Junk Food Frenzy!!

Saturday we had a great Junk Food Party to celebrate my new smile and all the things I can eat with it now. We look for any reason to have a good time.

As with any good party, there was birthday cake. This all stems from my marathon party (told you we look for any reason). Brandon ordered a "Congrats on running 26.2" cake. He picked it up without looking at it (such a man). When we opened up to celebrate it said "Happy Birthday Ashley". Haha! Okay. So, we have another birthday cake to celebrate the new smile! I told Brandon I should get a "Congrats on 26.2" cake for my birthday in July.... just to mix it up.


We also had lots of other junk food: Snickers, Twizzlers, Sour Gummi Worms, Chewy Jolly Ranchers, Popcorn, Cupcakes, Cheesecake, and my favorite of the night - Crunch & Munch, caramel covered popcorn with nuts.... so good. I took a photo with the all the junk but left my camera in the car so maybe I'll show you on another day.

There were various games - including some Wii action.


Showing off my new smile with Justin and James...


Brandon trying his best...


Nicole was already having a great night by the time we got there....


And, my photogenic husband....

Musical Mondays: Why I'm Smiling

Hosted by Jori and Diane

(I'm sorry. This is supposed to be a theme week. Our theme this week is: Chicks That Rock. But I've already written this post so I'm going to go ahead and stick with it. Just so you know, some chicks that I think totally rock: Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert, and Sheryl Crow. You know what else? I'm rocking a new smile. So I guess I'm a chick that rocks, too! Just don't listen to me when I get a hold of the mic in Wii Rock Band. Hehe!)

BEFORE:(Very ugly. I'm very embarassed of this. From some angles it looks like I am missing some bottom teeth. Gross! My top teeth weren't too bad but they have dramatically improved, as well.)

AFTER:(Yeah. Much better.)

So I have my retainer now. The first retainer Dr. Dickson made did not fit right. The plastic or the mold or something was wrong. I thought all weekend that wearing this retainer was just going to be awful. But he met me at his new office on Sunday to give me a new retainer. It is worlds better. Wearing this retainer is still a bit awkward but I'm getting used to it already. A mouth full of clear plastic is much better than a mouth full of metal... and it is only for 3 months.

Thank you, Dr. Dickson, for my new smile.
I love it!

We had a junk food party Saturday night. So much fun! Pictures to come later (I have to go steal them off of Brandon's FB page).

When You're Smiling
by Louie Prima

... and They're Off!!!

I really don't mean to be conceited when I say this (it is just that I have been looking at metal for eleven months): I am totally in love with my new smile!

Braces came off this morning and I can't stop smiling!!

My miracle-working orthodontist said he would email me the before and after photos today so I'll get those to you as soon as I can. Yay!

A BIG Reason to Smile!

Anybody remember this or this or this?

Well, they are coming off!!!

Today is my last day in braces!

My orthodontist originally estimated that I would be in braces for 12 to 18 months. Well, it turns out I have teeth that are pretty easy to move (a good thing in braces, a bad thing out of braces)! I was only in braces for 11 months!

My journey to straight teeth isn't over yet....

Tomorrow they will be putting a permanent retainer behind my lower teeth (the suckers that really get out of hand when left to their own devices). It is permanent... meaning forever... meaning today is the last day I will feel my tongue against the back of my teeth.... I will forever have metal there. I'm not too happy about that, but I'll do anything to keep these babies straight.

I will also have a clear retainer that I'll have to wear 24/7 (except when I'm eating) for the next three to six months.

Then, I'll have a retainer that I only have to wear at nights. I will forever wear this retainer at night. Isn't that sexy?

None of those things sound great but they are all better than braces on my teeth or crooked teeth. So I will happily suffer through it all.

To celebrate - my friend is throwing a Junk Food Party at his house on Saturday night. That should be interesting!!

Look for pictures of my new and improved smile tomorrow! My orthodontist even took before pics and will take after pics tomorrow. He is going to email these to me so that I can show you all what a difference it is. The before pictures are quite embarassing but I did something about it and it isn't my smile anymore so who cares?!?!?

I am so happy! You really have no idea how ecstatic I am right now!!! Yay!!

Tooth

Yup... just had my tooth sawed down. It didn't feel too good. I can still see a little indentation where I chipped my tooth but it is much better. Dr. Sellman said that when my teeth are aligned properly with my braces you won't be able to notice it as much. But he'll re-examine it after I get my braces off.... a long time from now.

I'm still trying to decide whether or not I should go to the doctor about my chin. Lucas said he will help me decide tonight and I can go tomorrow if need be.

It's Not THAT Bad

Well, it's done. I have braces.

Actually getting my braces put on was not that hard. It only took about an hour. But boy does it hurt afterwards! My teeth hurt, my gums hurt, my mouth hurt... and still do!

I went to the work event immediately after I got my braces put on. One of my co-workers said "It's not that bad" and my boss just laughed at me. Great!

