Within a few hours of leaving for Las Vegas, I received an e-mail saying we’re now homeowners and that we could pick up the keys. We stopped by the house on the way and met my parents there. I left the keys with my parents on purpose and jokingly told them, “just in case you want to get us something and surprise us!”

We arrived Las Vegas after midnight. The humidity there was horrible. This definitely makes me appreciative of the dry heat in Phoenix. I literally shed off 5 pounds from all that sweat!

When Meg checked in at the Luxor she told them we were deaf and they provided us with a TTY and alarm clock. None of us have seen and used a TTY in years!

Things can make you do crazy things in Las Vegas… such as a fake proposal. We were curious of the reactions we would get but not a lot of people were paying attention around us anyways. We saw one 40 year old woman laughing and crying so hard that she peed herself in the middle of the sidewalk.

We can kind of say we’ve been to Paris now. Looks like a huge Paris hat we’re wearing.

Gambling! I loved the Pleasure Pit wheel! Unfortunately Tyler and I didn’t win!
I hung out with the boys while the girls paid $110 to take a nap at a cirque du soleil show (O at the Bellagio)

Me and my girls! It sucks we live all over the place: Ohio, Boston, Texas & Arizona.
Hopefully we’ll have yearly reunions!

It dropped 20 degrees the other night after a storm swept in and poured in the valley. It was a big deal!

Amy asked me to wake her up from her nap when it started to rain. I kept going outside every 5 minutes to take pictures and people outside were looking at me like I was taking pictures of them. The camera was aimed up…. not down at them!

I wish I could say we have been busy packing. Instead I’ve been changing our address & creating our moving announcements so I can mail them out soon to family & friends.

It took us TWO hours to sign all the papers at our realtor’s office on Sunday. We found out that our mortgage payments will be $200 less than we were originally told we would be paying. Let’s just say it’s pretty much the same amount we’re paying now for our apartment. We were prepared to pay our closing costs but our realtor made some calls to the bank and saved us $2,000!

We get the keys on Friday! Exactly the same day we leave for Las Vegas. The excitement can wait until we return on Sunday. Too bad we can’t just magically make everything appear at the new house without having to pack, load, unload, and unpack!

Me: What are you most excited about moving into the house?

Tyler: The fridge ice & water dispenser!

…(Silence)

“I’m sorry? I’m Deaf I didn’t hear you”

When I say this I always point to my ear. I don’t know why I do this but it’s a habit. I can hear chattering and background noises but my problem is I don’t know when someone is talking to me.

Often times Tyler would sign to me, “That person just asked how you were doing today!”

Usually at this point, Tyler will say something to that person and make conversation with them. I worry this happens a lot when I’m shopping alone. They might think I’m a total bitch for ignoring them.

One time I was at a fast food restaurant and ordered something. While waiting for my order, I went to fill up my cup and by the time I turned around I saw an employee slam an order back on the counter and whispered angrily to another employee. I quickly realized that she must had come up behind me and tried to give me my order. I went up to the counter and told her “Excuse me… I’m Deaf” and she quickly smiled and apologized.

I can understand people if they’re talking directly at me and not talk through their teeth because that makes it impossible for me to read their lips. I’m sure other Deaf people can relate to this.

Have ever met or seen a Deaf person before?