Omaha native Shelly Loland is Bluestone’s new Office and Human Resource Administrator. Like many natives, she wanted to get out of town when she was young. She lived in Kansas for about 14 years, and a few other places after that, but returned to Omaha in 2019 because there’s no place like home. 

She has a little dog, too, though we don’t know if she has any ruby slippers. Puddin is a chihuahua and a proud Failed Foster. That’s what you call an animal who goes to a foster home and never leaves. After fostering 20 different dogs, Shelley found her forever pup--her failing-up-pup, if you will.

Although she is happy to be back, Shelley was hesitant to talk about herself. “I realized I'm apparently in a very boring time in my life. I guess it happens once in a while, you realize oh my gosh my life is boring right now.” But then she remembered that her goal for the last few years was to create a peaceful existence. “Apparently I've got it and didn't even really quite realize it.”

One very important part of Shelly's peaceful existence is her garden. “You know, the peace and tranquility of being outdoors and everything being green. I live kind of on the outskirts of Omaha, so there's some woodlands next to where I live. That's one of my favorite things.” Her garden’s 2022 yield was not good, but not bad enough to make her quit. This year she's planted several varieties of squash and tomatoes, plus cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, “all kinds of stuff.” And it's all growing so well that the vines are climbing over each other for attention. She is certain to have a surplus to share, so gardening not only feeds her serenity, but she has something tangible to show for it when the season is over.  

Shelly also enjoys badminton and bocce ball, but when she's inside she likes reading and watching TV, and in both cases her favorite genre is English crime like Prime Suspect. She's also reading a book on how to plant a “no-mow” yard, which she would love to fill with pollinators. This fits in nicely with her goal of buying a house, which probably won't happen this year, but will happen.

As for travel, while the most beautiful place Shelly's ever been is Majorca, for her next adventure she is heading north. “I'd like to go to Norway or Iceland, or even Alaska.” Why not back to Majorca? “My last name is Norwegian and it's part of my heritage, and I've already had melanoma, so as much as I like to be outside it doesn't really like me.” While the idea that nature doesn’t like Shelley seems far-fetched, it’s probably a good plan to save the heavy sun exposure days for the garden. And if she finds herself with too much produce to give away to friends, she can just bring it by the office.