On September 7, 2018, I said goodbye to my daily life in Portland. As I packed up my house and handed over my office keys, it was both bittersweet and electrifying as big changes tend to be.

After years of planning and plotting, Joey and I finally made the move to Palm Springs with our pets. It’s been one of the best decisions of our lives but it’s also taken some serious time to adjust to new surroundings and routines.

Dreams do come true but only with a lot of work — we’d been planning a move for years but kept hitting roadblocks with multiple offers falling through along the way. What I’ve learned is that if you really want something to happen, it may not work out the first, second or even third time. That doesn’t mean it’s not right, it probably just means it’s not the right time. Don’t give up!

Selling our Portland house at the same time we were buying another house in a different state, nearly sight unseen was really stressful and nothing quite lined up so we called an Air bnb home for a few weeks. When we finally moved into our new home, it was small and cozy with a beautiful pool and landscaping but the inside needed a mind boggling amount of work. I ran my business out of a spare bedroom for a few weeks until my temporary studio was up and running. Five months in, we’re finally feeling settled and the house now feels livable.

This year has been off to a great start so far — I’m getting back into teaching after a few year break and I’m both nervous and excited about it but that’s where growth happens.

Here’s to following through with your dreams…even if it takes a few tries. —Shauna

Photo: Kristin Cofer