Quirky Aquarius Me

I am an Aquarius. The sun sign fits me pretty well...some traditional traits of the Aquarius, however, do not suit me. I have highlighted the traits that do.

Aquarius:"The Water Carrier"

 January 20-February 18

Most likeable traits:

Friendly, People Oriented, Outgoing, Humanitarian, Honest, Loyal, Original and Inventive, Independent, intellectual

Disliked Traits:

Intractable and contrary, perverse and unpredictable, unemotional and detached <----to a certain extent. I am very emotional and sensitive though.

Ruling Planet:

Uranus

Element:
Air

Magical Birthstone:
Amethyst (brings faithfulness in love)

Special Flowers:

Orchid and Violet

Lucky Numbers:

1 & 7

Lucky Day:

Wednesday

"Aquarians basically posess strong and attractive personalities. They fall into two principle types: one shy, sensitive, gentle and patient; the other exuberant, lively and exhibitionist. Both types are strong willed and forceful in their different ways and have strong convictions, though as they seek truth above all things, they are usually honest enough to change their opinions. They have a breadth of vision that brings diverse factors into a whole, and can see both sides of an argument without shilly-shallying as to which side to take. Consequently they are unprejudiced and tolerant of other points of view. This is because they can see the validity of the argument, even if they do not accept it themselves. They obey the Quaker exhortation to "Be open to truth, from whatever source it comes," and are prepared to learn from everyone.

LIKES:

Fighting for Causes, Dreaming and Planning for the Future, Thinking of the Past, Good Companions, Having Fun

DISLIKES:
Full of air promises, excessive loneliness, the ordinary, imitations, idealistic

So, as you can see my personality pretty much fits the Aquarian to a T. I am very passionate about certain things in my life, specifically my relationships. I used to be VERY carefree, and still am to a certain extent. Now that I am a mother, however, I have had to be a little less carefree and a little more concerned about things.

I am very accepting of others as a whole. There are certain types of people though that unfortunately I have put some type of stereotype on and am somewhat predjudice of. I do not like that about myself, but it is a fact.

The part of this horoscope that said I like to dream and plan for the future is VERY true! And it is also very true that I hate "full of air promises", and excessive loneliness.

So yea, I think I am definately an Aquarius =)

30 Things You May Or May Not Know About Me

Oh, this is going to be fun!

1. I was born with hypothyroidism....meaning my thyroid gland is underactive. Actually, I was born without a thyroid gland at all. Hah, I remember one of my middle school gym teachers who had this same problem. I have always had a problem with my medicine (taking them when I should, etc) and one time in middle school, I got sick. I had to sit out of gym class for a full week. That said teacher (won't mention names) came up to me and told me that whoever said I was born without a gland was full of it because there is no such thing as someone not born without an organ. Needless to say, my mother was PISSED!
2. I love to sing, singing is my favorite =) P!NK is my favorite. I love watching American Idol, X-Factor, America's Got Talent...and Glee. And everytime I do, I go "practice" singing. It's fun. =)

3. Not only do I love singing but I love music. Music is my outlet.

4. I am a proud mama of a beautiful little girl, Alexis Sofia. She came into the world on December 29 2011 at 9:19pm and weighed 8 lbs 3oz. She is the LOVE of my whole life!

5. I am married to my best friend, Rick =)
6. I am from a little town in a little corner of the world called Brevard, NC. 30 minutes outside of Asheville. It was named the coolest small town in America, and yea. It is pretty dang cool.
7. I have a gap between my 2 front teeth that I'm pretty self concious about. Although I've gotten kind of used to it.
8. My childhood best friend, Julianna, and I have never fought. No joke. 23 years and not one fight.
9. I am the youngest of 3 girls. My sisters are Mandi and Erin. I have a love/hate relationship with being the baby of the family.
10. I have abnormally long toes. My mama always used to tell me that I could play piano with my toes...and I think I gave that trait to my daughter as well.
11. I have very short nails. I am envious of those of you who can paint cool designs on your nails and it actually look good.

