SAVE THE PIEMAN...It Takes A Village!

We are conducting the AUCTIONS for a medical fundRAISING benefit on the 25th of THIS month. It is to help a CHRISTIAN, Father, Grandfather, Husband, friend, LOCAL Businessman, Entrepreneur, CReATIVe thinker, & one of my biggest ENCOURAGERS....Mr. Bud "The Pieman" Royer.

Tara (his daughter) sent me a message that they were planning a fundRAISER to help them cover the costs of his medical expenses that started piling up when he was RUSHED to the hospital during the last Antique Show. PLEASE READ TARA'S BLOG FOR ALL THE INFO. 

I didn't hesitate in telling her YES we will HELP. Get us a date. I was in very similar shoes almost 10 years ago when we found out MY Daddy had to have a LIVER TRANSPLANT. We didn't have insurance & sure as heck didn't have anywhere near that kind of money. We had a family meeting and from the moment we realized what had to happen to keep him ALIVE, we put our heads down and went to work. It's a ScaRY place to be....to not know how much time you have to raise the money & just HOW you are going to go about doing something you've never done before...successfully...&in a hurry. BUT....you just do it. Your family needs you & you're gonna give all you've got to get there. During that time we LEARNED a lot: how to go out and cultivate donations, how to organize an event with food, live music, equine events, concessions, &  LIVE and silent auctions, how to deal with harsh criticism that blindsides you, how to get a non-profit involved to make donations tax-deductible, how to organize a group of volunteers, how to get press, and make flyers, & how to CONTRIBUTE your talents to accomplish one big goal...and to PRAY...hard. We also learned that there are LOTS & LOTS of really FANTASTIC people SURROUNDING us.

Ever since we got enough money together for Dad to be able to get a CHANCE at a liver transplant - ONCE they made it to his name on the list...I've been thinkin'.... I pondered over what it is about PEOPLE...& COMMUNITY....that come out and support individual causes like this. WHAT makes people (many we didn't know) come out & buy tickets, come in with armfuls of donated auction items, write a check....WHAT makes some of these local businesses GIVE significant sums of money to....just people? Just...common-not your highest paying customer-simple people?

The best answer I've got is LOVE. This DEEP love that we can't even explain ourselves. That LOVE we feel for COMPLETE STRANGERS when tragedy steals away a precious life. The LOVE that makes you STOP & PRAY for those BEAUTIFUL children sitting at St. Jude's FIGHTING the fight of their life. That LOVE...that can help in just THAT way, which is PERFECT & HOLY & GOOD. I think this is an example of what Jeremiah 31:33 talks about: " I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." It's a LOVE that can never be repaid....just added to. It took me a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOng time to wrap my head around that...almost 10 years. I also believe that these events my family & I organized...planted a seed - showing me HOW one auctioneer can RALLY a group of people to come together & GIVE....paint a picture and a way for them to help someone else. You shoulda saw my Uncle Mele gettin' after it back then! I thought he was gonna blow the top off the hall!

I share all this with you because I KNOW how grateful BUD & his family are for ANY support they get. I also know that they will NEVER be able to put into words, the GRATITUDE they feel, nor how IMPORTANT the support of everyone is. We never know when we'll NEED somebody & when we can HELP...& when we feel COMPELLED to help...we should. Royers....without hesitation, donated SEVERAL items for my Dad's benefits...almost a decade ago & let's not mention ALL the donations they've given to all the causes in our small area & for how long. These are GIVERS to our community.  

I saw Bud at Pie Haven in Austin one day & we talked about all kinds of things and I started telling him that I really want to pursue my auction career, but............ He cut me off & he said...."Just do it already...I don't know what you're waitin' on...." Well....it probably wasn't even a month later & I quit my good-payin' job & LITERALLY sat in the ENCOURAGING words of others, because it was probably the scariest thing I'd ever done. 

My Dad's still here & has been SO blessed to meet his 3 Grandbabies. He's on less medication & anti-rejection drugs than he has been, And I am HERE, having raised money for NUMEROUS causes and organizations, working for myself, creating work for other hard-workin' women, growing MY business & I want to ENCOURAGE you to just do what feels RIGHT to you & help support these GOOD people. 

