random online siting!

I got a text this morning from one of my best friends saying..."Holy crap! Did you know one of your wedding pictures is on the front page of spokaneweddings.com"

I had no idea, so I checked it out....sure enough!

http://www.spokaneweddings.com/

Mal just got engaged on Friday night! So she said she was doing a little wedding planning and was surprised to see us on the website. Small world.

Summer vs. Winter

:)

Snow Day

We had quite a day in 3 feet of snow! It's amazing how much a little cold weather made me feel like a kid again :)

Christmas Eve in Colville

Christmas was in Colville, WA this year and Christmas Eve was spent with my Dad's side of the family at my parent's house. We had a great time and I wanted to share a few pictures. There were so many to choose from so I have just picked out some of my favorites for now!Adysen & Bayleigh with their curlers, getting ready for Christmas Eve! They look so grown up here! You should have seen when we first took the curlers out...they looked like Curly Sue. Me & Ady
Little man Parker. He has the sweetest smile.

The girlies.

Me, Tiff & TJ...plus a little sneaker in the bottom left :)

The Christmas Eve fam. Grandma & Grandpa Tripp in the middle.

Me & this guy I know :)

This is one of my all time favorites!

Ryan with what I think was his favorite present...new spices - all his favorite kinds for BBQ'in!

The gang. We love you all.

Stay tuned for Christmas Pics!

I am in the process of uploading and posting about a million pictures from Christmas :) So, for those that have been asking...I will be working on them tonight and getting them up shortly!

Happy Anniversary Rollingers

Today (Dec. 8th) is Meghann and Trevor Rollinger's 1 Year Anniversary. I can't believe it has come already! They were married last December at The Old Church in Portland, OR. It was a gorgeous Oregon winter day and we all got ready together and headed downtown. Their colors were brown and pink which turned out so pretty and they had a cupcake tower, all made by the moms...lots of cupcake baking! It was a packed house full of Quinn/Rollinger supporters and for the record I still think the bridesmaids won the dance off during the reception :) Meg & Trev - I love you guys and I'm so grateful I was a part of your special day. I hope it has been a fantastic year for you two with many more to come! Here are a few pics of your wedding week that I have to share...

Jackie in Portland & Salon Hairsay

One of my best friends, Jackie, has moved to Portland! It's been a few months and I've been meaning to post this for a while now...but better late than never right?! Jackie and I have been friends since grade school in Colville, WA. We have been through a lot together and watched each other grow up and change...but have always remained close. After high school she moved to Bozeman, MT to go to beauty school and I headed to Portland. We didn't get to see each other as much as we would have liked throughout the last 6 years, but I never felt like we were more than a phone call away. We were always able to pick up where we left off. She was a bridesmaid in our wedding and her and Ry have also become great friends too. Like he had a choice :) I have to say that I never thought in a million years that we would actually get to live by eachother again but I am so thrilled that she is here....not to mention she only lives about 2 miles down the road :) Jackie has such a fun spirit. You never know what is going to come out of her mouth. She is goofy like me and many of my other friends. No matter what she can always make me laugh. Since she moved here that has come in really handy. She is working 2 jobs right now and our schedules don't meet up as often as we would like, but knowing she is close by is comforting. I appreciate her friendship.

Jackie works at a salon in Beaverton called Hairsay. It is a really nice, fun salon and they even have a fun playroom for kiddos. She had a large clientele when she left Bozeman but is starting from scratch here. Eventually she would like to work in the downtown area, but has found her home in Beaverton for now. Meg was her first client at the salon when she was able to be her "test" for her interview and her hair looks awesome! I would recommend anyone to check her out if you are in need of a stylist. She does my hair and I wouldn't have it any other way! I promised I would always help her out, so this is my way of spreading the word a little bit to my friends and family :) http://www.salonhairsay.com/

holiday cheer

I woke up this morning and all I could think about was how it "feels" like the holidays. I love that. There is just something about this time of year that makes me happy and makes all other problems seem to go away when I think about getting to spend time with family and friends. I have been home a lot this past week because of medical issues, but yesterday I was finally ready for a few hours out of the house (other than work). So, I did a little Christmas shopping! Even though I only made it to one store which was about a mile from our house (baby steps), I got a few good gifts and some good ideas. I LOVE seeing all of the decorations in the stores and hearing Christmas music everywhere. It can get overwhelming when there are SO many people out and about, but I loved how friendly everyone was and how happy people seemed. I don't know if this can be attributed to some good ol' fashioned Christmas spirit or if they were just happy about the good deals they got...either way, I liked it. I could have just walked around outside forever. I love outdoor malls...especially during the holidays.

