Life | Myrtle Beach Homes | Carolina Forest Homes

Jan 26 2018

Bald Eagles In Myrtle Beach

It seems every year around this time we have an influx of extra birds in our area. Our home sits on a pond, and it is not uncommon to view anywhere from 10-100 birds either on it, or circling above it in the air on any given day. Normally you will find ducks, some seagulls, a few egrets, and herron, but in our neighborhood you normally will also find a pair of swans circling on the water.

This year however we have found something else very dramatic around the pond on more than one occasion. That is a pair of beautiful, majestic Bald Eagles. We have watched them soar above the pond and then swoop down to catch a fish to eat. To get a better view, they have been found on various days perched on the roof of a neighbors house spying out their next meal on the water. Here’s a video my wife caught yesterday of these beautiful birds flying around one of the other ponds in our neighborhood:

I’ve lived in Cameron Village now for over 3 years and this is the first time I can remember seeing Bald Eagles here. Here’s a few other photos that were taken by our neighbor Patty Sprague:

I hope that you enjoyed these amazing images as much as I have. I must admit, while these photos are beautiful, nothing beats seeing it in person here in Myrtle Beach! If you would like to purchase a place in the Myrtle Beach area, feel free to reach out & contact me.

Dec 29 2017

Happy New Year!

I just wanted to take a minute to say Happy New Year to everyone who is a regular reader here on my blog. In 2018 one of my big goals is to create more video content on things happening here in Myrtle Beach. Whether it’s information on a Myrtle Beach neighborhood, real estate advice, or something highlighting a local business, be ready for much more video content this upcoming year.

Make sure to go over to my YouTube Channel & subscribe as well as like my Facebook page in order to be receive all this content as it is released. Also, if you need any help with anything related to real estate either in Myrtle Beach, The Grand Strand, or anywhere in the world, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I’ve got an amazing network of agents all across the country that would love to assist you with all your real estate needs.

Have an awesome 2018!

Jun 01 2017

Last Day Of School

Today, June 1st, 2017 is the last day of school here in Horry County. Today is my last day as the father of a third grader & kindergartner. To say that the school year has flown by would be an understatement. I remember my son’s excitement as his first day of school approached. Because of where his birthday fell, he got to spend an extra year at home before actually starting his academics, so when he went to his first day of class, he was almost ready to turn six. He had already watched for the previous three years his sister get up each morning and go to school.

Every day, he would be excited to wake up early and walk his big sister to the school bus. Not knowing where she was going or what she was going to experience, he would wake up excited to say goodbye to her. Then in the afternoon, he would wait at the bus stop for her to return home again and hear all about the exciting things she did that day. It’s funny because as we came to the end of this year, little sister Miriam who is only 2 is already doing the same types of things. This morning at 5AM I heard a loud scream “MOMMY” from her bedroom as she woke up extra early ready to take her brothers & sisters to the bus. I’m sure that as mid day comes around she will be asking Mommy if it is time to go to the bus stop yet and get them back.

New Beginnings

For Jeremiah, this year has been filled with tons of new beginnings as he as started kindergarten. Finally he was able experience what my oldest has been doing for the past few years. In the beginning of the year, it was tough on him to learn to be still, to listen to the teacher and focus on the project at hand. I’m not saying he was being bad, but just as someone trying something new for the first time, school was completely foreign to him. While he has done organized dance and other activities, nothing was ever for the entire day long. Within the first few weeks though, he caught on quickly and started to become the good friend I knew he could be to others in his class.

I remember the first week in class a note coming home where he had been trying to protect someone on the playground from bullies and in the process actually bumped the kid he was protecting causing a minor injury. We had to have a talk about how he can’t be the protector of everyone, but that he needed to let those in authority know of these types of situations and let them handle it. See, Jeremiah is a gentle giant. My son who is by far the tallest in his entire class, (some kids don’t even come to his shoulders) wants to be everyone’s friend and tries to have everyone be his “buddy.” When someone is making fun of a buddy, he would try to protect. The picture to the right is from his 100th day celebration, you can see his buddy to the right doesn’t even come up to his shoulders.

Over the year, Jeremiah had bunches of fun learning to read, play music in music class, and learning to do simple addition and subtraction. He grew into being the leader I knew he could be and had many people in his class looking up to him. Literally & figuratively. At the end of the year he had plenty of great new skills and many new friends.

Living In Fast Lane

As for Isabelle, this year meant a step into the fast lane in third grade. See, towards the end of last year we received notice that after being tested, she was selected to go into the gifted & talented classes for both math and language arts. This meant that she would be joining the strongest academic kids in her grade on an advanced level of learning. As a dad, I was very proud to see this happen as she followed in my footsteps. I remember being placed in these programs at an early age and liked having the challenges they gave. By midway through the year she was working on math problems I don’t remember seeing till fifth grade and up.

Isabelle needs to have her mind challenged every day to grow and shine. As I tell people regularly, she would prefer having a book and sit in a corner reading instead of being surrounded by friends and being the center of the party. This year she continued to excel in all her classes and was placed on the Honor/Merit roll every single semester. By the time she finished third grade, she was testing at a 6th grade reading level and 4th grade math.

