Bluestone has a new Property Manager at ZAG. A self-described small-town girl, Monica Dibbern was born in Council Bluffs and raised in Missouri Valley. She attended college at Iowa State, then lived in Tucson, where she began her career in property management. And property management turns out to be her thing. “I took a year off to try some RN travel recruiting last year, didn't really like it. But, I gave it a whirl.” 

If you've ever dreamed about having a summer home but couldn't see how it would work (What am I, a Kennedy? And who has time to drive all the way to Cape Cod or wherever?) Monica and her boyfriend of 22 years have cracked the code. “We like to go glamping.” They have a fifth-wheel trailer and lease a spot for it at Cottonwood Cove RV and Marina Resort in Blair, Nebraska. “We've met a lot of great people out there. We have a neighbor who has a spot near us so we kind of turned our campers towards each other so we have a really big space. We concreted it and we have a gazebo. Lots of grilling and fun stuff like that. That's basically where I spend my weekends from April to October.”  Resort members also have access to a huge lodge with a bar and pool. In other words, their kind of glamping sounds like a lot more fun than the Real Housewives of Orange County-style glamping.

But just in case you think having a weekend getaway sounds like plenty of getting away, they also love to go on vacation. Their favorite destinations are Santa Lucia, Martinique, and Mexico, but though she says they are beachy people, one of her favorite trips was to Alaska. “It was more of an excursion trip. We went with two other couples.” One of her friends loves to play travel agent so he organizes everything. “We landed in Anchorage and went to the van and just drove straight down, probably hit seven or eight different Airbnbs in different cities. Did a lot of fishing, whitewater rafting, walked a glacier—that trip was just amazing!” Though the pandemic put a stop to their globetrotting for a while, they're heading back to Mexico in December.

As for goals in the coming year, Monica has a pretty good one. “I love to exercise but I had a knee injury last year that kind of stopped me from exercising for a while, so my goal is to get back on my Peloton.” An added incentive: “Or my boyfriend's going to sell it.”