If you told me I was going to be marooned on a deserted island and I could only be granted three wishes as far as what I was allowed to bring, my #1 would be LOVE 💚 (in the form of Dan, my husband), #2 would be MAGIC 💥and #3, I’d have to think about.

LOVE is LIFE and MAGIC spices it up like nobody’s business.

>>>>>Every day is an ADVENTURE if you CHOOSE to believe in MAGIC.<<<<<

Dan and I were married five years ago (2014) and that was definitely MAGIC. Here’s a little about it. 

After just a few weeks of being together (our paths had crossed once seven years earlier in Sedona, AZ, where delayed-activation pixie dust was obviously sprinkled), the moment was celebrated in an impromptu wedding while on an epic road trip from Vancouver (Canada) to New York by way of Los Angeles and a string of beauty-filled amazing National Parks, while never turning on the radio once. 

On May 29th, 2014, we were MARRIED BY A COWBOY and blessed by two Tibetan monks on a pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River in Moab, Utah. The unplanned event was attended by 11 love-emanating guests that MAGIC brought together. Something to behold.

Hanging on my office wall is a big widely-scribbled whiteboard mapping our ambitious 5-YEAR PLAN. We’ve been pouring a lot of energy 🙏on the whole thing for quite a while. 🧡 Above the stroke marking May 2019, I drew a colorful red rock arch 🏜with the inscription “5th anniversary in Moab and Sedona” (to be honest, it also says “Annie 135lbs”, another goal reached 😊). For years, our dream was to return to where it all began for a meaningful celebration.

I say this celebration in Moab was a “dream” because getting there would have to involve MAGIC. 

Here’s the QUICK BIG PICTURE: 
When we embarked on our epic road trip in 2014, neither of us had a job. Dan had been taking care of his elderly parents and I had moved back in with my mother while my things remained in Vancouver (more about that in my upcoming memoir). During our trip, Dan received a call from a long-ago colleague who, out of the blue, asked if he was looking for work (MAGIC I tell you!) Dan said yes and that decision set the tone for our next five years. 

You see, in order for Dan to keep working, we had to follow a…’persnickety’ (to be kind) job and that involved moving 14 times along the East Coast, from Florida to Massachusetts, mostly from hotel room to hotel room (lots of stories there, believe me!). 

On top of that, in the midst of those five years, Dan had an ‘episode’ of unexpected cancer (unexpected like showing up to the ER on an otherwise unremarkable workday for abdominal pain and an hour later being told: Congratulations, you have cancer!). Fortunately, the healing came from lots of green juice, meditation, faith, LOVE and surgery and eventually, we were back on the road again! 

Needless to say, our finances were sunk, and our dream was heading to hospice. 

Enters MAGIC “côté jardin” (it’s French, look it up!). 

Last June, as work in NYC once again dramatically dwindled, an opportunity opened up in Colorado. What do you think we did? Well of course we moved. As nature-lovers it was a no-brainer! We packed a 26’ U-Haul (our load now suffering from gigantism) and drove from Connecticut to Colorado. (stop the presses, we’re still there!)

The amazing thing I realized just a couple months ago is that WE ARE ONLY 5.5 HOURS FROM MOAB by car!!!! No kidding!

💥💥💥So, on May 29th, 2019, we gratefully (and pretty darn excitedly) got in our car (Blackberry is her name) and headed to Moab and Sedona to CELEBRATE our 5th wedding anniversary💥💥💥

 It was MAGIC! (*see chronic illness P.S. below)

 I don’t think magic happens without seeking it (at least, not as much of it). Dan and I set up this trip as a VACATION WITH INTENTIONS. For the past several months we’ve been consciously working on many aspects of our life and relationship in order to make this time a purposeful transition from the first five years of our marriage to the next five; from fight-or-flight to expansion. Doing so injected meaning and magic into a myriad of occurrences. And we got what we came looking for: the SHIFT is happening, we’re inspired, we’ve got vision and we’re ready for more MAGIC!

THE MORAL OF THIS STORY:
If you travel to Vegas to see a magic show, chances are, you’ll see magic. If your intention is to see mind-blowing magic, you’ll have invested in tickets to the best show in town and expect to have your mind blown. Happy travels!

On the other hand, if you’re not interested in magic you won’t waste your money on tickets to a magic show and if you happen to travel to Vegas, it will be for entirely different reasons. My guess is: you won’t see any magic. 

 >💥>💥>💥>
MAGIC comes to those who dare to BELIEVE in it, SEEK it, EXPECT to SEE it and book tickets to the magic show.
It’s entirely up to you!
What will YOU see in Vegas? 
💥<💥<💥<

Now. In the ‘spirit’ of magic, check out my ‘sig-nature’! It’s my ‘name-from-another-mother’…get it?...Mother-Nature ?😉 I’ll be using it when I… actually, you know what? I’ll use it whenever I damn well please! 

 xox
Annie Coyote

* P.S.
For the Beauty-full ones who, like me, suffer from CHRONIC ILLNESS, let me specify that ‘magic’ doesn’t necessarily mean no physical challenge.

Yes, the trip was MAGICAL. Dan and I were immersed in beauty for days on end. We filled up on wide open spaces, which our souls really really needed, and satisfied our adventurous selves with lots of exploration. Due to unusual rains, the deserts were FILLED with flowers—anything that ever longed to bloom was blooming 🌺🌸🌼. Love abounded and it was glorious.

BUT. I also had a couple bad days and nights due to inadvertently consuming a touch of canola oil (which I’m hyper-sensitive to) and also because long days of driving with the landscape zooming past make me dizzy and shaky…but I loved the whole thing nonetheless. Dan was super supportive insisting all it did was change our pace, we took it easy on those days, and it did not tarnish the trip whatsoever. MAGIC is within reach of everyone, even, or mostly perhaps, to the CHRONICALLY DIFFERENT.

A friend inspired me to write this post because she saw MAGIC in these photos. I figured spreading the magic was the right thing to do.