What I'm Up To?

Hello friends!!  I have not left ScrapBitz to die...no worries LOL!  I have been taking off most of July and August to enjoy summer, be with my family and work on my own health which was in desperate need of some time off.  So I'm still alive and kicking and working on lots of things all at once per the usual....just took time off from working on crafty projects for now.  So I will have a new post on Friday and of course I will be back in September with posts for you all each week...don't worry!

If you miss some stories and pictures I have been posting on my other blog Bitz of Me....that blog is full of recipes I've made, decorating, organizing and just my life in general.

In September my daughter begins her Senior year of High School so its been extremely important for me to really soak up this summer, being totally present and in the moment and enjoying her and my family.  Work is always there, will always be there...unfortunately I cannot wish this time back so I have made an executive decision to take time off.  I haven't taken time off from this blog in over 6 years...YIKES...so I thought I was due.  And my health has been suffering a bit...I don't yakety-yak about it because no one comes to my blogs to read that stuff...but let's just say its prevented me from getting some things done in the craft room right now and I hope to be as good as new (well slightly new lol) this fall and back to business as usual.  So no worries...its all gonna be good!

So here is a picture diary of sorts of what the Dean Family has been up to this summer:

Our backyard is a favorite place to be when its nice outside!

My garden is growing well and we've had a ton of goodies from it already and I've been cooking up a storm with all the produce.  YUM!
EDIT:  RECIPES are on my Bitz of Me Blog
The Tomato Pie recipe will be up on Friday for everyone :)

My hydrangeas are beautiful this year out front of my house.

We spent 2 weeks in Key West, Florida for our summer vacation this year!

Then a long 4th of July weekend in DC to wrap up our vacation...lots of fun, lots of memories and lots of good times with the family!

View from the deck of the master bedroom in our resort.

Parrot Key is a beautiful place to stay on the Gulf side.

Gotta love the beautiful sunsets in Key West

When in Key West you have to have Key Lime Pie...duhhh! YUM!

The Kids at the Southernmost point in Key West!

Can't have a vacation without some time at the pool relaxing, reading and hanging out.  Or in my hubby's terms....SLEEPING in the pool LOL!

No vacation is done without some Putt Putt golf at night!

AND

Some goofing off LOL!

LOL!

We spent the day at the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon Key...Alexa wants to intern here next summer.  Great place to spend the day!

Dolphins at the Research Center!

The water off the Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas is just beautiful & perfect for swimming and snorkeling!

Snorkeling off of the Dry Tortugas...best day ever!

Inside the Fort!

Me and Alexa...wrapping up a great trip in the Keys!

DC architecture is beautiful if you take the time to really look and notice!

Part of our DC weekend included a visit to the Smithsonians...we hadn't been in a couple of years and they are always fun to visit (and free)!  This is the Smithsonian of Natural History...one of our faves!

We spent 4th of July afternoon at a Nats game in DC of course...fun!

Crabs on 4th July weekend are a MUST for us! YUM!

We spent 4th of July evening on the top of my hubby's work building to watch the 

fireworks over the National Mall.

Fireworks in DC never fail to amaze!  You can see the Washington Monument to the left!

Alexa spent time down in Orlando, FL at SeaWorld for career training camp.

She is going to major in Marine Sciences in college and this was something she'd been wanting to do for awhile. She had a blast!  She got to swim with the dolphins, interact with seals, otters and penguins.  Some one-on-one time with Shamu! Behind the scenes action, watching the vets and trainers up close...she was sad to come home LOL!

She roomed with a friend from school so she had a buddy and and she made some friends

there with the same interests that she may know for a lifetime. Great experience!

Meanwhile I took Riley up to upstate NY to visit my Gram and family.  My Gram is 92 and we try to visit every summer.  I took Alexa to Niagara Falls last year so this year it was Riley's turn!

My family's house is on acres of vineyards (the grapes are used in Welch's Grape Juice & Jellies)

Grapes look yummy this year!

My dogs acclimate to country life in NY well...this is Baylee after some jaunts in the pond going frog hunting LOL!

 Some nights at midnight you will find me baking cookies in the kitchen for the teen's friends...friends are over all house 95% of the time I think...they never leave.  So cookies are always good...mmm!

 Denard Span...whom I asked for a hug from and then he got his first homerun of the season..I like to think it was my hug-magic that helped LOL!

Cutie Ian Desmond!

Adam LaRoche (Alexa's fave)

Manager Davey Johnson

A few of the sigs on my shirt...whoot!

