December 2024 - Holiday Wishes

Whatever holiday you celebrate this month, I hope it's a good one for you. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc. etc. etc. etc.

December is a hard month for me. A lot of negative things hold place in my life in Decembers. 

December 3rd - Was the 17 year anniversary of my dog Bria's passing. I miss that little girl so much.

Collage of Bria Pictures

It was also GIVING TUESDAY and I donated to the Estes Park Police Department Blue Santa!!

Giving Tuesday Image

EPPD Blue Santa Image

December 4th - was the fifth month since mom passed. I felt like years and yesterday at the same time. 

December 5th - Was the 8th anniversary of my cat Gabby passing. 

Gabby Collage

The 5th was also a very interesting day - this is my post from FB and something that touched me deeply. 

It's been rough since the 23rd of November (my mom's birthday) - I have been angry, grumpy, weepy, and everything else. Thanksgiving was rough and I was walking through Estes Park on the 30th just to see the shops and get little gifties here and there.

I kept finding things that I wanted for mom then remembering I couldn't get them for her anymore. A friend told me that was my mother talking to me.

I have been struggling not to be in a rage this week, for whatever reason. I have just felt angry every day. Last night I went to bed and I just wanted to not wake up and be angry.

I play sleep music at night to help me sleep. It's on YouTube and can go like 12 hours. I shut it off and must have accidentally pushed play on whatever video YouTube popped up that I should hear and I started SOBBING.

I am my mother's savage daughter

The one who runs barefoot

Cursing sharp stones

I am my mother's savage daughter

I will not cut my hair

I will not lower my voice

My mother's child is a savage

She looks for her omens in the colors of stones

In the faces of cats, in the fall of feathers

In the dancing of fire

In the curve of old bones

I am my mother's savage daughter

The one who runs barefoot

Cursing sharp stones

I am my mother's savage daughter

I will not cut my hair

I will not lower my voice

My mother's child dancеs in darkness

She sings heathеn songs

By the light of the moon

And watches the stars and renames the planets

And dreams she can reach them

With a song and a broom

I am my mother's savage daughter

The one who runs barefoot

Cursing sharp stones

I am my mother's savage daughter

I will not cut my hair

I will not lower my voice

We are all brought forth out of darkness

Into this world, through blood and through pain

And deep in our bones, the old songs are waking

So sing them with voices of thunder and rain

We are our mother's savage daughters

The ones who run barefoot

Cursing sharp stones

We are our mother's savage daughters

We will not cut our hair

We will not lower our voice

We are our mother's savage daughters

The ones who run barefoot

Cursing sharp stones

We are our mother's savage daughters

We will not cut our hair

We will not lower our voice

We are our mother's savage daughters

The ones who run barefoot

Cursing sharp stones

We are our mother's savage daughters

We will not cut our hair

We will not lower our voice

Warrior Daughter

December 7th - TIE DYE Stockings at the YMCA Staff Activities!!

Hot Pink Dye

Raspberry Dye

Various red dyes

Pinky Pink dye

all wadded up

color

Blake helping us all

My Stocking

December 8th - Cowboy Brad John Denver Christmas at the Y

I was going to do a candle making class at the Y Staff Activities, but it was to close to the start time for the concert. 

December 9 & 10 - I ate something that was CLEARLY labeled Gluten Free and I was so sick. I know this is the only thing that I ate that might have been questionable and boy did I pay for it. Haven't been this bad in a while. 

December 10 - My Grandpa's 104th Birthday - I miss you Gpa. 

And it's Colorado Gives Day!!

And I donated to: Crossroads Ministries of Estes Park, Estes Valley Library, Estes Valley Land Trust, and Rocky Mountain Conservancy. 

December 14th - Loads of goodness today! 

OMG this was so fun. It was a ZOOM thing and I had prepared my dough ahead of time because 1) I was using GF almond flour, not regular flour, and 2) I wanted to see the zoom more. 

It was these two recipes from the Star Wars Ultimate Cookbook!! I didn't do the drink - just doing the cookies was hard enough for me since I don't cook/bake well! 

It was wonderful and I am so glad I did the experience! 

Then my Saturday evening rounded out with Cowboy Brad and Mark Rashid at the American Legion Hall. 

December 18th - Administrative Office Christmas Party at work - it was a blast. Great food and so much was Gluten Free it made me so happy and a fun White Elephant exchange.

December 20th - I did a spa day at Salt & Stone in Estes Park -it was amazing

Then I found a weighted stuff Unicorn at Dollar General. It was the last one and I had to get it because it was PINK. 

