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Valerie Osterhoudt
WORKING ABOVE REAL ESTATE EXPECTATIONS, to meet yours! I am a long time resident of Cromwell, & a FULL time realtor. Where clients needs come first. My Motto "Quality of service is in the details".
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Middlesex County, CT Real Estate News

By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Fall Has arrived once again in Connecticut, which means it is time for me to begin my Progression Of Fall Colors series I started twelve years ago.  This is a series I hoped to continue for many years, and have been able to do so far, however, this year I have started maybe a week to late. The first two years of this series, the pictures were of a farm which is only about a minute walk from my house.  Ten years ago I decided to change the location for the 2014 Progression Of Fall Color Series to a lake about 5 minutes from my house on RT17.  I tried that location for two years, but the colors were not as good as I expected them to be.  So eight years ago I decided to change locations again to a site at Lyman's Orchards in Middlefield, CT.  But once again that site did not produce the co...
Comments 12
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
I have sharing what I remember most about 9/11 here on ActiveRain since 2012, and have made a commitment to share this memory each and every year on September 11, so today once again I am honoring my commitment with this blog. September 11, 2001 is a day I will never forget!  It is a day forever imprinted on my heart and mind.   September 11, 2001 is a day each of us has a special reason why this day will forever be remembered.  September 11, 2001 is a day we will not only forever remember the vicious attack on our country, but also a day to honor those who lost there lives.  It is a day for us to reflect on the memories, and thoughts which went through our mines as the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded 20 years ago. Below is my special memory of that day, it is an event which hit ...
Comments 33
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Labor Day this year in CT is a bright, sunny day for a second year in a row, which means a great day for all the Labor Day plans that have been made.  For me the only thing I have planned for today is to just get some extra sleep and rest. Normally we plan on having the family over and putting some food on the grill.  But now that my two sons live in different states, it is just my wife and I.  So we are going to keep it simple and put a rack of St Louis style ribs on the grill, and enjoy a late lunch, early dinner together. I hope that each and everyone of you spend this Labor Day doing what you enjoy, you have earned it.  Whatever you do make sure this is a safe and happy Holiday for you and your family!!! Happy Labor Day 2024!!!
Comments 12
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Last week our Weekly ActiveRain ZOOM Meeting ended with a homework assignment.  We were all given the challenge of creating an AI photo of any style home with something looking out a window.  Once we created the photo we were to write a blog with our results. I used NightCafe which Paddy Deighan has been instructing us on, to create my photos.  However, I am not happy with my results after SEVERAL attempts.  It was frustrating, because no matter what I instructed NightCafe to create, the results came out different.  Obviously I need A LOT more practice on how I word my requests! I asked NightCafe to create a one level high modern luxury ranch style house with children looking out a large bay window at their parents who are walking outside the house.  Below are my two best attempts:As yo...
Comments 21
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Happy 4th of July 2024 to all my ActiveRain friends.  Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and my wife will be traveling to my nephew's house in RI for a family cookout.  My youngest son and his wife will also becoming up from Mananas, VA, and will spend the weekend with us. We don't get many opportunities to get the family together, so these family get together's are very special.  Everyone brings a side dish or desert, and my nephew normally provides the hot dogs and hamburgers.  This year I will also be bring buffalo chicken blue cheese patties that a local grocery store has just started making.  I cooked one on the grill last week and it was amazing. Hopefully all of you will also have a very special Happy 4th of July, and spend quality time with your family and friends, or maybe just sit ...
Comments 14
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
This month Kath Streib and Wanda Kubat-Nerdin are hosting the June ActiveRain Challenge titled "Fork It Over: June ActiveRain Recipe Challenge".  Even though it is a cooking challenge, and I am not much of a good cook, I can grill, so even I am able to participate in this challenge.My wife and I love the way food cooked on an outdoor grill tastes, so during the Summer months we cook on our Weber gas grill as much as possible.  One of the simple  dishes we cook on the grill (by we, I mean me) is chicken shish kebabs.  We will do various chicken shish kebabs throughout the Summer, but our favorite is chicken shish kebabs we marinate in Italian salad dressing.  Even though this is a simple receipt, it does take a little planning, because you need to allow time for the chicken to marinate i...
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By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Tomorrow is Father's Day 2024 and it will be a good one.  It will start off with going to church, followed by going to lunch at a favorite restaurant with my wife.  Later tomorrow evening I will get to FaceTime with my oldest son, and gorgeous granddaughter.  It is not the same as being together, but it is the next best thing.I hope the rest of the fathers reading this blog get to spend their Father's Day 2024 in their own special way.  Enjoy it, and appreciate the blessings you are so fortunate to have. 
