My Very First BJJ Competition

I am proud to announce that I will be in my first Jiu Jitsu Competition coming up on September 10th. I am trying to decide whether I want to do GI or NOGI, but I think I will most likely end up doing both. This competition is the Fight for Heros Charity Grappling Tournament. Come support your local fighters and come watch our fighters such as Caleb Hudson, Jarret Jones and many more! I'm nervous but very excited to watch my friends compete and for the experience of it all!

Also, check out the video for it...

Hope you guys can come watch and have a good time!

Here are some pictures this week of us training:



Frustration

Today, I write this blog in frustration. As you know, the AC has been broken. I'm still not back at my house because after the third time of them being there... they still can't fix it. Today, I am waiting on a phone call for them to go back out there... AGAIN... to "attempt" to fix it. Don't get me wrong, I love staying at my parents, they're awesome, but i'm ready to be back in my own house in my own bed, and I think the dogs are ready to be back in their own yard.

Anyways, to get rid of the frustration, i'm going to remember the good times from this weekend....

Friday night: Sister time!!

We made some delicious "Wookie" cookies. Tara and Jason are huge fans of Star Wars.

Then we had some fun with crayons and this is the outcome!

Aren't we creative? hehe, I love nights with my sister, we're so random and we always have a good time!

Saturday: Running, Jiu Jitsu, hanging out with my family and cousins, failed attempt to fix the AC, and then girls night out!

We ran 3 miles on Saturday and we had fun. We had a guy hold up his "slow" sign, so I guess we were going pretty fast! yay! hehe...

Jiu Jitsu was fun rolling with JoAnn and Lynn. Here is a picture of them rolling. I learned a lot rolling around with them and it was good to get back into the swing of things.

After that, I went to hang out with my family until the AC people called. I love my family. They're so awesome. My uncle got a new job and he was talking to me about that, i'm so proud of him! I also got to see my cousins for a little bit after not seeing them for a few weeks. Aiden was telling me about his toy lizard and Cambree was funny saying that she was going to brother's appointment in her rainboots. My Pepaw gave me a lunch of string cheese and a breadstick... hahaha... I love my Pepaw so much! Then I went to my house and waited two hours for them to "fix it". Then I hurried back to my parents to get ready and let the house cool down until Sunday. I got scared while getting ready because my uncle decided to come to my parents house. He needed some tools. My cousin, Korbin, was sad to leave after only being there for a short time.

When I got ready, Tara came to pick me up and we went to Melissa's and to Grahams to dance! Here is a few pics that I (Tara) managed to get of the night, it was a blast!

I LOVE MY GIRLS!!!

Yesterday, I was excited to pack up my stuff and head home to my house. When I got to my house it was 86 degrees! I figured it was still trying to cool off so I stayed there for a couple of hours and it was only getting higher. When I left the house it got all the way up to 89 and I just headed back to my parents house. We went to run yesterday evening too, and we ran 4.5 miles! Hopefully when they come today, they will fix it for good! Wish me luck and cross your fingers for me!











I want to teach Marley or Maddie to do this...

Here it goes...

Here it goes...

Saturday I went out with my girls, Ami, Meghan and Jamie. We had a blast. We went to Cancun Grill, the Hemmingway and then Woofers and Tweeters. Here is a summation of random words/sentences that went on during our night: Parking really far away and Ami and Meghan having to walk in heels, Oh crap I missed the toilet and peed on the floor, I Am Legend... TOTALLY GOING TO HAPPEN, creepy stalker ex, cowboy, guy that can dance, the Cupid Shuffle, and so much more! Anyways, one of the best nights we had! Here is our mirror pic that we used to do all the time back in the day!

The next morning, I woke up to a burning, smokey smell, I freaked out and ran and checked everything but nothing was on so I just figured it was my clothes from the night before and went back to sleep. I woke up and I still smelled it and I was extremely hot so I went to look at the thermostat and found out that my AC is broken... again. So all day I laid there lazy until Ami got there to run 3 miles. We ran it and I came back to a hot house. So hot that Marley even stayed in front of the fan with me, wish I got a picture. Anyways, the next day we have the people come look at it and the fan motor was completely broken off so they had to order parts and they won't be in until Thursday and so the dogs and I packed up and went to stay with my parents. I love being at my parents house. They're so cool! My Mom is the best cook in the world and my Dad is the best at grilling! Yum, I am totally eating better here too. My dad set up a play area for the dogs and Marley being very sneaky, got out twice. The first time she snuck up behind me and scared me! The second time was the next morning and we found her on the porch, so thank goodness she knows to stay close! She was also laughing at us because we couldn't figure out how she got out, but we finally figured it out and she's been stuck in there since!

Yesterday, Ami, Tara and I went running again and we ran 3 miles again. We did a great job! We will be running again on thursday for 4 miles, Saturday for 3 miles and again on Sunday for 5 miles. That will be 15 miles total for the week! Then Tara and I headed back to my parents house and ate some delicious fajitas!

While I've been staying at my parents, they got me watching Conan. Conan is HILARIOUS. Anyways, If ya'll didn't watch this episode of Conan with Shaq, y'all need to. I've never really liked Shaq much, but after watching this, he seems like a pretty cool guy. Shaq also likes to fit into small things (to him) like GoKarts "You look at me. You look at the thing I am about to get in, people say 'he can't get fit in that.' And I'll be like, 'watch this!'"  (p.s. I felt sorry for the guy who had to pull Shaq on that thing!!) Shaq in a Pink Jeep and falling = FUNNY!

