Our tour of PCTI, The Passaic County Technical Institure

Passaic County Technical Institute

This week, my Daughter and I went on a tour of PCTI to see if she would like to go to High School here. The School is amazing. It is a secure campus, set up on a mountain top in Wayne, NJ and it boasts its own Athletic Center, complete with indoor pool, a zip line and obstacle course, athletics, galore!  It's own restaurant, bank, printing shop, you name it! 

 Here, we are at the TV station by the green screen, interview set, control room....

 The most interesting thing to Rachael was the School of Communication and the art rooms.

Of course, I liked the Johnny Depp drawing! 

The school was like a city!

It took us about 2 hours to tour the school.

I was most impressed with the Criminal Justice room with the NJROTC and its Commanding Officer, who happened to be in the class I was visiting. She was an outstanding individual who is in charge of 300 students, along with Retired Naval Officers who guide them all. She just wanted to make me stand up and cheer (and sign all my kids up for the ROTC!!)

It was very impressive to see such a dedicated young woman with a passion for Leadership.

The classrooms were all busy and bustling, filled with each school's individual blend of tools needed for each concentration. You can see the hard work and dedication of each classroom and the energy that filled the halls of the institute. I look forward to hearing from admissions that she will officially a part of the Class of 2017!  

Loudly yours,

Alicia

Gratitude Journal Days 13-15

Hmmmmm.. 9 things to be grateful for. That seems like a lot, but after watching the video at the end of this entry, 9 things to be grateful for is nothing.
1. I am grateful for my home. Is is warm and safe and dry.
2. I am grateful for my bed. It is where I rest in the evenings and dream great dreams. It is like sleeping on a cloud and I love it!
3. I am grateful that I have exercise equipment right in my bedroom that I get to use before I jump in the shower.  I love the time saved there!
4. I am grateful for my working van that gets me where I need to go. I did not have the van working during the storm and I was without it for about a week and it near killed me!!
5. I am grateful for my leader, Kim, who is doing such a great job as our Double Diamond! She is joy and a great teacher.
6. I am grateful for my music minister, Jim, who is soooo talented and giving. He is a treasure!
7.  I am grateful for my connections in the surrounding communities, especially Hurricane Sandy, Helping Hands, started through my good friend, Majella LoBello.  She has done some amazing work!!
8. I am grateful for the clergy in my life and their role in growing my life of faith. I can be a tricky student and they are doing all they can to guide my faith walk and I appreciate it.
9. I am grateful for my health. It goes without saying that health is one of the most important things to have in life and I am grateful that I am healthy as well as my family, thanks be to God.
Loudly yours,
Alicia

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Gratitiude Journal Days 5 & 6

Today, my gratitude goes towards my faith based Community. I have been very lucky to have been given the gift of music and granted the opportunity to share the gift God gave me with a Congregation who is loving, appreciative and understanding when my delivery is not perfect. I have been blessed with talented musicians who make me sound even better than I would alone and who have been accommodating in many ways.

I am also grateful that I have been fed spiritually through song when I can feel the message of God pressing onto me in my own life when I am proclaiming the psalm or singing a hymn. It is revealing to feel as if the song is speaking to me in my own life while I am reaching out to others.

I am also grateful for the patience of my Husband and Family as I am continually leaning on them for free time to go and work within the church at Masses, Funerals, Weddings and such. It is a blessing to be able to provide for the family and feed my soul at the same time.
I am grateful for my friends and those relatives close enough to me to call friends. These are women who I can lean on in times of trouble and call on many of them for advice. I appreciate their wisdom and their listening ears.

I am also grateful for the Community in which I live and for all the things that are done to help us all get together and do fun things. Like tonight, we will be lighting the tree together, singing and sharing hot chocolate. I am grateful it is not too, too cold out, so I will not freeze to death out there!

Lastly, I am grateful for the ability to juggle my crazy, crazy life!  I have been running around a lot lately, trying to maintain my current job and my 2nd job all in one. It gets hard at times. but are both fulfilling in many ways.  Both help people and many are very happy when they are done meeting with me. I love my jobs! :)
Loudly yours.
Alicia
ps- I have to share my interview with a beautiful young lady who I know is going to be a famous illustrator one day.  She was so sweet and I have fun interviewing her and getting to know her better.

Gratitude Journal Day 4

Today, I am grateful for my Cousin, Irene, who introduced me to my business. It has been so much fun working with her and seeing her on a regular basis. I have always been close to her, but being on her team and working together has been an entirely different experience, all for the good.