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By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Kathy Streib and Debe Maxwell are hosting this month's ActiveRain Challenge titled "Why Choose Me?"  This should be a simple challenge, but I have never felt comfortable talking about myself.  I have always felt that if you do an excellent job for your clients they will do the talking for you, and that is how I have build my business over the last 18 plus years.Since I feel that way, in submitting an entry into this challenge I could post several 5 Star Reviews I have received over the years, but instead I have decided to take advantage of another ActiveRain Challenge in 2013.  In 2013 long time ActiveRain Member, Debbie Reynolds, hosted an ActiveRain Challenged titled "Endorse a Fellow ActiveRain Member".  For this challenge we were asked to write a letter of recommendation for another...
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By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Today is 2024 Memorial Day In Middletown, CT.  Memorial Day is a day our Country has set aside to honor the fallen men and women who have served in our Armed Forces, and put their lives on the line to ensure the freedoms we have.Memorial Day has also become a time where families get together for picnics and family fun.  Some may even attend a local parades or participate in one.  Whatever you do today I hope a part of the day is spent on reflecting upon the meaning of this day, and those who we honor.  For many today will involve traveling a fair distance to be with family and friends.  So my annual messages has become the one above, and hope today will be a day free of accidents and loss of lives.  I Hope Everyone Has A SafeAndEnjoyable 2024 Memorial Day!!! 
Comments 11
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
It is a special day anytime we get to honor our mother's and thank them for all they do.  My mother passed away 16 years ago, so I can no longer get to thank her personally for everything she did for me, but I do get to thank my wife tomorrow for everything she has done for our two sons.  This is a day she gets to be treated like the queen she is, and shown how special she is to us. Happy Mother's Day 2024 to all Mother's, and I hope tomorrow is a very special day for every Mother everywhere. 
Comments 14
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and I will be spending this special day with my wife.  We will begin our special day with many of our friends who also go to the same church with their families.  Church is very special for the two of us.  We attend every Sunday, but tomorrow being Easter, will be an even more special Sunday for us. After Church we will head down to one of our favorite restaurants on the shore, and have an Easter brunch.  There will be a special menu for Easter, and one of the choices will be one I have never had or heard of before.  It is crab cakes benedict, which is made up of Maryland lump crab cakes, house made biscuits, eggs, and drizzled with hollandaise sauce.  That will be one of several choices I will try. After brunch we will head home, and close out this special day...
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By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Happy St Patrick's Day 2024.  I hope all of you have a very special and enjoyable day tomorrow, and have an opportunity to celebrate it with family and friends.  St. Patrick's Day is one of the more festive days of the year, and we all can use a little more fun in our lives.Hope everyone keeps safe and do not partake of TO MUCH GREEN of anything!!!AndMay your pot always be filled with GOLD!!! 
Comments 13
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
This month Wanda Kubat-Nerdin and Kathy Streib are hosting the February ActiveRain Challenge "Dream Boards: What's On Your Wish List?"  For this challenge Wanda and Kathy are challenging us to create a vision/dream board meaningful to us by using photos that represent our visions and dreams. For me a dream/vision board not only represents my visions and dreams, but also what is most precious in my life.  Below is my vision/dream board which represents some of these things.The first precious thing in my life is God, so the church I attend plays a very important roll in my life.  Being active in a church keeps me grounded and focused.  I have attend the Meriden Church of Christ in Meriden, CT., since 1984, and in those 39+ years the Meriden Church of Christ has looked for ways to assist o...
Comments 19
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Happy Presidents Day 2024!!! Today is Presidents Day, and for most workers in the U.S. a day off from work.  Presidents Day was not always been known as Presidents Day, in fact up until 1968 there was no Presidents Day.Presidents Day was originally known as Washington's Birthday, and established in 1885 by President Chester Arthur.  Later many states decided that Abraham Lincoln was equally a great President, and started to celebrate his birthday as well.In 1968 Congress decided that both days should be combined into one Holiday, celebrated on the third Monday of February, and call it Presidents Day.  Today few remember the two separate celebrations in honor of Washington and Lincoln, and think that it is in honor of all Presidents, and special Sales Promotions.Today will be a work day ...
