3 Decades and A Smile

I guess I should give myself a post of my own to pin point my celebration of existence for 30 years.

On April 4th, 1983 a little Greek baby girl named Cassandra Marie was born :)
(in case you were wondering...that's me)

On April 4th, 2013, now a wife and a mother, that respectively still young woman is now 30 years old.  I'm sure this makes my parents feel much older than I do (Sorry mom and dad!).  But yes, it's true.  I'm officially 30.

I never had any reserves about aging.  When I first met my husband, he had indirectly taught me how to look at things differently and more positively.  With his help, I've graciously accepted the simple truth that "it's-better-to-grow-older-than-to-die-younger" mindset.  Plus it's Only 30! 

Since we had discovered that we were expecting another baby on April 2, and we had plans to go out to dinner with family on April 6, or so I thought...Justin and I had talked about making an announcement to our close friends and family while we were out to eat.  Well unbeknownst  to me, the actual plan for Saturday April 6, was for me to go out to lunch with my girlfriends and come home to a Surprise Party with my close friends and family there waiting to celebrate with me!

After my girlfriends picked me up at home, we headed out to one of my favorite restaurants, Olive Garden, for lunch!  (No one knew the baby news yet)

Well...since it was my 30th birthday and I usually have at least a glass of wine when we get together and I only ordered water, I figured they would get suspicious.  Finally after everyone ordered and received their drinks, we did a group "Cheers!" to friendship and birthdays and in the midst of all that, I also blurted out "to New Additions!".  Everyone gasped in surprise and cheered as most of them got the insinuation right away.  :)

We headed back to my house (I drove since I have a vehicle that fits all 6 of us) and when I got to my road about 1/4 mile from my house, I saw a lot of people standing outside on the sidewalk on either side of the street.  I thought maybe someone was having a yard sale at first.  Then I saw people were holding signs!  Then I saw the signs all said something about me!!  It was the coolest thing ever to see a bunch of people I know and love holding up a sign that said something about me having a birthday or turning 30!

All of these pretty happy faces were lined up and down the street for me, along with many others!

A huge THANK YOU to my cousin-in-laws, Paige and Sasha, for doing all of these signs that I love so much!

 I was so excited seeing all of these signs as I passed that I probably honked the horn about 50 times within 100 yards!  I pulled in the driveway and just started hugging anyone I could grab! :)  My whole front lawn was filled with people I knew and loved!  It felt as wonderful and special as my wedding day; having so many people in one place because they love me.  Such a great feeling!  Thank You All!

 I walk into my house and it's filled with balloons with ribbon!  Everywhere!  I loved it!

I go into the dining room where I find a yummy looking cake!  (with purple trimmings of course)

Then I'm told there is one more surprise...

And my dad and step mom from New Jersey pop out of our basement door!  Hugs are flying again!

Crazy enough my daughter had slept through all of that commotion (and horn honking), so we woke her up from her nap and put her in her "announcement shirt" and let her walk around to get some reactions out of people.  :)

That day was so much fun, I didn't want it to end!  :)  It was a great way to bring in my 30's and I'm so blessed and lucky to have these people in my life!  A special big "thank you" to my hubby for planning all of this for me, even though we said we wouldn't do something big for my birthday because of funds, but he managed to find a way to make it happen for me anyway because he said I "deserved it".  Thank you, baby!

Love to you all!

Hello...Is It Me You're Looking For?

**This was written almost 2 months ago on 3/25/13...apparently I was asleep when I hit the SAVE button instead of the PUBLISH button...so here's a slight recap before I get to the actual newest post.**

Ever have that feeling that you're so far behind that you shouldn't even bother to try to catch up?  Well that's me with blogging...except, I DO want to catch up!  In the last month...technically two...almost three, I've been TERRIBLY bad at making blogging a priority as I have in the past.  Which also means I've totally NOT kept up with that part of my New Years Resolutions either....well here's why.

Life.

I won't say that I've been busy every day all day for the last month, but my priorities have changed a little.

Toddler.  Geesh, can this girl run!  Annaliese is very active, always on the go!  She is also very exploratory and independent.  It's hard to get everything that needs done in a day, especially with a husband that still gets daily headaches (sleep test is scheduled in May) and sometimes comes home from work and goes straight to bed.  Annaliese keeps me on my toes!  And boy is she headstrong!  If she can't figure something out the first time around, she throws herself down into a fit.  Wonder where she gets that from???  For those of you wondering, she actually gets that from both of her parents.  Poor kid!
Also on that note, Justin and I have decided that we are officially "TTC" again!  So stay tuned for an update on that when we're finally successful!

Money.  Since joining Scentsy in December, I am (to my surprise) doing really well with my Scentsy Business, and I am bringing in extra money (Shout out to my awesome customers and recruits!), but until I become even more established, I have been applying my tush off for other part time jobs.  I've had one interview so far and it seems pretty promising.  I have a few other prospects and Justin possibly has another job opportunity that will mean him traveling 2 hours each way Monday - Friday for at least a year until we would relocate closer to his job.  So we'll see what happens with that!  *Just thought I would put this out there - I am able to do an online party for you if you are interested.  A blogger friend is already making it happen!*  It's just hard to picture myself going back into the working field after being out of it for 2 1/2 wonderful years!  My goal for this year is to make Scentsy my primary income and be able to take my family on a vacation this summer/fall!

Parties.  My sweet maternal grandmother's 80th birthday happened, (February 18th, to be exact)!  My mom had been inviting family and friends from all over the country for months and the total head count as of now is about 120 people!  My grandma is one of eleven kids (HOLY MOLY...could you imagine???) and all of her siblings who don't reside in Heaven came up celebrate!  All of her daughters were there and all of her grand kids, and of course her only great grandchild, Annaliese!  Many of her cousins were there as well as many of her life long friends she has made over 80 years of life.  I cannot tell you how excited and happy I was/am for my grandma to have this day, this celebration of life!  We all had a blast at the party!

