Thanks for Your Help, Friends!

 Last year about this time, I wrote to you all asking for a little help from my friends, and you showed up! We raised $357.68 in donations over the month and I wanted to share with you today how that has influenced my blog this year.

 First, it showed me that there were real people out there reading what I was writing who actually valued it enough to contribute financially. That means more than I can possibly express! I love writing, but it's hard when you put things out into the blogosphere day after day and you wonder if anyone sees it, if anyone cares, if it's making a difference. When you all showed up for me last December, it encouraged me to keep writing, to keep traveling, to keep learning and sharing things with you. THANK YOU!!!

 Next, by having some level of financial income, my blog was legitimized as a business. This enabled me to open five different credit cards and two bank accounts earning me 365,000 points/miles and $1,200 in account signup bonuses. Those loaves and fishes were certainly multiplied! While $357.68 certainly wouldn't cover a trip for me to write to you about, the points and money generated by it more than covered my trip last month! It also led to the posts Groceries for free and If Ice Cream Makes You Happy as well as covering my trip in the MSC Yacht Club (written about here and here) with travel insurance and giving me 3x points per dollar on my spend with one of those business cards. I've got several more posts from my business learning this year in the hopper that I've been proving out before I share them with you including ones on banking bonuses and small businesses. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

 In working on this post, I've been reviewing what I wrote this year, and adding labels so you can sort through things easier! I AM BLOWN AWAY by what God taught me and did in my life this year. I haven't really written in a journal since I started blogging regularly, it seems redundant since I'm pretty much sharing everything I learn, experience and think about here, and as I look back over this year's posts it's a lot like re-reading my journal, which I've done a few times. Here are some of the big memories:

  • Lots of Travel! I was blessed to go on nine different trips this year, not counting visits to the beach. Five of these were cruises and four were land-only adventures that I flew to. I shared many of the details of these trips, but I also wrote about more general topics that apply to everyone, like loyalty programs and upgrade bidding, as well as disability and chronic illness specific travel info. You can see all of it if you click on the three lines at the top left of my home page, select Labels > Show More > Travel.
  • Health was a big subject on my heart for much of the year. I get lost in today and forget all that I've walked through so this review was so helpful. I started out the year learning about pacing, sharing about what it's like to live with EDS, and then in March I began to incorporate Pre-Diabetes and blood sugar management into my routine. I fought valiantly to get a move on and incorporate exercise into my routine, while struggling with the realities of becoming an ambulatory wheelchair user. In April I had my brain tumor update which was followed by going Gray in May for brain tumor awareness. 

  • My Bible study has been a major part of the Salty Zebra Blog since I started regularly blogging my SOAPs in 2024. Some of them, like Secure in Christ, were really difficult for me as they came in a challenging season. I barely got through the study before the next one began, and I hardly posted anything outside of it. Thanks for hangin' in there and not giving up on me! This year I learned through several LGG studies:
  • Another way God worked on my heart this year was through advocacy. Last spring I wrote five posts on immigration, and later in the year my advocacy passion turned to disability as I learned how to also advocate for myself. In the fall, I began an ongoing feature called, "Making it Work," in which I share hints and advice for how to make life work when your body doesn't 🤪.

  • You may have noticed that one of the labels is, "KIR." This stands for "Keeping It Real," and in a post with this label I'm sharing myself in a more raw, vulnerable way. This has been a challenge for me in putting myself out there, but I appreciate your kind love and support!
Here's the Thing: So here we are at the end of the year again, and I come to you, hat in hand, to ask you once again for your support. Every little bit helps. You don't have to give a large gift to make a difference. I'm so thankful for your readership, and if this blog has spoken to you or blessed you this year, would you consider making a donation? Just follow the link below. I will be adding this link to the bottom of all my posts in December (if I remember).


As a reminder, this December I'm looking for those who would like to partner with me in providing content by donating. If you'd like to donate, click here. 
Thank you for your consideration!

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