WHY should you come to Zapp Hall on Saturday?

I have a lot to say & well...I didn't intend for it to get pulled out of me way that it is. It's private & special and WORTH sharing, so here goes!

3 Years ago I had an idea....& yes....it was "weird" and random & complicated. It was the Spring Antique Show of 2014. For those of you not familiar with the Round Top - Warrenton Antiques Festival here in Texas, it is an incredible BI-ANNUAL, 2 week long (and growing) extravaganza of ANTIQUES, & DesiGners, Artisans, Artists, Collectors, & TREASURE Hunters. There are fields FOR MILES full of tents of these vendors, halls piled FULL, venues & facilites just FULL of ANYTHING & EVERYTHING anyone could want. People come from ALL OVER the world! I had to paint the picture. My heart tends to lead me to the dusty fields.

So... 3 years ago in April of 2014, I was feeling my way through the auction industry & trying to find my place. I am all about guerilla marketing & it was eating me up that I had not thought of a way to share the AUCTION AWESOMENESS with ANYONE who might listen to me there. I mean....THOUSANDS of people. I had an antique consignment auction there a year earlier, which was pretty successful for my FIRST auction on my own, but I realized quickly that I was competing with the show itself for the crowd of people that I wanted to reach. I didn't want to do that again. People come there to SHOP, to spend time with each other, to share in their common love for Antiques...JuNk,...clothes....whatever suits their fancy. I didn't really want to mess with that. I wanted to be a part of it &&&&& promote what I LOVE.

SO....dun...dun...dun.... My idea was to spend an ENTIRE week of the show, traveling from field to field - asking the vendors if they wanted to donate an item where the funds would go to a charity of their choice, and allow me to have an auction....right there at their tent....and grab the attention of anyone that was around. I had reached out to a list of non-profits for them to choose from, created these handy-dandy agreements & my pal Christie & I set out to conquer the fields of Warrenton....one tent at a time. Let's just say.....more vendors than not.....didn't think it was as cool of an idea as we did. We got A BUNCH of NOs....BUT we talked A LOT about auctions.

Christie & I setting up at Chelsea's Meadow in Round Top. She'll be with me at Zapp tomorrow!

We finish up the evening, go eat in Round Top & just sit & recap. We had gotten the name of WHO we needed to talk to at Zapp Hall, but decided we needed to meet the next day. We were beat up. I don't even know how it happened, but somehow my other friend Cathy felt compelled to introduce me to Larry & Jennifer Clack from the Chelsea's Meadow field in Round Top. He asked me my idea & I remember being so.....apprehensive in sharing & HE. LOVED. IT. First breath of life with this idea. They asked us to come by the field the next day after I met with Zapp.

Next morning...I head over to Zapp Hall to meet with Bobby Boyd & Cheryl - the owner of Zapp. I sit down. Tell him my idea & he said. We have a vendor that was supposed to be here. She's been diagnosed with cancer & she couldn't make it. I KNOW I can get all our vendors on board, if the funds we raised went to her. There was a medical fund that was set up for her, so our next plan was to figure out how to make that work, adjusted the plan, & went to work marketing.

I head over to Chelsea's Meadow in the afternoon. I sit down with Jennifer, share my FULL idea with her, the progress that was made that day & she opens up about her friend (in her 30s, 4 children, a husband who had just been laid off, in late stage cancer.) By the end of that conversation, we were having two auctions, & helping two groups of people HELP their people.

So what is all this about right? Why is this such a big deal? When I had the "Wandering Auctioneer" idea....my intent was to spread the POWER of auctions & how they bring people together. It was not to make money....at all. Why would someone spend so much time doing this IF they weren't getting paid? So here is the personal part....

Yes...that is a little red wagon, with a PA System & those AWESOME flyers.

A little more than 11 years ago, my Dad had went into a diabetic coma. His organs had started to fail & they were able to bring everything back except his liver. If he was going to live he HAD to have a transplant. That. Was. A. Fact. I remember having a family meeting. It was me & my two siblings, Mom, Dad & Uncle Melvin - who is a cattle auctioneer. They gave us the low down. They shared the RIDICULOUS amount of money we needed to raise & I just remember my sister and I going from panic & uneasiness to problem-solving mode. We immediately started talking about fundraisers & we immediately started pounding Uncle Melvin with questions. He has called HUNDREDS of church feasts & picnics & fireman's feasts & to put it plainly....we just figured it out. We had no REAL idea of the work that went into these events. We just knew we had to do it. Let me tell you....you learn REAL QUICK you can't do it all on your own.

