A Few of My Favorite Places in Dallas, TX

Growing up as the only girl between two brothers I have a sense of appreciation for sports that some do not. Above all others I would have to say that baseball is my favorite sport to play and watch. My grandparents used to live in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas,so I was here all the time for summers; in between baseball tournaments for my brothers. Since we lived near Houston, TX I frequented the Astro Dome, when it was home to the Astros. Now living here one of my favorite places to go is the Ballpark at Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers play. I still love my ‘Stros, but I have a passion for baseball so I like going to the ballpark to watch any team play. If you like watching baseball then you have to go and watch a game at this stadium. Believe it or not there is not a bad seat in the house you can pretty much see everything no matter what angle you are at.

Besides watching baseball another one of my favorite things to do in Dallas is going to the Texas State Fair. Even though it only happens once a year I love going. There is just something about going and eating your way around the fair grounds, from the corn dogs to the funnel cakes there is nothing like it. You walk in and there is the giant man, Big Tex, greeting you, hundreds of people walking around playing games, watching shows, riding the rides it makes you relive your childhood.

Shopping and Dallas go hand in hand, so naturally it is one of my most desired past times. I do not get to do it as often as I would like to but when I do I spend hours doing it. I get to spend the most time shopping when my mom comes to town. Her favorite malls to go to are North Park, Willow Bend in Plano or Grapevine Mills. There are many shops to choose from at each location so any budget can handle it. Anyone who knows how to shop knows that eating out comes with the territory. One of my most loved memories is when my grandmother would take me to eat lunch at the café inside the store, and then afterwards she would let me pick out something small from the store. Even though it is a long trek from any of these malls, if you love Mexican food then you have to go to Tejano’s in Oak Cliff. It is one of the last restaurants in this area that still serves authentic Mexican food. So if you find yourself in the area and wanting Mexican food, be sure to check out Tejano’s and try their puffed tacos or enchilada’s.

There are multiple attractions in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area these are just a few of my favorites. If you are planning on visiting family or coming to Dallas for business or pleasure take time to go out and visit some of our unique hot spots.

Now Introducing All My Sons of Dallas Staff

I have been writing this blog for a couple months now and thought it was about time that I introduce some of my fellow members of All My Sons of Dallas. It was kind of a hard choice to only pick one but I finally decided to tell you about one of our lead estimators, LeVanuel Montgomery. LeVanuel has been with All My Sons for a little over two years now. He came to us from his own moving company and started training to become a salesman. His job is to go out and be the face of All My Sons of Dallas. He specializes in local and long distance moves. What he does is come out to your residence, do a physical walkthrough of your home, and based off the information you give him he gives you a written estimate for your move.

LeVanuel recently got married this past December and lives in Desoto, TX with his wife. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a very proud Longhorn fan. Not only is he one of our top salesmen every week,he works very hard at his job and building that personal relationship with each and every one of his customers. One principle I have tried to install in our salesmen is that once you make contact with the customer they are yours until the end. LeVanuel takes this to heart from the first time he speaks with you. You are his responsibility and he makes sure that he does everything in his power to make your move as smooth as possible.

Why I Love Working For All My Sons of Dallas

I have worked for All My Sons of Dallas for a little over two years now and I have to say the best thing about working here is the people. This is the first time in my life that after working in one place for this long I do not wake up each morning wishing that I did not have to go in. Even though we are one of the busiest Dallas movers, there are only five of us in the office. I started working here as an administrative assistant and worked my way up to being the office manager which brought on many new responsibilities. That is another thing that I love about my job at All My Sons; I constantly get new responsibilities, like writing this blog, as well as others, book keeping, payroll, and much much more.

Writing this blog as been a little difficult for me, every time I start writing it, it sounded ridiculous. However, I really do love my job and what I do. It is by no means what I planned on doing as my career but it is funny how things happen and you seem to just fall into something you did not even know you would love.

AMSA Launches New ProMover Program

The American Moving and Storage Association initiated a new program with the start of the moving season this year, ProMover. A ground-breaking new program intended to protect consumers and help guarantee they are hiring a legitimate, professional mover when they need to move their household belongings.

In this industry, just like many others, we have what are known as “rogue movers”- wicked people who pose as genuine movers in order to deceive consumers. It is hard to say how many rogue movers are out there since local law enforcement views it as a contractual dispute between the two parties. This new program that the AMSA has implemented is meant to be a deterrent for these individuals from here on out. Each member of the AMSA will be a ProMover and in order to be a ProMover you must be a member of the AMSA. This comprehensive program will include a pre-screening portion, annual reviews, and a firm revocation process for movers who do not sustain the program’s high principles. This status will represent a new standard for professionalism and merit and a “must have” credential to be acknowledged as a reputable and proficient mover.

Once this program gets into full swing you will see a ProMover logo on our website, as well as many other All My Sons websites. This logo is meant to let the customer know that they are dealing with a licensed and certified mover. There will be a link to the site that allows you as a consumer to see a list of current ProMovers, as well as being able to report criticism through a toll free number and a dedicated e-mail address.

The AMSA has a projected date of January 1, 2009 for this program to fully implemented, with the initial screening process to begin this fall. Now with this new program Dallas movers, moving to Dallas as well as moving from Dallas, will know that they have hired an honest, responsible, licensed and professional mover.

