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. 

November 2024 - Thankful and Sad All at Once

Thankful and Sad. This is a hard month, not just because Mom's birthday is in November, but I hate November, December, January, and February in general because of the holidays and so many deaths that have happened in my life in the winter months. 

November 1st I worked then drove down to Denver for the model horse show. My Hotel was great. 

November 2nd was Candyland live show - see the blog HERE!!! 

And some of my favorite pictures from the show of my models!

Second Place Amateur Artist Bay/Brown

Second Place Blanket Appaloosa Medallion

Third Place Custom Appaloosa

Third place Breyer OF 51-500 made

Second Place Dog Class

Second place Cat class

Second place CM Mini Chestnut

Second Place Hartland

Second Place Other Make

Second Place Anything Goes Performance

November 5th - Election Day. This election is so important and I voted. 

I spent the evening away from watching the election information as the stress was really overwhelming for me. I was going to do a Diamond Painting Fall Magnets activity at the Y, but just decided to stay home and watched fun movies and shows and hoping this election would keep friends and family safe. 

November 6th - sadly I woke up and lost a lot of friends, people that I had known for years. I am sad to see that the US chose hate. I can only hope it's not as bad as I think it will be. 

It was also sad because my friend Morgan lost her dad that day too 😢 Clark was was well educated and funny. 

This year has been very hard on Gen X parents. 

November 8th - I did a sit-a-long with Rocky Mountain National Park. I am grateful for the experience to learn about ROMO more. 

Then I got a massage at Elements of Touch Spa in Estes Park. They are amazing and you should try them if you are in town whether on vacation or a local. 

November 11th - I did a 3-D printing training at the Library, I had done it a couple of years ago, but was never able to get time and wanted a retrain. 

It was fun, but my project was to small as we had limited time and it fell apart 😞 That was a good learning experience overall. 

November 12th - I had a dermatology appointment. I have been skin cancer free since 2011 and I take stuff very seriously. I had a clean bill of skin health and I am so grateful! 

I had planned to do a Glass Fusion activity on November 13, but I ended up not attending because I got stuff in the mail and went home and redid my whole model horse show tote system! Almost every model has a pouch with their name on it now and I got very little sleep because YEAH ADHD!!!  

November 15th - I did a pamper myself spa day - wax, reiki, and facial and then I drove to Loveland for the night and saw THE WILD ROBOT and RED ONE. 

I absolutely loved both of them. The Wild Robot was amazing and fit so much with my thoughts on tribes - your tribe is so important and the people you love don't have to be blood to be your family. I will have a blog on tribes later. 

Red One - I could relate to Cal Drift's perspective and even Gryla's perspective on Christmas - punish the naughty,  and by the end I too saw what St. Nicholas could see, and for the first time in a long time, I can say that I feel the spirit of Christmas. 

I spent the night in Loveland because I didn't want to drive up the canyon in the dark and I went shopping the next day. I swear the store was PACKED at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, but every one was SO NICE, like they were trying to prove they weren't like the person elected as president with his hateful rhetoric. People held doors open, laughed, and smiled as we tried to negotiate our carts through the aisles. No one was rude or pushing to get in line. It was one of the nicest shopping experiences I have ever had and restored a little bit of my faith in humanity. 

November 18th - I did a laser printing training at the Library, I had done it a couple of years ago, but was never able to get time and wanted a retrain. It was so fun and I loved how my bookmark turned out! 

I didn't get a shot of it in the laser though. 😞 I was talking too much! haha

November 22 - I drove down to Loveland and saw Gladiator II. It was a good movie. 

After the movie - I used my AAA Roadside for the first time. My truck's check engine light came on and she was pretty sluggish. Got a tow to my mechanic and the driver was excellent. 

November 23rd - Mom's 75th birthday - see my blog here. I also read a great book told from the Native view of The Day of Mourning or what we call Thanksgiving. See my blog here. 

For the first time in a long time, I picked up a model and actually painted on November 24th. Using just  Sharpie Acrylic Markers - I painted this little Micro Mini Whinnies 1:64 scale Breyer model. Not bad for a new medium.

November 26th - Got the truck back from the shop - bad air filter and mass air flow sensor, then got oil change and that as well. All good now. 

I do have to say that Synchrony Bank SUCKS. I have had a card for 10 years. I paid it in full and then went to charge something today and got a decline. Believe me I was terrified, thinking something had happened. Well it had. Synchrony Bank had dropped my limit to practically nothing. I am really angry. I have had them cancel a card randomly in the past too. 

November 27th - I went to a Friendsgiving and I was going to bale because it was dark and I couldn't find it, but I was convinced to keep trying and I am so very glad that I did - it was WONDERFUL food and great people to talk too! 

November 28th - Turkey Day - this was a harder day than I thought it was going to be. I had plans with a neighbor and had to cancel because I wasn't feeling well. I just felt off all day - starving, but not hungry, happy, sad, mad, tired. I slept a lot and finally I realized - I missed calling mom. For the last twelve years, until June 12, 2024, I have called my mom every morning. This Turkey Day hit me hard because both her and my step-dad are gone and I missed them talking about their plans and things. I have always worked Thanksgiving except last year and this year, and I felt lost, and alone for the first time. It was rough. 

November 30th - I worked Friday to make up for not having the holiday time I needed for Thanksgiving, and then today - I went downtown. I missed the tree lighting and the parade, and just wanted to see town in the snow. It was fine until around noon when everyone came out, but it was a well needed walk and shop through Estes just to feel the vibration of the town. I am so happy I did it.