I have told this story many times over the years, usually over wine or coffee when someone asks how we ended up owning a historic building in Cross Plains. Somehow though, I have never actually written it down. Not in full detail anyway.

Before we begin, a small disclaimer. This story includes intuition, visualization, journaling, and a few moments that feel a little woo woo. If the idea of signs, manifestation, or the universe aligning things together makes you roll your eyes a little, that is completely fair. I probably would have rolled my eyes at parts of it myself years ago.

But if you have ever wondered what manifestation might look like in real life, this is one of my personal examples. It is not magical thinking. It is not sitting on a couch wishing for things to appear. It is a strange combination of intuition, action, stubborn belief, and a series of moments that somehow line up.

Looking back now, it still feels a little unbelievable.

The Building That Would Not Leave Me Alone

Years ago I worked in real estate, and once you have had access to the MLS it becomes a bit of a lifelong hobby to browse listings. Some people scroll social media. I scroll properties. Zillow is basically recreational for me.

So when a historic building in Cross Plains popped up for sale, I noticed immediately.

To say I was intrigued would be putting it mildly. Within minutes I had filled out a form on Zillow to schedule a showing. If you know anything about real estate etiquette, you know this is not exactly proper behavior if you already have an agent you work with. But at the time I was not thinking about etiquette. I was thinking about finally seeing inside a building that had fascinated me since I was a kid.

Truthfully, I did not need someone to show me the building. I just needed the lockbox code. Rules are rules though, so on a Saturday in September of 2018 a very nice young Realtor met me there to let me in.

Did I have a plan for the building? No.

Did I know what we would do with it if we bought it? Also no.

I simply felt an unexplainable pull toward the place. Ever since I was young I had wondered what the inside looked like and imagined what it could become. When the opportunity to finally walk through it appeared, I did not hesitate. I did not need a reason.

The Thousand Year Flood

About a month before that showing, Cross Plains experienced what many people called a thousand year flood. It was devastating for our little community. Homes were damaged beyond repair, basements filled with water, and businesses were scrambling to recover.

Naturally, I assumed the basement of this vacant building would be flooded as well.

At the time the property was owned by the bank through foreclosure. Having worked in banking myself, I understood exactly how that situation tends to go. Let us just say no one from the bank was down there checking on the basement with a bucket and mop.

When I arrived for the showing, the Realtor was wrestling with the lockbox at the back door. You know that moment when you can tell someone is just slightly out of their element. Poor guy was probably used to showing condos in larger cities, not historic buildings in a town of fewer than five thousand people.

While he worked on the lockbox, I wandered around the back of the building. The garden beds were wildly overgrown, but even then you could see the bones of something beautiful.

Once we finally made it inside, I walked straight to the basement.

I know myself well enough that if I saw one hint of potential upstairs, I would be hooked. I needed to see the worst part first so I could talk myself out of the whole idea.

The basement was completely dry.

Not damp. Not musty. Bone dry. Clean air, bright light, and not a trace of water anywhere.

It made absolutely no sense considering the flooding that had just happened in town. Looking back now, it feels like the first moment in a long series of small alignments that followed.

The Idea That Would Not Let Go

I did not tell Dale I had gone to see the building.

That is not entirely surprising if you know our dynamic. I was just looking anyway. At that point I had no real idea what we would do with it or how on earth we would afford it.

But the building stayed with me.

For months it poked at the back of my mind. If you’ve ever read about scanner personalities, you’ll understand how a project like this can grab hold of your brain and refuse to let go.

Then in February of 2019 the price dropped. Not dramatically, but enough to trigger the alert in my MLS feed.

At the time we were visiting my dad in Florida. I remember sitting at the kitchen table when the notification came through. I turned my laptop toward Dale and said something along the lines of, “I went to look at this building a while ago.”

From there things moved surprisingly fast.

When Dale Gets Quiet

We scheduled another showing shortly after we returned home. This time Dale came along.

If you know Dale, you know the sign. He crosses his arms. He goes quiet. Then he scratches his forehead with the brim of his hat while staring at something in deep concentration.

That is when you know he is mentally building something.

The moment I saw that look, I knew he was in.

The Banker Who Believed Us

My first job was with the bank that happened to own the building through foreclosure. Out of curiosity I went to their website and noticed something interesting. The grandson of the former bank president I had worked under years earlier was now a commercial loan officer there.

It felt like a small but meaningful coincidence.

I scheduled a meeting and explained our somewhat ridiculous idea. We wanted to open a wine bar in a historic building in a small Wisconsin town.

That banker has since become what we affectionately call our dream banker. He is the person who listens to our wild ideas and somehow helps us find a path to make them happen.

Writing the Offer

We wrote an offer on the building. A low one.

The listing agent did exactly what he was supposed to do and called everyone else who had previously looked at the property. Several people had apparently said, “Let us know if someone writes an offer.”

Suddenly we had competition.

We raised our offer, and I wrote what I can only describe as a colorful letter explaining why Dale and I would be the perfect people to bring life back into the building.

Once that was done, I did what I always do when I get excited about an idea.

I built the entire thing overnight.