There will be DELICIOUS grub...of course ! GREAT, GREAT Music, T-Shirts to help support the cause & a LIVE & SILENT Auction. Stop by the cafe for tickets or get'm ONLINE at www.royersroundtopcafe.com. 

This GOOD TIME starts at 11AM at Henkel Hall in Round Top - SUNDAY, January 25th. Buck UP Baby & Come on out!!! It really does take a village!!

Independent Cattlemen's Association Fundraiser

This past weekend I helped Uncle Mele @ the Colorado Valley Independent Cattleman's Association Fundraiser. I'm just tryin' to get a little more practice in. PLUS...it was my Daddy's birthday &  long-time friends birthday AND our good friend that works on pipelines just got back from Turkministan (I think) & is getting to go to his next job in AUSTRALIA!! I'm pretty happy for him b/c he gets to go to a fun, happy place. Anyways...he's home for about a week. SO....we got to see LOTS of friends & family this weekend! Oh how I needed it.

This is a video from an iPhone, so it's a bit grainy. Thank you Mrs. Bonnie Pesch for videoing for me :) & for buyin' & biddin' @ the auction!!

I REALLY appreciate the COMPLIMENTS & ADVICE that I pick up at every, single auction I do. BELIEVE ME.....I'm listenin' to every word. It was also pretty cool b/c one of the buyers that was there actually heard me @ my VERY 1st auction in PLUM, TX! They told me: "I seemed to feel a little more confident than the 1st time, but I was good there too!" Now how sweet is that. Go check'm out if you need work done on your teeth....HATFIELD DENTAL CLINIC in LaGrange, TX.

I also want to give a shout out to all the donors & buyers!! I know I won't list everyone, so forgive me, but KNOW that you are VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!

Round Top State Bank
National Bank & Trust
Hatfield Dental Clinic
Pace Fertilizer Company
Giddings Livestock Commission
Herbrich Brothers
Max Barnowski Fence Building & Dozer Service
Kyle Cordes
Susan & Harvey Pauler
Electric Motors
& NUMEROUS other businesses & supporters of the Texas Independent Cattleman's Association!!

I just want to say how BLESSED I feel. We have some AWESOME, INTERESTING, AMAZING families & FRIENDS....that never leave you with a dull moment. I don't know if everyone has friendships like we do, but I hope so...at least one!! I'm SO glad we got to hang out with a few of them this weekend!! MUCH, MUCH love sent ya'lls way!!

YAY for AWESOME friends!!! P.S. Thanks Jenny for the photos :).

Birthday Boy (Chris) & Trey :).

LOVE HER & Miss her! That's my baby's God Momma!

Daddy & Chance & Kylee Jo in the La Marina parking lot after we had  lunch/dinner  for Pops's Bday!

Kylee (in her SUPER cool rubber boots from Kandon, Aunt Kayla & Uncle Kory), Uncle Chance & 1 of  Aunt Mandy's puppies. I tell you...Kylee will NEVER be short of puppies to play with....

SUPER cool jacket from those RoWdY ladies over @ Rowdy Maui!

Me & the little brother eatin' our lasagna! YUM!

Until next time peeps! :)

Goodness Gracious! Thank You Jesus!

Hello Everyone!

The end of last year and the beginning of this year has been....(and still is) filled with some mental turmoil about a few important things that I have NO idea what will happen with them, where we will be, and how we will be effected. One thing that is FOR SURE is that there WILL be some sort of change....soon.

I PRAY....all the time. I say short prayers all throughout the day, but let me tell you....the devil is at work...CONSTANTLY. In 100% honesty I have been WORRYING  about the current situation I have found myself in NON-STOP. I've been praying and asking for guidance, strength, needed knowledge, etc. The one thing that I HAVE NOT been doing, is actually TRUSTING the GOOD LORD to let the HOLY SPIRIT work in my life. A beautiful ANGEL friend made me quite AWARE of this -this past weekend. Let me tell you....sometimes you need to have someone take you and SHAKE YOU!