I am grateful today for Catholic Schools. My kids are getting a well rounded education with a Catholic flavor that I love, I love it when my kids come home singing church hymns and when they want to audition for the talent show using those songs. So sweet!!
Lastly, I am grateful for my baby birds. Yes, they are noisy, but they have been  fun companions and have taught my kids to love animals and to take care of them.

Our Trip Bushkill Falls Part 2

Our trip to Bushkill Falls, Pa continued after the boys decided they wanted to take off on their own.

Letting them go gave us the chance to stop for a while and enjoy the scenery and take lots of pictures with the girls.

Oddly enough, there were not a lot of wildlife at the falls and even the birds were kind of quiet.  I did not want to see any bears, for sure, but a squirrel or deer would have been nice.
The whole trail took us about 2 1/2 hours and about half way through, we got to the bridal falls, the masterpiece of the park.

There were a lot of different kind of waterfalls including brooks and streams....

 

 
 On our walk back from the Bridal Falls, we chose to take the hiker's path back to the end of the trail. Bad move. My knees were hurting by the time we got the end and were begging for flatter ground! It will be the normal trail for us next time, for sure!

 The last two waterfalls were massive. the power of the water was just incredible, and the sunlight hitting the water was nothing short of magical looking!  What a beautiful end to a beautiful day!

 Over all, the trip was great and worth the $73 price tag for our family of 8. (We are really 9, but were missing our eldest Son.)  We can't wait to go back again. Hopefully, we will make it in the Spring. 

Loudly Yours,

Alicia

Our Trip to Bushkill Falls, Pa Part One

It's a ride out to PA for about an hour, give or take. Just a relatively short ride to see some of nature's beauty. We chose this time of the year to go to see the leaves and because October weather is usually so conducive to hiking. Just cold enough to keep you from sweating while you walk, but warm enough that you are not freezing. We tried to make this year's trip with most of our neighborhood gang, but as life has it at times, it did not work out completely, but we were able to spend the day with one of our neighbor families and it worked out great!  So, the largest family and one of the smallest of Mt Tabor sojourned together to the falls. We arrived around mid day and the sun peeked out from the clouds as soon as we arrived.  We piled out of the car, paid the fare and checked out the trails. We opted for the biggest route and got right to hiking. We quickly realized that the boys were not going to keep the pace we were moving, so we made a decision to let them run ahead. It was a good decision. We would have held them back and we would have heard complaints the whole way through. We took out time, stopping to take pictures at will. We got a lot of good ones!  It is ironic how serene the woods can be while at the same time have such brute strength in the power of the falls.

Loudly Yours,
Alicia

My Dinner with a Billionaire...in the making...

Yes, Billionaire.....with a B.
Seriously.
I did.
I made dinner and shortly dated a man who is now a Billionaire. Just made the connection yesterday, about 22 years later.
He was the last man I dated before I married my Husband.
I met him through a close friend I had from the gym.  I was Condo sitting her place and invited him over for dinner. No hanky panky, just dinner and maybe some snuggling. Alright, maybe a little more than that, but nothing rated R, if you get the picture.

I remember I made him Curry Chicken for dinner and took pains to make every ingredient just perfect. I was so excited to make everything look amazing. Candles on the table, table cloth, cloth napkins, lights down really low, dessert made.....just perfection. I knew he had money and I wanted to impress.

The door bell rang, my heart skipped a beat.  I ran to the door and slowed down as not to be out of breath. I answered the door and there he was, with a super smile and dressed casually, and with just the right balance of fashion and comfort. He had on great shoes, too.  I allowed him in and we headed to the kitchen to check on the food and he helped me up on the counter to get something I can't recall, but I remember we had a chuckle about how I was too short to reach that item I needed. He helped me bring some the food into the dining area and we drank some wine and chatted candidly about things going on in our lives.

We sat at the dinner table and the conversation continued. I was pleased as punch that he liked the dinner and felt like such a success.
The evening continued at the kitchen where he helped me clean up the dishes (which impressed the heck out of me), then when we were done in the kitchen, we headed to the living room to watch a movie on the couch.

I have no idea what we watched and the night ended when he left to go home. I was not the one night stand kind of girl and I was not sure where this relationship was headed. So, I let him go.....and I never saw him again.

I heard from him after that. He called and we spoke....but he was just too busy to ever take my call as he was building his business....and build it he did.

He built it to the tune of 23 Billion (yes billion) dollars. Hmmmm. that is a lot of money.   A LOT of money.

