When the Universe Says Bet: From Snowstorms to Siestas

July marks the anniversary of new beginnings and big changes for my family.You know what they say: "Be careful what you wish for." And let me tell you, when people talk about manifesting things by sending them out into the universe? I’m basically the universe’s favorite case study. I still remember that moment like it was yesterday: November 2003. I had just gotten home from work after being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic during a snowstorm of biblical proportions. I was trudging through knee-deep snow, juggling grocery bags and a purse that weighed more than a small child, all while trying to find my keys with frozen fingers I could no longer feel. Somewhere between almost wiping out on black ice and muttering every swear word I knew, I mumbled to myself, “Please, God, get me out of here. I don’t care where, just somewhere warm and less chaotic.”The universe said, “Bet.”Flash forward one year later: we were unpacking boxes in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, where the only white stuff on the ground was sand, and the only storm we had to deal with was trying to find decent air conditioning.Just a few months after my dramatic “my-hands-are-freezing-get-me-out-of-here” meltdown, the universe clearly...