It actually astounds me that my unintended "hiatus" extended for as long as it did, but my only explanation can be chiseled down to one word: LIFE. That is it, in a nutshell. Not to diminish this at all, because my honest intention when I started this blog was to entertain, edify, enlighten and entrust others with my life's goings on as a wife, mother, actress and author. To spill the daily tea of my life. And tea, my friends, is something I adore and LOVE! I'm truly a tea connoisseur.
Then suddenly, POOF! I pulled a disappearing act. But truthfully, to disappear was never my intention. And I do hope you will give me a chance to continue my "blogging journey" as best I can, and peek in once in a while to see if you find any of it remotely interesting, relatable, humorous, fun, refreshing, deep, strange, messy, cool, or any other adjective you can throw in that covers the realm of this weird thing we are trying to accomplish (LIFE). This is for you, for me, for us. I hope you enjoy this bumpy ride with me. It will be far from perfect. I can promise you that much, for certain. There may be future gaps, bumps, spills. But I will try my best to keep it real.
First, I lost my darling, precious mother-in-law Bettie Ferry. Mom Ferry was a gem. In the world of moms-in-law, I scored the Mother Lode (pun intended). That was so, so difficult. Bettie was not only one of the sweetest, purest and kindest women I have ever had the honor of getting to know over the course of the nearly 20 priceless years I was blessed to know her, but she showered me and my two babies with so much love that her love and caring will carry me through the rest of my time here on earth, on top of my own mother's love.
Speaking of my own mother, I lost her as well. Talk about life-shattering pain that never seems to end. Losing one's mother should never be a loss to be experienced by anyone, ever. Flat out, I just said it. It's just not right. It's just not meant to be endured. So for any child, adult, teenager, or anywhere in between, my heart so wholeheartedly goes out to you for losing your mother. It's just not something we humans should have to endure, ever. I am still experiencing the loss all over again every day. I wonder when it will begin to feel a little more bearable?
I also lost an uncle whom I had truly always adored, who was nothing short of a genius. My beloved Uncle Roy Arnold (my mother's baby brother) had been a university administrator and vice chancellor for the Department of Agriculture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and had worked as an educator there for over 20 year. He then transitioned to Oregon State University and had continued to serve in higher education as Dean of OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, followed by Provost and then Executive VP of the university, after having earned both his master's and his doctorate. During my uncle's tenure as provost at OSU, he helped the university navigate significant budget reductions prompted by voters' adoption of property tax limitations that resulted in reduced state support for higher education. In other words, he was not only a huge advocate for land and agricultural development, education and higher education, but my uncle Roy had contributed greatly to future generations. Follow this link to learn more about my uncle's many amazing contributions: http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/oh150/arnold/biography.html
I started really getting into my acting career in the last ten years, and landed over 47 acting credits on IMDb in onscreen roles through reality, TV roles, feature films-either indie or made-for-TV shows, bigger budget projects, smaller BG (background) roles, and infomercials, so during my long hiatus I kept busy. The pandemic did not stop me. It also kept my kids busy. I told them they can choose to be busy. They both stayed busy. My daughter McKenna is a budding artist, singer, and loves to act; she also continues to take mixed martial arts classes. Our son Carson is a very talented drummer and is in the marching band at his high school and is in jazz band. He started his own garage band and jazz ensemble, and is now in four jazz combos. He is also in honors jazz, and honor role at school.
My husband Mike supports us all, works so hard and loves to cook. He builds amazing things and is a great provider. We are so lucky to have Mike. He is a great father, husband, and really is a fun dad for the kids. He supports us in all of our acting and artistic endeavors, and is very patient. He built a very cool cornhole set that turned out nice. We have a lot of fun playing cornhole with family and friends, and going kayaking with him. Now he is working on building a cool "deck" for our above ground pool.
Like I mentioned, since I've stepped away, a lot has happened. I mean, A LOT.