That's my Pops...helping me make our hand-glued hand fans for the escapades of the "Wandering Auctioneer."

I. WILL. NEVER. FORGET. How our community & family & friends rallied around us. One of my Dad's old friends had called me, asked me what was going on & I shared it all. I literally thought she was calling just because she wanted to know. She was an editor for a Tri-County Newspaper & that next Thursday there was a FRONT-PAGE article about the benefit for my Dad. We had SO many items come in for the auction that we had to plan more fundraisers, with more auctions to sell it all. We had 3. A dinner, dance & auction in our hometown - a Team Penning Benefit with Live & Silent Auctions & Live Music - & a Ranch Sorting Benefit in Ledbetter with a Live Auction. Between the 3 we had raised somewhere around $90,000 - which was still not enough, but with the sale of some land to my AMAZING Uncles....We.Got.It.Done.

When the dust settled & you looked at the numbers.... The numbers from plate sales, the numbers from dance sales & the numbers from the auctions....the auctions OVERWHELMINGLY got us where we needed to get. TRUTH.....An auction seed was planted in me that day that would start blooming 3 years later...down to the month. I got my auction license in the mail in November 2011. We were fundraising in November 2008.

Here's the thing though....all of that is GREAT & important, but as a young person, I could not understand the WHY. WHY did these people come out of the woodwork with these items? Why did the bidders CHOOSE to spend their money this way? WHY did some of them show up at each one? Why? Why? WHY? & HOW could we EVER possibly thank them all. Here is my conclusion: They weren't looking for anything. They CHOSE to freely give. They gave because it mattered. They gave because they cared. They gave because they could. They gave because something resonated with them in such a way that it compelled them. It's one of those things where a "Thank You" in the Newspaper & on a thank you card couldn't even begin to do it justice. It was bigger than any one of us. It was bigger than the situation. It was BIG & the Auction Method & the Auctioneer made it happen. From that day forward I couldn't help but see both as PROBLEM - SOLVERS.

This is me calling my second auction. Uncle Melvin (Our life-long Problem-Solver)
catching bids for me at the Carmine Volunteer Fire Department.
 (My Uncle Fritz is in the plaid shirt behind us.)

I've had my license since 2011 & I have been HELPING PEOPLE SOLVE PROBLEMS ever since & I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. It IS the greatest business in the world. I went from not knowing my place to helping clients solve: Real Estate Problems, Fundraising Problems, Liquidation Problems, Estate Problems, Surplus Problems....

SO...when Bobby Boyd sent me a message in March, asking if I'd be able to help them raise money for 2 members of their Zapp Hall Family... I figured out how to make it work. In November...The Tedders of J.Tedder Design were in a MAJOR car accident. They have two children. Jason has not been able to fully go back to work & Jessica has, just recently. Two years ago...The Tedders not only donated items, but bought items to show their support.

J. Tedder Design Original Piece

J. Tedder Design Original Piece

J. Tedder Design Original Piece

J. Tedder Design Original Piece

J. Tedder Design Original Piece

EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS. Breathe life into someone. I mean...I would not be where I am today if someone didn't positively see purpose in my thoughts...in my life...in the life of my Dad. PEOPLE MATTER. You LITERALLY can always make more money, but an OPPORTUNITY to breathe life into someone is truly a gift.

We will be running two heats :). First auction starts at 12:30 - second one at 2PM. We will be RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ZAPP FIELD. Look for PURPLE signs.

Buck Up Baby & BE THERE! :)

P.S. HAPPY NEWS: My Pops is still kickin' & has gotten to see all THREE of his grandbabies, of which he ABSOLUTELY ADORES. Both ladies that we raised money for in 2014 won their cancer battle!

