Ms. Lopez

I am a big fan of Humans of New York.  If you don't follow this page on instagram, you should!  Recently a younger kid was featured and talked about how his school principal was the person who influenced him most in his life.  This kid lives in one of the highest crime areas in New York. 

A few days later, HONY featured a photo of the principal, Ms. Lopez, a photo of some of the students, and a photo from the teacher meeting.   As I was reading through the captions under the pictures I was truly amazed at how much this woman cared about her students and how much she wanted to see them succeed.  As inspirational as it was, it was also sad.  My feelings were very similar to my feelings after I read/saw the Freedom Writers Diary - why aren't all educators like this?

It's sad that not every teacher cares so much about their students and making a difference in the lives of the little people with whom they spend most of their day.   I really thought back to my school experience and I can literally count on one hand the amount of teachers I felt actually cared and went above and beyond for their students. 

My 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Knode

My 8th grade math teacher, Ms. Sparks (at the time I thought she was a bitch but that year was the first year I ever did really well in math)

My 6th grade Social Studies teacher, Mr. Bennett

My 10th Grade English teacher, Mr. Skelton

My College Sociology Professor, Mrs. Brewer

There may be one or two more in there that I just can't think of off the top of my head, but these are the ones that I really remember.   My school was not a school filled with kids living in poverty with drug addicted parents and gangs, this was a school with mostly middle class and above students.  So, yeah there will be difficult days but there is no reason why I should only have memory of 5 teachers who I felt really cared.  And I think kids living in poverty need the caring teachers because in my experience, a lot of the times their parents don't care.

Anyway, my point is that this lady is an inspiration, and what all educators should aspire to - in my humble opinion.   A lot of the children who live in that area have never been out of the city and Ms. Lopez wants to do an annual trip with the incoming 6th grade students to get them out of New York and show them that there is more out there than their neighborhood.  Her choice is to take them up to Boston to visit Harvard University.   HONY started a fund to try to help raise money for this trip and at the time I'm writing this, has raised over $400,000!  That is enough to take a trip for then next 6 years!

 (Click here if you would like to donate)

Also, a lot of people have been sending flowers and cards to Ms. Lopez and her staff thanking them for being such an inspiration to their students.  Between this and the amount of money raised, my faith in the human race has been restored a bit.  It's amazing to see that so many people throughout the US and the world want to see these kids succeed and get out of a life of poverty and crime. 

There really isn't much of a point to this post except to say that I'm glad to see that there are so many amazing people out there and that there are educators who truly try their absolute hardest to see their students succeed. 

Goals: 2015

Last year I attempted a 52 in 52 challenge.  I didn't get much done because I was a little too ambitious and a lot of what I had on there was just not realistic.  This year I decided since I will be 26 this year, that I would set 26 goals.  I was much more realistic this year and hope to complete each of these task by December 31st.

1.  Visit a New Country

2. Get One Student Loan and One Credit Card Paid Off

3.  Unplug for a Week

4.  Read 50 Books

5. Go to a Drive-In Movie

6. Visit a Wolf Sanctuary

7.  Go to Rick's Cafe in Jamaica

8.  Try a Pint of Butterbeer

9. Learn How to Play Chess

10.  Get a Violin and Re-Learn How to Play

11. Visit Jamaica 

12.  Start a Gratitude Journal

13.  Watch Two New Documentary's Per Month

14.  Read for 20 Minutes Per Day

15.  Do a 30 Day Ab Challenge

16.  Do a 30 Day Yoga Challenge 

17.  Do a Cleanse

18.  Do a 30 Day Meditation Challenge

19.  Create Monthly Goals

20.  Read 5 Rory Gilmore Books

21. Take a Free Online Class
22.  Learn German with My Rosetta Stone
23. Read all the Books on the Pinterest List
24. Go Camping with Josh at Harpers Ferry
25.  Go Back to School
26. Pay off My Car (1 year early)

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone Part 2

Way back at the beginning of the year, I talked about adventurous things I've done that have gotten me out of my comfort zone.  I have had this post in my drafts for months and completely forgot about it.  So, today I want to talk about other situations (mostly social situations) that made me uncomfortable but that had such an impact on my life.

Living with a host family in France
This was a scary experience for me at first.  I was very nervous when I learned that I would be spending a few days with a French family, especially since I didn't speak a word of French other than the key phrases I learned before the trip.  It was a little awkward at first but ended up being one of my favorite experiences in Europe!  It was such a great learning experience and Miti was definitely an interesting lady, we ended up having a lot of fun!  I wrote more about my homestay here.  Kara (pictured below with Miti), a girl from my group, was with me during my homestay, so we helped each other out quite a bit.  

