Braces Week 19: All Off!

I thought of a great movie today as I was brushing my teeth after my braces came off. It was Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn. In the film she's a proper princess gone rouge in Rome. In one scene, she stops by a barber shop on a whim because she, like Pedro, realizes her hair is making her hot.
The quirky and endearing young barber asks how much of her hair she wants cut. "Here? Here? Where?" And Audrey bravely puts her hand all the way up by her ear. He responds incredulously, "All off?" She replies resolutely, "All off." The barber steels himself with an "if you insist," attitude and cuts off her very long, old-fashioned locks.

Audrey getting her hair cut.

 After a few minutes, the barber cheerily turns her chair to face the mirror. His expression slowly falls as hers does. She bites her lip and turns her head away. He determinedly looks at the mirror and turns her head back. He's on a mission now.

Uh oh, the first look...

He continues snipping and styling for a few minutes, then shows her his masterpiece again and waits anxiously while she turns her head from side to side and takes it in. 

Win.

This time, she loves it and goes out and celebrates her freedom and her symbolic short haircut!

That's a little bit how I felt as my braces were coming off today. It was just a big change and kinda scary. It hurt a little getting the brackets off, and it hurt because of my very recent gum surgery, and it was uncomfortable having all the dust blowing around me as they scrubbed of the glue...it was just an ordeal. Topped off with getting cast for a retainer:) He also had to do a little proceedure to close the last little gap up between my teeth. :/ That was a little uncomfortable. He just wired them shut and put a permanent retainer on the back of my two front teeth. At least they won't be moving anywhere!

 And here's the finished product ladies and gents! I may have him file down my canines just a little.  I haven't decided. He said I could do more detail work if something's not quite right. I see a lot of tiny flaws, but I'm sure I won't notice them any more after a few days when I'm no longer scrutinizing them:)

And it's hard for me to do a big, wide smile because of my gum surgery, so we'll see how it looks in a few days when I'm a little more mobile.

It was quite an ordeal, but at least the braces are off now. One more thing done:)  

Rock Canyon

Em and I went hiking up Rock Canyon on Saturday. It was sooooo gorgeous outside!  

Just a little shadowy!

On the second bridge up Rock Canyon

We went exploring in this old mine nearby

Wud up, just checking out some stalactites. Oh, wait, those are in caves, this is a mine...

It went back really far!

Did I mention that it was really dark before the camera would flash?

Tom, our adventure guide. 

Hitting the trail

Chambray Shirt, Patterned Skirt and Rope Bun

Just did two french rope braids and twisted them into a bun in the back

Chambray. This is actually as I was going to the ortho. :) Forgot to show my teeth...

Weird angle of my skirt from my desk chair.

One More Week...One Weeeek Moooore!

Next Thursday, baby. I can make it:)  My teeth are almost done!
I went in today for one last touch up IPR between my teeth so they can come together flat against each other. I was so nervous! He tried adjusting it with a handheld strip, but it just wasn't working, so he used the "hand piece," which is like a really tiny electric saw. It makes a puff of "tooth dust" rise up into the light and it takes about .03 seconds... which makes it kinda scary. But as per the usual, Dr. Watson did a super job.

We put on a new chain and I'm all scheduled to get my braces off next Thursday! Yikes. Nerve wracking. I hope my teeth come together, I remember it took a while last time (granted, it was a bigger IPR). I'm just so happy I went in today. I feel like that center line between your two front teeth is the focal point, and I wanted it of all things to be straight. I mean, that was the whole point of this braces endeavor in the first place:)

My dentist also told me I have a bit of a tongue thrust, so I'll be starting up some exercises for that. Hopefully everything will go well next week, I get my gum surgery on Tuesday and my braces off on Thursday.
Wish me luck!

Sunday Best: Tribal Mint

 This Sunday I was feeling something different, so I borrowed my outfit from my roommie. I really liked the tribal skirt. Aside from being cute, it's suuper comfy. It's from H&M, but unfortunately older and they don't carry it anymore.:( 

Sooo, there was a wind storm last night. It felt like a tornado! These were just the residual gusts:)

I straightened my hair. Since I cut it short I really like how it looks straightened.

Pretty hair :)

Also, shout out to April Stevenson! She's basically the cutest. I saw her in church and had to take a picture. She always dresses like a champ. Everyone was obsessed with her umbrella/bow shirt! And matching glasses??? Seriously, she's adorable.

April. So cute!

Classic Skating and Sugar Roulette

Had a fun night at Classic Skating and Denny's. We played sugar roulette. Such fun, for those who don't lose!

Sugar Roulette

Mocktails

We went to a mocktail party, which is a cocktail party sans alcohol.:) It was really fun, we were outside for most of the night, which means SUMMER IS COMING!!! 

Me, Molly and Em with our pina co-nadas :) Because there's nada alcoholic in them. 

Eric's the best. 

Braces Week 16: Detailing and Hope for the Future!

We are coming to the bitter end, my friends. 

First day, December 11th

April 10th, four months later

Wow. We've come a long way, have we not? :) It's not perfect, but I'm pretty amazed at how much more symmetrical my smile looks. We're trying to tilt in my left front tooth. After we do that, they can come off, baby!  Woot.

