This post is sponsored by KIWI®, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The end of 2016 brought about a big change for me, my husband and our pup.  Days before heading off for the holidays with our families, we moved into our new home, the first that we own together.  I’ve lived in Los Angeles since I was 18 and chose to hop from rental to rental because I never truly accepted Los Angeles as my long-term home. I think in a way, knowing my living situation was temporary and continuing to think of Canada as my home for all the years away gave me a sense of comfort.  If the big, bad world of LA ever got to be too much, I could always flee to the safety and comforts of “home” to accept me, cuddle me up and tell me it was all going to be okay.  Since getting married and sharing a life with my person out in LA, my feelings towards the big, bad city have changed.  Thanks to my husband and now, the dog we adopted almost two years ago, my home in LA gives me a sense of belonging, purpose and security that I never knew I could have in this land of crushed hopes and unattainable dreams.

The family I have out here makes all of those hopes and dreams seem possible and exciting and less significant to my identity any which way because I am a wife, dog-mom and now a homeowner not just one of a million lone-wolf actors trying to make it in Hollywood.

Of course, being a new homeowner means my domestication has been taken to the next level and my priorities have instantly changed.  I now want to earn and save money to plant trees in the backyard or get a new rug for the bedroom instead of spending it on that pair of designer boots or loafers I’ve had my eye on for months.  Shoes have always been my sweet spot for spending so my collection of boots and shoes is plentiful to say the least, but I have always been pretty careless about taking care of my things.  Now, with this new major financial responsibility on my hands, I’m going to have to take much better care of that collection to keep them looking good and lasting long!  My husband has always been very precious about his things and the shoes he’s had for years look nearly new thanks to KIWI Protect-All.  He has always encouraged me to do the same and I’ll admit, I turned a blind eye until now, but as the new owner of a beautiful home (and major responsibility!), I figure I better keep the shoes I do have looking the part!  With KIWI’s easy-to-use Protect-All spray, I can guard my shoe collection from the elements and extend their life in any weather.  This is a 2017 resolution that can be made a reality super simply with KIWI and thank goodness for that!

My house is beautiful.  It is truly more than I would’ve ever expected my first house to be and I love every inch of its style and construction but what gives me the most pride about it is everything it represents.  To me, this house represents the milestones I’ve surpassed in this city, the woman that’s evolved from that lonely and scared 18-year-old-girl, the sense of self I was able to maintain against all obstacles and influences, the hours of tireless work I’ve put into my job to be able to afford to do this at an age at which some of my icons lost their lives to fast living.  These bricks and mortar represent the love that gave me new life just when I was starting to feel depleted and the odds my husband and I have overcome to turn our love at first sight story into a strong and lasting one.  Each support beam of this house represents the support of my husband and my family back home who let me leave on my own at a young age to pursue my dreams and encouraged me to stay and fight for them every time I got scared and wanted to run away.  This house is so much more than a house.  This house is my home and while I may not have put the manual labor into its construction or architectural flair into its design, I created it.  I created this home with perseverance, resilience, humility, love, gratitude,  self-awareness and drive and I now live in it and walk through it with pride.

I wanted to share this story with you to inspire you to keep striving towards your personal goals in 2017.  I hope that this year, you continue to fight hard for those personal goals and keep your chin held as high as you can muster while you do.  The universe pays it forward with personal and material rewards, I promise so just do you the best way you know how, learn and grow constantly and have faith that the rest will happen exactly how it’s meant to.  You are special and unique and you should #WalkWithPride every day for being who you are!

SHENAE GRIMES-BEECH

Shenae Grimes-Beech is an actor and YouTuber with a highly engaged community of like-minded women who are here to stand up for what they believe in and lean into discomfort, especially when it means doing the right thing.