The best way to do death....

.....by Chocolate, that is!  It is that time of the year when we have our Annual Choir Party and it has become tradition that I bring Death by Chocolate, so I thought I would share my version of the recipe.

Here is what you need:

2 packages of this:

(Prepare as directed but with milk instead of water)

 2 big or 4 small packages of

3 containers of this:

3 tsp of this:

3 x 1/3 cup of this:

Small or medium bag of these:

And a bunch of drops of this (or any peppermint extract)

Prepare the brownies according to the box, except use milk instead of water. Cool and set aside. (mik, eggs, oil)

While the brownies are baking, prepare the pudding according to the box. (milk)

Put the chocolate chips in a blending machine of any sort or crush with a rolling pin and wax paper. Add the peppermint drops and mix until blended well.  Prepare to taste.

Take the whipping cream and put it in a blender or kitchen aid mixer. (I have a Blendtec and it whips up in about 25 seconds) Add 1/3 a cup of sugar for every 2 cups of cream.  Add 1 tsp of vanilla to every 2 cups as well.

After the browning mix cools, start making layers!

BROWNIE

PUDDING

WHIPPED CREAM

CRUSHED CHOCOLATE CHIPS

repeat 2 or 3 times 

...and you will get:

aHHHHHHHHHH! The ULTIMATE Chocolate lover's delight....DEATH BY CHOCOLATE!

Bon Apetite!

Loudly Yours,

Alicia

Our Anniversary Tree

   Today marks the 21st year of the Anniversary of day I married the Man that I love.  It was not raining that day, but it had snowed the night before and it was covered in a beautiful blanket of snow.  It was perfect, except I originally wanted a fall wedding....oh well.  Such is life with its twists and turns!  Our Wedding Day was beautiful in many ways.  We were lucky enough to have a free choir singing and a beautiful day outside (it was so sunny!), so it was bonus when we got the chance to be married with Christmas Trees, a Manger Scene, gold Altar Cloth and Poinsettias.  We begged Fr. Joe to leave them up and thankfully, he did.  So, every year, we leave our Christmas Tree up until after our Anniversary, to honor the memory of a family begun on that special day!

Loudly yours,

Alicia

ps- This year I started a tradition of putting the Christmas Cards on the Tree.  I love it and will do it again next year....it was the tape's fault....since it got itself lost! ;)

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND with NET team #9

This Thanksgiving weekend, we got to meet NET Team #9.....

NET Ministries challenges young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church. Every August, 120 young Catholics aged 18-28 leave behind their jobs, school, family, and friends to devote nine months to serving with the National Evangelization teams. Divided into 11 teams, they travel across the U.S. for nine months to share the Gospel with young people and their families. Since 1981, NET teams have led over 25,000 retreats and ministered to more than 1.6 million young Catholics.

My son, Gavin, has been a part of NET Ministries for almost 2 yrs..  This year, our family was blessed with a visit from his team.  It was great to meet them all. 

They arrived in their NET van on a rainy Thanksgiving Eve. (Everyone in our home, prior to their arrival, was excited and the nervous energy was abundant!)  I knew we would never remember all of their names, so I made name tags to make it easier. The first thing we did after all the introductions, was to open the packages that had arrived at my home prior to their arrival.  One box was a Thanksgiving treat for all of the team members.  The gift was simple, but the sentiment was great. The next box had a coat for one of the girls.  (It is interesting for some of the team members who are from warmer parts of the country, who need heavier winter garments in the colder temps)

( Ivan is pictured here, buying his very first pair of gloves)

Next was dinner, Chinese food for all!  We spread ourselves all over the house as best we could, prayed, and shared our meal. 

After we had dinner, we piled on the couch (for the most part) and watched Nacho Libre. Love that movie.  It's a must see if you like Jack Black.  JB just cracks me up.

 

Then it was off to my Parent's house, were the team spent the night.  Some upstairs at my Sister's part of the house and some downstairs at my Parent's. In the morning, we all met at Notre Dame for Thanksgiving Mass. The team spent Thanksgiving Day  with my Parents and we met them at my Father in Law's house for Dessert.

