Hey rockhounds,
If you made it here to this page, and you're considering supporting my work, I welcome you, and I want to share a bit about what your support really means to me.
I have lived on a limited income for a number of years. Some of my circumstance is self inflicted, and some is imposed by the randomness of being alive.
I have an autoimmune disorder that results in painful arthritis in my spine, recurring iritis (think charlie horse in the eyeball), and constant random musculoskeletal pain throughout my body. I've been living with this for nearly 25 years. I've had a diagnosis and been managing properly it for eight years.
I live and work on my families ranch. But because I live so far out, the pay at jobs I could stand to do, will not cover the fuel to town. I worked for years with my Dad installing mobile and modular homes. But as you can imagine, construction is hard on a spoonie body. I do a set routine of feeding and other chores to cover rent and utilities. I manage water in our pastures and perform maintenance tasks around the ranch for pay on an as needed basis. I am a freelance web designer and provide marketing and content services for small business. But with platforms like shopify, and such, the art of designing websites is going extinct. I appreciate my customers who stick with me year after year.
In 2020, I took the year off due to covid. Didn't want to travel for work and bring something home to my mom who is also a spoonie warrior. It is then that I started looking deeper into the rocks and minerals, I collect on the ranch. That led me to numerous rockhound groups on social media, and lots of interested/ing rockhounds. Which has led me to building a community, selling/trading rocks, and offering guided tours on the ranch. In 2022, I stopped working with dad in construction, to help mom at home through a surgery. But I also felt better. I wasn't putting my energies in deficit everyday going to do a job that is hard on a normal body.
Here we are in 2023. I had a plan, a vision, and momentum coming out of the holiday shopping season. For those of you reading this, who made a purchase from me between black friday and christmas, you're the best. But back to 2023. My focus took a hit when mom was diagnosed with cancer. We're dealing with it. And as we settle in to a new normal, I'm restarting some focus back to rocks.
I just recently spent the last of my 2020 stimulus money, and I'm still scraping by. I'm not looking for handouts, but more of a hand up. I'm trying to monetize some content that I've been creating for free because I love the subject matter. Know that I currently make content with only my phone and a tripod, or my laptop. I would love to have a new camera, but even a low end digital camera is luxury for me at this point. So if you enjoy my content and really want to encourage me to make more and better content, I need some help.
So if you are inclined to make a one time donation, or purchase a membership, please know it means the world to me and will allow me to step up out of this hole I've dug myself into. Please check out the extras and memberships for special prices, that you will only find here, on rosebud agate and other rocks. I'll add more extras in the future.
I thank you for taking time to read this. And if you support me, know you have my deepest gratitude!!
Jeremy