Visiting the Elderly in Chicago
I am very uncomfortable around old people especially if they are ill.  Don't ask me why, I just am.  So when my youth pastor announced what we would be doing one evening while in Chicago, I was petrified.  The only thing that made it better was that we were going in groups of four. We were to go up to the upper floors of JPUSA's building and talk with the elderly who lived there.  This ended up being a great experience.  After being told to go away by several people, one old man finally agreed to talk to us, his name was Lenny.  I don't have anything written down about this experience and no photos, but it's something I'll always remember.  We walked into his room and he had a TON of dolls, which seems like an odd collection for a man, but every doll had a story.  We actually ended up staying longer than we had to because his stories were so interesting.   Lenny had stories from all over the world and definitely added to my love of travel.  This was a great lesson for me in respecting and learning from my elders.

Working with children who didn't speak English
 I always get a little nervous in a situation where I'm around a lot of people who don't speak English.  With adults it's not too big of a deal but kids sometimes don't understand that you don't know what they're saying. Though it did get a little frustrating at times, our few hours working with the kids in Costa Rica was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  The kids were so eager to learn and so excited that we were there.  After teaching them some English, we played games and had snacks with them and had so much fun.

All of these experiences turned out to be amazing and totally life changing.  I wouldn't change any of these experiences for anything.

Blogtober: My Favorite Quote

My Favorite Quote:

I've always loved this quote. So much that I eventually want to get it tattooed on me.

I have a very overactive imagination and I always have.  It's part of why I read so much; reading gives me a way to channel that.  I am a person who can stare into space for long periods of time just daydreaming.  I saw this quote for the first time and fell in love with it.   Books and travel are my magic. 

I can create whole worlds in my head through books.  Harry Potter was incredible.  I was able to create the whole wizarding world in my head.  And when I travel I like to try to imagine what has happened in those places in the past.  I could almost see the gladiators in the Coliseum.

This is definitely my absolute favorite. I do have a few close seconds though

Living Cruelty-Free: Method

The first Cruelty-Free product line I want to talk about is Method.  Method is by far my favorite for cleaning products. I think I have tried just about every single one of their products and have not been disappointed by any.

I love the All-Purpose cleaner.  I mainly use it on my kitchen and bathroom counters and it works great and smells great.  It works wonders for getting out stains when husbands leave drinks in paper cups which then leak all over the counter.  I used the French Lavender.

I've just started using this bathroom cleaner for the shower.  While it smells good and does pretty good on surface "grime", it does require a bit more elbow grease than I'm used to to get out the stuff that's in there pretty good.  Josh is usually very dirty when he comes home from work, so it is a lot of work to get the shower clean.  Unfortunately, this is the best Cruelty-Free shower cleaner that I have found, so elbow grease it is.  I need the workout anyway.

I LOVE this stuff!!  We don't do a lot of dishes that can't go in the dishwasher but the ones that can't are usually the dirtiest for some reason.  Just one or two pumps of this dish soap and you're good to go!  I have never used anything better!  I use the Fresh Currant and it smells amazing!  We haven't used the dishwasher soap yet, but I plan to try it after my Seventh Generation stuff runs out.

Josh loves the hand soap!  They sell gel and foaming soap and we have tried both.  We have the gel in one bathroom and the foaming in the other and love them both.  Josh won't let me buy and other brand of hand soap.  As I said before, he comes home from work pretty dirty but if it's just his hands, he uses this gel hand soap and the dirt comes off so easy.  I am a fan of foaming soap, and Method's is amazing.  Josh likes the juicy pear gel soap and I love the seasonal caramel foaming soap.

I like the laundry detergent (Lavender and Cedar) and I think it does a good job and smells great, but there is a different brand that I prefer to go with.   However, I wouldn't discount Method's laundry detergent, it does do a good job and I love the bottles it comes in, they're much lighter and easier to use than most containers.

I also just bought Method body wash yesterday and can't wait to try it! 

These are the Method products that I have used and have had a good experience with.  Method has tons of other products that I just haven't gotten to try yet such as the air freshener (which I plan to try next time I'm at the store), fabric softener, baby laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleaner, body wash, and more!  So, be sure to check for Method products next time you're at the store.  I know that Target sells them, so they're not hard to find and they are definitely not expensive!

ChaChaCha Changes

As you can see, there have been a few changes here.  The biggest being the blog name.  I figured my blog name no longer applied once we moved from our home in the country back to the suburbs.  Though hopefully within the next few years we will be back in the country, I wanted a name that would work no matter where we live or what stage of our lives we are in.

I searched for hours (literally) on pinterest trying to draw inspiration from quotes when one jumped out at me:

It was perfect.  And there happens to be a story behind why it's so perfect that I found this, this week.

My friend Heather moved to Tennessee last November and I have been wanting to visit her.  In marchish we decided on Labor Day weekend because I always have off Monday and Tuesday so I'd just need to ask off for Saturday and Sunday and Heather wouldn't need to take off because she had off on Labor Day anyways.