I'm a little concerned about the apparent ridge in the middle of my two front teeth. Dr. Watson said it should go away as my tooth tilts in, but if it still looks this way in a few days I think I'll call him back. I've been a little worried about it since my first IPR. I just hate to waste time.  

 When I went in today, he said they looked great. We did a little detailing work, grinding off the ridges on the bottoms of my teeth. He said he was very conservative and if I wanted, he could straighten them out a little more at my next appointment. 

I'm a little nervous for the next few weeks. I'm nervous because I don't know when exactly I'll be getting them off, and my hopes are high for really soon! And because of my upcoming gum graft.:/ And the ridge between my teeth situation. And I'm not sure what the plan is for doing my retainer. Just a lot of little things:) I'm sure everything will be fine, I mean, it's not like I have a lot of control over what my teeth do. That's up to you, Dr. Watson! My dentist did tell my to massage my gums with my toothbrush after I brush them because they were starting to grow towards my braces. I have been, and it's helped. I feel like they are relaxing back into their original position. They've been bigger since about the first week I got braces. So, if your gums are growing towards your braces, I recommend the toothbrush massage! 

Birthday Birthday

I had such a great birthday and felt so loved:)  I didn't take many pics, I think that's a testament of a fun birthday! No time for photos!

I made s'mores cupcakes this year, Graham cracker crust, chocolate cake and marshmallow cream frosting. You'll just have to imagine the frosting. 

;D

My sweet coworkers got me cupcakes and decorated my desk! They even let me choose where to order our med rep lunch from. :) Zupas, all the way!

Em took me to dinner, Mikayla gave me a beautiful homemade card, Kait and Chris brought me flowers, and a bunch of people came over to celebrate. It was a day well spent.:)

Braces Update...and Gums...

Today's images are brought to you by: Non-Focusing Camera!
Seriously, though, it's hard taking pictures of your own mouth...

 I have good news and bad news. First, the good! I should be out of my braces by the end of this month. Woohoo!!! I know I haven't been in them that long, but knowing it was just a quick touch up made me really impatient for them to come off. I need to work on my whole patience thing...

Look how far we've come...

Lookin' good!

You can see a little better in this one, my front teeth aren't quite together yet, we may need a little more IPR and a couple minor tilt adjustments. And then of course a little contouring of the bottoms.

Hopefully, we can take care of these last couple of details at my next appointment and get these puppies off! 

So, now onto the not-so-great news. I need a bone and gum graft.

I know it's fuzzy, but my lower two (especially the right one) front teeth have receding gums and bone.

My lower gums have been hurting for weeks. Turns out my frenulum was just too high and pulling on my gums. It got damaged, and now I have a half-ripped frenulum pulling on my gums. Ouch. I'm super excited to get that fixed. And my periodontist is awwewesome. It's going to be expensive and a little bit of a healing process, but don't worry, I bought some sensitive toothpaste to help get me through. 

My Favorite Disney Princess Moment of All Time

Someone asked me recently who my favorite Disney prince was. It's not that hard, most of them have no personality;) I was a little tied between the Beast and Eric, but then I thought of (and dramatically reenacted) my favorite Disney moment of all time and I knew Eric was the right choice. 

The above quote is probably some of the most honest and loving advice a Disney prince ever gets. Most Disney princes/princesses have seemingly no connections, or very unreliable role models/parental support. The aptly named Grimsby however, gives this advice to Eric in a tender moment one night on the beach as Eric is weighed down with the decisions he has to make. 

It's a decision that I suppose everyone has to make, "Do I wait for what I dreamed of and wanted, or do I accept a real love that is right in front of me, awesome but not perfect, and good for me?" I think the beautiful irony is that Ariel is in fact his dream girl, the very exact same one who rescued him. It's just he wasn't able to recognize that in the context of the imperfection of real life (ie, she's lost her voice, is a little awkward on two legs). He doesn't recognize his "dream girl" when he sees her because of how she is in his head. (I mean, even Max can figure it out...) 

After Eric's brief interlude with Grimsby, he glances up and sees Ariel on the balcony. They have a cute/awkward moment, and Eric smiles.

I think this is the moment he realizes that he really does care about this girl. Then he does it. My favorite Disney princess movie moment of all time. He looks down at his flute, pauses for a second, then throws it into the sea and starts to walk back into the palace. 

Yes, he is immediately foiled by an evil sea witch, but still. The beauty of the moment is not lost. Eric had been playing over and over the melody of his "dream girl," that he heard on the beach. To the audience, we know that he made the right choice because his dream girl is in the palace, but to him, Ariel isn't his dream girl. She's a girl he's starting to fall for, but he still thinks his other "dream girl," is someone else. Throwing his flute away symbolizes him letting go of his expectations and dreams. But he's not really just throwing them away, he's sacrificing them. That is, he's giving up something good for something of far greater worth: a personal dream for an actual loving relationship with a wonderful girl, whom he later realizes is exactly what he wanted and dreamed of.

What if he hadn't? What if he'd kept playing his flute? Married Ursula? Or worse- married Ariel only for what she was to him, a fulfilled dream, not for who she was. How would Ariel feel, knowing he wouldn't have chosen her for her if she hadn't fit the criteria of his dream. That's not a relationship, because he's not relating to her. As he gets to know her, they form a relationship, and he is given the choice: hold out and seek someone to fulfill his own dream, or relate to, care for and protect someone who will do the same for him. And I think he made the right choice.:)