Meet Tanya

Tanya Dodd-Hise:
What to say about myself. Hmmm. It seems complicated, but now that I think about it, I guess I'm not all THAT complicated. I am 38 years old, soon to be 39. I was born in Dallas and grew up in North Texas, where I still live today with my new wife (Erikka) and our nine year old son (Noah); I also have a seventeen year old son (Nicholas) who lives with his dad. I attended Texas Woman's University and received a Bachelor of Science in History, and have nearly completed the requirements for a Master of Arts in History/Government. During grad school I worked at the university as a graduate assistant to history & government professors, then left to accept a teaching position for a local private school for a year. That was an experience, to say the least! I also spent a year teaching history in Washington, D.C. on-site to student groups from schools all over the country. That was the most amazing job I have ever had, but a LOT of work. I have also had my own photography business since 2001, and currently am building it from a part-time venture into a full-time one. As a business owner, I am a member in several business networking groups, as well as my local Chamber of Commerce and the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce. It is very rewarding to be able to work with so many wonderful men and women business owners within the gay/lesbian communities.
We have a pretty busy and full life, but it is one that I cherish and enjoy every day, and wouldn't trade it for anything! We just returned home from a wonderful ten day trip for our wedding & honeymoon to Connecticut, New York, and Washington, D.C. We hope to have a baby next year, and are looking forward to adding to our little family; and our dream is to someday move to the Northeast, back to the D.C. or surrounding area. While on our recent trip, we discovered that the people were so much nicer and more accepting of us as a couple, which is very different from here at home in the Bible belt. My biggest challenge each day is to withstand the ignorance and intolerance that surrounds us, reminding myself how blessed I am in everything that I do and everyone that I know.

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I met Tanya through Twitter. I'm grateful to her and her wife for agreeing to be daily faces, and happy to feature the newlyweds on the same day!