I wrote a business plan. I secured a domain name. I applied for an EIN. I created an LLC. I designed a logo. I printed business cards. I started a Pinterest board.

That is simply how my brain works.

Once we had done everything we could physically do to move the idea forward, I sat down with my journal.

Visualization and Gratitude

The morning the bank’s board of directors was scheduled to review the offers, I sat down with my journal.

I did not write about hoping we would get the building. Instead, I wrote about already having it. I described what the space would feel like, the kind of place it would become, and how grateful I already felt for something that technically had not happened yet.

I had no idea if we would get the building. But this is exactly what I wrote before the decision. The following is the visualization journal entry the day our offer was presented along with three competing offers:

The Manifestation Journal Entry

I hope Kevin V {the real estate agent} has a good day – I know he will be busy and probably overwhelmed. Universe, please help guide him.

Our idea will allow me to use all of my skills to provide jobs, a place for people to feel comfortable laughing with friends, maybe shedding a tear and learning new things.

The space will allow me to shine through customer service, creativity, design, marketing and coming up with new ideas all the time.

I know the Universe will do what’s right for me. I am on a path that will allow me to open up all my doors to receive abundance.

I receive freedom in this endeavor as I will feel free to try new things.

This will be the opportunity to put all my enlightening over the past few months to the test. All the work I’ve done up to this point is made for this opportunity.

I know the other offers out there are just to make sure we are serious about this.

I am so grateful for where I am right now. I feel comfortable in my own skin, I feel stronger mentally and physically than I can ever remember and I am confident this can work and I know it will be successful.

All the goals I have written down could be attained with this adventure.

I want to prove to myself that I can do it – the honest, authentic, right, brilliant way that I know I can.

I have been able to see clearly and I am so grateful for all the things that have happened so I may open my eyes to all the brilliance and beauty in this world.

I know that I am but a vessel sent here to awaken my true purpose; to provide inspiration for those that need it, to quit drinking, get healthy, try something new, start a business and ultimately live their most authentic lives.

My goal is not happiness because that comes and goes. My goal is that I can live true most of the time in my purpose:

• To inspire

• To give of my gifts

• To share my gifts with the world

My gifts are:

• Inspiring others

• Compassion & Empathy

• Creativity & Idea-building

• Tenacity

While I can’t wait for spring, I recognize that Mother Nature is just giving us a little more time to straighten this out before we need to work outside. I am grateful for the extra downtime.

I know she will not let us down, I can hear the birds chirping so I know spring is on the way.

I grabbed my mug: “Gather here with a grateful heart”. I will hang this at Nineteen09 because that’s what I plan to provide; a place to gather with a grateful heart.

Visualization:

I can see myself unlocking the front door on a sunny warm mid-morning.

Blue bag strung across my body, coffee cup with tea in hand. Maybe I fluff the abundant flower pots on my way in.

I walk in to a clean, refreshing room filled with light and good, quiet energy. I set my bag and cup down on the white quartz island and set about turning the lights on.

I can tell the employee from the night before took extra time to straighten shelves, wipe down and clean floors.

I turn on the computer and look at last night’s sales, so grateful for the community that has contributed to our abundance.

I make a mental note of everyone that has visited and say a little thank you to them.

I grab my mug and bag and head upstairs to my office to start the business day.

I check on finances, social media and emails.

After I spend an hour or so there I go outside to tend to the flowers and patio.”

The next day our offer was accepted.

Looking back now, reading this entry still gives me chills.

One More Hurdle

Acceptance of the offer did not mean we were done. Financing was still a massive hurdle.

We had to swallow our pride more than once and ask for help. That is not easy for anyone, especially when you are used to solving your own problems.

Looking back now, I realize something important about that time. No one builds anything meaningful completely alone. Every dream is supported by people who choose to believe in it alongside you.

Dale and I often talk about how much we look forward to being able to say yes to someone else’s dream someday the way people said yes to ours.

Eighty Three Days Later

Once the financing was approved, the real work began. For eighty three straight days we worked nonstop to bring the building back to life.

On July 18th of 2019 we opened the doors to Nineteen09.

It was one of those perfect Wisconsin summer days, unbelievably hot and full of energy. The dream had never really been about opening a bar. It was about creating a space. A place where people could gather, laugh with friends, learn new things, and feel comfortable.

That one space eventually opened the door to another, and then another, and then another.

What This Taught Me About Manifestation

People sometimes ask if this story is an example of manifestation. I usually say yes, but probably not in the way the internet tends to describe it.

For me, manifestation has never been about sitting quietly and wishing for things to appear. It has looked more like noticing the pull toward something, taking action even when the path ahead is a little fuzzy, asking for help when it is needed, and staying open to the opportunities that show up along the way.

If you are curious about how manifestation actually plays out in everyday life, I wrote more about it in Trusting the Universe and Manifesting Your Dreams.

And if the journaling part of this story caught your attention, I also put together a simple guide that walks through the gratitude and visualization prompts I used during that time, along with a few questions that help clarify what you really want before you start chasing it.

Because sometimes the biggest step toward manifesting something is simply admitting the dream out loud.

If you’re someone who has a lot of ideas and desires pulling you in different directions, this can feel especially confusing. That’s often a sign of a scanner personality.