fresh cut grass

I love it! The way it looks, the smell...it smells like summertime.

I had to stay inside and miss the sunshine the past few days but did get to enjoy it on Saturday morning. I was sitting on our deck, reading, listening to music and taking in the sunshine. It was the best few hours I've had outside in a long time. Plus I got the bonus of a visitor stopping by :) which made it even better!

Every year when it starts to get sunny again I always say how much it makes me feel better. I'll say it again this year...the sun totally lifts my spirits and I can tell it does for many people around me! So everyone....enjoy the sun while it lasts and let's all hope it comes back again to play soon.....

because I'm sure by the time anyone reads this it will be raining in Portland again :)

Day 59 of my 365

1. Fridays: Jeans at work...my favorite day of the week. Enough said.

2. Hot Showers: REALLY hot showers. I make a point to savor my shower every morning and sometimes in the evening too if I'm spoiled that day. They are one of those true pleasures in life... long, hot, burning showers. Ahhhhhh.

3. Hot tea: Orange Spice Tea is my ultimate favorite and I have got to have it 3 times this week! I'm getting a cold...can you see a trend here with the hot stuff?? :)

4. Windows in my office: I'm one of the lucky ones these days that gets to see the sunshine while I work!

5. Ryan watching my shows with me that I have saved in our DVR to get caught up...even though he claims that he's not into them :) right.............


"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning." - Gloria Steinem

love this photo...and the message

Rules from God for 2009

Got this today and thought I would pass it on...

1. Wake Up !! Decide to have a good day.
"Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalms 118:24

2. Dress Up !! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7

3. Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3

4. Stand Up!!... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10

5. Look Up !!... To the Lord.
"I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

6. Reach Up !!... For something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6

7. Lift Up !!... Your Prayers. "Do not worry about anything;
Instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING."
Philippians 4:6

Day 13 of my 365

Refresher: The idea is to have the goal to post whenever it works best for me for 365 days - a list of five things that have graced my life, either on that day or at any time in my life. Simple pleasures.

1. Text messages - anytime of day, for any reason

2. sunflowers, someone once told me they always make you happy

3. a clean(er) office

4. mixed CD's from when Ry and I first started dating

5. Sunday afternoon naps


Hope is passion for what is possible. -- Soren Kierkegaard.

Day 1 of my 365

I don't know if anyone reads my blog and that's ok. A lot of things I write on here are just putting my thoughts on paper so to speak; sometimes for others and sometimes just for me. I have recently stumbled upon a project called "Grace in Small Things". The idea is to have the goal to post every day (or whenever it works best for me) for 365 days - a list of five things that have graced my life, either on that day or at any time in my life. I figured that this would be a good place to do this.

The woman who started the project explained why she did it... "The world we live in is loud and bright and demanding, and it is easy to slide into a less than thoughtful survival mode in which we do what we have to do to make it through the day with the least amount of strife possible. This robs us of the time and energy to be mindful of ourselves and those we love and to recognize the grace that exists in small things."

I can't promise that I will be able to post to this project everyday or even every week - but my plan is to post when I can; when I have something in my heart to share. Simple things. Small things. I need to take advantage of the grace in my life. "Cherish life's simple pleasures" - right Mom?


My Day 1 of 365:

1. A long hug after a long day

2. Help at work today from a new employee on his 1st day of work

3. A hot shower with candles

4. People having faith in me

5. My pair of OLD adidas sweatpants that I stole from my sister many, many years ago and she will never get back :)


"Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be."-- Charles "Tremendous" Jones

Oops...Forgot to post :)

We went to a good friend's wedding over Christmas break and I forgot to post pictures! Our family has been friends with the Fogle family for as long as I can remember. Their oldest daughter, Tasha, got married on December 28th and we were able to make it! Tiffany and Tasha were best friends growing up and they also had 2 other daughters and one son. We were all about the same age and Elizabeth and I were good friends as well. We used to make houses out of pine needles in their back yard :) Here are some pics:

The Tripp & Fogle Girls: Liz, Tiff, Tasha, Alaina, Deyna

Me & Liz. Liz is getting married on the 4th of July this year.

Me & Ry at the wedding.

With the girls :) They were really excited to see the wedding!

Keep Us

Anyone who knows me well knows that I couldn't live without music. It's on while I get ready every morning, while I drive into work on my commute, on my computer all day at work when I'm at my desk, then on my commute back home. The funny thing is Ry has a habit of watching music videos On Demand (it seems to be his favorite thing, especially lately) so really I just cant get away from it. It's not only that I just like to have the noise, I relate music to everything that is going on in my life. When I hear something I like, I write it down and look it up later. I am really into lyrics. I write them and have for many years. I appreciate others lyrics and like to find songs that mean something to me or help me through a particular thing I am going through. I post song lyrics on here from time to time, so I figured it was time I explained myself!
I am listening at work this morning and this song came on, a song I have never heard. It really spoke to me so I wanted to share it. I really like his sound. It is soothing and to be honest it just made me feel better. That is what music can do, sounds silly...but it's like a friend that always knows what to say at exactly the right time :)

http://www.myspace.com/peterbradleyadams

When the rain set in we had nowhere left to go
so we just stayed in bed while the thunder rolled
there's a comfort in the rain, one that love only knows
so we lay hand in hand while the water rose ...

Every season will turn til the world is upside down
rivers overflow then go underground
but in the eye of the storm, in the safety of this house
we lay hand in hand while the world turns wrong.

So keep us and keep us, keep us from the storm.

There's a lesson in the rain that change will always come
let us ride this wave and then greet the sun
and though the ground may shake and we’ll think
we’ve had enough
we must raise our flags for the ones we love.

So keep us and keep us, keep us from the storm.
Keep us and keep us and keep us from the storm.

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/