I sent in something that would exhibit my strong interest in something that seems like it could, positively, affect our lives - and after I sent it....EVERYONE in the room PRAYED over it. My sweet friend, her sister-in-law, my sweet little girl, my husband, and myself. It was APPARENT that the HOLY SPIRIT was in that room, right there with us. We all felt it! Yet somehow... I found a way (with the devil's help) to  continue to WORRY about the situation that we just GAVE TO GOD TO HANDLE.

I'm the kind of person that likes to be PREPARED. It's important to know that I DO NOT have control over anything, EXCEPT my actions and reactions. So...I trot into my friend's sewing room and start asking her what MY next steps should be IF this doesn't happen, or if THAT happens, or what the result COULD be.

She stops me and reminds me of the prayer we just had, the presence of the HOLY SPIRIT. She flat told me....YOU NEED TO LET IT ALONE AND LET THE GOOD LORD TAKE CARE OF IT. If this situation doesn't pan out like I would like it to...that door will close and another will open. I know that. I need to act like I believe it!

Let me tell you....I had an OVERWHELMING feeling of PEACE yesterday. So much so....that it felt like something was OFF kilter. It made me realize how much WORRY was in my life. I actually stayed up until almost 11pm letting Kylee make me dinner (with her play food and kitchen). I was also able to see things a little clearer. I FOCUSED on what I DO know. The things I don't....I won't worry about.

I've also found myself on the edge of a REALLY interesting place that I always wanted to be....that place where you THROW all the WORRIES, EXPECTATIONS, what people think you HAVE to do/be to be successful OUT THE WINDOW!! (Watch out, so you don't get knocked in the head.) This has to do with ALL of life, not JUST the current situation.

Life is TOO short to WORRY about all the things that COULD be. The bottom line of it all is: What will be, will be. I need to ENJOY life and TRUST that we will be okay...no matter the outcome. I DO know that, I just have to start acting like I BELIEVE it and LIVE it.

It takes quite a bit for me to get OVERWHELMED. I was there. In ALL situations KNOW that GOD is the end all, be all, ALL-KNOWING SAVIOR of this world and YOUR world.

I want to leave you with a few quotes that have helped me rein in my thoughts a little over the past few weeks. Thank you TWITTER! GO FIND ME!!! @hdskaspar :) That would make me happy.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty not knowing what comes next. - Ursula K. LeGuin

"Someday could be one moment away." - Disney

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

"I want to feel my life. I want to stop agreeing to things I don't really want." - from Living Out Loud (1998)

"Let no man pull you low enough to hate him." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Know that the pain will pass, and, when it passes, you will be stronger, happier, more sensitive and aware." - Mel Colgrove

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Ambition and love are the wings to great deeds." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip." - Daniel L. Reardon

"Don't go through life, grow through life." - Eric Butterworth

"The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity." - Zig Ziglar

"Keep your chin up." - Disney

"Man imposes his own limitations. Don't set any." - Anthony Baily

"A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with. A man is what he makes of himself." - Alexander Graham Bell

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." -Mae West

"Strong reasons make strong actions." - William Shakespere

"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it." - Maya Angelou

"A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men." - Roald Dahl

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." -William Arthur Ward

"You cannot live your life to please others. The choice must be yours. " -Alice in Wonderland (2010)

"People may forget what you said but they'll never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it. " - William Arthur Ward

I live my life with the constant thought to BUCK UP BABY!! Be aware that sometimes our RESPONSIBILITIES, FEARS, DRAMA, UNCERTAINTY...can CONSUME us - before we even know it. Stay steadfast in PRAYER and look for your ANGELS.

GOODNESS GRACIOUS, THANK YOU JESUS...for being a presence in my life and guiding me when I feel lost!... "but the path of the just is like a shining light: it advances and increases, even to the day of completion." - Proverbs 4:18

I have 2 fun (at least they are fun to me) blogs coming out this week yet. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!