life is always about the journey...

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Words of Wisdom.....

From Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore....and Tigger too!


Some days you have to revert to what you know, what comforts you, what makes you smile and the simplicity of great words strung together.  
I'm going through my own "stuff" right now and I have to say that Winnie the Pooh and friends just always makes me smile...makes it all seem a bit better.  I admit I have a few Winnie the Pooh art pieces, quotes and books in my house...they never go out of style and are a necessity in the sanity of my life!

Some good life mottos and philosophies from these cute animals I'll have you know!
So yeah, I'm weird like that but I'm sharing some of my faves in hopes they cheer you too!


My personal motto right now!















Amen!!














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Friday, February 21, 2014

Is Spring Here Yet???

Happy TGIFriday folks!  Hope you have a happy & fun weekend planned for yourselves!! Hubby is taking me to see the "Lego Movie" tonight to cheer me up a bit...he said I need to laugh and reduce my stress so hopefully this does that for a few hours at least.  I promise to have some more posts up real soon....I have a lot of things going on right now that leaves me with not much time...sorry about that. 

Will elaborate more real soon....but in the meantime my only thought weather wise is for SPRING TO COME ASAP LOL!  It was in the 50's this week so it was like a tease of what is to come and all the snow finally melted so I'm getting itchy for Spring.  

Soooo to cheer myself up and bring some spring colors to my life I bought myself a complete outfit...online no less LOL.  I love the neutral base and pops of fun hot pink color!  



The jeans are dove gray so they will go with anything all year long.  I love stripes and a boatneck top always looks great and its a lightweight material perfect for layering.  Then I added some pops of pink in with the scarf, flats and purse.  Sometimes a girl just needs some fun colors in her life.  I can't wait to wear all this together (still waiting on purse and flats to come)! 

What are you adding to your Spring wardrobe this year? 
 Any favorite colors you are likely to add in to your wardrobe?





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Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Cupid Day!!

Hope you are having an enjoyable Valentine's Day!
I'm not a huge fan of the holiday...only because I think that while grand romantic gestures are nice...I prefer the smaller day to day things to show you love someone or that someone loves you.

For me those things include my hubby bringing me home my favorite donut on Sundays, helping clean the house on occasion, help me groom the dogs, let me sleep in, picks up take-out when I'm running behind during the day, gives great back rubs, picks up groceries, runs downstairs at night to get me a chocolate milk while I'm reading, doesn't give me grief over how much money I spend on Kindle books, makes sure my car is gassed up and warm during the winter and more. All those things are so much more important than candy & flowers...although they are pretty and the gesture is lovely I'd prefer to wait for something more meaningful.  But that's just me......


I have always gotten the kids and my husband gifts from Cupid.  When the kids were smaller that meant heart shaped sandwiches and pancakes, dipped strawberries and special cupcakes or cookies.  And of course some small gifts and a book.  Now that they are teens they still get the Cupid gifts but not the heart shaped food LOL!

I like to pack them up and display them with some of my Valentine Decor for them to discover!  This year I found the cute take-out boxes at Michaels and thought they'd be awesome for their sweet treats!


I always make some kind of Valentine for both of them....last year I made them these "Crush on You" valentines you can see HERE.  This year I found these free printables on Pinterest and knew they'd be cute on some Blow Pops and Tootsie Pops!  I just printed them on cardstock and cut them out, then cut two slits to slide the blow pops in.  I'm guessing next year I will be sending a box of goodies to Alexa at college...sniff sniff.


Due to some things going on right now I haven't had a chance to post how I made these Valentine pictures.  But I will have the post up next week with Easter ones and some that I made for my daughter's room.  So stay tuned for those instructions :)  The little milk bottles are from the Target Dollar Spot...I added the "Be Mine" with vinyl cut with my Cameo.

Super fun to make!


One of my daughter's gifts was a leather wrap bracelet from Lenny & Eva!  I'm obsessed with them and have ummm....a few different ones myself LOL!  I knew she wanted one and her fave color is teal/blue and I chose "imagine" because I want her to imagine her future, her dreams coming true, everything good in life I want her to think about!


One of my son's gifts was this T-shirt LOL...he's a big Anchorman fan so I knew he'd love this shirt and he did!!