I talked to Adysen (one of our 4 yr. old nieces) on the phone yesterday and she answered by saying "Hi Auntie Deyna. Happy Christmas!" I haven't been able to see my family in quite a while now and I'm definitely excited for the holidays this year! I can't wait to spend some quality family time in Colville and Tigard and hopefully play in a little SNOW :) So, with 2 weeks left until we're off on our holiday break...I'm anxiously awaiting everything that December and the new year has to offer.

Oh yeah and I think I've watched every Christmas movie that the Hallmark Channel, Lifetime and the Family Channel has to offer. I love the oldies the best! The original Rudolph made out of clay and the first Babes in Toyland are my all time favs :)

PGE Bowling Night

Last night was PGE's Monte Carlo Bowling Night. They put these bowling nights together every few months to get everyone together with their familes for a little fun. You bowl to try to win money (I only won $1..better than nothing right?). My claim to fame last night was that I beat Ry 3 games in a row! That is almost unheard of. All of the wives/girlfriends were beating the men! It was funny. I bowled over 100 all 3 games. I can't tell you the last time I bowled a 150! I was feelin lucky. I even got picked to spin the lucky wheel of prizes...but I only walked away with a free soda from the concession stand! I'll take it.

Me & my free soda :) PS- I got a hair cut. I haven't really seen anyone yet!

The whole gang. These are all men that Ryan works with at PGE and their families. I have been having fun getting to know everyone over the past few years. It's hard because they get together a lot and with my busy schedule I am not always able to go. Although lately I have been able to be there a lot more. They all get along so well and like what they do. It's really fun to see that because you can tell that they are friends as well as co-workers. I'm so proud of Ryan and happy that he has found something that he loves and a group of people that love and appreciate him too.

A Brown Halloween!

Last weekend Ry and I decided to throw a little Halloween party for some friends. We invited close friends, family and some friends from work. It was fun to get everyone together and to get dressed up! Ryan and I dressed up as Dorothy and the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. I had not put on a Halloween costume in a few years, so this was super fun! Ryan even let me put make up on him and I came down the stairs earlier in the day and he was sewing his costume...apparently costumes do funny things to boys :) I wish I had a picture of that! We played some rock band...ok a lot of rock band, sang a little karaoke (my favorite was the all girls rendition of "Goodbye Earl"...gotta love the Dixie Chicks, and hung out with a house full of friends! Here are some pics from the night:

Me & 2 of my best friends from high school (Jackie & Mike...AKA Ron Burgundy from Anchorman & Sandra Dee from Grease). It was hilarious because Mike's mustache kept coming off when he would laugh so he had to smile strategically all night :)

Me and JoAnna. Jo and I work together (we actually share an office) and her and her fiance were Fred & Wilma Flinstone. It was SO cute! I loved the oversized pearls. Joseph & JoAnna are getting married next July at a vineyard in Oregon and I get to be a bridesmaid! Needless to say, we do a little wedding planning during the work day every now and then :) shhhh.... Jodie and Kyle were hilarious. They wouldn't tell me what they were going to dress up as because they wanted it to be a surprise. I was definitely surprised! These costumes belonged to Jodie's aunt and they were made in the 1970's. It was so cute and I was very impressed that Kyle went along with it too. Kyle is Ry's old roommate from college. They played football together at PSU. They are getting married in December on Maui...I wish we were able to go!

Me & Meg. Meg was an awesome punk rocker and the rock band guitar added to her costume just right! She is a Learning Specialist at an Elementary School here in Oregon and she dressed up like this for school on Friday too! She has pics on her blog, it was really cute! She had her hair crimped (she was able to borrow the crimper from one of her cheerleaders from TuHS). I remember trying to crimp my hair back in the day :)

Like I said before, it was SO fun getting dressed up with Ry. This was the 1st time we had dressed up as a pair and I was so excited that he got so into it and wanted to make it the best it could be (aka sewing patches on his costume :)). Maybe next year we will pick out something a little less itchy for him...he would probably appreciate that -straw isn't exactly comfy!

Technology Recommendation!

Ry and I purchased a Webcam about a month ago and I am loving it! My sister in law and her fiance live in Hawaii with our 2 nieces and we have been able to see them a few times already online. My sister also got a webcam recently and we have been able to get online every few days and see what the Darnold family has been up to as well. It is so difficult to be away from family, but being able to see their faces takes the sting out of it a little bit and makes you feel like you are still a part of everything.

Just in the past few weeks...

From Hawaii: Kaley showed us her new shoes by sticking her foot right up on the screen and saying "new shoos, new shoos!", we got to see our new niece, Jordyn up close and personal and see how the two are reacting to each other. Kaley is a great big sis :) She is so full of energy and Tay would turn the camera on her so we could see her twirling around the room and talking so good! We also got to chat with Tay and see how she is handling 2 kids and finishing her nursing program at the same time!

