New York City: Students Going Global 2018 - Day 1 (5/20/2018)

Students Going Global 2018: New York City

For several personal reasons, we decided that 2018 would be the year I took my students on a tour of a domestic location instead of an international one.  Although we didn't leave the borders of the United States, we learned a lot about the history and culture of our nation, including the influences of Puerto Ricans in Spanish Harlem, the Chinese in Chinatown and the Italian influences in Little Italy. Our great nation is made up of many different cultures and I do not think that this is celebrated enough. I want my students to see that there is a world outside of Goddard and even Kansas and help them to understand the cultural richness of our great nation. 

To accomplish my mission of cultural awareness, we took a tour to New York City that focused on Immigration and the Cultural Makeup of our country in one of the most amazing cities on Earth! I hope that you enjoy reading about our adventures. 

Day 1 in NYC was a huge success! 🙂
Here is a brief synopsis of Day 1 in NYC:

- Safe flights! (2 flew for the first time ever!)
- We did have a slight bit of turbulence... I never want to hear “Flight Attendants, jumpseats please!” again. 

- We took strolls through Chinatown, bought cheap souvenirs and ate Italian food to the tune of Italian music in Little 🇮🇹 Italy! One student even had chicken Alfredo for the first time! Crazy... I know! 

- Next stop was the Tenement Museum! This is an apartment building that is set up like it was in the early 1900’s and they have actors to give the kids lessons on early immigration and the hardships faced by those in our country. 

- For dinner, the kids experienced the Chelsea Market, known for many different types of foods, cultures and stores. Kids tried New York hotdogs, milkshakes and more as they explored. 

- After dinner, we toured the Empire State Building. The sights from the building are beautiful and the kids were able to see all different parts of NYC! Not to mention a great sunset to end our day!

Day 1 - And we are off! New York City here we come!  - Student designed shirts, carry-on luggage only, tears when saying goodbye to parents...and we were off for the adventure of a lifetime! (18 student, 2 junior counselors and 1 amazing husband)

After enjoying my favorite stroofwafel on the plane and navigating our line of matching shirts through the airport, we met our tour guide and made our journey from the airport, to the city! Day 1 was a beautiful day and did not disappoint! 

New York travel and traffic:

 

We ate dinner in Little Italy at a restaurant known DaNico's! The food was delicious and the service was great!We ate family style, meaning several dishes were brought to the table and you could take portions of each dish! Yummy!

In New York City, art is EVERYWHERE! You could look out the window at any moment and see celebrated street art being used to share opinions, beliefs, pride and cultural history! Thoughout this blog, you will see several examples of this art! I also had two students complete reports on the street art in New York City. Links to these projects will be posted at a future time!

After lunch in Little Italy, we took a tour of Chinatown. We learned about the history of the streets that make up Chinatown as well as the process of gentrification and how it has effected this area. Students were able to try authentic Chinese foods, shop for souvenirs, be immersed in the diversity of New York City and practice their bargaining skills! After a short stint in Chinatown, we walked past Macy's and ate dinner in the CHELSEA MARKET! At this market, students can try all sorts of foods and have the coastal market experience!

 

 
 
 
 

To end the evening we experienced one of the most beautiful sights that I have ever seen. We listened to the history of the Empire State Building and how it was built. After climbing and riding to the top, we were able to see some of the most beautiful views of New York City! A wonderful sunset in the Heart of New York City, with a wonderful group was a GREAT way to end our first day!

My Health Journey

Enjoying the ride...always an adventure.

This blog is the extended version of a post that I posted a few days ago about my health journey.

Hello friends and family!

This post has been a long time coming so bear with me if I drag on. On January 6th of this year a lot of things came to a head for me. I realized that there were/are so many thing in life that are out of my control. 😖 Over the past three years, Warren Potter, Braylee and I have both started new jobs, been on the foster care adventure, switched preschools, and have dealt with death and family illnesses. There have been many ups 👍 and downs 👎 along the way. I felt in control of the ups and in fact, relished in them. The downs however, seemed to appear out of nowhere and many were out of my control (foster care, deaths etc.). I'm not writing this to blame the system, it is an imperfect system because it was formed for an imperfect reason. That will hopefully work out one day, and I will do my part. Right now however, the issues that I was having were out of my control and I had exhausted my resources that I had to change them. I was exhausted, frustrated 😠, mentally drained 😟, and I was beginning to see these signs in my husband and daughter as well. My state was not making things better, in fact, it was hurting the things that I love the most, relationships (friends, family, etc.). Work was busy, home was crazy and my mental state was not where it needed to be to have the relationships with them that they both deserve.