H.Kaspar
TXL 17037
www.buckupauctions.com

Quade Grocery Store....Legacy of Hard Work

Next Saturday Buck Up Auctions will be holding a MULTI-Estate Auction at the Old Quade Grocery. For all you locals....that is at the Fayetteville Y (aka. the intersection of Hwy 237 & FM 1291) right outside of Warrenton. However....most of you locals know EXACTLY where that is. These days it is kind of a resting point for tired drivers....or lost drivers.....a road marker or a meeting place. But once upon a time......this was a meeting point for many of the local farmers, ranchers, & local people just lookin' to get something cold to drink, or some home-grown veggies, or material for their next sewing project. 

We were asked by the family, if we would be interested in selling off the contents of the estate & decided that we would be honored. Believe me....it's no small undertaking. The store closed in the 70s & there are SEVERAL buildings to go through & organize...not to mention figuring out the logistics like we have to for every auction.

The cool thing about these estate auctions is there is ALWAYS a story & it didn't take long for me to figure out that LOTS of the local people have a story or a memory involving the Quade Grocery. As I spent some time talking with Linda...the only daughter to the couple that ran the grocery for many years....I could FEEL her closeness to the building & all that it held. I want to share with you a write up that Linda's daughter shared with me. This was a write-up that was written for one of the local history books. Only pieces of this were actually published.

"In January 1949, Mr. and Mrs. Gussie and Amanda Quade, opened Quade Grocery at the Fayetteville Y near Warrenton with their small daughter, Linda Lou, in tow.  The store was modest at best and reflective of the times.  There was no electricity in the store; it was lighted at night by a single gas lantern. In the summer, the breeze through open windows was the air-conditioning and in the winter, a single wood stove served as the "central" heating.  The gas pumps were hand pumps requiring customers to always buy by the gallon.  The store sold not only merchandise from wholesalers and distributors but the Quade's were staunch supporters of the local community, buying whatever the local farmers had available to sell such as chickens, eggs, turkeys, and rabbits.

The  store grew at this central location; it was enlarged four times to make room for more merchandise, a larger feed room and even an egg handling facility.  The store did not have a cash register or even an adding machine.  The cash register was a simple drawer with a shoe box for bills and a muffin tin to hold coins.   Each purchase was written down on paper and calculated by hand.  As the years went by, Quade Grocery mainly bought and sold eggs, feed, groceries and, of course a country store mainstay-cold drinks.  The store also had a large dry goods section where the women would purchase thread, patterns, buttons, sewing supplies and miles and miles of rickrack.  Throughout the years, the store ran as a family business where Linda Lou spent countless hours first playing in the store, then working in the store and keeping the books, and ultimately, helping to run the business when Mr. Quade's health failed.  Quade Grocery eventually closed in December 1972 when Mr. Quadebecame too sick to operate the store and Mrs. Quade and Linda Lou could not continue to take care of family and the store simultaneously.  Mrs. Quade passed on in 2011; she had many fond memories of the store and although the details of other aspects of her life faded over the years, the memories of the store and the wonderful customers, neighbors, and friends she encountered each day remained crystal clear...and that is not something you can buy or sell."

I can't help, but sit back & identify with how this business started out. I can't help but APPRECIATE the fact that this store was EXPANDED 4 times....sufficing the needs of its customers, as Mr. & Mrs. Quade figured it out. I can't help but UNDERSTAND that this business grEW due do the owners interaction, support, and friendships of the LOCAL people & that they KNEW they had to support them, just like their customers had to be their support to keep their doors open, I can't help but feel God's hands in this auction, as Mrs. Linda calls to ask if her church could serve concessions at the auction & have that money go to the church. 

Anytime you sell off an estate, there is a mixture of emotions from the different family members. As I sit here....working HARD to grow my business...with little ones in tow, doing my BEST to take care of my customers & support the same community the Quade's did many years ago.....I can FULLY appreciate the legacy that all of these remaining relics represent. I can appreciate the fact that...at one point...that 10-2-4 Dr. Pepper Cooler was a LARGE expense & just getting it, was probably a business milestone for them. I can APPRECIATE the beauty of their little sewing area & Mrs. Quade infusing their business with a piece of her that she ENJOYED, while still sufficing a customer need. I can appreciate Mrs. Linda's knowledge of MOST everything about that place, because it becomes SO personal to you. It becomes part of your LIFE work & stomping ground for life lessons, memories, and friendships that grow throughout your life. 

I hope that EVERYONE that's able & has a memory of Quade Grocery can come out & get even a small souvenir from a business that was built through hard work & community. 

