Since the very first day she arrived to set up shop in Portage, Lisa McClesky, who has been a new home consultant with Olthof Homes for over 6 years, has been meeting Portage residents who are very excited about the prospect of a new home in Boardwalk.

"I have to say that this by far one of the prettiest communities by Olthof Homes," she said. "Great care has been taken to preserve as many trees as possible, so pretty much every homesite is wooded. The trees are definitely one of Boardwalk's greatest natural assets. I think that may be why we've had so much traffic from Portage residents prior to our grand opening, which is scheduled for later this week."

Centrally located in the heart of Portage, between Interstate 80-94 and the Indiana Toll Road, Boardwalk is bordered along Old Porter Road by a white picket fence and tiered landscaped wall. Once inside this tranquil community, it's easy to forget that you are just minutes from major expressways and shopping.

"From what I have been told there had been no new construction in this area for quite some time," McClesky said. "So, when we settled here in October there was immediate interest. The current residents of Boardwalk have been so gracious in welcoming Olthof Homes to the community, and they were excited right along with us when we sold and closed our first home."

The fact that Boardwalk is the new home community of choice for Portage residents speaks volumes to the appeal of homes built by Olthof as well as the quality of life residents enjoy with an exceptional northwest Indiana location along the shores of Lake Michigan just 35 miles southeast of downtown Chicago.

"I walked through many homes before buying here at Boardwalk," the newest resident said. "There was no need to look any farther. I fell in love with the homes, the neighborhood and the friendliness of the builder. The houses are built well with nice fixtures, an appliance package and a great warranty. I chose the Riverton, and I love the openness of the kitchen and living area. I also love my master suite. All in all, I have had a wonderful and very pleasant experience with Olthof homes."

A brand new floor plan by Olthof, the 4-bedroom, 2 ½ bath Riverton is a 2-story single family home boasting a very spacious and efficient floor plan with around 2,000 square feet of living space.

"The Riverton actually debuted here in Boardwalk and ironically it's our biggest seller - I've sold 4 since I got here in October," McClesky said. "While our customers love the functionality, they are most impressed by the little things that help make this house a home. For example, there's a built-out entrance to the main floor den which makes it ideal for a home office, quaint formal living room or 5th bedroom, plus angled walls and an art niche which graces the upper level."

The Riverton also features a well-planned open living area that's flooded with natural light from oversized windows for the kitchen which comes complete with an abundance of cabinets, dinette and great room making this home equally well-suited for enjoying quiet family time and entertaining a crowd. The back hallway with built-in storage plus a separate laundry room is another distinguishing feature of the Riverton.

All of the bedrooms feature sizeable closets and are upstairs, as well as the main bath with hall linen closet and master suite retreat with large walk-in closet in the back of the private master bath where many options can be tailored to fit your personal preferences and budget. The Riverton also includes a partial basement and 2-car garage with a starting price of $167,900.

Starting prices for other homes in Boardwalk, which include a couple of ranch options and other 2-stories offering between 1,300 and 2,720 square feet of living space range from $150-$200,000, according to McClesky.

"Right now, in anticipation of our grand opening, we have 2 homes available for immediate purchase in Boardwalk," she said.

The Heartland at 1985 Boardwalk Circle is a 1,730 square foot ranch with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths for $169,462. This home features a deluxe master bath, ceramic flooring, architectural shingles, oversized garage with additional attic space, 12x12 exterior patio, sod and landscaping.

The Drake at 1926 Boardwalk Circle is a 1,511 square foot ranch with 3 bedrooms, 2baths for $179,336. This home features 9' ceilings, ceramic flooring, 4-season sunroom with panoramic view and a full basement.

"Customers also have the option to select from an array of GE appliances to outfit their kitchen at no additional cost," McClesky said. "We are so excited to be a part of the Porter County community and look forward to meeting people we hope to be working with for years to come."

The Boardwalk sales center is located at 1995 Boardwalk Circle in Portage. From I 80-94 east take exit 19, turn right on Crisman Rd and then left on Old Porter Road. For more information, call Lisa McCleskey at (219) 252-7643, e-mail lmccleskey@olthofhomes.comor visit the website at www.olthofhomes.com.

