A Year in the Life of a Hearing Wife

Since I married Fayoz my journal writing pretty much came to a complete stop. I wrote literally every day since I was 12 years old, and I loved doing it, but for the past year every time I would sit down with my journal I would stare at the blank page and get so overwhelmed I would just walk away.

Here is a very condensed list of what has happened in past year (also why my journal is blank):

• I completed my BFA final projects / tests and graduated from college
• We had two additional wedding receptions - one in Washington for my family and an Uzbek celebration in NYC for his family where his parents hired his favorite childhood movie stars to sing, I was dressed in traditional robes and brought in on a carriage (since Fayoz is deaf and I'm 100% American neither of us understood a word. But it was awesome!)



Our Uzbek wedding. Dress courtesy of my Uzbek grandma!

• We moved into a new apartment in Provo, and moved to New York City six weeks later
• We moved from a Provo apartment (6 weeks) to his family's apartment in NYC (5 months) to our own apartment a block from his family. His three siblings had recently come from Uzbekistan and were separated from their family for 10 years so it was a huge adjustment for all 
• I was taken to many Uzbek bridal feasts with my mother-in-law which last about 3 hours where I am literally the only person there who doesn't speak Tajik, Uzbek or Russian
• I have had no less than five different Graphic Design positions in vastly different companies from demanding branding studios to beauty brands like Estee Lauder and Avon
• We have joined the all deaf church group (we all call it The Deaf Branch) Fayoz has been with since he was 19 years old. They have become our entire social community (other than Uzbek relatives and a few designer friends). Almost all of them live in poverty and have very low education levels. 
• I have had the literally fight of my life trying to get Fayoz the opportunity to go to college. The Pathways Program has been the inspired life-saver so I have been hired to interpret for Fayoz's classes. He has been working twice as hard as everyone else, acing classes AND
• Fayoz got accepted to BYU-Idaho (don't know when we are going...)
• Fayoz got a job making 3D printers

Whew! One year down! Although I don't seen an end to the craziness in sight, there are some things I don't want to forget. Want to hear more from the wife of a deaf Uzbek in NYC? Stay tuned.

Me and my huz! I love this man so much.