There is old signage, display cases, implements, a tractor, antiques, furniture, old windows & doors & SO much more. We are combining a couple other estates with this auction that includes items like tools, guns, chandeliers, toys, more antiques & furniture. There will be a little somethin' for everyone!!  

Buck Up Baby & Come On Out! Please LIKE our Facebook Page: Buck Up Auctions....for the MOST up to date pictures: 

Heather Schoenst Kaspar

TXL 17037

Our Antique Fair Adventure: Day 2 of the Wandering Auctioneer

I LOVE my job. So after spending lots of time yesterday & early this AM talking to land owners & show organizers....we changed our plan again. The BEAUTY of this is: every time we change it, it gets better, it means more, we REALLY get to meet people & appreciate them, their cause, their ideas. GOD IS GOOD...folks.

We started this thing KNOWING that some people were going to think we were CraZy; that some people just wouldn't like it one bit; & some people might not get it. In fact... these very things made me try to find a way out of it at least 3 times since the idea came about.

I die daily. Die in my courage & I have to muster it back up. Die in my ambition & have to re-motivate myself. Die in my FAITH regarding this IDEA that God won't let me let go of  & have to TRUST that he's not letting me let go of it for a reason. BUT PRAISE JESUS he gives me the STRENGTH to get it all back.

We developed our idea & as we were REALLY goin' back & forth about what to do (amongst Christie wrestlin' with her little one about snowcones & popcorn & me tryin' to help my hard-of-hearin' Daddy understand my 4-year old over the phone....God sent us a few angels. I walked back to the picnic tables on Granny McCormick's Field & told Christie that I'm gonna have to buy my Daddy another box of bullets & a steak dinner for the temper tantrum my sweet, precious little girl was throwin'- we made friends.

I guess they overheard us talkin' about our pretty final plan & Hector the Collector & Ye-Yea's (over at Tin Star Field) go check them out!!) wanted to be a part of it. I know it may not seem like much, but it gives me a little shot of reassurance that I'm not wastin' my time & spinnin' my wheels.

Then...this sweet precious lady...a disciple of Christ really...just touched me & Christie. There was A LOT of things we talked about from the medical industry, doctors, & OBAMAcare to "not shinin' our light on more light, but shinin' in the dark places." She told me to keep on with what I'm doin', that it was good, & that she would be prayin' for me.

Needless to say what we are doing is good & we have ALREADY met SO MANY wonderful people! & BELIEVE ME...there is much more to come. We KNOW we will be holding 2 different auctions on Saturday. THIS Saturday. The first will start at either 11AM @ the FAMOUS ZAPP Hall! It's a WANDERING AUCTION & stay tuned for MORE details.

The other will be Saturday evening at Chelsea's Meadow in Round Top, Texas! It will be at 5:30PM. There will be delicious food & they already have some really cool items. There's no buyer's premium at either one. Come on out and support both of these gals fightin' like heck to KICK CANCER'S BUTT!!!

BUCK UP BABY!! Come out to these auctions & keep checking back for more details!

Heather Kaspar
TXL#17037

Our Antique Fair Adventure: The Wandering Auctioneer Day 1 Recap

Good Morning Lovelies!!

Me & the gals have been thinkin' & we have decided & started implementing a VERY grassroots/guerilla/out of the box marketing campaign for Buck Up Auctions.

Let's just say it has a little somethin' to do with little ole me, my dear sweet workin' girl Christie, a wagon, & a portable PA system....and charities, several different charities. I'll have more details for you later this evening (or tomorrow morning).

We spent ALL day yesterday in the fields of Warrenton & Round Top talking to landowners & vendors & we've got more work to do today.

Just keep an eye out for us, if you are walkin' around. PLEASE like us on FACEBOOK: Buck Up Auctions & find us on INSTAGRAM: hdskaspar. Follow up & keep up with our journey.

A Couple of other things....

A SUPER cReaTIVe lady brought the beginnings of this idea to me, we tweaked it & turned it to make it make sense to us. Then we went out & talked to vendors & organizers & BY THE GRACE OF GOD he has turned it into something SO MUCH MORE than what I thought.