Extracurricular Activities

As I shared with a friend yesterday, the school year has been definitely busy for us having the kids homework done and trying to get them into be every night by 8PM, but the kids were also involved with many other things. At school, Isabelle was now old enough to start joining clubs and so in the fall she joined a music club. She also was very excited to join the Battle Of The Books club. This club was made up of mainly 4th & 5th graders and Isabelle. During the year they had to read 10 books, all around 200-300 pages in addition to their normal homework assignments to prepare for the “battle.” On the day of the actual battle, Isabelle shined through answering all her questions correctly.

In addition to the clubs, both kids also were involved in Dance. All three of my kids are involved with Silver Lining Dance Academy in Myrtle Beach. While there are several dance studios throughout Myrtle Beach, we chose to have our children be involved with Silver Lining because in addition to them learning basic dance skills, the staff at Silver Lining are more concerned with the children’s character. For Isabelle, this was her first year making the dance team which meant extra practices on Monday night. To give you and idea of what this studio is like, her practices on Monday were for an hour and fifteen minutes. The first hour was spent on dancing, the last fifteen minutes were then prayer time where each of the children shared prayer requests and testimonies for the team to lift each other up and pray for throughout the week.

Jeremiah was very excited this year to try out the hip hop class as he was finally old enough. This class is only for kids who are 6 and up because it involves greater levels of skill and discipline. This met every Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesdays, Isabelle had her intensive ballet class for an hour long. Thursdays were for Miriam who took a 30 minute ballet and 30 minute tap. This is Miriam’s first year in dance and she is the youngest in her class I believe. At her young age she is just starting to learn the basics. The reality is that at this age, we are just happy if she stays in her place on the stage. I remember when we had the winter performance of The Nutcracker, Miriam decided she would get her money’s worth stage time by running from one side to the other and back and forth during her dance number. Luckily she’s cute at that age and everyone giggled. Dance will wrap up June 10th with their final dance recital and then will break for the summer.

In addition to all of the dance classes, Isabelle & Jeremiah just finished up their soccer season. Once again, for Jeremiah this was a new experience being on a team and learning to work with others while having to listen to what the coach wanted from each player. His team this year did well losing only once in the last week of the season. Just like in school, he became buddies with all his teammates and even some of the opponents. For Isabelle, this was her third year playing soccer and I definitely began to notice growth in her play as she was able to stay more focused during the game and do a great job on defense for her team. For her, this was her first year being on a team that would win games. It only took three years, but she was finally able to experience victory. Once her team did that, they went on to win several other games in a row.

Proud Dad

I write all of this today to basically brag on my kids and acknowledge how really proud of all the accomplishments and growing I’ve seen in my kids over the past year. Jeremiah has done an awesome job learning to follow rules and deal with a structured day. He has really become good friends to the people around him and does an awesome job supporting & encouraging others. He prefers others before himself and does what he can to help those who might be in need.

Isabelle has really started to show maturity this year as she has grown up a lot. Her focus on being the best in everything she does is admirable. I’ve noticed her skill levels increase exponentially in everything she has done from her reading, dance, and even sports. Miriam has also began to grow and transition into being home alone during the day to learning her dance moves. She is a loving and caring child who will tell you “she is no longer a baby, but a little girl.”

To say I’m a proud dad would be an understatement. Also, I need to say thank you to my wife who has handled the kids and their crazy schedules during the school year. She did an amazing job keeping up with all the different schedules and handled it as if it was no big deal. She is definitely one amazing woman who without her, the kids would not be to accomplish half of the things they actually did.

Here’s to summer!

Dec 16 2016

The Best Home For Christmas Lights In Myrtle Beach

As you all know, I have three children, all under 10 years of age. One of their favorite things to do this time of year is to hop in the car and go for a ride around Myrtle Beach looking at Christmas lights. We could spend hours driving up and down the streets and neighborhoods looking at them.

Last night however, I found the ultimate display on Foster Avenue in Myrtle Beach. This is right off of Highway 707 in the southern end of the beach. I had Miriam along in the car and she loved seeing their display. The owners actually have signs out to direct traffic down the one way road as well as hours of operation which is from 5:30-10 each night. Check out the video below and if you get a chance, take a drive by over the next week and enjoy their amazing display in person.

Mar 25 2016

Creating a Life Legacy

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years already since my father passed away. It was a sudden and definitely unexpected death that none of us were prepared for. The post below is a repost of what I wrote only a few days after his death. I think it sums up the amazing person my father was and the things he taught me in life and how it molded me into the man I am today.

Friends and family that we talked to the few days leading up to his service kept referring to the “legacy” that dad left behind. The more I kept hearing that it made me realize that he did leave a legacy behind that touched the lives thousands all around the world. He was one of the most intelligent, loving, and giving people you could ever meet. When he was a young teenager his musical talents helped him excel as he began to teach piano lessons for a local music company in PA. I still to this day have the image of someone in their mid 40’s coming into his room for their lesson and being greeted by this scrawny 13 year old. In college his musical abilities garnered him a brief stint traveling with the group Chicago.