Lots of weekends you can find us at Nats Park in DC watching our baseball team the Washington Nationals....we have season tix so we are there a lot!  This past weekend was a Season Ticket Holder event and we got to meet all the Nats players, I got a few hugs (heehee) and some autographs on my shirt and Alexa's hat...it was awesome.

This coming weekend we are headed to Richmond, VA for Redskins Training Camp. I got VIP tix to meet the players (can ya tell how excited this gal is) and we are taking the kids and their friends and staying overnight.  Gonna be fun!  I've been a Redskins fan since I was 5 and I cannot wait for football season to start...and some RGIII action :)

So that's it in a nutshell...the Dean's are all over the place..trying to soak up summer, enjoy life and most of all enjoy being with each other!  

And we will continue that thru August before the rush of school and sports begins ackkk!

Wishing you all a beautiful August!

The Beauty of Sunsets!

Happy Tuesday y'all!  I'm back with a project...although I'm not at home this week...I'm up in New York at my Gram's house for the week with Riley.  She celebrated her 92nd birthday last month and we always try to visit at least 1-2 times a year.  Plus Riley gets some "country boy time" with my Uncle and I get to spend time with my Gram and cousins.  And its not any cooler up here LOL...still humid and hot..that's summer for ya!  Hubby is in Arizona this week and with Alexa in FL the Dean Family is EVERYWHERE LOL...oh nooooo!

Alexa is down in Orlando, FL at SeaWorld for her internship and happy as a clam...or dolphin LOL! She got a private show of "Shamu Rocks" last night, she has a friend from school as her roomie and has already made a bunch of new friends...so she's basically having a BLAST LOL! They slept in sleeping bags in the dolphin enclosure last night ahahaha...fun for her!  Tomorrow she will shadow the vets in the veterinary center for half a day and work with dolphins, sea turtles, seals and otters.  THEN SHE SWIMS IN THE SHARK TANK OMG....not sure momma is happy about that one but she's totally game.  She got an underwater camera for her birthday to use so hope she gets some great shots.  She wants to major in Marine Biology with a minor in Environmental Sciences so she's totally in her element that's for sure!

Then we get back next week and we have hair appts (read: Riley gets a buzz cut), baseball games, sports physicals, senior photos and eye appts...then football camp starts.  Tis the season for mom to run around and drive sweaty, stinky boys to and fro camp...starts at 9 am and runs till 3 with a 45 min lunch break...gonna be HOT for sure and will tucker those boys out no doubt. (I do not envy them) I need to buy stock in Gatorade I tell ya...I make sure that all the boys I drive home have cold ones when they get in the car and each football mom takes over Gatorade duty for a few practices as well.  Along with what I regularly stock in the house for Riley and his friends = a helluva lot of Gatorade LOL!

So that's what's going on this week for the Dean household anywho!  Crazy as usual,what else is new eh?  LOTS of new posts on my Bitz of Me Blog if you want some other reading!

SALE still ongoing at the CMC Classroom on my Copic Online Classes thru Aug...go check it out HERE!

I will have a HUGE vacation slideshow for y'all next week...just haven't had time to weed thru all the photos.  But today's project was TOTALLY inspired by the beautiful Key West sunsets we saw while on vacation.

Sunsets in Key West

 

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Sunset Beauty

I love sunsets...always different and each one beautiful and the ones in the tropics just take my breath away.  As my husband says "each sunset is its own beauty and to appreciate each one"....gotta love my husband :)  So to have a true sunset most things photographed in front of it are in silhouette or darkened which I wanted to replicate on my card.  So I stamped my Tilda in white Palette Ink on black cardstock and then cut her out.  The background stamp is a Magnolia stamp "Romantic Sunset Background" from the Wedding Collection and was colored with Copics but I stamped it a second time on black cardstock so I could cut out the fence and beach to add on top of the image. 

This card is for the current Tuesday Challenge at Magnolia-licious "Some Like It Hot" which you can see all the details HERE.

The main image is "Tilda with Ponytail" from Magnolia-licious and she was stamped in white Palette Ink as I noted above.  Hard to see but the background black cardstock was embossed for a little bit of texture.  The sentiment from PTI "Simply Amazing" was stamped in white ink as well.  A few flowers to match the colors, some die cuts from a Memory Box die and rhinestones finish this off.

The sunset was colored with Copics and then I added Stickles to the sun, and while they were wet sprinkled Glamour Dust in clear on top for extra sparkles...I wanted it to almost blind ya like a real sunset sun ;)

Hope you liked my ODE to Sunsets today!  Have a great week!