We talked about this idea in February & I wrestled with it since then. I crawfished in & out of it. BUT the Good Lord WOULD NOT LET ME TURN IT LOOSE. It even got to a point where I didn't know how much I really wanted to do it anymore, but that I HAD to do it. Now....just one day in.....I am SO thankful I forged forward.

FOLKS...this is DIFFerENt. It is....but it's a GOOD different & I hope ya'll have as much fun with it as we do!

Many, MANY blessings & BUCK UP BABY! I'm sure glad I did!

The Baddest Raddest Mamma Jammas of the Antique Fair

Sorry this blog is a little late, I was just waiting on some pics, but MUCHAS GRACIAS goes out to Ms. Lindsey for bringing her camera. Knowing me....I would have lost mine :).

Now...even though I think me and my friends are some pretty Rad, Bad to the Bone, Super Cool Mamma Jammas...I´m actually talking about the original Junk Gypsy Clan themselves.

(MAMMA JAMMA: (n.) 1. something that is considered by many to be very sexy and/or boss. - Urban Dictionary)

I grew up and went to school in Round-Top/Carmine - the area home of the Bi-Annual Antiques Festival. Growing up, myself and most of the local kids there, played some part in the Antique Fair from holding class and 4-H booths, waiting tables, helping the Antiquers load up what didn´t sell, parking cars, you get the point.

Well...I met the Junk Gypsies (Amie, Jolie, and Janie Sikes)....I think when I was working at Cafe Pie in the Sky - a little traveling restaurant that was on the Dillard´s field (where they used to park their RV). It was either there or when I stopped by and bought their famous "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History" tank. Go buy you one :). Amie and I kind of hit it off...but then again....who doesn´t. She is such a chill, hard-workin´, sweet little thing. Then I met Jolie, and well...she´s the same way!



You can find all their styles and sizes on the website - http://www.gypsyville.com/!

 I started going to college and working and didn´t really come down for the fair as much or make it by the tent all the time to visit with them (b/c I was working at the show), but did my best to go to as many JUNK-O-RAMA PROMS as I possibly could.

If you read  "Our Story" on their website: http://www.gypsyville.com/ you can see just how real they really are. All I can say is they (along with some other pretty awesome people) really helped to inspire me. I mean...this little ole´ country girl has some mighty big dreams. I´m bound and determined to figure out how I can make a difference in this world and do what I like. Make the money I need to and help as many people as I can along the way - WHILE HAVING A GOOD QUALITY OF LIFE. These gals are proof that it can happen!

If you haven´t heard...These girls have their own 13 episode series on HGTV starting in November!! It is well deserved and LONG overdue and I am just SO STINKIN´ HAPPY FOR THEM!! These are some accomplished women, that found a way to do what they love, be who they wanna be, have put more than enough work hours in, and are truly an inspiration to many. I´m so very HaPpY to welcome them to our little community in Round Top! To read a little more click here.

The reason I say they are the Baddest, Raddest, Mamma Jammas of the Antique Fair is that they started this little JUNK-O-RAMA PROM and it turned into something MASSIVE!! It is SERIOUSLY SO MUCH FUN...I can hardly contain myself for the next one. I mean I pretty much have my outfit figured out :). Who doesn´t like some gals that know how to throw a PaRtY!! Plus the whole fact that HGTV thinks they are THAT COOL - that they wanna put´m on TV doesn´t hurt their Mamma Jamma-ness.

Stacia, Me, Crystal, and Lindsey! (Crystal is going to HAVE to color my hair like hers...LOVE IT!)

I could TOOT their horn for a good long while (and everyone be sure to watch their pilot on the HGTV Facebook Page), but I guess I´ll move on to this year´s Junk Gypsy JUNK-O-RAMA PROM story. Boy is it a DOOZY!

My friend Lindsey and I decided we were going to make the trek from Rockport to Warrenton for the JG Prom. She came over the night before and helped me figure out my dress and how to finagle it to look the way I wanted it to.

Let me just say that it was POURING DOWN RAIN (Thank you Jesus!), Lindsey had to go potty (no bathroom in sight), and once we get to Yoakum (Don´t ask why we were there) saw what we thought could be a little twister. Well...actually a pretty big twister - BUT...it wasn´t. The wind just picked up all of a sudden and blew up all the dust from our dry drought weather. APPARENTLY neither one of us have ever seen a twister before and we started thinking "You might as well call us Dorothy and send us off to OZ b/c we DON´T KNOW WHAT TO DO." Anyways...after our mini panic attack- we finally get to a bathroom in Hallettsville, but the power is out in town b/c of the weather. Lindsey plays hide and go seek with the light switch for a little while, we get back on the road and HERE WE ARE!!

