“Sometimes the best things in life are unexpected.” I never understood that saying… until now.

I was raised in Canada. About a year and a half ago I moved to Montevideo, Uruguay (where my family is from) to embark on a new adventure. I was a Nursing school drop out, my abusive boyfriend and I had ended our relationship, and even though we were done for good, he still managed to make my life hell. I always thought, “Please don’t let him be there! I don’t want to run into him.” What would happen? Walk into a club, or even the library, and he was there. Or I’d run into one of his friends… always something to do with him. I decided that it was time for a change of atmosphere.

I hopped on a plane and came to my home away from home. My father and 3/4 of my family are here… even though I barely know them. I get homesick a lot, but for some reason I KNEW that I was meant to be here.

8 months after arriving here, I decided that I was quite lonely. It had been almost two years since my ex and I broke up, I was over all the anger, the hurt. I was just done with him. I decided it was time to put The Secret to work. I had read it a few times off and on for about a year. I decided to watch the DVD and read the book, and was DETERMINED to understand its concept… and I did.

My first test of course was to find the man of my dreams. I thought, “I’m worth it! I deserve to have someone love me and care for me. I DESERVE him!” And so I grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote down all the things I wanted in my dream man. One thing I decided to do was place a rare “quality” in order for me to know it was a sign from the universe. So I wrote down the basics: Tall, dark hair, caring, good looking, intelligent, etc., and of course (my secret mark), I wanted him to have some type of connection with Australia… just because I’ve always thought it was a cool country. For two weeks I would read my little list every night.

One Friday after work, I bumped into a friend. She asked what I was up to that night, and I told her I had one or two things going on… having a girls night with some friends, and if that didn’t work out, plan B was going out clubbing with my cousin, who had a friend to introduce me to. I told her that if there were any changes, I’d let her know (which I didn’t think would happen… how could plan a and b not work out in one night?). Turns out both my plans got canceled… which was weird. I called my friend and asked what was going to go on that night. She says, “We’re going to have a few drinks at Ana’s (another friend of ours) cousin’s friends house, and then going out dancing.” I didn’t feel comfortable at first, going to a stranger’s house, but I was definitely not going to stay in on a Friday night. I decided to go.

As we approached this guy’s house, he opened the door, and that’s when I saw him… he literally took my breath away. I would have to say he was the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life. And he was so much like the man of my dreams. Hmm, I thought… could that be right?

As the night went on, Francisco and I were inseparable. We talked and danced all night. At one point he started speaking in English with me. So I asked where did he learn (since he had great English). And he replied, “I have family in Australia. None of my cousins know Spanish, so it was just easier for me to improve my English.” Yup… he said the magic word… and my heart stopped. This was the man of my dreams. At the end of the night he asked for my number and said he would call me.

I talked this over with my best friend (who also read The Secret) and confessed how nervous I was about him not calling. Then I said, “I’m going to go on a date with Francisco on Tuesday.” And I repeated that to myself over and over again for days… Saturday… Sunday… Monday… Tuesday… and no word from him. I still didn’t give up. On Tuesday I get his call, asking me out on a date for Friday. I was in shock…

It turns out it wasn’t picture perfect afterward. It was a bumpy ride. It just so happens that his girlfriend of 3 years dumped him a month earlier. Yes, he was going through the break up stage. And he made it clear he didn’t want anything serious. So we’d go on dates here and there. But we were mostly “friends”. His closest friends became my friends as well. All of his best friends loved me right away, and would always say that I was perfect for him… if he wasn’t going through such a phase. And so I waited…

I was his confidant, his best friend, the one person he could trust and would always turn to. 7 months later… he realized it. Just when I was giving up, he realized that this whole time, he was in love with me, and that he wasn’t going to let me go.

We made things official, and he is EVERYTHING I had asked for and MUCH, MUCH MORE. My family loves him (only girl in four generations… and all the jealous brothers and father and cousins ALL accept and love him), his family loves me… and his friends (they’ve all been friends since elementary school) are my closest friends as well.

The other day we went to one of our closest friends’ wedding, and guess who caught the bouquet. He came up to me and kissed me in front of everyone, and said, “The bouquet sort of ruined the surprise, so now you know that I want you to be my wife.” I was left speechless.

Every day that goes by, we love each other more. We are saving up for our wedding, and hope to have three children.

My life is complete… and it was all because of The Secret. It really, truly works… I never thought I would find true love, until now.

Thank you Secret Team!!!! You’ve changed my life completely!!