For my husband he got a custom pillow I had made on Etsy at CoverLove for his study!  I just love it and hope he does too.  I loved the font and vintage feel and it looks great in the study too.  I've ordered some others that I customized and I will share those when they come in.  The gal is wonderful to work with and they make such unique and personal gifts!

I also got him this Swede Paracord survival bracelet...he's big on hiking/camping gear so I thought this would be cool for him to either wear or hook onto his backpack.  It has flint and string to start a fire quickly and an eye knife attached to it. This is the man who can spend 10 hours in REI and who has most everything...but THIS I knew he didn't have ;)  It also comes in lots of colors too!




Alexa and I also made some chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert tonight.  Wegmans had these GIGANTIC strawberries for dipping and what is better than chocolate and fruit right? mmmmmmm 
We did a couple with bowties & buttons with white chocolate just for fun too...easy dessert to make and so pretty!


Happy Valentine's Day My Friends!!!




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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Happy 16th!!!




Today 16 years ago I gave birth to a HUGE BABY BOY LOL!  
That would be my baby boy Riley!
Well he's certainly no baby anymore and is on his way to becoming a wonderful young man. 
He's now 6'3 and 230 lbs so the "baby" tag doesn't work to describe him much anymore but he will ALWAYS be my baby no matter what....a momma's prerogative!

So I thought I'd do a trip down memory lane starting 16 years ago through today with some thoughts and stories thrown in the mix.  Yes he will probably KILL me when he sees this but he's used to my nonsense since I've been blogging for 7 years now hehehe!
 <PHOTO INTENSIVE POST BELOW>

A few birthdays pics from the past to start us off with:

10 Days Old
This was his first picture and only 10 days old...it is my absolute FAVORITE picture we've ever had taken. Its so HIM...even now!  Baseball cap, jeans and peaceful...he was such a quiet, laid back baby. Hardly ever fussed...always had a smile..just really easygoing until about age 13 LOL!


First Birthday


2nd Birthday...it was all Blues Clues and his first "friends" party. This was his own personal cake...we always got the kids their own mini cake to dig into when they were small.  Then a bigger cake for everyone at the party!


He seriously had the cutest smile in the whole wide world...he smiled with his WHOLE FACE!
Nowadays its harder to get a picture of his smile...teenager angst I guess...but its improving!  He also had the most gorgeous curls...we cut them off at age 4 because hubby encouraged me too...but he was just adorable!


And since we are preparing for a wallop of a blizzard-snow event here tonight and tomorrow I thought I'd share his very first snow.  He was both entranced and scared by it LOL but soon figured out fun sledding and building snowmen were!


He's had glasses since he was 5 and has a love/hate relationship with them.  This summer he decided he wanted contacts...so we pursued it..and he didn't care for them LOL.  So he's back to glasses for now!


He's a boy that has always loved anything trains, planes & automobiles.
One of his favorite things to do was to go to air shows and airports...especially WWII planes!
And he can probably give you more details about each than you'd ever really want to know!


And if it involves the military, a battle, any US or World History...he's your go-to guy. He's in AP World History now and he sleeps thru the class, sometimes helps teach the class and has a 98% in the class. LOL!  Its something he's just always been interested in and loved!  He has done military re-enactments with his dad, gone to Civil War camp and had more little soldiers from so many centuries I can't even give you a count.  They were always underfoot, on tables in battle waves, just everywhere...I kinda miss those days now...sniff sniff!


He loves the beach and South Carolina as much as the rest of us.  We all feel real at "home" in SC!
And we've been vacationing there for years and will be there for Spring Break again this year.
Nothing like the sun and beaches in SC...soon to be our permanent home home in 2 years.


He likes the quiet kind of past times...fishing, boating, playing battle games, and golf.


He's had the same best friend for 8 years...since we've moved to Virginia that is!
Tariq lives up the road from us and I'm pretty sure he lives here more than at his house.
He's at every sporting event and party we have at our house.  He's been a great best friend for Riley and I know they have each other's back!


