Moving and What’s Happening in 2020

Hi there! I know. It’s been awhile. Life has gotten a little crazy lately.

First, I can’t stand my awful apartment and miss having room in my kitchen to cook and bake up a recipe. I also would like all my kitchen gadgets back from the storage. It makes me nervous we haven’t gone through our stuff that we’ve left in storage. Some of our stuff broke during the move. Sentimental things. Kind of a downer right? We also soon realized shortly after the move, they broke one of our brand new sectional couch piece. Luckily, we had insurance but with a $500 deductible to get it repaired. (Face plant) Good lawd. It looks better than ever and I made it stay downstairs. Safely in the garage that takes up our gym space. I think in our brand new house we’re going to move the couch ourselves. Sorry Justin!

Speaking of the new house, we get to close July 31st! I can not wait for this! My mega kitchen is my favorite part of the house. Wait til I flood social media with pictures and cooking blogs! Just you wait!

I won’t lie. Living in beautiful Virginia was wonderful and the best part of my life. As painful as it was to leave, I’m truly excited for the next door to open, new adventures happening, and so much to live for.

We’ve got some exciting news. Remember in my last blog 6 Things for 6 years I said that next year will be our best year yet? Did anyone notice something different on my IG stories? We’ve been really busy! Well I’ve been busy sleeping a lot. Like lots.

I’ve been casted to be a part of the new Disney’s Sleeping Beauty movie that will be coming out next year!

Just kidding.

Watch below to see what the joke is all about! And I’ll leave it just right here. See you next time.

Tips for the Deaf or HH Dental Professionals | Vlog

I recently watched a video on Facebook about a deaf dentist and I thought it was so cool. I wanted to share my tips from my experiences as a Deaf RDH with you guys.

6 Things for 6 Years

Ever since I wrote 5 Things for 5 Years, I told myself to write top things I’ve learned each year during my marriage, adding one for each year.

This year has definitely had a lot of lessons for us. A new job, a big move 1,300 miles away, and living in a small apartment. Facing the unknown has been very scary. It has made us stronger and ready for anything that life throws at us.

For our 6 year anniversary, we decided to make the trip back home to Virginia. It’s always great to see our close friends and revisit our favorite spots but it definitely made us real homesick for a few days.

And for this blog post….better late than never.

1- Communication! It’s always hard for me to get my feelings out right away. I get upset easily if he’s frustrated with something. Especially if it deals with something personal. He’s only human but so am I. I have to think about what I want to say before I make a point without saying anything rash. And he’s learning to be patient with how I communicate. It takes work.

2- Make each other’s decisions for each other. My husband has voiced for a long time that he’s unhappy with the commute and I’ve long supported him on his job search. Once he found a fitting job, it was a rollercoaster of “yes” and “no”. I realized he needs someone in his corner to put his foot down and make the decision for him. Even though it meant major sacrifices.

3- It’s okay to cry. This year was probably our hardest to date. While I’ve been behind him all this time, I kept a lot of feelings in. I fought hard to stay strong and keep my eyes open. But damn, you just need to cry it out and let it go. As hard as it may seem, that opportunity removed the invisible wall we had, brought us closer and more understanding of each other than before.

4- Have patience. I noticed since we moved from a big house with a yard to a small apartment with daily multiple dog walking, my fuse was ready to blow. Alas, we do have a beautiful big home we’re building. It’s coming. I’m learning to be better at patience. I’m constantly learning to go with the flow. Embracing precious time and learning life doesn’t always go as planned.

5- Laugh. When it comes to blowbacks, I always try to laugh and believe that it can turn a lot of things around if you don’t let it hang over your head. I’ve noticed Justin can get easily frustrated over the smallest things and I can tell he notices he wants to try to laugh things off like I do. It’s okay to smile.