From Colville: Adysen and Bayleigh have been SO funny on the webcam. The 1st time we did it they just kept saying "hi" over and over again and staring with these big smiles on their faces. I don't think they quite understood what was going on, but they sure liked it! Last night Adysen kept shaking her buns and laughing. She thought it was SO funny because we could see her shaking her bunsies :) Bayleigh liked to show us what books she was reading and they made funny faces back and forth with Uncle Ryan. I know Parker probably doesn't see us very well, but it seems like he smiles at us on the screen every now and then...maybe it's wishful thinking. It is so nice to be able to talk face to face with Tiff and see how the kids are doing!

I would recommend this to anyone who has distance between their families!

Tiffany turns 28!

My sis Tiffany turned 28 a few weeks ago...I know, I know...I'm way behind but I just got a few pics from my mom so I wanted to add them in. My family always does get togethers for birthdays at home and below are a few pics from Tiff's b-day celebration. I wasn't able to be there :( but I was there in spirit for my sister!

I don't know how my sister does it all. Tiff is a mother of 3 now and you may hear me talk about her kiddos sometimes, ok all the time! Adysen and Bayleigh are 4 yrs. old now and little, or should I say BIG now, Parker is 3 months old. (Maybe I will do a special niece/nephew post later with new pics). She is the Colville High School Dance Team Coach and has a team of 22 (I think) this year. She also works for my Dad a few days a week in the office. I don't know about you but just having 3 kids sounds like a full schedule to me! She always impresses me by being able to handle it all and be a GREAT mother, wife, sister, daughter and I'm sure many other things to other people.

It's hard to believe that my sister is 28! I mean, that's SO old. haha, just kidding. I'm catching right up with her now. It seems like just yesterday we were playing barbies, running our own bank with the big keyboards dad brought home for us, playing restaurant or being store owners in the basement. We would lay our clothes out or movies or whatever we could find and then take turns shopping and buying stuff from each others stores. Even back then we loved shopping :)

Well, even though it's extra late on my blog, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tiff. I hope this year finds you more happiness than the one before. I love you so much and I am always proud of you.

Mom and Tiff at the house for the P-A-R-T-Y! Getting a little help with her candles from the girlies. That seems to be the usual when it comes to anyone's birthday :) Wish I could have been there!

good times...funny pics

I was going through old pictures and came across an album of pics from our rehearsal dinner for our wedding. I was getting married in about 24 hours, was with amazing family and my best friends in the entire world and was laughing so hard I could barely breath. We jumped on the trampoline for what seemed like hours (taking turns doing tricks and silly jumps - see below..haha) and made up a routine in the back yard. This has to be one of my favorite memories with all of my friends. Here are a few pics from the silly evening: Me and Meg striking a pose! I was so impressed we got both of our faces in this one. See next....

This actually turned out to be one of my favorites!The whole gang :) Trying to do a simultaneous jump....yeah right!Me and Jackie....just a little hip bump :) I wish it showed the trampoline below us! Can't you tell we were working hard?

The dancing in the back yard. I think we were doing the move from "Can't buy my love." Oldie but a goodie!You know when you are little and you wish that you could fly? I tried! I'm just glad my dress didn't fly up! I should probably mention that right after this, Ryan and I were jumping together and he bounced me up so high that I came back down and fell on him and we bumped heads really bad. It could have been a catastrophe! But, after a few minutes and everyone freaking out at Ryan for maybe breaking my face the day before our wedding and me thinking that I might have broke my arm, we were back to having fun...haha. Good memory!

TAKE THAT cancer...!

I am happy to share good news this morning. Two people that are very close to both sides of our families have received great news in the past few days in regards to cancer. I would like to share a little about each of them.

Many of you have heard me talk about Lorie. Lorie has been an additional member of my family for many years, I can't even remember how long it's been now. She has been fighting with different types and areas of cancer in her body for more than a few years now. She is a fighter, she is strong and I am very proud of her. She has taken what has happened to her and allowed it to give her a whole new outlook on life. A positive outlook. Yesterday she received her results from her latest bone scan and below is a little of what she shared on her blog. I love you Lorie and I couldn't be happier to help share your good news. I always keep you in my prayers.

"My cancer is regressing which means where active cancer cells once appeared. . . there are places where they are no longer there!!! I am going to continue to get healthy in every way. I am continuing to focus on my health. I am even motivated now. I am grateful for the news and feel it has been a long time coming. I still have a journey ahead of me, but today I was rejuvenated in this fight. I am hopeful. I am more confident. It is forward movement and I will take it."