Comments 8
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Happy Valentine's Day 2024 To All My ActiveRain Friends!!!  This is my annual wish to all my friends here on ActiveRain.  Wishing you all a very happy and special Valentine's Day.  I hope all of you take the time today to tell everyone who is special to you how you feel about them, and spent quality time with them.Today my wife and I will have a special dinner at one of our local restaurants.  After 49 years of marriage it is no longer about what her and I do to celebrate Valentine's Day, it is about celebrating and enjoying the day together, and enjoying what is most important to us.  Happy Valentine's Day 2024!!!
Comments 15
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
This month's ActiveRain Challenge, "AI - Love It Or Hate It" is being hosted by Margaret Rome and Carol Williams .  Their challenge is for us "to figure out how to use it effectively in our business and personal lives without letting it control us beyond what is reasonable."I feel I am using AI effectively in my business without it controlling me.  This is because I have incorporated enough of AI to assist my business, without having my business completely dependent on AI.  However, for me the mystery surrounding AI is not how much control AI has of my life, but when did it start to play a role in it?When I stop and think of what is AI and what is not, the list is much longer of what is AI than what isn't AI.  Just think about all the things we use just about everyday.  Calculators, cel...
Comments 18
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who deserves to be honored and respected.  Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is a day very worthy of being celebrated.   Martin Luther King, Jr. deserves this honor and much, much more.  The opportunities many have today are a result of Martin Luther King, Jr. vision and work.Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream not for himself but for all mankind.  A dream of equality, freedom, and justice.  Nothing Martin Luther King, Jr. did centered on himself, it all centered on others.  His life was one of service to others unconditionally.As a young boy from a different country, Martin Luther King, Jr. taught me a major life lesson, one that I learned very early in my life.  He taught me not only to dream, but to fully expect the dream to be fulfilled.  No mat...
Comments 13
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
This month Dr. Paul McDonald and Kathleen Daniels are co-hosting the December ActiveRain challenge titled "Acts of Kindness | Sharing Love & Joy This Holiday Season."  For this challenge we are to write up to 3 blogs about acts of kindness in one or all three of the following categories:   Act of Kindness of Someone You Know.  Your Acts of Kindness.   Act of Kindness that You Witnessed.  For my first blog I choose to write about an act of kindness my wife and I were blessed with this year, and my second blog was about acts of kindness my neighbors do for eachother.  This third blog will be about acts of kindness by ActiveRain Members. Last March Craig Daniels and Eileen Burns challenged us to refresh/update our blog signatures in that months ActiveRain Challenge.  I did not think I was...
Comments 18
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
Merry Christmas To All My ActiveRain Friends In 2023.  Tomorrow is Christmas, and Christmas has always been a day my wife and I have spent with our two son's, but now that my oldest son moved to Bonney Lake, WA we have had to get a little more creative in celebrating Christmas.My youngest son and his wife alternate between spending Christmas with us, and his wife's parents.  This year is our year.  He and his wife relocated to Manassas, VA this year, but will be driving to RI first to spend Christmas Eve with his wife's family, and then driving to CT to spend Christmas with us.On Christmas Day around noon, we will FaceTimed with my oldest son, and my gorgeous granddaughter, Elizabeth.  While FaceTiming we open the Christmas present we sent each other.  This is not the same as all of us ...
Comments 18
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
This month Dr. Paul McDonald and Kathleen Daniels are co-hosting the December ActiveRain challenge titled "Acts of Kindness | Sharing Love & Joy This Holiday Season."  For this challenge are to write up to 3 blogs about acts of kindness in one or all three of the following categories:   Act of Kindness of Someone You Know.  Your Acts of Kindness.   Act of Kindness that You Witnessed.  For my first blog I have chosen to write about an act of kindness my wife and I were blessed with this year, and also how we in turn were able to play-it-forward.  My neighbors will be the focus for my second blog.I have been blessed to live for 42 years with neighbors who lookout for each other, and just do for one another without being asked.  Those of use with snow blowers will help out other neighbors ...
Comments 9
By George Souto, Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert
(George Souto NMLS #65149 )
This month Dr. Paul McDonald and Kathleen Daniels are co-hosting the December ActiveRain challenge titled "Acts of Kindness | Sharing Love & Joy This Holiday Season."  For this challenge are to write up to 3 blogs about acts of kindness in one or all three of the following categories:   Act of Kindness of Someone You Know.  Your Acts of Kindness.   Act of Kindness that You Witnessed.  For my first blog I have chosen to write about an act of kindness my wife and I were blessed with this year, and also how we in turn were able to play-it-forward.Some of those who follow my blog, and attend the ActiveRain Weekly ZOOM Meetings know that my wife had open heart surgery, to replace one of her heart valves this Summer.  She went through two surgeries and three hospital stays within a three week...
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