6- I realized how important it is to look ahead and see a bright future. What’s behind doesn’t define today. Always change for the best. Most importantly, I’m still learning to be me. Not that I never knew who I am or was, that it’s okay to be me. That it’s okay to be where we are, to enjoy the little things today.

On a side note, I had forgotten how much fun designing your house is. It’s our third home we’ve owned and as much as I didn’t want to leave our last house, this one is going to be amazing. Another blank canvas for me to decorate! A better garage gym! An amazing kitchen and bigger laundry room! What more could this deaf girl ask for?

It’s only been 3 months into the move. While we’re constantly exploring what Texas has to offer, awaiting our home to be built with a yard that’s perfect for our dogs, I have a real good feeling next year will be our best year yet!

Stay tuned!

How do you find ways to fit in?

I recently took a new job and then a couple weeks later I decided it wasn’t for me. I felt I couldn’t do the job they wanted me to. I’m a well trained licensed Registered Dental Hygienist. The heck? It wasn’t personal at all. The job wasn’t for me anyways.

But…I felt bad. I was literally beating myself up for it. “Should I have given it more thoughts? More chances?”

In all honestly, I came to realization that I just simply wasn’t happy. If you’re not in a good place at an office, why bother? Get out as soon as you can. Period.

But then soon after I gave my notice, they were fighting for me to stay and were willing to work with me. I laid my cards out and got over my fears of not being the “right fit”. It eventually got better. I felt more in control and things flowed much easier. I was “fitting in” and was able to do the job I take pride in.

So let’s get to the topic.

How do you find ways to fit in?

I get a lot of questions from readers about fitting in. I often wonder why this is a question I get most.

Granted. I grew up in a hearing family and use oral speech. I also went to a school for the deaf briefly and used ASL.

It is uncomfortable trying to fit in. Feeling weird about meeting others is okay. Showing who you are, being yourself, flaunting your hearing aids/cochlear implant is okay. If you hide who you really are inside, is not okay.

Having a disability and fitting in with normal people IS hard. You are not alone. I try to let all things go when I meet people. I stay confident and smile with grace. I don’t take things too personal when they say something similar to “oh I didn’t know you were deaf” or something along those lines. It’s all apart of getting to know people right? If someone you don’t know says something personal to you and it’s something you don’t like to hear, tell them the truth. They will understand you as a person with a disability and confide in you to learn about your hearing loss. Teach them with grace. (Unless they are an asshole, then it’s a different story.)

You are in control of fitting in.

“Fitting in” is meant to be uncomfortable.

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Have patience with people. They may not have patience with you but be the bigger person when this happens. Smile and kill them with kindness.

When you do things you enjoy such as dance classes, yoga, Crossfit, ASL, dental hygiene, etc, you’ll meet people who enjoy the same thing.

You will fit in when you’re meant to. People who don’t want you to fit in are assholes. If you meet assholes, RUN. (While you’re running, throw that middle finger up in the air. Okay, maybe not running with middle fingers but remember this, you’re standing ten feet taller than them. Even though it may not feel like it.)

Who really cares if they don’t like YOU.

It’s all apart of growth. You adapt and others will adapt with you. (I hope they do.)

That being said, just be yourself, your confident self.

How do I tell others how I hear?

Has anyone ever been to Wild Acres Brewery in Fort Worth? I love that it’s dog friendly. As soon as I walked in, someone was celebrating their dog’s birthday. All decked out with a birthday cap and bandana. Poor dog.

Too bad none of you are here to enjoy with us.

So….How do I tell people how I hear?

But…I don’t?

Here’s the thing. Every deaf or hard of hearing person is no where close to being same or that much different.

It’s not rocket science.

It’s not the same because we don’t hear on the same level as other deaf individuals because of different hearing losses. We don’t hear on the same level hearing individuals because one IS DEAF and with hearing aids, it is amplified. It helps you hear.

Do you know someone with nearsightedness vs farsightedness see perfectly clear as you with contacts or glasses? You put their glasses on and it’s all the sudden “holy shit why is this more blurry?!”