12. I am a Disney fanatic. My favorite Disney movie would probably have to be Cinderella.
13. Speaking of Disney and my favorite movie, I got to work in Cinderella's castle at Disneyworld in 2008. Best job ever. I just wish it would have paid better so I could have stayed there. =(
14. Although my favorite Disney movie is one about the most popular princesses of Disney, when I found out I was having a girl, I didn't want her to have anything to do with "princess". I just didn't want her to get the mindset of being "spoiled" or better than anyone else.
15. My favorite person in the world besides my husband and daughter is my grandmother, Cecelia, my name sake. I call her Nona.
16. My favorite color is yellow. I'm just drawn to it. Ask my friends =)
17. I have a fear of windows. During the day, they are fine. At night, not so much. I am scared that if I look through one of them at night I will see someone looking at me I think.
18. My faith in God has brought me through so much in my life. No matter what I'm going through, God always seems to pull me through.
19. I LOVE FLOWERS! My favorites are hydrangeas, peonies, and gerbera daisies.
20. My favorite food is chicken. I'll eat it just about any way.
21. I once got a job at Hampton Inn Brevard. Fell in love with my boss, Casey. Left and found out that she was related to me. Then came back and I'm here now. =) Couldn't stay away from Casey.
22. I love to plan! I wanted to be an event planner or a travel agent at one point.
23. I also write lists. A lot. I'm always writing some kind of list. Kind of like this one...
24. I have a weakness for apple crisp, chocolate and cheesecake.
25. I have a weird love for office supplies and books. If I had to recreate the movie "Where The Heart Is" and live in a store, it would either be Barnes and Noble or Staples.
26. I hate hot weather. Warm weather is good...but overly hot, suffocating weather. Ugh. I would rather been cold than hot. You can always bundle up but you can only strip down so much...
27. I am a Pinot Noir snob.

28. My dream car is a Volvo s60.
29. I love dressing up!
30. If I could go and do anything in the world, I would want to tour the UK.

Day 5: Men: Why I Love Them, and Why I Hate Them

Men. Can't live with them, can't live without them. They are just as much a part of "the circle of life" as women are. But as much as I love men, they can be super irritating as well:


1. Patronizing. 
I hate it when men do this. This has to be the number one thing that irritates me the most. If a woman is upset about something, she has her reasons. They may not seem "legitimate" to a man, but they are to a woman. So for a man to sit there and talk down to me, and treat me as if I'm a child and try to "talk me out" of feeling the way I feel....it just irritates me to death! 

2. Lying to spare your feelings.
This kind of goes hand in hand with the patronizing. When a man lies to you because he's afraid that if he told you the truth, you'd be hurt or angry. Here's the thing: when I find out about the lie, I'm going to be even MORE hurt and angry. I know that there are so many types of media out there that say that this is a good idea. But really, it's not. Maybe it was a good idea back in the day, I don't know. But these days, and I think I can probably speak for most women, it's best to tell us the truth even if you feel like it would hurt our feelings than to lie. (Lying by omission still counts as lying)

3. Turning off their brain to where they are literally thinking about NOTHING
This is really just irritating as all get out. Women for one are constantly thinking about SOMETHING. Our kids, chores, to-do list, work, dinner, whatever. It is absolutely mind boggling how men are able to just completely shut off their minds and think about NOTHING! It is so irritating to me (and for most women too) to ask a man "What are you thinking about?" and he answers back "Nothing"....because he really is thinking about nothing. How can you people not be thinking about ANYTHING????

4. Selfish human beings.
Now, there are some pretty selfLESS men out there. There are. And women can be just as selfish too. But women tend to be a little more selfLESS, I think, just because of that natural maternal instinct we have. I know that men sometimes don't INTEND to be selfish, but they really do come across that way. For example: the whole "What's In It For Me?" mindset. Women are constantly having to bribe men to get them to do stuff for them. "Will you please come shopping with me? I hear they are building a new [insert favorite type of store here] nearby so maybe we can stop there too!" or "Honey, can you please help me with dinner? I'll give you a back rub after." Why can't men just DO stuff, first of all without us asking them to, and secondly just out of the love in their heart? 