Well...we were supposed to meet up with my sister, a couple of her friends and her new roommate BUT...in pure Mandy fashion...she forgets her cell phone and can´t find Cordes´s house. They go on to prom and we get there a little later than expected and we then meet up with my good friend Shannon Buck (thank you for finding my peacock feathers my dear), find the little sister and her crew and just HAD A BALL!!

Pam, Mandy, Lindsey, and Myself over @ Zapp!

I don´t really know where to start. First off...my little Puddin´ Pop Kylee Jo came out with us for a little while and enjoyed playing in an old antique carnival ride car!Then my Mom and Pops took her home and we just really enjoyed ourselves.

Oh! I just LOVE her to pieces!!

Kylee Jo in the car...She didn´t want the little boy to ride with her AT ALL! Daddy would be proud :)!

I just wanna say that it seemed like my friend Lindsey met a new person every time we walked two steps. It is my hometown and all, but I doubt she remembers anyone´s name besides Shannon (who also introduced her to someone new every two steps) :). We kept walking back and forth between the JG Tent and Zapp Hall (both places had live music). I did have trouble with my feathers. Lindsey and Shannon did their best to keep them straight for me, but by the end of the night I either gave them to someone or someone stole them.
I was able to meet my blogging friend Robelynn - by random chance!! Check out her blog @ redneckchic.blogspot.com. She´s got some really AWESOME stuff!! I´m a little sad that I was not able to meet up with  my other blogging friend Leslie! (You can check out her blog @ retreauxgirl.blogspot.com). We texted all weekend and never could run into each other. She told me she was dudded up in red and black - SO I see a lady dudded up like that. I look around and I don´t see anyone else fitting the description, so I RUN UP TO HER AND GIVE HER A BIG OLE´ HUG! Well...It wasn´t her. Luckily she didn´t mind the hug and I made myself a new friend. Poor lady probably thought I was NUTS...some CRAZY girl runnin´ up huggin´ her with peacock feathers everywhere.

Me, Lindsey, and Shannon! BTW- Budweiser was $1 CHEAPER?!

Carrying on...after the music stopped we visited with some new friends, old friends, and aquanitances about bow hunting, auctioneering, Rockport, and who knows what else. Lindsey gets "scolded" for not throwing her beer away and then we head off to a little shindig afterwards. Boy did it get entertaining from there. We got there thinking we were the oldest folks there. Then realized, that we were all old folks! LOL! I don´t know who this girl was, but she became WAY COOLER after she let me wear her top hat with the PEACOCK feather in it. Really...I very much enjoyed her company and we sat there on the porch singing "Hell on Heels" and "Delta Dawn." I´m sure we sounded like a couple of cats in a sack - but we had fun. Really....if anyone was there and reads this...let me know her name, so I can friend her on FB!

Me, The Top Hat, and Mystery Girl...

Then Shannon, Lindsey, and I trek it on over to Whataburger where Lindsey conks out before we get there! Then....we get home. (Thank you Kyle Cordes for letting us borrow your house.) We get there and I realize I LOST MY CELL PHONE! It´s not in Shannon´s truck or anywhere in the house... It´s not outside. Then I try to backtrack in my state of mind.

I sleep on it and wake up the next morning freaking out! So Shannon and I narrowed it down to either the porch of the shindig or our rest stop between two vehicles (LMAO!). All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS I woke up before 7AM and we went back and looked. You´ll never guess where we found it OR how LUCKY I was.

It was sitting on the step side of someone´s truck at our little "rest stop."

Oh the stories from JG Prom Nights.... The next day Shannon and Lindsey drove me all around town to get papers notarized and turned in for my defensive driving course. I got a ticket going to pick up the best friend to get our hair did for our other friend´s wedding.

At least our hair looked good :)! (Thank you...once again Crystal!)

Then we had lunch and went shopping where I ran into a couple of old classmates!! It really was good to see them. Check out my friend Stormy (and husband´s) Facebook Page - Vaquero Designs!