Since I started my job back in January I have had off exactly one weekend, and that was my wedding weekend.  And I had only put in two requests for days off and that was for the wedding and for a concert I had tickets to.  I didn't even take off the day of my own bridal shower because I worked overnights.  I've worked countless overtime hours and always say yes when a shift needs to be covered.  I figured that if I did this, people would be more willing to help me out if I needed a day off sometime.  Yeah, not so much.   My request off was denied because it would cause overtime.

I was pissed.  There is a guy there that asks off for weekends once a month and is always accepted.  The main reason my request was denied was because I have a crap schedule (0600-1400 Wed and Thurs and 2200-0600 Fri-Sun).  So, it's not like I was asking for extra days off, just different days, but I can't work both Monday and Tuesday without having to do a double which we aren't allowed to do.  We are not permitted to work more than 12 hours straight due to the nature of the job. So, it would have caused overtime for someone else.  I was going to cancel the trip but the more I thought about it the more angry I became.  I eventually told my boss in advance that I would be calling out.  I got my Saturday covered but no one would do my Sunday.  Imagine my anger after covering people for months just to be turned down the one time I need a favor.

This is when I realized that I really need to stop saying OK to every extra shift and all the overtime hours.  I realized that I was so busy with that place that I had no life.  I was coming home tired with a headache every day.  I obviously did call out and go on my trip and I don't regret that decision one bit.  I had a great time visiting my friends and exploring a new place.

As much as the whole situation angered me, it was also a reality check.  I need to start doing more for me and making more time to have a life.  I have friends that live five minutes from me that I haven't seen in months.  That's just not OK, I used to see them once a week at least.  I have a husband that I can easily go a week without seeing because of that schedule, also not OK.  I have decided that it's time to get back to what's really important: my family, my friends and having a life. 

Side Note: Some of you may remember a series I had started a while ago called Being a Humane Consumer.  Well, I am pretty much starting over with that.  I am going to republish the Introduction on Thursday and share products and facts each Thursday following that.  I have been able to try a lot of products since moving to the new house so I am so excited to start this series back up :) 

Quotes: Part 7

One of my goals for the year was to make a list of 101 quotes that inspire me.  I'll be sharing these quotes randomly throughout the year.

Parts 1-6

And because I'm giving my job the finger this weekend and taking a little trip despite their protests ...

101 Quotes: Part 6

One of my goals for the year was to make a list of 101 quotes that inspire me.  I'll be sharing these quotes randomly throughout the year. 

Posts 1-5

101 Quotes: Part 5

One of my goals for the year was to make a list of 101 quotes that inspire me.  I'll be sharing these quotes randomly throughout the year. 

Parts 1-4

Mainstream Music - How I Really Feel

Oh mainstream music, you really suck.  I can't even put it nicely.  And I can't even consider half of it music.

Unfortunately, I think part of the problem is the high premium our society puts on "beauty".   Lets be serious, how many singers would you consider unattractive by American standards.  I bet you five dollars you can't think of 5.  I know I can't.

It just makes me sad that as a society, we'll listen to Miley Cyrus who, to anyone with functioning ears, obviously can't sing (and who is a horrible role model).  If we're being honest with ourselves part of the reason for her success is her looks.

Selena Gomez is another.  While she's not super crazy like Miley, her voice is so obviously messed with.   The song below is a great example.

So, why are we digitally altering voices of people who can't sing rather than finding people who actually have good voices?  In my opinion, looks definitely play a large role.  I mean, look at how people initially reacted to Susan Boyle before she sang. 

Anyway, off that soapbox and on to another.

I wont lie, I am a bit of a music snob.  My Dad's side of the family is very musically talented.  None of us are particularly good singers but are very good with instruments.

I can pick up an instrument, teach myself, and be fairly good at it with a few days practice (in fact, I did it just last week with my coworkers Ukulele).  My Dad is a talented guitar player and my Pop was a talented guitar and piano player.  I can play piano, guitar, clarinet, and violin.  I also know a little bit about music theory.  I understand what sounds go well together and which do not, and why.  Mainstream music sounds like crap.

I also like songs that are about something.  It seems like every new song I hear is about having sex, doing drugs, or getting drunk.  That's really sad. 

Needless to say, I have a low opinion of mainstream music.  So, what do I listen to?  I listen to older country (the new stuff is too mainstream ... apparently being "country" is in right now.  I can't wait for that to pass!).  I also listen to classic rock as well as classical and instrumental music.  Beethoven's  "Ode to Joy" is always the first song I teach myself to play on new instruments.  I also like Bach, Debussy, Haydn, and Mairead Nesbitt.   I am also a big fan of Celtic Woman and Celtic Thunder.  I love how they both sing traditional Irish as well as music from other cultures.  Of course, we can't forget musical soundtracks!  Some of my favorites are Rent, the Sound of Music, Wicked, Rent, Les Mis, and Oklahoma!

Like I said, I'm a bit of a snob and I like music that actually sounds good.  I don't care how the artist looks or anything like that.   If they sound good, I'll listen to them.