My husband and I grew up in Roman Catholic families who never missed Sunday mass. We continued this tradition when the kids were young and agreed that they should receive every Sacrament that's required by the Catholic Church. Also, they attended religious education until they received Confirmation. We did all of this because we strongly believe in the basic principles of the Catholic Church and feel that its teachings provide our kids with a solid moral foundation. 

But with time, our family has become part of the growing number of "Cafeteria Catholics" who have left the Church but choose to retain certain aspects of the Catholic faith.  

This morning, Pope Benedict XVI shocked the Roman Catholic world by announcing that he will be resigning on Feb. 28, after less than eight years in office. Citing his advanced age and ill-health as the reason for his leaving, the 85-year-old is the first pope to resign in 600 years.

For most people in this country, the holidays ended on January 1 with the arrival of the new year. But for many Latinos, the festivities continue as tomorrow, January 6, is Three Kings Day--a Spanish tradition that is celebrated in many countries in Latin America.

In my house, this is an important holiday as my husband and I are raising our children with the same Latin traditions with which we grew up. Since our kids are still little, we use books, movies and crafts to teach a little more about this beautiful custom. And today I want to share some of these with you.

I love the holidays so much that I enjoying getting involved in all the cheesy Christmas traditions. For example, I'll play the movies Elf and A Christmas Story to get me in the Christmas spirit—sometimes even throughout the year. Growing up I lived with a pretty big family at home so it was guaranteed that the holidays could get a bit hectic.

The one thing I loved most that separated me from my American friends was the fact that while everyone else opened their Christmas gifts on the morning of, I opened mine on Nochebuena (Christmas Eve). Traditionally it's been in our culture to open our Christmas gifts at midnight and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy with family and friends and it's easy to forget about the outside world. While you may have a warm home and a meal to arrive to, there are many people who are not as fortunate. The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy especially makes me think even more about the meaning of Thanksgiving as I know there are thousands of people unable to participate in the festivities. The amount of destruction New York, New Jersey, and neighboring areas faced were so devastating and fatal that it made me want to do something to help.

This is my hometown; my heart is and always will be with New York and seeing the amounts of people affected by this storm, hits me on a personal note.  I just knew I wanted to volunteer this Thanksgiving to help the families affected by this terrible tragedy. Volunteering isn't always an easy task this time of year due to the high volume of people who want to help. But if you can, excellent!

In what will probably be the most bizarre story you will hear all week, a Tennessee woman is making headlines after revealing that she lived biblically for an entire year, calling her husband "master," growing out her hair, and even sleeping outside of her house when she had her period!

I don't understand how nobody noticed, but Russian police believe 70 people, including 27 children--the youngest just 18 months--have been living underground for almost a decade. Apparently, many children were born underground and most had not seen daylight until they were rescued last week in the city of Kazan, about 500 miles from Moscow. How is it possible that such a thing is allowed to go on these days?

The underground building has eight levels and 30 rooms with no light, heat or ventilation and it belongs to members of a Muslim sect whose leader prohibited from leaving. Most had never left the bunker and had never gone to school or seen a doctor.