One of his favorite places on earth is Maui...he will tell you it was the best vacation of his life...which there have been many in 16 years LOL. He fully embraced every aspect of island life!  The two weeks we spent there he really grew a lot, not physically but in spirit and personality.  He was open to trying new things that were a bit scary at first and really just enjoyed every moment there.  He jumped off of high waterfalls, snorkeled with the sea turtles, leaped off of boats, took to zip-lining and trying new foods...it was amazing!


He loves his DC Sports teams (cuz' his parents raised him well heehee) and sometimes is a bit too emotional about game losses LOL. But he's loyal to a fault and he just loves his Washington Redskins, Capitals and Nationals.


And his size has made him great on the high school football team as a linebacker and defensive end.
This year he got to play in a few Varsity games which was super exciting.  Although as the momma I always hold my breath when he's out on the field but I am so proud of him!


He's an animal whisperer...he always has time to play and give affection to the animals of our house.
He's just always loved all animals.  His favorite show when he was younger was Crocodile Hunter and we always laughed that Riley would one day be his protege.


He was a momma's boy (shhhh) till about age 12...then that changed a bit.  But we are still very close and I'm thankful every day for that.  Both the kids would rather spend time with me and their dad than their friends most of the time.  Riley will laugh but he does like to sit and watch "girly" shows with me and Alexa...he may roll his eyes..but he still does it ahahaha! He will make a great husband one day as he and his father are a lot alike :)


He has a "special" relationship with his older sister.  They are actually 22 months apart and have been oil and water most of their lives. He was always smaller than his sister until about age 11 when he had a HUGE growth spurt...now she looks like the younger sister LOL!  But at the end of the day I know they love each other and have each other's backs.  And they always hang out with each other when we are on vacations or getaways and have some bonding time.  We ARE the Dean 4-Pack ya know!


All of us Deans are a bit goofy...we like to have a good time and goof around.  No topics are off the table at our house...we are all very open with each other.  We like to have fun and laugh and if we look a little crazy that's ok ;)  We love to play board games together and usually end up laughing our bums off!  Don't get a hotel room next to us because we are usually up late ordering snacks, watching movies and giggling!  And we tend to be the LOUDEST table in the restaurant...not because of bad manners..but just because we are enjoying our time with each other.


He truly loves his family...all of them...and he loves to spend time with his family.
One of his favorite things to do is go to upstate New York where my grandmother and uncle and cousins live. He loves being in the country, relaxing, fishing and hanging out with everyone.  My Gram is 92 and Riley dwarfs her but he loves to be around her and hear her stories...I just love that about him.


He has 4 basic food groups....sandwiches, pizza, candy and seafood.  He shares his momma's love for lobster, crabs and scallops...mmmmm the good stuff.  His favorite meal is a ham and cheese sub with the works...no lie...he used to say he wanted to own a sub shop LOL and you just never know!



Some fun Riley facts:  
*His first word was BaBa...his bottle...he was always more interested in food than anything else ;)
*He spent his 14th birthday in Disney World..a trip that was a surprise, picked him up at school and whisked him away.
*He has a baseball hat fetish...he owns way too many
*His sister once convinced him at age 3 to dump water on the upstairs hall carpet and flowers would grow...well nothing grew but water did come thru the first floor ceiling ;)
*He likes athletic wear...I've gotten past it, as long as it is clean & it matches 
*He wears a size 14 shoe..yeah those are pretty big feet
*His room is always neater than his sister's bedroom
*He's easily distracted by most anything
*He loves military battle strategy video games
*He loves pickles and anything sour
*He identifies most with his Irish heritage & hopes to go to Ireland for his senior graduation present.
*He was thick curly hair that he likes to wear LONG but momma protests and makes him cut it
*He has a great goofy sense of humor and LOUD laugh

I can't wait to see the man he grows into. I am so proud of him in so many ways.  He may be BIG but he's still my baby and he's still the smart, sensitive little boy inside that he's always been.  The teen years have been a roller coaster but for the most part he's been an easy kid to raise.  I know he will make a great husband and father if that is something he decides one day...they will be lucky to have him. I want him to be happy, fulfilled and healthy in his future AND of course visit and call his momma regularly!  

I love ya Riley...you may tower over me and your dad but you will always be our baby and hold
a special place in our hearts!

Happy 16th Birthday!




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