You don’t have the same prescription.

Just like you don’t have the same hearing loss as others.

All I’m saying is, how we hear is hard to explain. How you treat us, how you communicate, how you interact is how we can hear you just fine.

Hashtag just be kind to others.

Highlights from New Orleans

My Monday night has turned boring. Definitely having Bachelor blues. I’m super happy for the new couple but more excited for the new Bachelorette! I can’t wait to hear my husband groan through it and laugh again. It’s quite enjoyable watching him suffer through a “chick flick”.

Okay enough of that. Can we talk about being a victim? Raise your hand if you’ve personally been victimized by Bourbon Street.

There’s nothing like that stench on every corner, green grenade drinks and voodoo daiquiri that reminds you of your grape cough syrup as a kid. Except with Everclear 190. Nonetheless, what a fun place. Definitely did not do any flashing of any kind to get my beads. Please don’t be stupid and flashing is not cool. Nobody wants to see something illegal.

With it being a St. Patrick’s day weekend, it was definitely a busy one. Packed. Long lines at your favorite restaurants and museums. Plenty of people watching and good times on their unstable wraparound porches.

Here are my favorites to enjoy.

  • Cafe Du Monde – If you love fried donuts smothered in 5 feet of powdered sugar. But their coffee is TERRIBLE. Just get your favorite cafe’ somewhere else and wait in an hour long line with it.
  • National WWII Museum – Non-history buffs not allowed.
  • Parkway Bakery and Tavern – It’s been talked about with friends and it’s a local favorite so we knew we had to go. It was our first stop as soon as we checked in. Their Po’ Boys sandwiches are HEAVEN! Definitely not healthy at all. You know those fried oysters and all the fixings on the samwhich….hashtag drool. It was simply so good and I’m so glad we went on an empty stomach because their size smalls were HUGE! See what I did there?
  • Cochon – This is a place I regret. By regret, I mean drinking green grenades and voodoo daiquiris that seem super easy to have that you end up losing your appetite by dinner reservation. Ahem. Let’s not go there again. It’s SO GOOD. I promise you coming from someone who could only stomach a salad.
  • Big Pie Pizza – If your stomach needs to soak up the alcohol and make you feel better about being drunk, their pizza is da bomb! And big.
  • Jackson Square – Cute park. On a nice day, grab your beignets and say a little prayer as you take a bite into it and hope the wind doesn’t blow powder on your face. Let alone inhale that shit.
  • Oceana Grill – This place had a line out the door every time we walked by. Luckily, we were VIP and skipped the line for dinner. Just kidding. We ate there for rehearsal dinner. Do get their Cajun Jambalaya Pasta with rabbit and alligator sausage.
  • Congo Square/Louis Armstrong Park – We went for a 3 mile morning jog and came upon this cute gem. The awning lights up at night if you don’t care for fitness.

Heed of warning and I’m just going to leave it right here. New Orleans will make you a sloppy bridesmaid.

Congratulations to the new Mr. And Mrs. Seraile!

Hearing Aid Insecurities: Overcoming it

We all have dealt with body image insecurities growing up. But there’s another part of me that has been shaped by something else.

I got called weirdo, a deaf-mute, foreigner, etc.

“What’s wrong with your voice?”

I used to have rocks and wood chips thrown at me during recess.

“Why don’t you use sign language instead of your weird voice?”

I was terrified of public speaking.

“Why do you wear a radio behind your ear?”

I would wear my hair down to hide my hearing aids in the halls.

I’ve been pushed, kicked, shouted, hair pulled to get my attention.

I was lost.

I was ashamed of my hearing aids.

I spent many years in speech therapy and used to think it was all for nothing.

BUT

They shaped me to be the person I am today.

They pushed me to be a better person.

Let it motivate you, let it break you down and take you to places you’ve never imagined before.

Take a bow on your past insecurities and stand ten feet tall.