Auston Grove Apartment Homes Blog

Why you do a certain thing has great power in influencing rather you will accomplish that task or not. It is great to dream big. In fact the bigger the better. I always tell people to go for their dreams and use their imagination to see things more clearly. But one thing that I make sure not to leave out in our conversation is that there is never any substitute for action.

Regardless to how big your dream or vision may be you can not just sit around daydreaming and expect for your fantasy world to just magically be created by your invisible friends and placed right in your lap. What we think will absolutely affect the outcome because when our perception changes then we change what we will take action on.

There is a certain book and movie that came out recently that takes about the power of our mind and being able to attract things to us. Quite frankly I think that it is a dangerous thing to expect to simply think and will something into your life, like “Poof!” Somewhere along the way many people began to grab hold of this shortcut mentality. If you look to do things the right way with enough tenacity, I believe that your outcome will be much more desirable than looking or secrets and tricks; but that’s just my opinion. (Free ebook)

Stop by the clubhouse on Wednesday, June 16th from 5-6PM for a $5 Dominoe’s Pizza. Dinner plans made easy!!

Would you like to know three things that you could do right now to live a happier life? Well keep reading this blog about happiness. The rest of this blog will be very simple yet if you implement these tactics you will begin to live life even happier than you are now.

The first thing is to Laugh more. You shouldn’t take you, life or your situations to seriously. You can find humor in just about any situation. Laugh at yourself – no one’s perfect. Of course there is a time and place for everything but lighten-up and relax yourself with a good hardy laugh from the belly at least once a day.

Secondly, Forgive.

Holding a grudge will hurt no one but you. Forgive others for your own peace of mind. When you hold unforgiveness it’s like drinking poison and wishing that someone else would be effected. Forgive often and easily. Forgiveness is a decision not an emotion.

Gratitude is in the Attitude.

Develop an attitude of gratitude. Count your blessings; All of them – even the things that seem trivial. Be grateful for your arms, legs, your home, your work and most importantly your family and friends. Take the time to appreciate life and be grateful to life.

The tragic part about this post is that many people will just read it be forget the part where they need to apply the words. We hope that you share and apply this blog liberally. Thanks for visiting. Join Us on Facebook as well.

As you can easily see from my constant blogging, I invest a lot of time on the internet.  Surfing the information super highway is like, way knarly!  Okay for a minute there I really felt like a surfer on a California beach somewhere.

But I have done the kick test with many of the popular web browsers.  Internet Explorer 8 is just not my preference.  I used FoxFire3 for a while.  It comes in at number in my book.  I really like the fact that they have spell check build into your surfing experience because I’m not the best speller in the world, by far.

But I was surfing around my Gmail account and after several days of seeing Google Chrome I decided to give it a try.  After all, I think that Google is the backboard of the internet.  If they could, I believe that they would just by the whole thing.  Seriously, I mean the whole internet, just write a big Googol sized check and purchase the entire internet.

But anyway… The first day that I used Google Chrome I was sold (keep in mind that Google Chrome is absolutely free).  The browser works as a search engine for quick searches and the whole web just suddenly becomes your friend.  If you don’t believe me download it for yourself from this very safe and secure Google Chrome download page

But before you do that, take a look at this cool video and see just how fast Google Chrome really is.

The biggest home ownership myth in the country is that owning a house is a huge tax break. I don’t know how many times that people have personally told me that they want to buy a home because they NEED a tax deduction!

I just shake my head in disbelief because I have done the math. If your mortgage interest and other qualifying expenses such as charity contributions aren’t more than the standard deduction, ($11,400 for joint filers in 2010), there is no tax advantage to owning. Assume that you buy a $200,000 house with a 5% down payment at a 6% interest rate. Your mortgage interest for the year would be $11,336. The Standard Deduction for join filers is $11,400. In this example, there is NO TAX BENEFIT.

Even when there is a tax benefit, you most always have paid much more money to maintain the house than you are saving in taxes.

By Jennifer Moran

Until recently I wasn’t really a huge sunglass type of person.  If I recall correctly it may have been sometime early last summer or late spring, I was shopping in the mall with my girlfriend (Quite the experience.  I know you guys can feel me…)  and she threw a pair of sunglasses on my face to see how they looked.

I felt like the mirror wouldn’t stop looking at me.  Lol… I was hooked.  I felt like a character out of a movie James Bond or a star like P. Diddy.  Let’s face it, people mostly wear sunglasses just to look cool.  The protection from the sun is just an added benefit.

With the summer quickly approaching, I’ve decided to invest in a good pair of sunglasses that will hopefully last for a while.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to be fashionable, right?  Admittedly, I don’t know much about sunglasses but I did a little research and found out that there are a few things to consider:

Measurements

You’ll want to find a pair that is the same width as the widest part of your face.

Frame Shape

Consider your face shape before you buy sunglasses; frames that are the opposite shape as your face will look best.

Eye Protection

If protection from the sun is important to you, make sure that you choose a pair that has 95 to 99 percent UVB protection and at least 60 percent UVA protection.

Leave your comments and let us know what kind of cool sunglasses you got.  Like Us on Facebook

Dont forget Auston Grove and Dominoes have teamed up to offer $5 pizza’s from 5-6PM in our clubhouse on Wednesday, May 19th. Make dinner one less thing to worry about!!

It always seems  that whenever we go out on a movie date, my husband and I can’t decide which one to choose.  Tonight will be such a night. There are two major movies out this weekend, Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood.

My husband has been dying to see Iron Man 2 since last weekend when it came out.  It’s action packed, and he loves Marvel comics. I personally, would rather see the new Robin Hood movie. I adore Russell Crowe and Robin Hood was one of my favorites growing-up.

What movie are you going to see this weekend? Do you think Iron Man 2 will top Robin Hood for the weekend’s highest grossing film?

There are so many factors that should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to buy or rent. Peer pressure (to buy a home) has often played into people’s decisions to purchase but every person’s finances, lifestyles, and needs/wants are different.

Check out this article from CNNMoney.com on renting and buying.

By Jennifer Moran

One lucky couple in California is taking home the $266 million Mega Million lotto jackpot that was drawn on Tuesday evening.

I played 30 tickets in a pool at work and came up completely empty handed. Did you play?

Jacki and Gilbert Cisneros appeared on the Today Show Thursday morning, announcing their new mega-millionaire status. They said that they plan to buy a new house and also donate to their church and alma maters. It’s nice to know that they’ll put the money to good use.

Mega Millions in the largest multi-state lotto jackpot. It’s in 39 states nationwide, including here in North Carolina. I usually only play when the jackpot grows enormous like it did this week. What would you do if you won the $266 million?