Ebay has been one of many changes in my life in the last 5 years.  I grew up in Minnesota and started college right after high school.  The summer after my first year of college I got married and shortly after was hired at a national discount retailer.  I worked full-time, had a beautiful baby girl, and ended up divorced-- but I got my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration!

Opportunity presented itself to move up into management within the organization, and I took it.  I bought a house and my daughter started school--life was good, but I was still a single parent. 

In 2004 my family got together in Idaho for a vow renewal for my Aunt and Uncle celebrating their 25th Anniversary.  My Cousins introduced me to the man I fell in love with and married in February 2005.  I transferred within the company to the store in his hometown and my daughter transferred into school there as a fourth grader.  My husband has fraternal twin boys two years older than my daughter who were extremely premature and have MANY developmental issues/delays--combining the family has been a challenge.

Another challenge thrown my way has been my career.  The national retailer I had worked for for 15 years restructured, I was offered a severence package and accepted it , and I left the company to stay home with my children.  Ebay was my way of helping the family income and of feeling productive again after having worked 50 plus hours/week for years in the fast-paced retail environment.

My small successes getting my store going helped me realize that I needed to find a career that better suits my family.  My goal is to  enroll in an on-line Master's program to get my master's degree in elementary education.  However, opportunity knocked and my Brother & Sister -in-law were looking for someone to watch my nephew who turned 1 in 2007, so I will be babysitting for a while (my youngest is 13, so I couldn't resist!).  I believe that things happen for a reason and that family comes first, so I will adjust my timeline and continue my education as time allows. 

BASEROAD AUTO PARTS PLUS, my Ebay store, originally started out as a possible way to expand my husband's business.  His father owns a NAPA franchise and will sell it to my husband within a year or so as he retires. 

However, I ended up focussing on more of the items that I was familiar with, garage saling and shopping thrift shops and going out of business sales to set up my store inventory--that is the PLUS in the store name.  I will continue with that indefinately, especially in the summers. 

Soon I plan on adding basic items like air filters and oil filters (light and easy to ship and required in regular car do-it-yourself maintenance).  In the future we plan to largely focus on the parts inventory he has at the store that is slow moving (and not overly heavy) to try to improve his inventory turn over.  As only my husband and my father-in-law currently run the store, it may take a little while to get it up and running to the level we hope to achieve -- especially with my father-in-law retiring, but we are bound and determined to get it done!