THE DAY IN NYC

Since I knew that some of the team might never have a chance to see NYC, I thought a trip into the City was a must.  So, after Thanksgiving Dinner, I came home and mapped out a plan to give them some of the best of NYC. It took me a couple of hours to do it, but it was worth it at the end of the day. 

5:50 am (no kidding)

Early Black Friday monring, around 5:15 am, I was not sneaking out to the stores, but instead shaking children up to head to NYC. 

Since the team had their own van to travel in, we took 2 vans and headed to Staten Island, where we paid $8 for parking and headed on the Ferry, which was FREE! (We had tolls on the Goethels Bridge and another on the Parkway as well)

Getting onto the SI Ferry allowed them to A. be on a Ferry  B. See the Statue of Liberty C. See Ellis Island and D. See the Liberty Towers being built.  Bingo....4 attractions, crossed off the list.

7:30 am

For $2.50 each,  we got onto the subway  (an attraction for most of the team) and took it to 52nd St, right next to Central Park. 

8:20am

Central Park was very fun, as we were right at the entrance to the Zoo and we got some time to visit the Sea Lions and take pictures under the Central Park Zoo Clock and the huge rock right up the path.

8:45 am

Next it was past the Plaza Hotel (which some Team Members recognized as the Home Alone Hotel),

The Apple Store and FAO Swartz....check, check, check.  Remember that it was Black Friday, so they had it all dolled up for Christmas and the whole Holiday Season.

9:30 am

Walked along 5th Ave, looking at all the dressed up windows.....to St. Patrick Cathedral....

 

....Rockefeller Center

I packed lunch for the kids, so we had our lunch at 30 Rock on the benches there and the team went into RC to get some lunch at Subway.  (By the way, a great deal is to be found at the Drug Store in 30 Rock, where I found a 6 pack of water for around $4!....if you have ever traveled to NYC, you know what a deal that is! ~the water is about $3 each anywhere else!)

After lunch, we headed to 12 pm Mass at St Pat's....

12:40 pm


A quick stop to Nintendo World on 48th on the way to 7th Ave....

A QUICK PHOTO OPP...

 1:00 PM
TIMES SQUARE!

We arrived at our final destination!  Some of us were overwhelmed by the wall to wall crowd, some drinking it all in....I admit I had a little of the first and a whole lot of the second....

 After Times Square, we headed back to the subway, rode back to the Ferry and minutes after leaving the Staten Island Ferry parking lot, the kids were mostly fast asleep! 

In the end, if I could, I would do it all over again!

Every single part.

THE END!!!!

For more information on NET TEAM # 9, click on the link below...

NET TEAM #9

Happy Thanksgiving!

   

  My Goodness! So many things to be thankful for this year! First off, for the safe arrival of my Son, Gavin and his team. Gavin is a modern-day American missionary whose goal is to spread the love of Christ to youth around the country with his team of 10. They arrived on a chilly wet night with warm loving hearts and sunny dispositions. You could feel the energy of the whole room just light up. I felt blessed to have them safe in my home. Everyone introduced themselves and exchanged some quick hellos, a quick minute to slap on some name tags and the food arrived with my husband, Daniel. Some more introductions were made, loving prayers over dinner were said and (with the help of some of the girls) dinner was served. Chinese food for all! It was a little crazy, but it flowed rather well and everyone had their fill. It was amazing that all of the team members fit on my couch with 2 of my other kids on their laps. We chose to watch Nacho Libre together and had a lot of fun laughing through it....such a funny movie.

  It was really great to get to know the "on the road" family that Gavin has lived with for the past 3 + months.  There are 6 girls and 5 boys  Some are quiet, but for the most part, many of them have very fun personalities.  One of the girls and I giggled over our love of zebra print, one of the boys reminded me of Jack Black, some joked, some just smiled.  They all were one big family.

