Happy Positive DONUT Tuesday, and Happy (almost) Valentine's Day to you! No matter how you're celebrating tomorrow, remember that self-love should always come first🥰.

Today's edition is one of my favorites yet, with some amazing stories from around the globe, a fun and creative mindfulness practice, and some seriously touching wins submitted from all of you. Let me know which sections are your favorite. I love hearing from you! 

Have a fantastic week🥰.

- Kailyn

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today's newsletter should take about 2.66 minutes to read.

I love myself deeply and wholeheartedly; I am enough just as I am.

Catie Zwier has worked at Good Shepherd School in Golden Valley, Minnesota, for nearly a decade. 

And the kindergarten teacher loves her students. So much, in fact, that when she and her fiance, Kevin, began brainstorming wedding venues, she had a brilliant idea: "let's do it at the school."

• "I’ve taught so many of the students here and they are such a big part of my life," she told People. She wanted all of them to be a part of her special day. 

When wedding planning meets the school schedule: Catie worked with staff members to align the wedding with the school's spirit week, with a "fancy surprise day" as one of the spirit themes. As the dressed-up students sat down in the Catholic school's chapel for an assembly, they were surprised by a priest and a wedding ceremony.

💍 Ms. Corken's getting married!... While most of the students were stunned at first, they soon realized the wedding was no joke, and cheers and applause filled the room for their teacher. 

• A few students served as flower girls and readers during the ceremony. Kids who had been in Catie's classroom over the years were also invited to sign a keepsake blanket with her maiden name, "Corken’s Crew," on it. 
• Catie, the coach of the school's Spirit Squad, was also surprised when some students lined the hall after the ceremony with silver pom poms as the happy couple made their exit (above).

💬 What she's saying: "I don't think I've ever smiled so widely in my life!" shared the bride. "It was overwhelming and incredibly special to witness the entire school cheering for us; we definitely felt the love! I felt like I was floating!"

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When Luisa Yu set out on a Greyhound bus tour of America back in her 20s, she officially caught the travel bug. Soon after her American tour, the Filipino immigrant made it her bucket list goal to visit every country in the world (recognized by the United Nations). 

• Her dream was achieved last November, when the 79-year-old crossed country #193 off her list with a visit to Serbia. 

🐢 Slow and steady wins the race... It took Luisa more than 50 years to travel the globe. One of her favorite highlights? Skydiving in Dubai at 77. 

💬 Lessons on lessons: "I have seen a lot of things from different people, their life and their cultures -- I learned a lot," she told NPR regarding her travels. "And I find that everybody is like us. They have a dream for a better job and a better opportunity, and most of them are very, very kind and very helpful."

🦩Flamingo friends... A zookeeper was transporting six flamingo eggs from Atlanta to Seattle when the portable incubator stopped working mid-flight. Thanks to a quick-thinking flight attendant and generous fellow passengers, however, they were able to keep the eggs warm. All six hatched safely a month later.

🐲 Year of the Dragon... Happy Chinese New Year! The holiday began on February 10, and will last until the arrival of the full moon on February 24. Tied to the lunar calendar, the celebration started as a time for feasting and to honor household and heavenly deities and ancestors. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon.

🌎 In climate news... Europe ramped up its renewable electricity generation last year to help meet its climate goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Wind power production outpaced gas plants in Europe for the first time ever in 2023, while fossil fuel power generation fell by a record 19%. 

When you hear "self-care," are you more this type of person...

...or this type of person?

Whether you're a self-care guru or a self-care skeptic, this mindfulness exercise will make it simple and fun to give yourself a little extra love throughout the week.

Introducing: Self-Care Cards... If you want to start implementing simple tasks to care for yourself but aren't sure quite where to begin, try making your own Self-Care Cards.

To make your own self-care cards:

• Grab some notecards or fun paper, or download a virtual notecard deck on your phone.
• If you're going to use physical notecards, gather some art supplies to decorate them in whatever way you'd like.
• Make a list of self-care ideas. This can be anything from doing a chore you've been putting off to taking a bubble bath or going for a walk.
• Have fun decorating the different note cards, and tap into your creativity.
• Write each item in your list on a different note card.
• Once you've put each item on a notecard, shuffle the stack and you're ready to self-care like a pro!

😃 Bottom line: Once your deck is done, all you have to do is draw a card and complete the task on the back. The best part is you make the deck, so you know every option is something you'll love🥰.