December 21st - 1st true day of winter - I went for a drive in RMNP as I haven't done that in a long, long time. 

December 22nd - I missed work as I had to go to the ER. Luckily it was nothing major, and I am doing all right, but no one ever likes to go to the hospital. I do have to say that MCR ER in Loveland is TOP NOTCH and the staff was amazing! 

December 24th - I went to the 5:00 PM service at the YMCA Hyde Chapel. Pastor Greg and his team did a beautiful service. His message was so amazing and I am grateful I went to service. 

After service, I went to dinner with my landlords and neighbors. It was lovely, and helped me to not feel so alone. 

December 25th - Christmas Day - was emotional and I decided to do a hike and try and take pictures with my new camera - half of them turned out badly - but these looked good. 

December 28th - I am trying to learn to use this for my embroidery. It messed up and couldn't save a couple ones that I tried to do because I was trying to go too fast and messed up, actually ripping them. SO, third time is a charm. 

December 30th - Journaling and Vision Boards

December 31 - BURY YOUR POVERTY, DIG UP YOUR WEALTH - 

Don't Forget! Check out my blog here!

Bury Your Poverty, Dig Up Your Wealth 2024-2025

 It's New Year's Eve 2025!! It's time to Bury your Poverty and Dig up your wealth! 

Money Tree

I "stole" this concept from a fellow model horse collector, Chris Wallbruch, and I tried it in 2013 and it was an OK year overall.

I tried it again in 2014 and while it was a rough year - this DID work for me. 

I did this in 2015 and while the end of the year was not what I expected - it was a very good year overall - I still had income after I had been let go from a job and I was very glad to not be homeless. 

2016 was just a bitch and while I had no great windfall I have always had the funds to pay what needed to be paid. 

2017 I managed to get a little more than I needed, but again no windfall. 

2018 I have had a very good year - no windfall- but all the bills paid and I actually have $10 in my savings account (This is saying something considering I have had a $0 balance for a while). 

2019 brought a lot of change in aspects of my life and while again no windfall, I have managed to pay my bills (a little late sometimes) but again I have money in savings and a money market now! 

2020 was a suck year with the Coronavirus, the East Troublesome Fire Thompson zone, Cameron Peak Fire, and so much more - but I was given a gift of money to get a new rental home, pay my bills - all on time, help with my evacuation and pay for the things that I wanted and needed and overtime at work. I have to say that I have been helped this year more than any other and I am so very grateful. 

2021 has been the most generous and not so generous year to me. I struggled still from the Coronavirus issues like the rest of the world. I busted my butt at a job that did not appreciate me, I traveled, paid my bills and in October, lost my step-dad. I then proceeded to get a job that actually makes me feel appreciated and pays me well. It feels unbelievable, but I am SO grateful! This year, my cup hath runneth over. It may not be a windfall, but it is a wage and environment that is positive and good for me and that's better than the largest lottery win. 

2022 was a life changing year. I left that job in April that I thought was so great, took the whole month of May to find something, cashed out some retirement accounts and things, before starting a new position that ended up not being great in the sense of money but was awesome in the sense of friendships and the wealth of knowledge that I gained. I bought a 4 wheel drive truck in February and kept my other truck as well. I was able to travel and to do somethings that I wanted too. I got another job in October and I am liking it and the benefits. It was a still a struggle of a year, but I am grateful for everything and feeling good about digging up my wealth in 2023. 

2023 has been a good year. I managed to get money back from a company that had been overcharging me for 15 months. I sold a lot of art work - my best year yet, and I was able to pay my bills and help my mom out. I am truly grateful for 2023 and hoping 2024 will be even better. 

2024- has been a rough year. I lost my mom, left a volunteer position that I had been at for seven years, and had a lot of set backs. I always felt on the edge of the precipice of falling into a loss of money that was not recoverable, living paycheck to paycheck like most Americans do. I came out ahead, but the cost was losing my mom. She made sure I had something, and I appreciate that, but I would rather have her. All the money in the world can't replace her. 

Wealth

It is time to bury your poverty!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this tradition, what you do is bury a dollar (or any amount above a dollar that you want) in the soil on New Year's Eve.

This can be in a houseplant if the ground is frozen or inaccessible, but I like to go outside, dig a hole, and drop my dollar in. (I put it in a plastic bag). As you bury said dollar, say out loud, "I am burying my poverty!" TIP - if you do this outside, make sure you place some sort of marker where you bury your buck so that you can find it again!

