Kendra Realtor & Traveler Extraordinaire

09/24/2026

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09/21/2026

Nobody has ever experienced a hurricane season like this.

For the first time in 112 years, the Atlantic basin has reached September 21 without producing a single hurricane. We haven’t seen anything like this in our lifetimes.

To put that into perspective, 430 hurricanes formed by September 21 across the previous 111 seasons, averaging nearly 4 hurricanes by this point each year.

Fay had a chance to become the first hurricane of 2026 last night, but fell short. So here we are, this deep into September, still waiting for hurricane number one.

09/21/2026

On this date in 1559, a massive hurricane struck Pensacola Bay — devastating Tristan de Luna’s nascent colony, sinking most of his fleet (including the famous Emanuel Point shipwrecks), and giving future St. Augustinians the “continuously occupied” bragging rights they’re still smug about today. It was indeed a dark day for Pensacola.

(Fun history note for calendar buffs: Spain was still using the Julian calendar in 1559, meaning what was recorded as "September 19" back then would align closer to September 29 in our modern Gregorian reckoning.) 🗓️🤓

Calendar math aside, this history serves as a powerful reminder for District 4 (where "America's First Settlement" was located) and all of Escambia County: hurricanes are no joke. We can’t control when a storm will strike, but we can control how prepared we are when it does.

Here is how you can take action today:
1️⃣ Harden Your Home: Look into programs like My Safe Florida Home (mysafeflhome.com), which offers free wind mitigation inspections and grants up to $10,000 for qualifying low- and moderate-income homeowners to install impact windows, shutters, or roof upgrades. Even a free inspection report alone can help unlock discounts on your home insurance!

2️⃣ Build Your Disaster Kit: Escambia County Emergency Management recommends having at least 7 days of non-perishable food, water (1 gallon per person/pet per day), medications, flashlights, batteries, and essential documents ready to go. Check out their resources at myescambia.com/BeReady to download a full disaster checklist.

3️⃣ Connect with Local Partners: Incredible local organizations like BRACE (Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies) work tirelessly to help our community prepare for, respond to, and recover from storms. Consider getting involved or utilizing their community readiness programs!

4️⃣ Make a Household Plan: Talk with your family about evacuation routes, designated meeting spots, and how you’ll stay in touch if power or cell service goes down.

Our history teaches us about the past, and our preparation protects our future. Let’s stay weather-aware, look out for our neighbors, and keep Escambia ready!

09/17/2026

09/15/2026

That’s what my family does!

Nearly 1 in 5 people buying a new car right now are paying over $1,000 a month.

The guy with the paid-off 2011 Camry is paying $0 and probably has a better retirement account than all of them.

I know that sounds like a cheap shot, but I spent almost 20 years as a financial planner and I watched this play out over and over.

The average new car payment is $770 a month now. Average loan is around $44K, and the average term is pushing six years. Plenty of people are signing up for 72 and 84 months on something that loses value the second it leaves the lot.

Here's the math nobody at the dealership is going to walk you through.

$770 a month is $9,240 a year. Invest that instead for 10 years at an average market return and you're looking at somewhere around $130K. That's from ONE car payment you decided not to have.

The people I saw doing this weren't broke. That was the wild part. They had good incomes and looked like they had it together.

But every three or four years they'd trade in, roll the leftover balance into the next loan, and reset the clock. Some of them had been making a car payment nonstop since their early twenties.

Meanwhile the client with the 12-year-old Toyota and 180K miles was maxing out a Roth every year and never once asked me if they could afford it.

I still like nice cars. I'm not going to pretend I don't. But the boring version of this wins almost every time, and it wins by a lot.

Buy something reliable, pay it off, keep up on the oil changes, and drive it until you're a little embarrassed to be seen in it. Then drive it another two years.

You'll be surprised how much money shows up when you stop feeding a car payment every month.