5. So concerned about their egos.
You're driving down the interstate with your Significant Other and heaven forbid, someone cuts him off in traffic. For me, personally, yea, it's irritating. I'll usually honk my horn, and sometimes if I'm REALLY mad, I'll flip a bird. Then I'm over it. I can get on with my day. Men on the other hand? Geez. Someone cuts him off in traffic, he breaks out in WW3. Not only does he lay on his horn, flip the bird, and shout curse words out the window, but he then crawls up on the other cars bumper and rides them for 5 miles, not only putting HIMSELF and your family (or whoever is in the car) in danger, but all the other drivers around him too. Then, we he gets the chance to get next to that person in traffic, he motions them to roll down their window (if it's another man, it's ON! if it's a woman, about 75% of the time, she ignores him lol), and then starts screaming at them. And if he's REALLY pissed off, and if the person that cut him off is a man as well, they'll pull over on the side of the interstate and fight it out. Just to prove that they are big and bad and tough. And NOBODY cuts HIM off in traffic. It has got to be one of the MOST childish things ever, to watch a man defend his precious ego. Grow up!



Now, I'm not a man hater. I'm married. I have a beautiful baby girl that would never have been in existence if it weren't for my husband. There are many things I love about men too:

1. The way they look when they're in deep concentration.
There is just something about a man fixing something or driving a car (without the road rage). Or deep in thought at work. I can't really describe it, but that furrowed look in his brow, the strain in his face, the slight pucker in his lips. I don't know what it is exactly, but when a man is in deep concentration, and you can see his brain working, it's one of the biggest turn ons for me.

2. Protectiveness
When you're snuggling with a man and he has his arms wrapped around you, or when you're in public and he has his hands around your waist, it's a great feeling. You feel PROTECTED, or at least I do. Like nothing in the world can ever hurt you because HE is there with you. It's an amazing feeling.

3. Sense of humor
The fact that a man CAN turn his brain off can be a good thing too. Men have a way of making light of bad situations by making jokes. Though it can be irritating at times if he does it in an inappropriate moment, it still does the job by taking away some stress. And a man who knows how to make a woman laugh is KEY!

4. Way of calming you down.
This goes hand in hand with the sense of humor. I don't know if it's true for other women, but for me, when I'm upset about something or stressed out or just need someone to talk to, I usually call my husband first. Not just because he's my best friend and my HUSBAND, but because he's a man. He has a way of putting things in different perspectives for me and to make me realize that perhaps I'm overreacting. Maybe the situation isn't as bad as I'm making it out to be. 

5. A man who's deeply in love with his woman
When a man loves his woman, you can tell. The way he looks at her, the way he's PROUD of her. The way he talks about her constantly and he gets all excited about it. Men are just so darn CUTE when they love their women. 


Men are interesting creatures. But so are women. Women are mysterious, and men will never understand the way we operate, as we will never understand the way they operate. That is the beauty of life, though. I think that if we DID understand each other, sure it would be easier, but it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.


Until tomorrow....

Religion vs. Spirituality

I am a Christian. 

What does being a Christian mean to me? It means that I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. It means that I believe that I can talk directly to Him, and have a personal relationship with Him. It means that though I fall short and don't deserve God's glory, I am still forgiven because He died on the cross to save ME. It means that I know I am a sinner and that I need God in my life to steer me in the right direction. It means that when times are tough, I know that instead of trying to take control myself, I can lean on God for the answers, and somehow, someway, the situation will turn itself around. It also means that when times are GOOD, I know Who to thank.

Couldn't have said it better!

There are so many different religions out there. Some of them are actually kind of admirable. A lot of them, in my opinion, are silly. (A religion based on Star Trek characters? Really?) But, then again, some might say that MY religion is silly. Having a personal relationship with God? Really? Is that even possible? Yes. It is.

There is a difference in Religion and Spirituality. 

