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Paris
Starting in the 7th grade and continuing until I was in college, I studied French in school. Over the course of many years, I
developed an appreciation for the French language, art, cuisine, architecture, history, and culture. It was only natural that
someday I should visit France. My husband and I were lucky enough to travel there for our honeymoon. Of course the photos
don't do anything justice, but it gives you just a brief taste of what we experienced while we were there.
Dayna And Scott's Honeymoon In Paris
Other Paris Related Links:
Coming Soon!
Painting
I recently decided to take up oil painting. I like to think that I'm a relatively artistic person. I've always loved to
draw, scrapbook, and do other crafty kinds of things. So, I thought I'd see if I could take this need to be artistic and
translate to oil painting. I'm still getting used to the medium itself, but I must say, I really do enjoy painting. Oil
paints are so flexible and allow the artist to do so many things. I'm still learning (and I'm sure I'll say that until
I'm old and gray!), but I hope to improve with each painting I do.
Click here to see some of my art.
Blogging
I just started blogging officially in December 2008. I'm still getting the hang of it (coming up with what to say, etc.). I'm
using it mainly as a journal for myself. It's a New Year's resolution of mine to try and do some journaling so I can look
back and see what I was up to at such and such a date a year ago. It's probably going to be a boring blog, but if you
would like to check it out, you can find it here. Or you
can also catch up with me on MySpace (but
I'll warn you now... I don't update that page very often).
Music
Music is a huge part of my life. I listen to just about every type of music aside from country and classical (although I do
enjoy film scores and orchestral pieces, just not 19th Century or earlier). My father instilled in me an appreciation of
oldies (60's and 70's) and modern jazz. My mother exposed me to music of the 20's and 30's as well as music from films. I
learned to love all other types of music on my own. I especially love 80's music and alternative bands (like The Cure... see
below). Music does so many things for me... it helps me relax or celebrate, remember certain times or places, and it even
helps me interact with my children. I love singing with my kids, just like I sang with my mom when I was little.
Click here to see what non-Cure music I
listen to.
Here are 5 artists that I'm listening to at the moment:
The Cure (of course!)
Interpol
Cocteau Twins
The Shins
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
The Cure
I came across the band, The Cure, quite by accident. I had heard them on the radio, but there were only a handful of songs
that were the "popular" radio-friendly songs. I was dating a guy that was sort of into them and I borrowed a couple of his
CDs. I gave them a listen and I was instantly hooked. What really drew me in was not the songs played on the radio, but
the b-sides that are only aquired by purchasing the single. To this day, most of my favorite Cure songs are b-sides. I
really came to love their songs, composition, and lyrics. From there I bought all of their back catolog of CDs. Then, I
started to collect their live concerts, clippings, and memorabilia. Before I knew it, I needed a way to organize my collection,
so I began a website dedicated to the band called A
Foolish Arrangement. The website contains photo collections of the band, memorabilia (such as ticket stubs, concert
posters, and advertisements), and a publication database. I have travelled over many states to see the band play live. Their
music is always evolving and that is what I appreciate most about this versatile band.
Scuba Diving
I became a certified S.C.U.B.A. diver when I was just 15 years old. I did all my training and got my certification in
Puerto Rico at Condado Plaza Hotel. It was such a great place to become certified. I was lucky in that my father lived in
Puerto Rico for several years and every summer I would go and visit him. They had some beautiful, virtually untouched reefs
that I was able to dive for my training sessions. Most people here in the states get certified at a pool and maybe do a
couple of lake dives for their certifications. I was able to train right in the ocean where there were lots of things to
see! I love underwater life. The landscape is phenomenal. The animals are equisite. I just love the whole experience. I
try to dive as often as I can (which isn't too often since I live in Oklahoma). My husband and I got our Advanced Open Water Diver
certifications in Cozumel, Mexico in 2002. We had to complete a drift dive, a deep dive (100ft.), a navigation dive, and two other
advanced dives (I chose Underwater Photography and Underwater Naturalist - A.K.A. Animal Identification). I feel very
accomplished for getting certified to the next level.
