I knew in 2003 I wanted to move to Las Vegas after my first visit here. Before that I was living in Rochester, New York with a 2 year stay in New York City. Until I went to Las Vegas that first time I didn’t think I would ever live on the West Coast. I was a confirmed East Coaster. I lived in Manhattan for one year, and Queens for a year, and when I left to go back to Rochester for family reasons, I swore I would return to New York City someday. That is until September 2003.

I went to Las Vegas alone to present at a Sewing Convention, about how to design a website. A friend was supposed to do the presentation and needed to cancel and asked me to substitute. I was tied up with the convention stuff during the days and only got out to the Strip in the evenings. I was only there 3 days, and I walked the entire strip plus went up the Eiffel Tower outside of the Paris Casino. I was entranced and felt peaceful there. It was a very unpeaceful time in my life, so feeling serene there was a pleasant surprise.

After that trip I told my family that eventually I would live there, and my son agreed he would like to live there too. He was tired of cold too :)

I didn’t get back there until June 2005, for an affiliate conference. This time I was going to the conference as the photographer, I knew one person that lived there, but had never met him. I didn’t know many of the people that were attending, only “knew” them from online forums and from my work online. I almost canceled the trip, but I got over my anxiety and went. The moment I walked off the plane I knew I was home. An incredible feeling of well being came over me, one that I still have. Before I moved here it happened each time I visited as I entered the valley either by air or driving through the desert from California. It hit me at the same spot driving each time.

They say home is where the heart is. For now, my heart wants me to be here.