Religion: habit. You brush your teeth RELIGIOUSLY. You go to bed RELIGIOUSLY. In other words, you do it kind of because you HAVE to. It's somewhat of an obligation. It has become a habit. You brush your teeth and then you go and eat oreos.....well, being RELIGIOUS is kind of the same thing. You go to church on Sunday, and then Monday morning, you go to work and curse at the printer for not working right. Then you go gossip about your co-worker, which ends up spreading a horrible rumor. You steal your bosses pen off his desk. You take an hour and a half for lunch instead of an hour. After work, you flirt with that hot guy/girl at the gas station, undressing him/her with your eyes, while holding the gas (thingy) with your left hand with the wedding ring on it. When you get home, you daydream about being the owner of your neighbors brand new sports car.......

......but you are a RELIGIOUS person. Your home is FILLED with Bible verses and crosses and you own about 30 Bibles. You are a Sunday School teacher. You pray for each and every person on the prayer list at church. You are one of the best volunteers at church, cooking for every function. Chaperoning the Youth Group for different functions. Driving the church van for the older ladies mission group. 

But in all of that.....do you ever sit and TALK to God? Are you IN your relationship with God or is it just there as a trophy on your bookshelf? Do you keep your FAITH in check?

That's the difference between being Religious and being Spiritual. For me, being Spiritual is WAY more important than being Religious. The Spiritual person is no less a sinner than the Religious person. Still commits those sins every single day. But they actually PARTICIPATE in their relationship with God. They TRUST Him. They TALK to him. They have FAITH that everything will work out the way it is supposed to.  They may not be in church EVERY Sunday, but when they ARE there, they're there because they WANT to be, not because it's what they're SUPPOSED to do because it's what's EXPECTED of them. God doesn't want a lukewarm follower:

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

If you are going to be a Christian, if you are going to be a follower of Christ, do it out of the sincere LOVE of your heart. Do it because you genuinely and honestly WANT to, not because you feel like you have to. Be COMMITTED in your walk with Christ, or don't do it at all.

I consider myself a spiritual person. I used to go to church every single Sunday when I was younger. When I got old enough to drive, my parents started letting me make my own decisions. I started to really develop an actual RELATIONSHIP with God at that point. Granted, I haven't always been in touch. I haven't ALWAYS prayed or read my bible like I should. But I do know who Jesus is. I know that my life is the way that it is because God has been involved. I am where I am because of Him. And it is an amazing feeling to know that I don't have to be in control of my life. I can give the steering wheel to Jesus and He will steer me in the right direction every time. That "right road" may be filled with temptation, and bad situations, but God will never give me anything I can't handle, and He will pull me through every single time. I just have to TRUST in Him. 

OK, the preaching is over.....

My Take On Drugs and Alcohol

***Disclaimer: This is my opinion. Does not mean you have to agree and it is not open for debate.***

Drugs and alcohol. Two vices that are sadly becoming more and more accepting in this world. I have never done drugs, and I don't plan on it either, especially that I am a mother now. This is probably going to be a long post because I have much to say about this topic....

Alcohol

Ok. If you are an adult, 21 or older, having a drink every so often is perfectly fine.  I enjoy having a glass of wine every now and then. Even Jesus drank wine. There is a difference in drinking a glass or two of your favorite drink or cocktail, because you like the taste, and drinking excessively to the point of drunkenness. I'm sure that we all have been drunk at one point or another (including myself). I have to admit that it was fun. The aftermath? Not so fun. The vomitting and headache and nausea? HATE that feeling! 

If you want to talk about what the bible says about alcohol:

First of all, God says that we must obey the law. The law says it is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to drink. So kids throwing parties and getting drunk, according to the Bible, is wrong. So that's where I stand on that. Doesn't mean I haven't done it, cause I have. But that doesn't make it right. 

If you are over 21, cool, have a glass of wine or two. Just don't get drunk. THAT is what the Bible says is sinful. (See Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:19-21, and 1 Peter 4:3). 

