Today is my one year anniversary of being a California girl. I remember everything about this day, last year, from Karen dropping me off at the airport in Ottawa, early in the morning, to lugging my three jam-packed suitcases through the customs area at Pearson airport, to posting a blog from the airport about moving out here, to arriving here and the kind man who helped me stack my jam-packed suitcases onto a luggage cart, to the incredible obstacle course of getting myself and my luggage cart to the car rental area, to finally being on the freeway driving to my new home. Then, once I was here, going out for dinner with Jen and Adam, and seeing a tumbleweed tumbling its way across a street we were driving on.

The last year has been one of the busiest of my life, filled with so much change and growth, learning and loving and laughing and fun, getting to do all the things I've wished for and worked for since I was very young. Moving clear across the continent on my own, away from my family and close friends and familiar surroundings, is not something easy to do... but it was the RIGHT thing to do, what I needed to do to actually, truly, finally live my life and discover my dreams, and just let go and start being me. It was both the craziest and BEST decision I've ever made.

So one year later, I sit here in my living room, on my big comfy red couch, with Pico curled up beside me, and am thankful. What would life be like if I hadn't been willing to dream? One of the things so many people noticed upon my moving to California was how much happier I sounded, and it's true. While I have days where I miss the people I'm closest to in the world like crazy, I'm also the happiest I've ever been. Because I'm living, really and truly. And I want to thank everyone who supported the decision I made last May. I love you, my family, and my friends. And thank you, Universe, for this gift of the life I'm living, the love that surrounds me, and the realization of these dreams.