I had a tennis match on Saturday and got to play doubles with Jeritta again. We won! It was a lot of fun. That is my 3rd 4.5 match and I've won all of them so I may be getting bumped back up. Later that afternoon my parents came by the house and saw my braces for the first time. Mom said she loves them but she has to say that because she's my mom. While they were there, I loaded all of the pictures onto a digital photo frame that we got for my granny. After spending about an hour and a half learning how to operate the frame and loading all of the pictures onto it, it started shutting off randomly. Bad news! My parents were traveling to Birmingham the next morning to give her the present. So Lucas and I went to Best Buy while my parents went to Sams to get a few things before they closed. I exchanged the frame for the exact model which happened to be the last one they had in stock. I then sat in the floor of Best Buy and loaded all of our pictures again so that my parents could take it with them. Wow! That wasn't fun and somewhat stressful but it all worked out!

To "celebrate" my braces, Lucas and I went to La Alameda where I had a taco salad and washed it down with a nice, refreshing margarita! Then, we went to the movies with Chris and Aida and saw Maid of Honor. It was a really good movie. We were the only people in the theater so we could talk to each other through the movie so it was pretty fun. When we got out the sirens were going off so Chris and Aida came over to our house to check on the weather but it was fine. Oh, and Aida also said "It's not that bad" about my braces.

Sunday I did laundry all day then we went over to my grandparents' house for Mothers Day. We had a good dinner (burgers, baked beans, potatoes, great dessert) it just took me 30 minutes longer than everyone else to eat because of my braces.

Well, now what you all have been waiting for.... the pictures. Okay, here goes nothin'.

Here I am with braces:
And here is how I feel about it:

Okay, I'm ready for it .......... "It's not THAT bad!"

The Time Has Come

....... See you on the other side

This Week

This week has been so crazy. I have a feeling as we get closer and closer to primaries and the general election we are going to have fewer and fewer moments of peace. There is always something to do, some mailer that needs to go out, some one calling. This is only the beginning! But I would like to play a little catch up.

As I may or may not have said (memory fails me), Lucas and I went to Guadalajara Monday night for Cinco de Mayo after my tennis match and I wanted to upload our photos. We had wanted to go to La Alameda with the Ratleys but there was no time after tennis. Our little mini-date was fun!

Last night Lucas worked late AGAIN. When he got home I had dinner ready: burritos and chips /salsa. After we ate, we took Rafa to PetSmart to get a few things he needed and spend his gift card that Rocky had given him. :) So we bought him a new black leather collar with little studs (not the pointy ones b/c those scare me). Now he has a manly collar! Here is his new collar... you have no idea how hard it was to get this shot of the collar that isn't even good!
We also bought him some eyedrops. Rafa has been squinting a lot and his eye is kind of red. When we went to the vet last weekend it had only happened once and they didn't think it was a big deal. Now that it has happened several times I think we may take him back for them to have a look. We'll see how these eyedrops work first even though Rafa hates them! Here I am trying to settle him down to put them in his eye.
I also bought Rafa a little greenie for his teeth (but we haven't given it to him yet) and a cute little coat that was on sale. Lucas says I am not allowed to put it on him or take a picture of him wearing it until next winter. But I just had to buy it because it was so cute and such a great deal! We had originally gone to PetSmart to buy Rafa a bed but they didn't have any that we really liked. We went next door to Target and as soon as we hit the aisle I spotted the bed I wanted for little Rafa. And he loves it! He was playing in it with his toys (and Lucas's sock) as soon as we got home! Here he is resting! So cute!
We also bought him a retractable leash at Target. Oh, and I almost forgot one of the most important things I bought at Target:
Yes, they are glorious and they are MINE! I am enjoying every last minute of not having braces. I am scared to death to tell you the truth. Tomorrow afternoon I will have braces! :(

On another note, a fundraiser we are helping with was moved from Thursday to Friday night and I have to help. Do you know what this means? I will celebrate my first few moments in braces with important, business people who I'll have to talk to. Great! Jumping in head first!

One more thing...

I went to the grocery store on the way home from tennis to pick up a few things and got some Skittles. I'm enjoying my last few days of freedom! 3 more days til braces :(

The countdown begins....

14 Days.... May 9th

No Reason to Smile

Today is another busy day but I'll take time out to catch up the blog. I played doubles with Toy, Debbie, and Jill last night. Then Debbie, Andy, Lucas, and I went to eat dinner at Rosie's.... So Good! We just sat out on the patio and ate and had a margarita... it was very nice. I got home and read a little then we went to sleep.

With what is left of my short day I am going to try to get some more Chamber sponsorships. I looked on the campaign website to make sure some contracts that I had already submitted were turned in and guess what I saw.....


Yep... that's me. I don't know how I feel about having my picture up here. Anyway, I am now about $5000 away from the trip. I can smell the beach! I am going to work hard to get this $5000 but then I am going to try to help Jennifer make it, too. She normally helps all of us but I'll see what I can do.

Now onto the worst news EVER. Well, maybe not ever but it is pretty bad. I am getting braces. I am very upset about this. VERY. I have my appointment at 3:30 today to get the xrays and impressions taken. I should set up the appointment to get them put on, too, so I'll know this afternoon when the humiliation will begin. The dentist guessed that I'll be in braces for about a year. This will be a horrible year... but at least I'll get them on and then be done. I'd rather have braces at 23 than at 30 or 35 with kids.
I'll let you know how it goes... I'm expecting the very worst.