So look for the logo on our website real soon, as we are a proud memeber of the AMSA and can not wait to be a founding member of the ProMover Program.

Will This Be the Year You Finally Go Green?

All My Sons is going green. Not only is it our trademark color it is part of our mission to help the environment. We have all heard the latest and greatest thing is to Go Green. To go green is to change the way you live your life. You have to rethink almost everything that you do in order to help preserve our way of life. All My Sons of Dallas is doing our part to help out, and little by little we will make a difference.

A couple of ways we are doing this is by reusing our paper in the office. We print lots of paperwork on a daily basis, so for starters we us recycled paper but if we do not use it for a job then it becomes a label for a storage vault or it becomes part of a writing pad to keep notes on. As part of our expansion we have added an office and industrial estimator, we now use office crates instead of boxes for them to pack their files and books in. The boxes that we use are made out of recycled material and we do offer box pickup for our customers after we have moved them and they are finished unpacking.

I am always looking for new things to do on the weekend; and one thing I plan on checking out is the Green Apple Festival in Fair Park this weekend. The Green Apple Festival works with the Earth Day Network. It looks like it might be really cool; they are going to have free concerts, organic foods, art, and educational environmental programs. Hopefully it will help give ideas to people, who go just for the music and food, about how they can help out just by doing the little things.

All My Sons Gives Back to Dallas

In my two years working for All My Sons Moving and Storage, we have done a lot to help out in our community. Every year we sponsor local schools so they can get new uniforms or equipment or whatever it is that they need for that school year. We help out our local chapter of Habitat for Humanity in moving the new families and getting them set up in their brand new homes. A first for us this year though, we sponsored a friend in the 2008 March of Dimes Walk for Babies. We also donated the use of our trucks for a local school auction, so they could pick up the donations and get them to where they need to be.

I try to get us involved as much as possible in helping within the community, and every time we do it makes me feel as if I did a little something to help someone who really needs it.

Your Baby Bird Has Flown the Coup

Do you remember waking up as a child in the middle of the night because you think you heard a noise, calling out to your mom and dad for comfort. Now fast-forward to a couple of years down the road to your first night alone in your new apartment, you hear a noise and call out to…??? Then you remember you are all by yourself in your very own apartment. How exciting! Except for that strange noise you just heard. There is no question that you have heard the expression “empty nest syndrome” this usually refers to what parents go through when one or more of their children move out of the house; leaving just them. It generally describes the loneliness or “emptiness” they will feel, but did you know that we as children moving out for the very first time can go through it too. We are used to having someone always there to help us out if we need it, do our laundry, make us meals, do the shopping and pay the bills. We are not used to the fact that we are considered “adults” and now have to do this all on our own.

Moving out on your own as a high school or college graduate is an exciting time in your life because it means that you are in charge of you, and you are able to decide what path in life you are going to go down. Hopefully, your parents will let you live with them for a little while longer while you try to save up enough money in order to move out. A good rule of thumb is to try and save at least three months of rent and bills before you move out so that if something comes up unexpectedly you can handle it. Although a little scary at times there are many things you can do to make sure that when you do finally move out on your own it will be a rather painless and smooth transition.

First, try to find a roommate; doing this will help you when it to making the rent and paying bills. With any luck you have someone that you are willing to share this experience with as well as your new home.
Second, do not wait to long to act. You need to start getting quotes from moving companies, unless you are going to do it yourself. The more local movers you call the better off you will be.
Third, a well paying job would not hurt to have either. This usually helps in keeping yourself a float when you are trying to adjust to your new surroundings and situation.

Now that you have found your dream apartment, a roommate if need be, and have saved all your money it is time to get movin’.

Moving in Dallas is a lot easier than you think, it is one of the largest markets when it comes to housing and movers. As always the more you do in preparation the better your moving day will go. Since this is your first time to be on your own, you have to get all your utilities set up and all your deposits made. You undoubtedly have started packing your boxes and luggage; and a little piece of advice from me to you, pack at least a weeks worth of clothes, your toiletries, and easy to cook food, just in case it takes you a little longer to get unpacked than you had planned.

Moving is always a stressful time, whether it is your very first time or if you have moved countless times. I remember the first time I moved out was to go to college. I moved into an off campus dorm, so it was like a small furnished apartment. My parents and I packed up all the things, loaded up my mom’s car and the back of my dad’s pick up truck. We had to be at the dorm at 6 a.m. in order to get in line so it would not take all day to move in. What an experience that was. Then after we got all of my stuff up to the 6th floor my mom and I went shopping to stock the cabinets, refrigerator and bathroom. I remember vividly the feeling of sheer exhaustion when everyone left. My roommate and I were so excited to be on our own finally and were going to go out for our first night on the town. We made it about a block down the road to a restaurant to have dinner and went right back to our room, took showers made the bed and went strait to sleep.

So to all you little birdies that are getting ready to fly off into the great unknown remember to always be nice to your parents since they are the ones who are going to help you out when you need it;and to all you parents out there who are getting ready to have an empty nest remember to be nice to your little birdies so they will come back home every once in a while.