Also, back in June I shared news of Ryan's 19 year old cousin, Kyle, being diagnosed with Diffused Large B Cell Lymphoma, at a stage 3. We were able to see him a few weeks back and he seems to be holding up very well! He has had excellent spirits throughout this whole process and it was so good to see him smiling and laughing and know he is still doing ok through all of this. Kyle's Dad, Uncle Steve, is really good about keeping everyone updated through e-mail and we are always anxious to hear what is happening. We are always thinking good thoughts for you Kyle, and for the whole family! Kyle recently had surgery to remove a tumor and here is some of Steve's update from today:

"Some of you have heard and some haven't so let me get right to it: NO CANCER IN THE BIOPSIED TISSUE! His doctor called at around 4:00ish with the good news. She said something like Kyle had made a great decision and that he will be facing one more round of the chemo he had last time and then we will have a meeting early next week to map out what will happen in the future. He is relieved as all of us are. Kyle is doing well; he was moving around better today than yesterday and if everything goes well he will be home Tuesday. While he is not totally out of the woods yet (it will take years to hit that point) he is clearly at the edge of the forest!"

SO.......TAKE THAT cancer! :) This isn't over yet for either of our family members, but this is a definite step in a positive direction and I couldn't be happier to share it! If you have a spare minute, please keep them in your prayers. Thanks!

Friday's 20

1. I like tomatoes and ketchup but I can't eat the two at the same time...like a tomato on a hamburger that has ketchup on it. I will take the tomato off and eat it separately.

2. Ever since I was a little girl I have been terrified of walking up the stairs when the lights are off. To this day, I still run up the stairs in my own house because I'm afraid someone is going to grab my ankles. Ryan gets such a kick out of this, let me tell ya.

3. I would give anything to know how to play the violin.

4. If I write something on a piece of paper and it is wrong and should be scribbled out (like most normal people would do), I will have to get an entire new piece and re-write whatever was on the paper - no matter how long. This made note taking in class a nightmare for me.

5. Lately I can't read enough. I have finished 5 books in the last 2 months (and 2 of them were big ones, the kind I used to shy away from). I don't know what's happened to me! On this same subject, I often start multiple books at the same time and go back to finishing them at different times. I guess I get bored easily.

6. I have a knack for the drums in the game Rock Band. I don't know how it happened, but it just clicked on the first day we bought it. I think my husband is jealous :) hehe...

7. I went through a period when I was younger when I was dead set on getting an iguana. I researched what kind I wanted and we even went and looked at them several times. Truth is, I can't even hold small reptile like animals in my hand without freaking out. Good thing I got a dog instead.

8. I LOVE pickles and have decided they are one of my favorite foods. Ry and I have a rule, if we eat at a restaurant and he gets a pickle with his meal and I don't, he has to share half with me. Also, if he orders french fries and I don't, he has to give me 2 fries. Can you tell whose idea these were?? :)

9. I am terrible at drawing. To this day, I can't draw a realistic person or animal without it looking deformed or scary. Trust me, my nieces have pointed out that they are better than me numerous times. It's always good for a laugh.

10. We still have Halloween candy in a huge bowl on top of our refrigerator from last year. Anyone craving a tootsie roll? Stop on by :)

11. I have never met anyone that spells their name the same as mine is spelled. Dayna yes, Deyna no. I know they are out there, but I have never met one in person.

12. A few mornings ago I was told by my niece Adysen that her sister Bayleigh...and I quote..."doesn't want to talk to you on the phone for a whole year." I have never been so sad :)

14. In the beginning I was against getting a DVR...now I think it is the greatest invention of all time. Especially because my bedtime is getting increasingly earlier and earlier and all the good shows aren't over until 10pm. I'm old.

15. After over a year since I changed my name, I finally have a mailbox at work that says "Brown" instead of "Tripp". Yay it's official!

16. I love musicals. I could go to one every weekend and never get bored. If I thought I had any ability to act, that is what I would want to do with my life.

17. I have to chew more than 1 piece of gum at a time...2 pieces usually. I don't know what it is, but I can't help but swallow it if there is only 1. I go through packs of gum pretty quickly!

18. I love the sound of dirt/garbage/stuff being sucked up in the vacuum cleaner. It just makes it seem like you are really getting good cleaning done! This might be my weirdest one of the day.

19. Every now and then I find little things left behind by the people who lived in our house before us. It was a family of four with 2 adorable little girls and the other day I found an old maid card tucked under the refrigerator. It made me smile.

20. I hate to be cold, but I love the smell and feeling of crisp fall and winter air. I always tell Ryan "It smells like Christmas." And of course he proceeds to look at me like I'm crazy because it's only October. It's just a feeling I guess. Plus, cold air means cute scarves and hats :)