Gratitude list

So I'm sure everyone knows that I've been going through a rough patch. Often times it feels like there are more trials than I have patience or strength. However if I've learned anything it is that focusing on the great parts of my life help drown out the problems. So in the spirit of focusing on the silver linings in my clouds here's a list of things I'm grateful for (pictures included):

1. An amazing husband

2. A wonderful family

3. A great best friend/big bro

4. A fantastic furry snuggle buddy

5. An amazing ward family

6. Medicine! (At least the ones I'm NOT allergic to)

7. Incredible friends

8. A loving Heavenly Father who has a plan bigger and better for me than anything I could ever dream up

9. Food that I can eat!!

10. Movies, magazines, books, and anything else that keeps me distracted!

The Face of Discrimination

While my thoughts and prayers go out to those suffering in Boston I want to discuss another topic today. I want to talk about discrimination a little. While reading news articles I ran across a story I want to try and summarize it for you. Essentially a lesbian couple wanted to stay at a bed and breakfast but the owner said no because of her religious beliefs. The two women decided to sue and they won because of Hawaii's very broad discrimination laws.

It's an interesting case to me for a variety of reasons. One is that I can understand the reluctance of the owner of the bed and breakfast. I can understand how her religious views could influence her business decisions. I also can understand to a degree how the lesbian couple felt. I've been refused service because of my service animal. I've been refused a hotel room actually. I've been told to leave stores or harassed by store managers until I did leave.

The catch is though that the couple in question is making a choice. I didn't choose to loose my hearing. I did choose to get a service animal to help deal with it. However engaging in a lifestyle like homosexuality is a definitive choice. Oddly enough you would think I would agree with the lesbian couple but I don't. I agree with the business owner. I think the best way to solve problems of discrimination isn't always through the legal system. I don't think it's right to trample someone else's rights just to have my own recognized.

Don't misunderstand me, I don't like discrimination and I don't think it's right. However I don't think the government should come in and tell businesses what to do like this. The best way to fix situations like this are to vote with your wallet. If you want a case where it works I have a long list. A great example is Netflix who refused to provide captioning for their online content. They went to court and they won but their refusal cost them a  great deal. Netflix has lost huge contracts and countless numbers of subscribers in part because of their decision. It wasn't the courts that changed things it was people voting with their wallets.

If someone tells me that I can't stay in their hotel because of my service animal or that I shouldn't apply for a job because I'm Deaf it's on them. It's their problem of being bigoted idiots. However much I might despise their bigotry they've still got a right to it. Laws and courts won't change discrimination in our country, we will. We will change it when we vote with our wallets and decide for ourselves how we want to deal with it. When we decide how we want to treat other people. Well that's my two cents about it anyway.

I think I like how I look..well maybe..sorta.. kinda... like how I look

Like many of the best things in my life this was inspired by my sisters. My incredible sister Taylor wrote a very interesting blog about body image. If you're reading my blog, please read hers too! Here's is much better than mine. Here's the link for hers :http://bythevoiceofthispeople.blogspot.com/2013/04/but-but-i-think-i-think-im-beautiful.html. Ok shameless plugging aside, she got me thinking with her blog.

Body image is such a complicated topic but here's my two cents about it. I'm going to be brutally honest in this blog so be prepared. While my sister confessed that she's quite happy with how she looks my confession looks a little different.

Confession: I actually don't like how I look.

I'm short which I hate (seriously even Faith is taller than me!), I could definitely stand to lose a few pounds and inches, and I'm really just not a fan of me. I can list more things I don't like but I'll save us both the time. I've never really liked how I look. That's probably why I married Alex who is my biggest cheerleader. I don't have to like how I look because he does! I never spend more than five or ten minutes on my appearance. There's a great reason for that. Most people are way more distracted by the dog or by my moving hands or the giant hearing aids in my ears or how I sound funny when I talk sometimes. If you don't believe me here's a great story that proves my point.

One day at Disney I was off work and had taken some time with my looks. I thought I looked great. I went out shopping at D23. The woman behind the counter  couldn't figure out how my hearing aid charms were connected to me. She thought I had pierced the inside of my ear and couldn't get over how painful she thought that would be. So she asked me why I had pierced my ear like that. Much to her embarrassment I pulled my hearing aid from behind my ear. I've never seen anyone blush that red. She completely missed me because she only saw my aids.

Add the dog in and well you can guess how it goes. I've found it's very hard to find motivation to be enthusiastic about an appearance that most people never notice. I don't think I'm alone in it. Think about it. We spend so much time on the unimportant distractions about a person that we often completely miss them.

 So my question to you is how do we change that?

Life with a service dog Part 1

This is my first post of a few I have in mind about life with a service dog. If you know me you know, have heard of or seen Riddick my service dog. If you don't know me then let me introduce him. Riddick is an approximately 16 months old  black and white border collie lab mix rescue dog who rescued me. I get a lot of questions and I mean a lot of questions about what he does and why. So I wanted to take the time to address those questions.

First what does Riddick really do? Riddick is both a hearing dog and a seizure alert dog. That means he pulls double duty every day. His job is to alert me to things I can't hear, which is pretty much everything. He lets me know everything from a person wants my attention to car horns to beeping microwaves. He also is my seizure alert dog. He can sense a seizure up to 5 minutes before it happens. During a seizure he lays on my legs and I hold on to him.

He's even gone so far as to place his paws on either side of my head to prevent me from hitting my head during a seizure. He then proceeds to lick my face and nuzzle me till I wake up. He's also been trained to bark to alert others if I'm having a seizure.  One of the most amazing things about Riddick is that he never really goes "off duty" at least not completely. He doesn't need a vest to know I need his help. My husband has seen him jump from tugging rope with him to rushing to my side during a seizure.

The next question I always get is why? Why have a service dog? Riddick helps me safely navigate the world. He makes being out and about much less stressful and much more safe. He's also a huge help at home. Something most people don't know is that home can be the hardest place to navigate.  He's my furry best friend and a life saver. While there are times its not possible to bring him with me, like being in a car with someone whose allergic or bringing him in someone's home that's allergic happen I do try my best to always keep him with me.  We're still growing and learning together but this is a partnership that will last a lifetime. To conclude Part 1 I want to share a photo I found that is both hilarious and very true to life.