Not so normal thursday night...

Well after work, Ami and I got together to run three miles, this picture is before the run... she's a little slow ;) hehehe

Well we proceeded to run and it's very hot in West Texas weather...

well... duh, it's the desert.

It's very hard to take a picture while running... hahaha

Anyways- we get to the two mile mark and Ami had an attack of Hypoglycemia which in other words is low blood sugar. Ami and I both have it. We stopped running because neither one of us had our phones and I didn't want her to pass out on me! We headed back to the house so she could have some peanut butter crackers to get her blood sugar back up!

mmm, peanut butter crackers. anyways, she rested up and felt better then she had to go pick up her son, Lane (He is soooo cute!!). After that, I normally go to Jiu Jitsu, but after a long busy week and being so exhausted, I decided to take some time off for myself. Big mistake. HA. I sit down to relax and my dogs just decide to pick on me. Marley likes to pick on Maddie and upset her. Look at her here, you can tell in her eyes....

and here is Marley playing "keep away" from Maddie...



Maddie gets tired of it and puts Marley in a headlock... She's a pretty tough pup for her size!

Maddie also has a ear piercing bark.. it's even high pitched for me and I can't even hear that great! Marley is even scared of it...

>>Maddie is right there but you can't see her..

I got fed up with them and decided to take them for a walk because it just wasn't relaxing at all and walks can be relaxing.

Marley does really good on her walks and loves it, Maddie is a whole different story. She likes to walk in between my legs and trip me or sit in front of me like this....



and WHINE to try to get me to pick her up. She also almost got herself ran over twice last night, no joke. She's nuts... but so is Marley! By the time we get back to the house, it's RAINING! It's been so hot and the rain was so nice and cold, we played outside for the whole 5 minutes that it rained!



Then, I finally got to relax on the couch like I wanted to!

Here are a couple of pictures that I thought were funny and wanted to share:





If you're completely deaf, then how do you hear with a hearing aid?

I actually get this question a lot, but I never really gave it a whole lot of thought except... "I just can". Then, Kalee asked me this question the other day and said her friends always ask her that and after that I really started thinking about it and so my Mom put it in a way that I actually understood how I can hear from a hearing aid even though I am deaf.

I have profound hearing loss. In one ear, I have no hearing at all even with a hearing aid. In my other ear, I can hear sounds at 110 decibels, which is the loudness of a chainsaw or a single jet engine. With my hearing aid however, I can "hear" about 55-75 decibels.

They told my parents that it would actually be wasteful to put hearing aids on me because at that level I was only responding to vibrations, not to sounds. Against all odds, with the hearing aids and the speech reading, I can hear. As my mom said, it's a desire to hear and the willingness to put on a hearing aid. If my parents had never forced the doctors to try the hearing aid, I would most likely be totally deaf and not be able to speak and rely fully on sign language. I give my parents so much thanks and credit for where I am today and I'm glad that they fought the doctors to at least try and to give me a chance.

As an added note- My mom says she gives me all the credit for wanting to hear and wanting to know. My first signed sentence was "what's that?" She said that I also had a desire to speak and that I have inflection in my speech which isn't commonly present in deaf people. Thank you Mom for explaining it better and for the sweet comments about me!

I hope this helps y'all understand it better and if y'all have any questions, ask away!

Below are some sites if y'all want to learn a little more about it:

http://www.hearingaidknow.com/2007/03/07/how-loud-is-too-loud-decibel-levels-of-common-sounds/

 

http://www.hearingaidknow.com/2007/06/17/mild-moderate-severe-and-profound-hearing-loss/

 

A Few Things about Me

Hey guys!!

For my first post, I thought I would tell y'all a little bit about my life. First of all, for those of you that don't know, I am deaf. I was born completely deaf. I am the only one in my family that is deaf. Most people can't really tell, but some can. I talk very well, read lips, and wear a hearing aid. Here is a picture of me with my hearing aid on (along with Tara and Jason).

I was born and raised in Midland, Texas. Yes, that is where George Bush's hometown is. Midland is a small town with not much to do, but I love it here.

My first priority in life will always be my family. I was raised by my two amazing parents, Sydney and Rick. I don't know where I would be without them. I was also blessed to have my little sister, Tara. She is and always will be my best friend through everything. Tara has a serious boyfriend and his name is Jason. Jason is pretty cool in my book... I guess ;) I also have a HUGE extended family because my awesome grandparents had seven kids. I have 11 cousins from my aunts and uncles and i'm the oldest of them all and the youngest is 1. My family is pretty crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way because they always will be there for me.

In Feb. of this year, I bought my own house and i'm very proud of myself! I live here with my two dogs and love them to death. Marley is nearly one and she is by far one of the weirdest dogs I know. She is a Red Heeler/Husky mix. She loves people and just loves to love on them. She also loves to "swim" in her water outside. My other dogs name is Maddie and they said she was a lab mix but i'm thinking she is mostly Border Collie. I just got her at the beginning of this month, she is about two months old. She was abandoned and put in a box with her two other sisters outside of an oil company in Odessa. She was covered in fleas and tics when they found her and I wanted to rescue her. Marley and Maddie are getting along great!

I think that's enough for tonight and I will post more when I figure this thing out! :)