  One of the most fun things that happened before the team got there was the arrival of the packages sent from a couple of the family members of the team.  One morning, I just found a package on the porch (I did not have any idea these packages would arrive) It was addressed to a person's name I did not immediately recognize.  I thought it was sent to the wrong address, but my address was clearly printed on the package, so it was in the right place.  Then, it dawned on me.  It was for a team member!  The next package came to me at the post office and this time, I knew that it was for another team member.  I tucked them in a safe place and when the team arrived, the packages were given to the team members.  It turned out to be a coat for one girl and Thanksgiving gifts for the entire team...it was a simple bag of peanuts, but the thought was so kind, it was touching.

  Dinner was over too soon and the team left for my Mom's house where they would be sleeping for the duration of their stay.  They were a joy to meet and it was a privilege to host them.

Loudly yours,

Alicia

Hello....goodbye....

This past weekend was a little bitter sweet, especially as a cantor in the Catholic Church.  It might not seem like such a big deal to some, but to me, it was kind of sad.  The Catholic Church is changing all of its Mass Settings in every Catholic Church in the world.      

http://www.ismasschanging.org/

It was 10 years in the making, and it seems to be a good change to me, but each time I rose to sing an Acclaimation song, (for instance the Gloria), I kept thinking; "this is the last time I am ever going to sing this version of this song".....and it was sad to sing it for the last time.  Lately, my voice has been suffering and not sounding normal, so it was doubly as hard to sing with all I had, these songs, for the last time....especially since I could not sing "with all I had" since it was just not there!  ( I hate it when my voice is not working normally...but it sure does make me appreciate it when its all there.)

Change is good, but we, as humans, usually struggle with it.  We will never sing "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again" ever again and it was...I don't know...a little unsettling.  I know it is not even going to be a second thought in a couple of weeks, and I knew it was coming for a very long time, but when the time actually came to sing it, it was not as easy as I thought it would be.  Just like a old friend moving away (yes, Betty, I am talking about you) it is hard when it comes down to the line and that person does move away and things seem to change forever.

Yes, we make new friends and life goes on, but there will always be that nostalgic yearn for what was in the past as we go forward into the future.  

So, good-bye old music, tried and true, and hello new Mass Settings....here's to great new times with you!

All the best,

Alicia

Five question Friday!

Five Question Friday

1. Bully, teacher’s pet, geek, shy kid in the corner, or something else?

I did not have a great self esteem in school since I was made fun of for being different than everyone else.  I had friends, but I was definitely not part of the cool crowd.  I would not say I was a geek, but I was the class flirt in Elementary, so I was definitely friendly. :)


What did/do you usually eat during lunch time at school?
In Elementary, whatever my Mom packed, but in High School, I remember lots of diet cokes and crunchy cheese doodles.  :)


What did/do you normally wear to school? Thinking back to what you wore(if you’ve already graduated), do you like it?
For most of the time, whatever the school uniform was.  I really did not mind wearing uniforms to school....always knew what I was wearing everyday!  Once I went to public school my senior year, tight jeans, heels (I always had the best shoes since I worked most of my teenage years in shoe stores) or sneakers, whatever the latest tops would be.  For the most I did like what I wore in high school.  I always remember laying down on the bed to zip up my jeans, and blousing my shirts.
Any sports/activities/clubs you participate(d) in?
My sister forced me to play softball and I HATED it with a passion, but I did it to be closer to my Sister and to be a part of a team.  In high school I ran track, but always felt like a loser since I always came in last EVERY time.  I definitively am not much of a sport person...but...I did like tennis and was good at it before I broke my arm in Ecuador.  I also enjoyed playing pool and was really good at it.



Any worthwhile friends you (would) still keep up with after graduation?
Yes, and thanks to facebook, we are closer than we would be if facebook did not exist.  Mostly, any other school friends I have otherwise are from church with the exception of 2 people, who I would always be friends with: June and Michelle.  June was from my neighborhood friend and Michelle I met at work and we attended College together. 

Wordless Wednesday!