But regardless of what the Bible says or not, getting drunk is kind of ridiculous. It just causes you to do stupid stuff, say things you regret, and it can really be dangerous. Like I said before, I have done it. I even did it before I was 21. Not often, but I still did it a couple times. 

But if you still choose to drink and get drunk....for heaven sake, do NOT get behind the wheel of a car. If you don't have enough respect for yourself to not get behind the wheel and save your OWN life, choose to do it for those innocent souls around you. So many times these days do people get behind the wheel while intoxicated and end up killing themselves and others. It's quite sad and it's VERY avoidable. 

So bottom line: Occasional, non-drunkeness? Ok (in my opinion). Excessively drinking and getting drunk, not ok (in my opinion).

Drugs

I don't even know why drugs were invented in the first place. It seems like the only thing they are good for is making people stupid, and they seem to be the HEART of crime. 

POT: IS A DRUG. I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT IT GROWING FROM THE GROUND AND IT'S NATURAL! IT MAKES YOU IMPAIRED WHEN YOU SMOKE IT AND PEOPLE TEND TO ABUSE IT, THEREFORE IT IS A DRUG!!!! 

 

What most pot smokers think....

My point exactly...

If you want to go back to what the Bible says...
Again, God says you must obey the law. Drugs are illegal. Yes, Pot is illegal. Therefore it is wrong. It doesn't matter if YOU think that the law is wrong (it allows nicotine and alcohol but not pot). The law is the law is the law, and the Bible says you must obey the law. Case closed. 

Another reason drugs are wrong, according to the bible, is it destroys your body. Alcohol is included. We are supposed to treat our bodies as temples, not destroy them.

Now, many people disagree with me on the Pot thing. I choose not to do drugs because I don't feel like deliberately making myself stupid and killing all my brain cells. And, it's illegal. The day that Pot becomes legal, then fine. You do whatever you wanna do with it and I won't say anything else about it. It's your own body and obviously I won't change your mind because I really don't have an argument other than I personally do not want to partake in it. It stinks for one thing....

Have you ever noticed that people who do drugs tend to get into more trouble? And tend to get themselves KILLED? Think about it. If you are doing drugs, you have a dealer, right? You have to make sure that you pay your dealer. If you don't pay your dealer, you are either killed or tortured. And let me point out that drugs are SUPER expensive. What sane, smart, educated person (although there are many out there that still do it) would spend that $$ on purposely making themselves stupid, when you could use it for a nice vacation or new clothes or a down payment on a new car? Makes no sense to me. 

Bottom line, drugs and alcohol impair you and they can eventually kill you which is why there are so many laws against them. It is our job to obey and respect those laws because they are there for our protection. 

My 10 Year Plan

  The topic of today's blog: Where I see myself in 10 years. So many things can happen in a span of 10 years....looking back 10 years ago, I was 13 years old, just entering high school, and just entering the crazy word of adolescence. I didn't have a permit to drive a car at all. My parents had just gotten separated. I was moving to a completely different city, completely different school district with new friends.

Past

Now, I am married, have an 8 month old daughter, working at a wonderful job with wonderful people. I have had many relationships, many friendships, both good and bad. I have learned so much about myself. I have lived in a different state; in a completely different setting than what I'm used to. I got to work at Disneyworld in the most magical position possible: Fairy Godmother In Training, INSIDE Cinderella's castle. I have had many adventures, both good and bad and ugly.

Present

Now, it's time to think about my future. Where DO I wanna be in 10 years? I honestly haven't given this too much thought. I have already accomplished what I wanted and more if you would have asked me this 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago.

In 10 years, I will be 33 years old. My daughter will be 10. I hope to have 2 more kids, and then I'll probably be done. I hope to own a house with my husband in the suburbs, preferably in the south somewhere.

My Dream Home

I want both my husband and I to make a GOOD comfortable living. We don't have to be rich by any means but I don't want to be in debt or struggling either. Speaking of debt, I want all of ours to be paid in full.

Materialistically speaking, I would like to own a family car:

Honda Pilot

And one other car....