Here are a few good reminders in preparation for colder weather.

• Hoses need to be taken off the spigot. If the hose is left on, the spigot will freeze the pipe section between the handle and the actual shut off valve. This will not cause an immediate leak but will come as an unpleasant surprise when the spigot is used again.

•  If the driveway gets icy, use kitty litter or sand. Salt will erode the surface and cause it to break up.

• Get in a good rhythm of changing the furnace filter. Use a thinner filter with a merv rating of 2. This will allow the furnace to move air with ease which is more efficient and will reduce costly service calls.

With proper maintenance the products in your home will last longer and cost less to maintain.

You’ve seen them. The black and white boxes in advertisements like the one above, consisting of a bunch of smaller boxes. Welcome to QR Codes, the next generation in bar coding technology. Originally developed by Toyota to track autos in production, these codes are now regularly found in advertisements, on billboards, and even on the backs of business cards. What’s neat about them is the variety of things you can point someone to…provide a phone number, e-mail address, web-site URL address, a VCALENDAR Event, Google Map location, or PayPal ‘Buy Now’ link… to name a few.

There are two easy-to-understand components of QR codes. The first is the creation of a QR code.  You simply identify a data type (phone number, e-mail address, etc.) and then the data you wish to point to. The URL attached to this blog was created via QRStuff.com (a free web site); it points you to the Olthof Homes web site.

The second aspect of QR codes is the reading of a QR code. With a Smartphone, this is an easy task. There’s an APP for that! I use Bar Code Scanner, another freebie. The application works much like your camera. The only noticeable difference is a red line running through the middle of the screen. When the code is fully seen in the middle of the screen and brought into focus, the application focuses in on those larger boxes in three of the corners. They help ‘capture’ the image. The absence of the larger box in the fourth corner helps determine how to read the code; users do not to have to worry about capturing the image upside down or sideways.

If there’s a downside to QR codes, I believe that it is the person scanning the code has no absolute knowledge of where they are being taken. About all the user can determine by looking at the code is whether the code is simple (like a ten digit phone number) or complex (a long URL). However, it’s just like surfing anything on the web. Exercise caution and use history as your guide on appropriate places to capture codes.

So will these codes change the way business is done in the United States? Many don’t think so, but I’m not among them. Appropriately used, they are a powerful tool for targeted marketing. Examples: 1) You’re reading a specialty magazine and run across an ad on some high-performance product. Rather than getting a link to the corporate web page, you are taken directly to the web page that provides technical specifications of the product. 2) You regularly don’t get e-mails because your long, unique last name is regularly misspelled, even though the e-mail address is right on the front of your business card. Just place it in a QR code on the back of your card. Once captured by your customer, the user immediately has the opportunity to send you an e-mail or you can store it in your contacts list. Definitely a tool to help you go viral…

Last week, I started to write about the joy of Smartphones. These great little devices put the world at your fingertips. It’s not just the great cameras, up to 10 different e-mail boxes coming together in one place, texting and internet browser capabilities that make them so special. Granted, that’s what I needed that had me purchase one. But oh, those great applications!

Some are built in the unit itself. It starts with basics like the stopwatch and alarms that were also added to watches years ago. But the on-board processors allow for infinite more capability, allowing me to schedule different preset times for early morning work out days, business days without workouts, and Sundays. Bye – bye wrist-watch and bedside clock/radio/alarm!

Of course, the iPod revolutionized the listening of music. It’s initial announcement will celebrate a 10 year anniversary in two weeks. It’s evolution added pictures, video, and then phones with the introduction of the iPhone in January 2007. Now, it’s a staple of all Smartphones, whether you’re using Apple, Droid or Blackberry Technology. And now, with Slacker or Pandora music applications, you never listen to music more than once that you find offensive or not to your taste. Hmmm...how long will radio stations survive?

