With the craziness of a worldwide pandemic shutdown, and the fallout, time flies and I had forgotten all about my FaeryBoop Realm community! Hey, the time had profound affects on me, including an 18 pound weight gain. My art stopped when the pandemic began. I had an exhibition happening in Italy, making me an International artist, and the Tuscany gallery had to close. My art died. I was in complete SURVIVAL mode for a while. It happens when all the things you love to do to feel grounded gets yanked by the government----no swimming, no hiking, no biking.
Well, I could go on and on about my disdain but I won't :O Let's get you up to speed on our world.
Clayton is now a Detective and has received numerous awards for his achievements with the latest and greatest being chosen as THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OF THE YEAR 2024! We really have acclimated to being that blue line family. It takes a team to make this dream work and we each give it our all.
In the past 5 years, we've hosted 2 weddings, one in New Mexico and one in South Dakota. We now have 2 amazing son-in-laws who have quickly become another member of the family. We love the balance they give to our little family. They fit so well that Finn just realized I am not their Mom. Quite the compliment! I strive to be a support for all of our kids. We also became grandparents. We weren't sure how that hat was going to feel. Finn and Summer weren't sure on how to be aunts. We didn't really know how to be OUR KIND of grandparents. We worried needlessly----we are all naturals :) LOL Our family is filled with sassy, strong spirited girls and she has followed suit! We love her antics!
The lovely covid weight needed to be dealt with. I built up my home gym and made that a priority. I lost half of what I needed that first month. The rest was found when I took up an elimination diet challenge and identified foods that were causing full body inflammation. I continued on my journey and as of today, I have been steady strength training and still incorporating pilates seasonally for five years now. In that 5 years, I've taken my fitness to new heights. At 50, I competed in Muscle & Fitness magazine's cover contest and I topped out in the top 1 percent in the world!
I also made amazing friendships with people all over the world I talk to on a daily basis. I was chosen by the BODi platform to be in their filming cast for the first ever Spanish speaking workouts and I appear in many of the BODi building segments. Finn has grown up watching her mom on TV. Doing a workout comes naturally to her. I also was able to inspire my family to get into the concept of wellness.
This journey of life stopping, and then recognizing cycles in myself, caused me to hire a trusted life coach. Such a rewarding and difficult experience. I did not realize how much losing my baby sister when I was 5 years old had shaped and affected my belief system, how that shaped decisions for years to come. If you are interested in hiring a life coach, I can recommend a few people. Just ask! Hiring that life coach helped me recognize my reactions, the whys, how to rewire that thinking. Just an total indepth evaluation of how I operate without judgement. I am how I am and this is why and why it is OK. This look inward also helped me identify things outside of myself as well. I reached out to people I had let go that meant something to me. I found myself having the courage to be more vulnerable that I had ever been. Again, quite the journey!
BODi ended up fizzling out. Still love the workouts and trainers and now some are fitness acquaintences. I just don't work the business module any longer. I also attained my NASM virtual coaching certification and can legally train people via the internet just as I was doing with BODi.
Daughter Sydnie and I opened up my dream of having a backyard swim school last summer. We had 2 sessions of lessons and had doubled the number of kids in that second session! It grew. It was nice to get my lifesaving/swim coaching and CPR credentials back in my life. I love teaching kids how to safe around the water!
This past year found us making the most of every day with our aging babies. Chica passed on the end of August and Gunther followed her six months later. That has been quite a change for our family as the babies were part of our lives for 10 years. In the year leading up to their deaths, we had a large Belgium Malanois who was obviously abandoned and ended up taking refuge in our carport 3 months. After Chica passed, we let her in. Winnie is a proud member of the Ness Clan now. Her presence really did extend our time with Gunther. He enjoyed having her around.
This year's focus for me has been my getting my artwork back out there. I have started this year with a bang! In January, I donated one of my artworks to the Roswell Police Department to be given away as a door prize at the annual awards ceremonies. Clayton's office is set up like a private museum and is even included on police department tours for the public. I was asked specifically for a submission from one of my fans who is a Brass in the PD. I also earned an exhibition spot in a Winter 2024 open call online event for Art Collide! Please check this exhibit out, there is so much talent in this show! I have a few more hooks out there to round out the year and I am hopeful to get into a physical exhibition to take my family to and we can make an event of it with our smoking jackets, fancy clothes and snooty dinners with private collectors :)
Ladies and Gentlemen: The Lady is Back :)
Now that I've found this again---stay tuned! I'll try to update this weekly! Much love!
