Our Story Part 1

I thought it would be kind of fun to tell you our story. Many of you have had a front row seat. Our friends and family have been there through all of the fun and trials that have brought us to where we are today. Brandon and I have shared our story with many people over the past few years. Our lives in a lot of ways have seamed like a Lifetime Movie, and those close to us can attest to this. We have had incredible Spiritual highs and unbelievable discouraging lows.

We share our story to hopefully help others who may be living through troubling times see that the light at the end of the tunnel is not always a train. (That is a quote from my husband by the way!) Trials bring us to our knees, and help to find strength beyond our own. It is when we hit our lowest of lows that we find our Savior is there to pick us up.

All good stories start with once upon a time..... So....

Once upon a time.... Just kidding. When I was in high school I was on the Drill Team. We were really good by the way. Three State Championships and one lousy Second Place. I am not bitter just stating the facts. To be that good it took a lot of practice, determination, and hard work. We practiced at least three hours a day, with double days twice a week. It was a big part of my High School life, the other part was spent with great friends. I was lucky enough to have the greatest friends in the world. They were always there for me in good times and bad, and were a great example to me.

Drill Team taught me a lot. I think that Dance and Sports for that matter teach us all we need to know about being successful in life. Nothing comes easy, and there is no shortcut you can take to get you to where you want to be. If you want something bad enough you must fight, push and do all you can to achieve it. Drill Team taught me one things that I think has in a lot of ways shaped me as a person. It is all about ATTITUDE! When we were about to take the floor every time we danced we would say a prayer, and do a cheer. The cheer was “Attitude Ladies!” Then when we were on the floor we didn't just dance we had the Attitude! We even had shirts that said “We don’t need your Attitude, we’ve got our own!”

For me life is all about Attitude. I love the quote, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”. That is really the theme I have taken in my life. I always try to have a positive attitude, and a good outlook on life. This way of thinking makes life much easier. I have had a few pity parties but they are awfully lonely. So I try hard to always be optimistic.

So now you know where my Attitude comes from. I tell this simply so as I tell you my story you will understand why I am the way I am. I hope to tell you a little more each day.....OK maybe just as often as I have time to set down and spill out my feelings.

I am way too tired to keep this up so.... Good Night!

Our Story Part 2

Getting A Little Facetime

So for years my husband has been teasing me that he was going to mount a wireless web cam on a hard hat so he can help me find things when he is gone to work. I am always calling him and asking him where the remote is, what input he left the TV on, where ingredients are in the cupboard, and the list goes on....  I think it completely drives him crazy. He always tries to help but it just makes us both frustrated. I am sure there is at least three time a day at least that I am calling to ask where something is. So Brandon decided he wanted to solve the problem.

The New Apple iPod Touch has some features that he thought would really offer us some solutions. It has a voice over feature that is in the iPod to help make it accessible for people with low vision, or people with no vision like me. It also has FaceTime. FaceTime originally let you video chat with other people with iPhones. The latest iPod just came out with a camra and the ability to do FaceTime right along with the iPhone. As soon as Brandon found out that they had a Beta app to let you chat from your Mac to the iPod and he decided we had to give it a shot.

So we got a iPod for me and now any time I need a set of eyes around the house I can just fire up Facetime and Brandon is the eyes I need. I can not express the added security this brings to me. To know I can have him be my eyes when I need to see where something is in the house. My blindness is so frustrating for both of us, but this gives us so many options. The other great thing is with the voice over I can use it for email and some of the other apps that are voiceover capable. Some times having a super tech geek as a husband really is cool. Thanks sweetie!

No Fair

Today I wrapped my own gift my husband was giving me. The funny thing is it will still be a surprise to me. That is one of the great things about being blind. I can peek and snoop in my presents but it really dose me no good. Not only did my husband have me wrap my own present but I am almost 100% sure I was standing next to him when he bought it for me. I am sure he loved every second of that!