Volvo s60

Maybe our family will have a dog? My husband loves German Shephards....I love Golden Retrievers. Maybe we could compromise and get a mix of the two?

He's pretty =)

My husband and I will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary. I hope we are still happily in love with one another, still having fun and still best friends. They say that for your 10th wedding anniversary, traditionally, you're supposed to get your wife diamond jewelry. Perhaps a new ring?

I hope that in 10 years, I have been able to travel to Ireland...or at least to Europe.

And I hope that in 10 years Rick and I have saved enough money to get our children started with some type of college fund.

So yea, I guess you could say I want to have the perfect story-book life. Is that so wrong? I don't think so. I don't have to have it all, but if I at least get a few things (like the kids and the dog) I'll be a happy camper =)



My Man

So I was on Pinterest--seem to be on that ridiculously addictive website a LOT lately; isn't it funny how so many conversations start off with this phrase? ANNND I digress--and I saw this neat little list. It was called 30 Day Blog Challenge. So I thought it would be fun to participate. So, today, Monday, September 10, 2012 is day one. The topic? My current relationship.



I am married to the love of my life, Richard Scott Castiglione. If you know me, you know how we met. What's that? You DON'T know how we met? AND you know me? Well, allow me to tell you. I LOVE this story! (Sorry those of you who have been told 12 million times....)

Rick and I met at the lovely Chili's establishment in January 2008. 

I was dating someone else at the time we met; wasn't a very good relationship and Rick just kinda showed up at the perfect moment and "rescued me". Let me back up a bit. We didn't just "meet at chili's". Like, we weren't just two patrons eating there. This Chili's was opening up in Arden, NC and I was training to be a hostess. He was the bartender trainer. And he was HOT! (still is...)

After a couple weeks of flirting, I finally got up the courage to ask for his number. He gave me his whole card with all his information on it. I was on cloud 9! (Still have the card too). Then it came time for him to go back home to Connecticut. I was sick his last day of work and didn't get to say goodbye. I was sad but something told me I'd be seeing him again. We kept in touch and discovered that we both wanted to move to Florida. I wanted to work at Disney and he was going to keep his mom company for a while. So, in April, I moved and in July, he followed. 

Our very first picture together =)

New Smyrna Beach 

We loved going to the beach! We would pay a couple dollars to drive on it, find a parking spot, and tailgate =) Fun times. 

Taking the bike out for a ride 

This is my favorite of us....in front of Hard Rock Cafe, City Walk, Universal Studios Orlando

Mini Golf...Daytona Beach

Orlando Ale House 

Our First Christmas Together 

At my niece's 2nd Birthday Party, Plant City, FL

CrAzYNesS

Seaworld 

Our trip to NC to meet my Dad =)

After a brief seperation...reunited and it felt SO good!

He is the LOVE of my life!

We got engaged "officially" (we always knew we'd get married one day) on February 14, 2011

My pretty ring =)

Finally =)

And then we found out we were expecting just a few months later...wonder how THAT happened...lol

But we were still excited....

We took a vacation with his mom and step dad a couple months before baby girl was due. We went to Destin, FL for the HOG rally

And we had a BLAST!

Then we welcomed our angel baby, Alexis Sofia Castiglione into the world on December 29, 2011. 

We said "I Do" at the Volusia County Courthouse on February 14, 2012. 

It wasn't a big wedding, in fact it was VERY small...but it was still the happiest day of my life (aside from having my daughter)

FOREVER

Our wedding night: went to Rainforest Cafe for Dinner. 

Wedding present to my husband: Tickets to Daytona 500...even though it rained. At least we got to go the next night!

First family Easter

Took our baby to Disneyworld for the first time!

Lexi's first home: 442 Macy Ave Lake Helen FL

Rick means the absolute world to me. He and my daughter are the reasons I get up in the morning. For me, the sun rises and sets on this man and I don't know what I would do without him. We have been together for 4 1/2 years, married for only a few short months, and I plan on celebrating my 50th wedding anniversary with him as well! 

Thank you God for Rick!