Click here to learn how to become a certified S.C.U.B.A. diver!
Web Design/Web Programming
It was my desire to organize my Cure collection on the web that got me started with web design and programming. I took a
job with a company that taught me how to do Y2K conversion in COBOL (a legacy mainframe programming language). Well, by the
time the training was complete, everyone had already addressed their Y2K issues. So, I decided to take advantage of my idle
time to learn about web development. I read everything I could get my hands on and then dove right in to creating my own
applications. The design part, for me, came after I had the programming in place. From there, the two went hand in hand. I
still have much to learn and the technology changes in a heartbeat (in fact, as I type this, I'm already programming this
page in a legacy language). But, it's the changing technology that keeps things interesting. It's hard to be on the
"bleeding edge" all of the time!
Books
I have to admit, I don't read books as often as I probably should. I usually will get on a reading kick and then I'll not
pick up a book for months. The only thing I read on a consistent basis is Rolling Stone magazine.
Here are the last 8 books that I've read...
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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
by Barack Obama
Dayna's Rating:
  
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I'm Chevy Chase... And You're Not (Authorized Biography)
by Rena Fruchter
Dayna's Rating:
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1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die
by Tom Moon
Dayna's Rating:
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The Tales Of Beedle The Bard
by J.K. Rowling
Dayna's Rating:
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Oil Painting For Dummies
by Anita M. Giddings and Sherry S. Clifton
Dayna's Rating:
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Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade
by Per Nilsen
Dayna's Rating:
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Tommyland
by Tommy Lee and Anthony Bozza
Dayna's Rating:
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Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star
by Nikki Sixx
Dayna's Rating:
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And I'm currently reading:
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Multiple Bles8ings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets
by Jon Gosselin , Kate Gosselin, Beth Carson
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U2 By U2
by U2
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Movies/Videos
I love, love, love to watch movies. My husband and I used to see a TON of movies before our kids were born. Now, we just
don't have the ability to go like we used to. We actually take turns watching the kids and we'll go see movies on our own. We
used to go to our local Blockbuster, but in the thriving metropolis of Jenks, Oklahoma (note the sarcasm here), the popular
movies were always out, there was a poor selection, and there was a non-existent foreign and independent film section. I
had heard good things about Netflix, so I decided to sign us up about two weeks before my first child was born (since I
knew we would not be leaving the house for a LONG time!). All I can say is it's one of the best things we ever did. On
average, we rent one movie a week and if we're really quick, we can get two movies in. The selection is fantastic, the movies
are sent to us in record time, and of course, no late fees!
Here are the last 10 movies/videos I've seen...
Milk (Dayna's Rating
)
Weeds (Season 2) (Dayna's Rating
)
About A Son (Kurt Cobain Documentary) (Dayna's Rating
)
Man On Wire (Dayna's Rating
)
The Changeling (Dayna's Rating
)
Weeds (Season 1) (Dayna's Rating
)
Revolutionary Road (Dayna's Rating
, NOTE: Intense...)
The Tudors (Season 1) (Dayna's Rating
)
Tropic Thunder (Dayna's Rating
)
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (Dayna's Rating
, NOTE: Tear jerker!)
And I'm currently watching: The Tudors (Season 2) and
Weeds (Season 3).
College Football
I'm a University of Oklahoma graduate and by default, I first and foremost support the Oklahoma Sooners college football
team. My second allegiance is to the Big XII teams (especially the teams in the South). I love to watch college football. I
just can't seem to get into pro-football at all simply because the players get paid so much money to be at that level. At
that point they've made it, that certain spark is gone, ego and cockyness starts to creep in. There's
something to be said about college guys that are playing with the hunger that they want to make it to that next level. It
really brings out the fire in teams and individuals. No money is involved, the players are playing purely for the love of
the game. Just when I think I've seen it all where college football is concerned, something happens every year to make me
say... "Can you BELIEVE that?!". And THAT is the reason I keep watching!
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