A few years back, I was wowed by the power of GPS, all served up for ‘free’ when I bought a device. Good thing I sold my Garmin stock... that too is now just an internet based application resident on the Smartphone. Yet another purchased device that now sees little use because of the Smartphone.

The real applications power of Smartphones are the hundreds of thousands of applications available via the internet browsing capabilities of the Smartphone. The iPhone itself has more than 500,000 such applications. While some cost, many of the best are absolutely free. Last week, I touched on Facebook. Between it, YouTube and Google Search providing information on just about anything, I don’t know anyone can become bored. Coupled with Amazon’s Kindle application allowing you read books on your Smartphone, I wonder about the future of libraries.

I’m a finance guy, so I naturally gravitate to financial related applications. One of my favorites is GasBuddy, which posts gasoline prices for all the stations in the immediate area you’re in. Great for going on vacation and when you commute more than 10 miles each day – as of late, this application can save me 5% or more per tankful.

My favorite application is BarCode Scanner. This application allows you to take pictures of bar codes on any consumer good, and get a description and price of the product you scanned. It then provides links to more product information and pricing of the product at numerous stores. Yes, with our without sales tax, internet shopping is here to stay!

I’m not big into gaming, so I can’t do that genre of applications service in this blog. But I do enjoy the occasional challenge of a Scrabble game on steroids – the Words Free application. It allows you to play dozens of games concurrently with lots of friends and strangers spread out throughout the world.

Well, there’s a taste of some of my favorites. I’d love to hear about favorites, since all my favorites were recommendations from others. Next week, a look at QR Codes... those curious, powerful codes that are overtaking magazines and billboards.

Oh how the days fly by… a short 18 ½ years ago and we were excitedly holding our first and only child in our arms.

Then, a few years ago, the frequency of the term ‘empty nesting’ started growing in conversation. I laughed it off. What’s the big deal? Your child goes off to college and gets the opportunity to independently decide all those things you’ve worked hard to instill values on.

Well, our day came a week ago Saturday. Mom and dad were as proud as ever to see our daughter march off to school, and pursue making her mark in the world. We’re so excited that she ‘get’s it’; the University experience is about far more than just getting a degree to make more money.

With thanks to God, we’ve seen good personal decision making on our daughter’s part these past years, leading us to give her more ‘rope’ to make more important and wide ranging decisions far earlier than this drop off to Purdue. That’s making all the difference in our minds – we won’t be losing sleep over her newfound independence and it’s implications.

As for the goodbye when we had to leave campus a week ago Saturday? It wasn’t tough. It was actually well rehearsed…”I love you”, a kiss, and a LONG hug. Mom did the same….and then we were gone. I felt bad for the mom’s and dad’s in other rooms that had come before us, had the entire room set up, but seemed to be having a hard time leaving. Two cars loaded with goods prevented us from breaking down on the way home… we had to drive.

Communications. What a difference from the days mom and dad were in school. No more worrying about calling after 11PM or Sundays when rates were cheaper. No, now it’s a mish-mash of texts, e-mails and phone calls, all covered by one unlimited usage charge from Verizon. We certainly don’t want to be overbearing, but still love to hear from our daughter. The variety of technologies has this working just fine.

The biggest changes are at home…quieter, a lot less laundry, a little less food. We’re choosing to spend more time making meals together in the kitchen, re-establishing the kind of relationship we had when we first married almost 26 years ago.

Perhaps the biggest changes are in our cat. Her ‘sister’ hasn’t been home in about two weeks, yet she continues to perch herself at the top of the stairs for a quick visit to the garage door should the door open for that welcomed third regular around the home. Without her ‘sister’ to hang out with in the bathroom each morning, the cat has now changing her schedule to get up an hour earlier to hang out with ‘dad’ in his bathroom.

Change. It’s inevitable. And good for personal growth. Our daughter? She’s doing fine. New friends, new horizons, expanded dreams. She just called me to confirm her weekend home at Labor Day, and to tell me how exciting it is to have hours off between classes – another new first for her.

My wife and daughter are doing just great. I’m so proud of them both for managing through this, re-establishing their nests!