On New Year's Day, dig UP the dollar, and as you do so, say out loud, "I am unburying my wealth!"

You can't spend the money - you can either keep it or give it away to charity. Giving it away is the best so you are less likely to spend it. For me, each year I have given the $1 to a local Estes Park charity. This year I plan to bury more than $1 and give the local EP Charity more $$ when I dig it up.  

This tradition is supposed to give you an unexpected windfall of money during the year.

I have had money come to me over the years I have done this and I have always had money that helped me out of tough times so I am NOT complaining.

It is a tradition I plan on keeping every year and I thank Chris for pointing me to it!! Go bury that poverty and dig up your wealth! 

Dig up your wealth!

Pile of Money

Happy 2025!

Advent Model Horse Photo Challenge 2024

 

Day 1 - Foal - Custom foal painted by me in 2023. 

Day 2 - Breyer - Custom painted Breyer Stablemate by Me 2024

Day 3 - Roan - Lesli Kathman Southern Belle Resin painted by me to a chestnut (strawberry) roan in 2023

Day 4 - Glossy - this is my Stablemate Breyer Arabian Family - all glossy finishes.

Day 5 - One of my favorite Mare models - Micro Mini 1:64 scale Hazel resin 

Day 6 - Artist Resin - this is a rare artist resin Miss Penny sculpted by Morgan Haberman to a bashkir curly and painted by Meghan Namaste

Day 7 - Chestnut - Peter stone company 1 of 6 chest Chip Morgan that I won at a live show.

Day 8 - Peter Stone - DAC Peter Stone Chip – run of 4 – from 2013

Day 9 - Buckskin - Breyer Stablemate Foxtrotter painted buckskin by me

Day 10 - Classic Scale - beautiful Tennessee Walking Horse Custom on Breyer Classic Keen by Molly Pengra

Day 11 - Gelding  - CM Breyer Stablemate Customized by Bethany Shaw 

Day 12 - Northlight - my Northlight Bull Terrier because I don't have a horse!

Day 13 - Vintage - vintage G2ASB Breyer stablemate by Linda Watson-Gresham 2002

Day 14 - Appaloosa - Peter Stone Chip Appaloosa Cutting horse

Day 15 - Your Favorite Model - my traditional Kilimanjaro Resin brindle Unicorn collab piece with me and Morgan Haberman

Day 16 - Schleich - the Schleich Shetland Pony

Day 17 - Bay - artist resin Laura Behning Rose Annette painted by Angelica Nelson (2010)

Day 18 - Stablemate Scale - the dainty Darcy resin stablemate scale painted by Sara Gifford

Day 19 - Stallion -  cm Breyer sm G1 Morgan by Kayla Lovejoy 2022

Day 20 - Custom - beautiful G1 Stablemate Morgan stallion by Stephanie Blaylock. 

Day 21 - Fantasy - Breyer stablemate Django customized to thestral by Kristian Beverly

Day 22 - Traditional Scale - Breyer TWH bluegrass bandit by Sara Gifford and Nikki Byler

Day 23 - Pinto -  my big easy bash Moon Pie special run from 2014

Day 24 - A Model Gifted to You - this beautiful Peter  Stone Palouse was gifted to me when I held my live show American Heartland Live in 2011. She was my only Peter Stone model for a long time and is still my only Peter Stone traditional scale model. Thank you Marilyn Jensen.

Day 25 - Your Newest Model - a giftie to myself- beautiful silver bay Morgan painted by Meredith Warren

November was Manatee Awareness Month

Manatees are some of my FAVORITE animals behind Equines, Canines, and Felines. I totally fell in love with them when I went to Sea World in the late 1990's and saw the rehab tank. They are SO amazing and I have this ceramic manatee that I made as well as stuffed ones and little figurines. 

November is Manatee Awareness month. Manatee Awareness Month was first declared in 1979 by the late former Florida Governor and Save the Manatee Club co-founder, Bob Graham. 2024 was the 45th Anniversary of the Manatee Awareness month.  

Great information on Manatees can be found at Save the Manatee website.

You can learn about their disappearing habitat due to climate change, their habits, and you can even adopt a manatee (sponsor one) to help with rehab efforts, etc. 

Manatees are often called Sea Cows. There are three main types of manatees:  Amazonian Manatees, West Indian Manatees, and West African Manatees. West Indian are the largest and the ones found in the gulf waters of the US and Mexico. They are related to Dugongs and the extinct Steller's sea Cows.