A pretty stinkin´ old pic from Sr. Trip... I tried to find a pic of us in our FFA jackets (I know I have one), but no luck!

Me and my friend/old classmate Megan. She was at her 1st JG Prom EVER!!

So....another JG JUNK-O-RAMA PROM bites the dust, but I´m BUCKIN´ UP and ready for the next one. Thanks for reading about all my RANDOMNESS!! I just got back from AUCTION SCHOOL and boy did I learn A LOT!! Be ready to throw those hands up! I could be coming to an auction near you :)!

It´s All Better in Ledbetter :)

Hey there!! Just FYI - Be ready to read some blogs b/c I have had one jam-packed weekend this past weekend - that is just WAY too much for one blog. I mean....it started off with the infamous JUNK GYPSY JUNK-O-RAMA PROM (I´m only teasing you with a few pics in this blog), Friday was a day full of shopping and catching up with a couple old classmates (amongst other things), then Saturday was OPENING DAY OF BOW SEASON and the AUCTION for the Ledbetter Volunteer Fire Department, Sunday was a baby shower (the baby is on the way already (5-weeks early) All seems fine, but say a prayer.) and a little chattin´ time with the bestie (but not long enough). I also got to stop by Giddings Livestock Commission to listen to Uncle Mele sell a few cows and catch up with some of those cattle buyers and sellers and auction barn workers that I used to see every week!


I TOLD YOU....VERY BUSY WEEKEND!

This is me and the pregnant lady :) Virginia! Pray for her and baby. Her hubby was on a business trip in New York and is on the way back!



My friend Lindsey and I roadtripped from Rockport in the pouring rain...just for JG Prom.

Little Miss Kylee all dudded up. She loved the car from the carnival ride!

Lindsey, Myself, and Christa @ Zapp Hall!

Me and Stacia in the Junk Gyspy Tent.

Man O Man... The more I auction things off, the more I like it. I tell you what! They had it together in Ledbetter...buyer numbers, 2 microphones, carbon tickets, list of names w/the buyer numbers, great spotters/models, and pretty close to 70 bidders, AND some DELICIOUS FRIED CHICKEN, AWESOME NOODLES, AND GREENBEANS! I couldn´t ask for more.



YUMMY!

Everyone was SO nice. I received lots of well wishes and advice and encouraging words to keep on going so...I´M GONNA KEEP ON KEEPIN´ ON!
One thing I really noticed (which I´ve known for awhile and even blogged about) is that my Uncle Mele just has that somethin´. I can´t tell you what it is and I HOPE I HAVE IT ONE DAY, but when he gets behind that mike...he just draws everyone´s attention. I mean he jokes with people, picks on´m a little bit, enjoys himself...I mean he´s just good. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR HIM! I really feel like I´m learnin´ from one of the best!

Uncle Mele spotting bidders.

I want to thank Larry and Lana Nickel and Mr. Rodney Read for contacting me early and making sure I was there! I WAS VERY HAPPY TO DO IT!!

I also want to give a shout out to some of the buyers that were there! You guys did a FANTASTIC job and I hear the auction was very successful!

DAN AND BALEN KEEN
HARLEY GOERLITZ
PACE FERTILIZER COMPANY
GIDDINGS LIVESTOCK
CARMINE FEED AND FERTILIZER
CARMINE STATE BANK
ROUND TOP STATE BANK
ULLRICH ELECTRIC MOTORS
LISA HIBBLER
MELISSA WICKEL
MAX BARNOWSKI BULLDOZING AND FENCE BUILDING
MR. AND MRS. MEINIKE
LUKE AND AUDREY STERNADEL
TOMMY RILEY
MR. BUSCHA :)
MR. ARNOLD PETERS
MR. MARTH
JAY ZAPALAC LEATHER SHOP
MR. LEHMANN
RANDY ZAPALAC
MR. AND MRS. BAMSCH
AND NUMEROUS OTHER BUYERS THAT I CAN´T RECALL (Please forgive me.)

Maybe I´ll get that buck deer :).

Another blog to come...pretty soon acutually! Thanks for reading and BUCK UP BABY!! We´ve only got one life to live, so we better GET WITH IT! Keep throwin´ those hands up and wavin´ at me :)!