Category: NYC

Be Strong & Courageous

by Querin Ventura, posted in Courage, Empowerment, Faith, God, Hope, NYC, Quote

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

~Joshua 1:9

NYC Public Library 2020

The whole world is facing a major crisis.  A virus that started in China and was announced in the news towards the end of December of 2019 known as the Coronavirus, has by today’s date (March 24, 2020) taken over the whole world.  EVERYONE, one way or another has been affected by this virus, which has become a pandemic.  And what’s worst, we don’t know how long this is going to last. 

Because of this pandemic, people are dying everywhere.  People have to be isolated and stay in quarantine in order to help stop this virus from spreading.  People are losing their jobs.  We are living a time of uncertainty.  Yes, these are indeed difficult times, and we are all in this together.  And because of that, I started asking myself some questions:  How can I help shine a light in the middle of darkness?  How can I help my fellow humans when I have to stay physically distant from them? 

I thought about the Word of God, which is my companion and strength in the good times and the challenging times.  The Word of God has been so powerful over my life.  It has helped lift me up when I’ve felt most down.  This is why I decided that for the days to come, I will share with you a verse from the Bible every single day for the rest of the year 2020.  I will also include you in my daily prayers.  I will pray for you to stay healthy and if you are not feeling well, I will pray for your health and prompt recovery.  I will pray not just for our country but for our entire world.  This is our planet people.  We all live in it.  And we can see that there are no real frontiers.  There are no real borders. Everyone is feeling this. 

Right below is the verse again. Meditate on it.  And remember that you are not alone.   

 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

~Joshua 1:9

God Bless you & with love,

Querin

My Little One’s Day Out

by Querin Ventura, posted in NYC, Places
Date: Wednesday November 7th, 2018

Where: New York City (Flat Iron district, Time Square, Bryant Park)

Weather: 59 degrees Fahrenheit & Sunny

Places : Eataly, Lego Store, Bryant Park

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I checked the weather forecast days ahead and the forecast showed it would be a nice sunny day with temperatures of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. So I planned to spend the day out with mom and son. My husband had to work, therefore he could not join us.

I thought this was a perfect day to spend outside with mom and my little one. We had a great time and part of having such a great of a time was preplanning in advance so that we could leave the house early enough to enjoy most of the day out and still come back home at a decent time in the afternoon.

Back in my pre-baby days when I did not have a family of my own that included a baby (or young toddler) were very different. If I wanted to go out, I would just go out. IT was that simple. But now I’ve learned that if I want to go out with my family and especially if I want my little one to have a great time; I have to research, pre-plan, and execute what I plan.

I also realized that not everything works according to plan, for example, I wanted us to be in the Flat Iron district by 9:30 am. But we got there at approximate 10:15 am. Still planning did help us a lot, because if I did not have a time goal, we could have arrived at 12 noon instead of 10:15 am. I woke up at 5:30 am, prepped everything we were taking for the baby.

In the planning phase, I did not take into considerations that we would need to find the elevators in the subway stations we were using to get us to the subway and back up to ground level. Because with a toddler, a stroller, a diaper bag, etc. you need to know where the elevators are.  After this trip, I learned this is another reason why is important to give yourself extra time when traveling or out with a baby. Logistics, logistic, logistics. Also, some subway stations don’t even have elevators, so you may have to use muscle power just like I did.

Just go out and have fun with your little one. If you overthink it, and over preplan, you may not go out at all. Don’t do that. Once you are out and about with your baby, you will be so glad that you did. Plus, there are still a lot of nice people out in the world. We had a couple of people who asked “do you need help?” when there was a stair in front of us and no elevators in sight. Use the information center; that’s what they are there for. Ask the NYPD, when we did not see any signs for the elevators and we needed one for sure, we asked a NY police officer. He directed us on the right direction to the elevators. On our way back home, when we were returning to Jersey, I spoke to one of the NJ transit reps and told him that I could not walk up the steep stairs/escalators they had (with no elevator to get to it) and he had my bus meet me on the level where I was. I didn’t even know they did that, but yes they do! You just have to ask.

Despite those little hiccups with the elevators in the subway and NJ transit, it was all worth it. Isaac had a great time. I don’t just start talking to strangers, but my little one just walks to other kids and stars socializing. I love to see him doing this. Children start with a clean slate. They don’t have any preconceived notions or prejudice until adults teach them otherwise and start messing them up.

My boy had a great time. I observed that he is very sociable with other children. He gravitates towards them and I love that. One case in particular that I observed was this little girl (older than him) who initially did not want to play with him. Yet, he kept gravitating towards her and eventually she started smiling, running with him, laughing with him and all of a sudden they were playing together.

In short this is what we did:

  • Took a bus to NYC
  • Took the subway (my boy loves to see the train running)
  • Went to Eataly – had breakfast – had a great time here
  • Went to the Lego Store (baby fell asleep ) and I got him his first Lego toys
  • Went to Bryant park – here I thought we would not spend much time and this was my little one’s favorite part of the trip. He was watching the ice-skaters and then started walking around and socializing with other kids. He did not want to leave
  • Took the bus – came back home

This was Isaac’s day out

 

God bless you, with love,

Querin

Casual

by Querin Ventura, posted in Fashion, NYC, Places, Travel

IMG_4569

 

IMG_4587 IMG_4591 IMG_4603 IMG_4605 IMG_4612 IMG_4613 The best view of New York City is not from New York City.  The best view of the City is from Boulevard East, a street along Weehawken, West New York,  and Guttenberg.  Even most Newyorkers do not know about, nor have seen NYC from this side.  However, some tour busses are starting to make their way to this side of the Hudson river to appreciate the view and capture it in pictures.  The most beautiful view of New York City is not from the Empire State observation deck.  It is from the Jersey side across the the Hudson.