These are the things that I feel led to the legacy that he has been left behind and how he touched the lives of so many people.

Here are the 9 things he instilled in me that I try to live my life by each and every day:

1. Be willing to help others- When you see a friend in need, reach out. The smallest acts of kindness can change someone’s life. No matter how busy he may have been, Dad would stop the world to help others at any time and at any cost.

2. Be a man of your word- If you say you are going to do it, you do it no matter what. This was his foundation to building trust. Everyone knew that if they asked Dad to do anything and he said yes, there was no reason to worry again. He would finish what he said he would do, even if that meant working on the task till 4 AM.

3. Build up others to be better than you. Dad was a constant mentor, teacher, trainer, and helper to all around him. He would always say he wanted to raise up those around him to surpass him one day and he meant it. In February 2013, he called me one morning all excited on the phone. As I answered the phone he said: “Jeremy guess what! Brittany just won rookie of the year!” I congratulated him and asked if he won any awards, to which he replied: “Yes, I got top sales, top listings, and top referrals, but BRITTANY WON!” He was so much prouder that he mentored her and she won than anything else.

4. Be a man that stands for what you believe. Everyone knew Dad was a man of faith and wouldn’t compromise it for anyone. In 2002 when our team broke a 30 year company sales record I remember our CEO asking Dad at an awards dinner what was the secret to our success. My father paused a moment, smiled large, and replied: “Well Don, that’s easy, it is prayer. We pray each and every day for our clients, their families, our business, and the things that are going on. We pray that our clients that need their home to sold that the right buyer comes so that they can move forward, and those that need to buy a house, that we can find them the right property.” Don looked at him, tilted his head and said “prayer hmmm, I like that Dennis.”

5. Love unconditionally and equally. It didn’t matter who you were, whether you were buying million dollar homes or 30,000 condos, you were given the same amount of attention & help. It didn’t matter if you drove a BMW or were homeless, Dad loved everyone the same. I’ve heard many say that while Dad was one of the smartest people you would ever know, he never looked down upon others and treated everyone with the same. He didn’t care if you were a Doctor or a high school dropout, you all received the same level of love and attention.

6. Have Fun– While Dad really didn’t have a bunch of hobbies in life, he still would have his ways of fun. We all remember some of his 2/3rds of a Pun “P. U.” jokes that he would share with you. Things like:

His phone calls where he would act goofy and try to order a pizza from you when you answer the phone in his terrible Chinese accent. Or maybe you were lucky enough to experience the ever so popular answer he would use when asked “Is there anything you need?” He would respond “Got any large bags of hundred dollar bills?” My personal favorite was when you would ask him “How are you Dennis?” he would respond “Highly unpredictable, somewhat debatable, a little controversial, but other than that, just fine.”

7. Live a standard of excellence- The only choice for dad was the best. The cars always needed to be cleaned, the hair needed to be all in place. The pocket square had to be perfect. During the funeral home visitation one of our friends told us about how he spent an hour just last week to get his pocket square just right for his new professional pictures. He tried to always exceed the expectations of others with things he did.

8. Details, details, details– This is probably the biggest item that attributed to Dad’s legacy. For those of you who ever worked with him in real estate, he was a stickler for the details on a contract. I’ll never forget him saying there should NEVER be a blank spot on a contract Jeremy, at least put in “N/A”. He became infamous for his “sign here” & “initial here” stamps that were all over every single page of the paperwork. Plus, who could ever forget, We need to make a backup of the backup of the backup, “Just in case.” His attention to detail earned him the nickname AROC which stands for Anal Retentive Obsessive Compulsive. Paying attention to every detail in every aspect of life is what helped set him apart in his personal and professional life.

9. Put others first- He constantly put the needs of others well before his own. If he saw someone needing shoes, he’d walk up and hand them money to go shopping for new ones. Whenever he heard me mention about a slow month in business, or a deal falling apart, he would stop by with groceries and other essential supplies at our home just to help out. Most of the time he would go without so that he could do for others. If my mother would forget to bring her lunch to work, he would drive well out of his way just to bring her something to eat.

Now, these were the things that Dad taught me during his life, but in his passing he taught me one last key to living a life of legacy:

10. No matter what, we aren’t in control. The day after Dad passed I went by his office to pick up a few things and noticed a scripture taped to the front of his computer. It was Proverbs 16:9 which says The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Many that I’ve talked to referred to Dad as one of the smartest people they ever knew. When he took his Doctoral exams he set new records for Doctoral exams at Temple University. He had things planned out and was always prepared. The picture above of him in his suit and tie was taken just 3 days before he went to the hospital where within three days of being there he passed. No matter how smart & planned you may have things, life is one thing we don’t get to set the plan for. God directed his steps and decided it was time for him to go to heaven.

This has taught me to live each day with purpose and meaning. Live to love those around you. Cherish family and the time you have with them, you never know when that will be gone.

I love you Dad, you will be missed but not forgotten. Just like I told a friend who was sad realizing she would never see him again at church: Dad influenced so many people in his life, you will see his thumbprint every where you go and on all those around you. This is what it means to leave a legacy behind.