Guatemala and then some :)

Ok, so I'm a little embarrassed about how long it's been since I've last blogged! (I had every intention of blogging about my trip to the National Championship, which clearly didn't happen, but War Eagle anyways!) But, it's my hope that I will start updating with events of my life more often. This is why...

CHANGE!

So many exciting things have been going on in my life and in the life of those dearest to me :)

First, my beautiful cousin Summer, married her best friend and love of her life (Matthew) on May 7, 2011 and I was lucky enough to be a part of her wonderful day!

Then, my sweet friends Jessica and Spencer were married on May 15, 2011 and Greg and I both were honored to be a part of their big day :)

(Wish we had gotten a picture of the 4 of us!) Jessica and Spencer just moved to Huntsville to start the next chapter of their lives, and we are so happy for them! It was hard to say goodbye to such good friends who have always been there for us, but I know we'll be seeing them again soon :) Love ya'll!

Then, in the midst of all the wedding fun (which I learned that I am happy tears person...) Gregory graduated from THE best school ever:

And I couldn't be more proud of my mechanical engineer! Greg is currently looking for a big boy job. He had an interview this past week with a company near Mobile, AL that he is waiting to hear from, but we have faith in trusting that the Lord will lead him wherever he needs to be! It's been a nerve racking but exciting time to see what God has in store for this next chapter in his life :)

So, with so many friends and family moving and heading out in different directions, I figure blogging can be a good way to keep them updated on me!

1 Peter 4:10 says "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully, administering God's grace in its various forms."

I was fortunate enough to have been chosen to travel to Guatemala at the beginning of this month for the Auburn Audiology Outreach in Guatemala. It. was. life. changing. The Lord called me to Audiology so that I could serve and help others and how lucky I am that this career makes that so easy. I fell in love with Guatemala before I even set foot in the country and here are some highlights of my favorite moments :)

Guatemala is so beautiful and everyone was so nice, always making sure we had everything we needed. We were set up at 1 of the 4 schools we serve and the children from the other schools traveled to us. These schools are run by the government and were created for street children, who, if it wasn't for these schools would have to be on the street begging. Many of the children's mothers are prostitutes and the 2 hot meals they get at the school is their only food. It truly is an amazing thing they are providing for the children, a chance at a better life. This was the 3rd trip with students and we were following up with children we had given hearing aids to before and re-testing children who had failed their hearing screening.

This is me and Bess with Gabriela and Damaris, 5 year old twins from the school for the deaf. We had given them Sparx (power hearing aids) but because of the hard earmolds they had, they weren't getting nearly as much gain as they needed because of feedback. When I met them, they were completely quiet and non-verbal and would just play silently side by side. We were able to make insta-molds for them (which are soft) and give them around 20dB more gain and as soon as we turned on the hearing aids, they began verbalizing (saying ahhh) and were able to imitate us saying "ba-ba-ba". After working with them for a few minutes, we were able to get them to say Papa, their first word, to their dad that was in the room with us! The soft insta-molds made a huge difference on this trip and allowed us to give many kids more volume, which is what they needed!

This is me with Carlos and his mom and sister. We identified him as having a hearing loss and were able to give him hearing aids!

This is me and Becca with Oscar, who was brought in by his teacher because he was having trouble in school and she thought he might have a hearing loss. This teacher is actually one of our patients as well, she was given a hearing aid because of a hearing loss she got from being hit by a bus. Oscar indeed had a moderate hearing loss and was fit with hearing aids.

This is me with Jazmin, a little girl from the school from the deaf who had a BIG personality. She had a sticker stuck in her ear! Removing the sticker was very traumatic for her and she clung to us because we weren't the ones who got it out and she was mad at everyone else, haha. We were able to give her more gain as well and were her new best friends :)

I have countless other stories, as do my other 4 classmates who were on the trip, of children's faces lighting up as soon as we turned on the hearing aids or being silent before and talking after. I was overwhelmed by the amount of time people would wait to see us, by the patience and behavior of the children (they would let you do anything without even squirming), and the unending gratefulness of the parents and children. I can't wait to see what kind of outreach project the Lord will put on my heart for me to do one day, but I can't wait :)

So for now, I'm still pressing forward, trying to survive a full load of grad school crammed into a summer semester, but loving the life full of blessings the Lord has given me.

PS- did I mention that at those 2 weddings, I caught both bouquets? And Greg caught a garter? I'm still patiently waiting... ;)