Hey! If this landed in Promotions… drag me over to Primary so you don't miss the next one.

It’s still dark outside.

I’m in a parking lot in Ontario, California, with a lawn chair, my laptop, and a box of donuts. The sun isn’t up yet. And I’m third in line.

Third in line for a chance at a home I wanted, REALLY bad.

Most people would call what happened next luck. But I tell you… I’d been lining this up for weeks.

February 25, 2022. I asked about touring the model homes at a brand new community. Two days later, I toured them, met the sales team, and fell in LOVE with the location and one of the floor plans.

I put our names on the interest list and walked out with two things: a map of the next phase of homes, and a business card for the builder’s lender. I emailed the lender that night, and the next day I started my prequalification application.

March 2. Early morning. I took that map and turned it into an altar for a home that hadn’t been built yet.

I placed a citrine crystal on the exact lot we wanted. Fanned out some hundred-dollar bills. Okay, it was prop money. Didn’t matter. The mind responds to symbols, and every piece of that altar meant something. A scroll of affirmations about the person I wanted to become, the person who would live in that house. A heart-shaped note giving thanks for the life I was imagining. And a glass of water, charged with my intention, which I drank after sitting with it all.

Then I let it go… and went about my business.

March 15. A Tuesday evening. I’m home in our 600-square-foot studio when my phone rings. It’s Carmen, one of the sales reps from the tour. The next phase of six homes, next to the park, is being released Saturday morning.

Then she explains how to get one. First come, first served. You get in line. And people camp out for days for the chance to lock in a lot for their new home.

I feel so lucky and favored to even get the heads up. I decide right then: I’m camping out, and I’m securing that pad. I pack a bag, pack up the car, and before sunrise I’m on the road to Ontario, over an hour away. I exit the freeway and stop for donuts. No idea what I’m walking into… might as well spread some love.

When I pull up to the community site, it’s still dark out.

Here’s the part nobody puts on a vision board.

March 16–18. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I still have to work. Thankfully, I work remotely, so I unfold my lawn chair and post up in right there in line: laptop, hot spot, extension cord plugged into the patio of the model home. A line of people sitting in lawn chairs outside the sales office.

Here’s the math that keeps me up at night: there are only two of the floor plans we want. Two families ahead of me.

For three days it’s a poker game. Everybody’s trying to figure out which lot and floor plan the others are after, and nobody’s showing their hand. The line grows. So does the suspense, as the sales office drips out info little by little.

Meanwhile, Glynda’s in the middle of her workweek. I’m texting her the play-by-play and calling every chance I get.

Oh, did I mention we have to sleep out here too? If you leave, you lose your place. So each evening when the office closes, everybody leaves their lawn chairs set up, holding our places in line.

The first night, I sleep in the back seat of my Nissan Maxima.

By day, I freshen up in the half bath of one of the model homes. After the sales office closes, it’s the port-a-potty. The next night, I sleep in my Army issue sleeping bag in the grass so I can at least stretch my legs out.

Glynda joins me Friday night, and after everybody’s tucked away for the evening, we sneak off to a nearby hotel for a decent night’s sleep. Was that against the rules? Technically. Was I sleeping outside a third night? Absolutely not. Could barely settle down to sleep with all the anticipation.

After a few hours of shut eye, we check out of the hotel and pull up stealthily before dawn on Saturday, ready for the official release.

March 19. Saturday. The sales office opens at 9am. Everybody’s weary but buzzing. We move from our lawn chair setup to a line outside the office door and go in one group at a time. By now we know the deal: a $20,000 deposit secures a lot, or just $10,000 if you use their preferred lender.

The first couple goes in and comes out with one of the floor plans we want: “the 3X.” There’s only one left now.

Next up, another couple, newlyweds. I’ve watched them crunching numbers on their iPhone calculator for three days. I have no idea which way they’ll go… and we hold our breath until they walk out with floor plan 1.

After a 72-hour stakeout, it’s finally our turn.

Inside, there’s a board with all six home sites. And the last 3X is still up for grabs, on the exact lot we wanted, next to the park, right where I placed the citrine on the map three weeks earlier.

We tell Carmen we want it. We handle the paperwork and slide over a check for $10,000.

It’s official. That’s OUR lot.

Two days later, we signed the contract. On our first wedding anniversary. Paper gift: check!

Oh, and that sign posted at the front of the line? I didn’t even notice it until I sat down to write this. Look closely.

Clovers. We were camped out over St. Patrick’s Day. Luck was literally taped to the wall… and I was too busy making my own to notice.

Skeptics will say: “You didn’t manifest that house. You just waited in line.”

OK. But how did I end up in that line?

Decision. I got clear and certain on what I really wanted. Not 5,000 square feet. This house.

Preparation. I emailed the lender the night of the tour and started the prequal before I built the altar. That one email cut our deposit in half.

Intention. I built a simple altar for the house, the money, and the life I wanted to live there.

Opportunity. We’d met the team. We were on the list. We were prequalified. So when the next release came up, Carmen knew exactly who to call.

Action. I packed the car that night. No hesitation, no doubt.

That phone call? OK, call it luck. But luck doesn’t pick favorites. It picks whoever’s ready.

1. GET CLEAR. Choose ONE thing from your vision board that passes the try-it-on test.

2. GET READY FOR THE CALL. What’s your version of getting prequalified? If opportunity called tomorrow, could you say yes on the spot? If not, what would it take? Start there this week.

3. GET IN LINE. Take one real step this week toward the thing you want. Book the tour. Send the email. Submit the application. Make the call you’ve been putting off. Whatever puts your name on the list.

Your turn.

These days? I’d camp out for a Lucid Gravity. Our little family is growing… and I just sold the Maxima!

Hit reply and tell me: what would you camp out for? One line is plenty. I read every one.

Expect an abundance!
Carrie at Lucky Culture

P.S. Happy Veterans Day to everyone who’s served, and to the families who served alongside them. That sleeping bag in the grass? It’s from my own Army days. Turns out my time in service prepared me for this moment too.