Birthdays.  Well more recently, there are more recent birthdays coming up.  My big 30th is April 4th and Justin's (a couple years graduated from 30) is April 18th.  For the last year, Like I mentioned before, I wanted to throw myself a big 30th birthday bash with an 80's theme!  Well unfortunately it looks like that won't be the case.  Trying to keep afloat on our bills (including the expensive cold season we're still in) we have not been able to save and extra money to make this happen.  I won't lie...I'm disappointed, but I've accepted it.  I know that my birthday will still be special in it's own way.  My girl friends have a nice lunch at Olive Garden planned for me on April 6th, and we have a family dinner planned for that evening at Dave and Jane's Crab Shack where I will be indulging in all-you-can-eat crabs!  *Please note: I will be in a complete food coma on this day*

Books.  I have made an attempt to read more like I wanted to this year and I have.  Going from zero reading to some reading is actually a feat, but it's happening at least!  Plus, just recently I have found an awesome website and app called GoodReads!  I'm sure most of you consistent readers out there already know of this site, but I found it to be my missing reader's link!  It's a place where you can make lists of what you have already read, what you want to read and what you are currently reading as well as have "friends" and read their reviews and get suggestions of books!  Go find me so we can be reading buddies! :)

So that has been my last few months in a nut shell.  I'm sorry it's taken me forever to write this post and that I haven't read many of your blog posts that I have missed.  It sometimes doesn't take a high rank on the priority list and I have somehow managed to not even make it appear on the list!  I'll try to keep on top of things!

I have lots of pictures to post and lots of other news to share, so I will be doing that here soon!  As always you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.  *please take note that I have changed my user names to CreatingCassie*

Love to you all...if you're still out there!

Feeling Cold, Wishing Warm

It's been really really chilly here lately!  Getting down in the 20's at night already, and it's not even Winter.  I fear that Winter will be a super cold one this year with lots of snow, since Mother Nature was kind enough last year to only bless us with a few inches.

Since Justin and I got married and went on a once in a OUR lifetime honeymoon to Negril, Jamaica, anytime the cold Winter weather rolls around, I still like to think back to our honeymoon.  Our first vacation as husband and wife (and really the first vacation alone together), we were in newly wedded bliss and had just had the wedding of our dreams, enjoyed the 90-100 degree weather daily (a little TOO hot for our taste, but it was still nice)...and some of the greatest things we had ever experienced together.

Palm Trees...

Clear Water...

White Sands...

Couples Massage...

Dolphin Dance...

Breathtaking Sunsets...

Romantic Dinners...

Yes, this is how I cope with being cold.  I go back to my happy place...the beach :)

Labor Day Weekend - The Short Version

Sorry it's taken me a week to get this post out.  I've had other posts that seemed to want to flow better before this one  Mainly because this is pretty much all pictures :)  Plus I have a bad habit of starting 20 things at once and slowly getting around to finishing them.  It's a New Years Resolution........... from 1998.  I'm working on it.  ;)

Well summer is unofficially over...  It's bittersweet.  Most of all the age appropriate kids are in school by now.  It's pretty crazy how June, July and August just flew by.  Justin and I still cannot fathom the thought that in just a little over a month, a year will have passed from the day that we brought a beautiful innocent life into this world.  :)

*warning- a post with many pictures*

So back to last weekend, my dad and step mom, Jackie came into town.  We ended up not going to Justin's aunt and uncle's cookout on Sunday because my dad wasn't feeling the greatest, but we still had fun.  Annaliese enjoyed spending time with her Papou (Greek for grandpa) and Nana.  :)

Playing nicely and standing by herself

Pretty girl

Waiting patiently for Papou and Nana

When Papou and Nana arrived, after a long car ride from New Jersey with a side of holiday traffic and pieces of hurricane Issac, Annaliese was already very tired and cranky.  So everyone went to bed to have a better visit in the morning :)

Saturday morning Annaliese woke up, played, ate breakfast, and fell asleep cuddling with me, so I let her...for an hour.  :)  *These are the moments I will miss soon*

Sleepin on Mommy

After I laid her down in her crib, I went for a run.  2.51 miles in 30:22.  Not too shabby :)

Around noon we started making dinner.  2 very famous Greek dishes:  Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and Spanakopita (spinach pie).  *Recipes to come at a later post*

Dolmades

Spanakopita

After we got dinner started, Annaliese played with Papou.

And had a crawling race

I think Annaliese won ;)

Then Annaliese got some snuggle time in with Nana.

And discovered her eye lashes

Then Papou and Nana took turns helping Annaliese learn to walk.

Then cuddled with Nana some more.

There was even some cuddling going on between my brother, Alex and Sammy

Yeah...he's cute.

On Sunday, Mamaw came over for a little visit and Annaliese got to spend a little bit of time with her.

Annaliese playing with her toy (and Sammy playing hide and seek)

Mommy stole a picture

I made some pumpkin bread!  MMM!  (Compliments of Pillsbury in a box)

Then Monday came and the weekend was over.  It was a nice visit with my dad and Jackie, as it always is, but it always seems to go by so fast and I miss them before they even leave.  They have hopes of moving closer to us in the future, just have to keep praying that it will happen and when the time is right.

Playing with Papou before he leaves to go home

Walking Papou to the door.

It's hard to believe the next time my dad and Jackie visit will be for the weekend of Annaliese's first birthday party.  She will already be one year old when they see her next!  They suspect that she will be walking the next time they visit.  Are they right?  :)