Shortly after I realized that it was not going to work out with Mr. Got Rocks, I started dating my Hubby. I knew He was the man I was going to marry soon after we met, although I did not believe it at first. He did not own his own car, he was still living at home and worked retail. Not the worldly ideal; but what he does have is a Billion Dollar heart and that is what attracted me to him the most.  Do I regret me decision not to pursue Mr. Got Rocks? No. My children are treasures worth more than gold or riches and so is my dear husband.

It is interesting to think of what life might have been if I had kept on Mr. Got Rocks. It would be a super spoiled version of me. Not too sure I would want to be in the room with that.  It might not be too pretty. How knows? Maybe I would. I would like to think that I would have a heart big enough to share with a lot of people in need, with all of his money.  Maybe. Then again, I look to people who had nothing, and made all the difference in the world, like Blessed Mother Theresa.
This morning, when I woke up, I heard a whisper from God, telling me that He has blessed me with treasure beyond measure in my children and that they were more that all the riches in the world.

Yeah...what God said.

Loudly yours.

Alicia

Five Question Friday! 5/25/12

1. Are you a napper?

Yes, but usually when I am sick or pregnant or my body just tells me to. Not a regular occurrence.

2. What was your favorite subject in school? Most hated?

Social Studies. Hated Math.

3. Did you have the something old new borrowed and blue at your wedding? What were they?

Borrowed was my cousin in law's veil, can't recall if there was anything blue.

4. What one thing are you determined to do this summer.

Build my new business up, spend time with the kids at the pool.

5. Ice cream or Popsicles?

Ice cream is great, but the amount can get out of control. Popsicles are nice because there is more of a chance of portion control.

Happy Birthday, 3rd Son

May is a crazy, crazy month.  First is my Sister's Anniversary, my Mom's Birthday, my Daughter's Birthday, My Niece/GodDaughter's Birthday, My Birthday, and my Son's Birthday.  May is finally winding down.  My Son's Birthday is the sign that it is all finally coming to an end.

Nathan was born to 2 older Brothers in the wee hours of the morning.  I remember it well since hubby was falling asleep while I was in labor and I kept nudging him to stay awake.

After we got home, I was, of course in love, but there was something very different about this baby.  I noticed that when he looked at me, he looked at me as if he knew me before.  It was the strangest thing.
It was an eerie feeling at first, but the feeling passed, as he was my little bundle of joy. He was a very happy baby and very receptive to song.  He loved bouncing around to Gloria Estefan's Reach Album, especially Party Time. He would just bounce every ounce of his little body all over the place. It was so funny to watch!  He was a fun baby.

Fast Forward to today, Nathan is a talented Drummer, who tinkles on the piano, marches in the Drum Line Section of the Marching Band at his High School as well as the Concert Band and Pit Band for the School's plays.

We are proud of Nathan and his talents.

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Loudly yours,

Alicia

Truthful Tuesday 5/15/12

Truth.


I wish I had a plane that I could hop on and fly away for a day. Alone. Just to recharge my batteries.

Reality.


I don't. So I day dream about going away to places near and far.


Truth.


I love my family, but sometimes I just want to go forward, free.

Reality.


I am a responsible Mother and Wife and running forward, free is not one of those things you can do if you are a good Mother and Wife.  I am sure it would get really old, really fast.  It is just the idea of being free that seems amazing.  I have to think to myself, "what would being free really entail?"  I would be missing out on free kisses, free hugs, free conversations, free love from my kids and husband.  I would miss that. Truly.


Truth.


I want to be a recording artist who sells recordings.  I want to be on Broadway.

Reality.


I have a job and 7 kids and one wonderful Husband.  Time away from all of them right now is not much of an option.  The truth is, they need me.  I am the house Secretary, Treasurer, Organizer.  Things would not function well without me and it would be costly to try and replace me. I still record stuff, but it is out there for free and for now, I'll take the joy of making the recordings, even if it is just on my iPad or Droid Cell Phone. 


Truth.


I hate rehearsing in front of other people, unless it is my family.  I want people to see the finished product, not the yuck that comes with the stuff on the way to making it sound great. 


I love the bond that I share with those who listen to my song.  If I am singing the song properly, there is a connection between me and my listeners that is broken if sung in a wrong key or if the timing is wrong. 


I love that a song can bring people together to a different place.  I love it when I am singing at Mass and people close their eyes so their ears can hear better.  That means I am doing my job to get the message I am trying to send to them.  That God loves them and that there is hope.  I am fortunate to have the honor of being the one who gets to tell them that message.  Really honored.


And that is just the truth!


Loudly yours,


Alicia

Wordless Wednesday 5/9/12