened. It was a little price to pay in the scheme of things.

* As a side note, I want to thank everyone that checked on us and helped us through this. You don’t realize what good friends you have until something like this happens.

That’s right, I said it. You’ve all thought it. Why the heck didn’t Dorothy have Toto on a leash?  Yes, it’s cute to have him riding around in a basket on the front of your bike, but seriously. Did you think he was not going to jump out at some point?

It’s hard to believe that little Toto would hurt a fly. But I’ve always heard "If it has teeth, it will bite." I would love to think that my precious Auto would never bite anyone. But I know better. Matter of fact, he has bitten me. (we almost got rid of him over it) Long story short, it was sort of my fault. He felt threatened. But back to Toto. Yes, Toto bit Ms. Gulch. Maybe he wasn’t up on his rabies shots and that’s why she got all C R A Z Y  on them about it. Who knows.

Boys and girls the lesson here is, keep all your animals on a leash. If Dorothy had done this, she would have saved herself a whole lot of trouble.

I’ve decided to start a series of blogs concerning the lessons I’ve learned from what I think is the best movie ever: The Wizard of Oz. This is a great movie in itself. But over time I’ve gained a lot from this movie.

For one, it took me years to figure out that each one of the characters that appear before the tornado are, in one way or another, symbolized in life after the tornado. The wicked neighbor that wants Toto put down is, of course, The Wicked Witch. The traveling fortune teller is The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz. Uncle Hunk is the scarecrow. Uncle Zeke is the cowardly lion. Hickory is the tin man.  This may seem obvious to some, but I was so consumed with the movie when I was little, I didn’t realize it until I was older.

( I used to watch this movie and role play with my cabbage patch dolls) Anyway, stay tuned to a more in depth look at the Best Movie of all time!

We went to a friends Graduation party last weekend. His girlfriend’s 5 year old loves super heroes. While we were there, he had his Superman shirt on, but had his Batman cape and facemask. I told him I thought that would mess up the realms of the super hero world. (he just looked at me)  Anyway, to the funny part. He used to LOVE Spiderman, until he found out that Spiderman had a girlfriend (eww!) As you probably remember, at 5 years old, members of the opposite sex had "cooties". Yeah, you just wait Allen, one day you’ll want those cooties ) 

We were tested at "school" a couple of weeks ago to determine whether or not we were going to be good at selling insurance. (I’m sorry, shouldn’t you have figured that out before you hired us? ) I was scared I was going to come back and Flunk the personality test, but alas, there was no "fail" grade.  Here is what they thought about me. Those that know me, I’d be interested to see if you agree.

Very Industrious: Diligent and conscientious. Responsible, dependable and persistent.  Has high standards. Takes all commitments very seriously. Very reliable. May work endlessly until goals are achieved.  Very organized, precise and thorough. Probably very good at planning.

Private/Outgoing Blend: Somewhat outgoing and active. Can make new friends and initiate conversations with others. Balances talking with listening, and will state own opinion when compelled. Enjoys some degree of socializing and being around people but also values privacy.

Agreeable: Generally positive, cooperative and friendly. Has an upbeat look on life. Good interpersonal skills. Would rather cooperate than compete or argue. Shows concern for the welfare of others. Appears friendly and caring. Usually accepts people on good faith as trustworthy. Doesn’t hold a grudge.

Resilient: Regarded by others as cool, calm and collected. Not easily frustrated. Confident and able to effectively deal with adversity. Shows good self-composure.  Occasionally has feelings of anxiety and insecurity.

Practical/Inquisitive Blend: Generally open to new ideas, but is not a radical. Modest variety of interests. Tries to consider multiple perspectives. Participates in intellectual debate when its not too far-fetched. Is fairly imaginative and can provide some innovative ideas.

So is this me? What do you think?

I recently read "A Walk to Remember" by Nicholas Sparks. Here we go again. Yet another book that makes you decide your own ending. I spent a week of my life dedicated to finishing this book just to NOT find out whether or not Jamie dies. Is it a miracle that Landon fell in love with her at all or is it a miracle that she didn’t die? I don’t know, and apparently neither does Nicholas Sparks. He didn’t have the guts to "kill" Jamie so he wanted us to do it for him by assuming that’s what happened (Nicholas Sparks FAQ for A Walk to Remember)  Just for that, I think she lived. Despite the ending, it’s a very good book.  As it warns you in the beginning, you will cry.  Tell me your version, did Jamie live or die?

I have found this new product by Johnson and Johnson called Melt Away Stress Body Lotion.  I’m usually skeptical about new products. I borrowed this from a girl at school and found myself doing a "Mary Katherine Gallagher" ("Sometimes, when I get nervous, I put my fingers under my arms, and then smell them like this…") except I was smelling my hands because it was relaxing me! Anyway, it’s well worth the $4.50, and if you go to www.johnsonsforyou.com you can get a $1.00 off coupon.

Let me know if you think it’s as awesome as I do.