My coastal dream......

My coastal dream has come true. When we moved from Las Vegas back to Sydney late last year it was hard, much harder than I thought it would be. I thought coming home to where I grew up in would be easy but little did I know that the adjustment would be a large one for many reasons. 

The actual logistics of the move were massive and a long process, moving from one country to another is no joke, especially when a many, many miles of ocean seperate the two locations. Then there is the fur baby and a country that has extremely strict bio security rules (with absolute good reason I must add), let's just say that process was a nightmare but there was no way we were going to leave him behind when he has been everywhere with us for so many years. 

To make matters a little more challenging, a month before we left he started walking into walls and we realised he was losing his eyesight, most probably due to his diabetes. Not only was this heartbreaking for me but also a huge source of anxiety and stress that we would be putting him into a create, onto a 16 hour flight then straight into 10 days of quarantine, all while he has just lost his eyesight.  He then walked into something while we were packing and managed to scratch his cornea which was so painful for him and he was to wear a cone for the rest of the time and potentially on the flight until it healed (which it didn't heal until weeks after getting him out of quarantine). 

Packing up the house and all our possessions was a process but the tough part for me was to wind down the business that I had spent the past few years building and growing and was a huge part of not only my life and time but also a large part of who I am now and has contributed to my journey of recovery and health. I knew it would be a lot to take my little business that I had spent so much time and energy building and move it to the other side of the world and try to pick up where I left off. But just like the dog, I was not going to leave it all behind. 

The one condition I had, well we both agreed on this, was that we needed to live as close as possible to the ocean.

Fast forward 8 months and here we are, settling into our new lives by the ocean and that in its self makes all the hard times and hard work all worth-wild. 

Just waiting on our container to arrive with all our possessions, furniture and my studio equipment and tools was not only a long wait but a test of my patience and negotiation skills. Things have not all gone to plan for me since getting my equipment and finally setting up my new studio space. Converting equipment to new power sources, living in a rental property so not being able to even put a hole in the wall, changing online presence and ecommerce store to Australian currency as well as finding new suppliers and resources has been a trying time. I have also been battling an extreme flare up in my chronic illness which has been lasting for a good part of this year so far. This has slowed me and the process down a lot which is a mental struggle for the gal that wants everything done and wants it done now, but I am trying to not only listen to my body and work through what needs to be done but also retrain my brain to a new slower pace. 

A big part of the new slower pace that I am trying to embrace is where we have put down roots. Gone are the days of inner city living and constantly being out and about. We are now a short stroll to the ocean with plush rolling green hills in the background with grazing cows chilling out on a hill overlooking the ocean (seriously they have some of the best views in town).