I prayed 🙏 and thought about a lot of things and through self reflection and the encouragement of others👏, I realized that my change needed to come from within and that I was the only person that I could COMPLETELY control. I also realized that many of my issues that were coming out within my relationships with my husband, daughter and foster daughter were in part because I was uncomfortable with myself and my own skin. 😮 This was where I needed to take control and luckily this was the only place where I could. Control. It's something that is hard to understand how little you once had, until you realize what it feels like to have it.

Six months ago, many of my health habits were out of control, eating, sleeping, negative self talk and more. I made a decision to change these habits and doubts. With education and the help of my health coach and an incredible program, I really feel that I have changed as a person...both inside and out. Regardless of the control that I truly have over certain situations, I now have control over myself and this has changed SO MUCH within my mind, body and home. My family, my future and myself are my "whys". 📌

I know what it feels like to look at the success of others and wish that it could be me. When I look at the picture below, I didn't ever feel TOO unhealthy or TOO overweight, but i also didn't feel my best and looking back, there's not a single part of the last 7 months of transformation that I would take back. I wasn't the best mom, wife, confident friend that i could be because I wasn't the best ME for ME. I'm still not 100% there, and I now know that healthy habits are a life journey 👣 and not a stepping stone. I now have all of the tools to enjoy my journey of health though and I'm loving it! 

If you have any interest in hearing more about my journey and/or starting your own. I would love ❤️ to visit with you! 👍 My passion is now to help others on their health journey, regardless of it they are trying to take step one, are stuck on step 1,982 or are just trying to balance along the finish line. When something good happens to you, you only hope that it will happen to others. I now have the insights and power to do that with healthy habits. Please don't wait to speak up if you are interested! 

*Side note, yesterday I danced around the kitchen with Braylee in my arms as we listened to KLove. I could only hold her for the length of the song and then I needed a pause before the next one because she is almost 5 and is HEAVY to walk around with on my hip! It's hard to believe that I had been carrying that exact amount of extra weight 24/7 for at least the past 6 years. Who knows what I was really putting the pause on in life? #bigahamomentforme 

Thank you for taking the time to read. Life is a journey...enjoy every step. 

Why: ⁉️My Family 👨‍👩‍👧 My Future 💥and Myself🙋

Loss:❌❌❌

✔️Over 15 inches on various parts of my body!

✔️44lbs. - The current weight of my almost 5 year old.

✔️Self Doubts

Gains: ✅✅✅

🏁 Confidence/Pride

🏁 Heathy Eating Habits/Lifestyle Choices

🏁 Mental/Physical Strength

Twitter - @HappyHealth101 🔍

A friend happy in health,

Heather

W to the P: A Warrior to my Princess

An Ode to My Husband

Today is my husband's birthday. Warren Potter is not your average guy. He is so amazing that I have to sit on my hands to keep from clapping ALL THE TIME! Really. 

In all serious though. I cannot thank him enough for all that he is for our family. 

For Braylee:

-You are the piggy to her piggyback rides.

-You are the Superman that flies high in her skies. 

-You are the pizza delivery man that brings the best pepperoni. 

-You are the upside down to her tickles. 

-You are the adventure to her stories. 

-You are the pat on her back.

-You are the sun on her cloudy days. 

-You are the M&M in her trail mix. 

-You are the do do do do do to her Inspector Gadget. 

-You are the string to her cheese.

-You are the light to her night.

-You are the bandit doctor for her boo-boos.

-You are the kid knife to her Peanut Butter and Jelly,

and, in her opinion, the coolest parent. 

She loves you for the dad that you are. She appreciates your time and your patience and loves your jokes. Thank you for all that you are and always will be in her world. 

For Me:

You are the Starry to my Night.

You are the hopes to my dreams.

You are the talk to my late nights.

You are the balance to my opinions.

You are the warrior to my princess.

You are the support to my goals. 

You are the calm to my storm. 

You are the faith when I cannot seem to find any. 

You are the song to my lyrics. 

You are the Superman to save my world.

You are the push to my pull.

You are the rock to my roll. 

You are the answers to my prayers

and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In case you haven't noticed. YOU ARE OUR EVERYTHING. 

Thank you for the warm, calm, patient, caring, loving, faithful man that you are. 

We love you Warren Potter.

Happy completion of one more year on this planet!