P.S. Credit where credit is due: S/o to Note To Self for the inspiration!

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You've made it to What's Your Win, the section of the newsletter where we celebrate all of the good news happening right here in our Positive DONUT Community. Real quick: I was truly overwhelmed with the vulnerability and genuine responses in this week's wins. I'm so happy for and proud of each of you!! Your submissions are a reminder that there really is something to celebrate every day. 

Maybe grab your tissues, and check out this week's wins: 

🫏 Brian B. from Falmouth, Kentucky, is thankful for his neighbors...

• "At the start of spring, I found myself jobless and feeling a little more than down on my luck – until I met "Ron" the donkey! It started one afternoon when helping my neighbor get her rider lawnmower unstuck. The conversation then led to her needing three rooms painted, to which I replied, "I paint!" That led to another job for another neighbor who has cows, horses, chickens, geese, turkeys, and one smooth criminal of a donkey they call Ron! I can't thank my neighbors enough for their business, and they're happy with my work! Win/Win for everyone!!"

❤️ Hannah P. from Ontario, Canada, is taking self-care seriously...

• "After months of putting it off, I finally found a new therapist! It can be so hard to find someone that you work well with but I promise it's worth the time and effort. You're worth it! And just a reminder, there doesn't have to be anything 'wrong' with you, for you to benefit from therapy. Everyone can benefit from having a safe place, where an impartial person listens to you, and only you, for ~45 min. Cheers to everyone out there already working on themselves and trying to do and be better & sending love to anyone who's not quite there yet."

📚 Tammy B. from Fredericksburg, Virginia, is feeling grateful for her job...

• "In our high school library, we were trying to increase reading and book circulation. For the month of December (up until winter break), anyone who checked out a book got an invitation to hot chocolate and a movie on our last full school day. It went really well and the next day, I received the sweetest email from a student thanking us for always trying to come up with ways to create meaningful and fun library experiences! That was an 'I love my job' moment for sure!"

🥲 Valery H. from Chicago, Illinois, is sending some DONUT love...

• "I've really been struggling since the new year started. I had wished for this perfect start where I can simply focus on my academics and get the grades I need. It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. In the first two weeks of January I was doing absolutely nothing but laying in bed and wasting my potential due to some personal problems. Only thing I looked up to was some texts from my close friends and the Positive DONUT newsletters. These short wholesome stories made me realise that a little bit of positivity in this chaos of a world goes a really long way."
•  "I read the newsletter, finally found my lost hopes, took the help I needed from my friends and did all I could do to ace the tests I had this week. It's been a few hours since I got my results and I am one of the toppers of my class!! I used to think this type of stuff only happened in movies but I guess you can make anything come true if you really wanted to. Thank you to The DONUT for absolutely killing what you're doing and shoutout to all the people who may have lost hopes too. Stop thinking about what-ifs and just get up and get started. Nothing can stop you. Sending all my love, Val." (Right back at ya, Val, you are awesome. Much love.❤️)

P.S. Some responses have been slightly edited for grammar, length, and clarity.

Whether you had an energizing conversation with a friend, beat a sickness, met a milestone at work, or even just booked a dream trip, we want to hear about it.

There is always something to be grateful for, and no win too small. And who knows? Sharing a bit of positivity from your own life could inspire someone else to recognize the good in theirs🥰.

Submit your wins here for a chance to be featured in next week's newsletter. We want to celebrate you!

Share your accomplishments – big and small – here.

1. Butterflies taste things with their wings. 
2. Scotland’s national animal is a unicorn.
3. A cheetah is the fastest animal on the planet.
4. Ants can hold up to 5,000x their body weight. 

(keep scrolling for answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like Positive DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize. (Pro tip: there's no need to ration points, you're entitled to a prize at each tier.)

Start referring.👇

1. False. Butterflies taste with their feet🦋.
2. True. The unicorn was declared Scotland’s national animal at some point in the 15th century🦄.
3. False, they're just the fastest land animal. The fastest animal ever recorded is the peregrine falcon, with a diving speed of over 190mph🪶.
4. True. According to the Journal of Biomechanics, an ant’s neck can sustain pressure up to 5,000x its body weight 🐜. 

Hit that reply button and let me know, I read every response. Have a great week!🥰

–Kailyn

P.S. Enjoying this newsletter and want to support my work? It'd mean the world if you told a friend or two about Positive DONUT. You can even win sweet, sweet prizes for each person you refer using your unique link (found two sections above).