I haven't been blogging in a while, but I have been crazy busy! I went to an amazing day before Christmas Eve wedding for my uncle and his new wife, Jeanne, followed by a great Christmas Eve and Christmas with the family! I then took off Christmas night for Denver to meet up with my best friend Aliey (from Australia) who is visiting my friend Geoff in Colorado! After a few days with them, I took off for Australia! My trip didn't go quite as expected, but it ended up turning out wonderfully. For those who haven't turned on the TV in the last few weeks, there was historically high flooding in Queensland, RIGHT where I was visiting. I experienced some pretty bad weather with about 2 weeks straight of nonstop rain, was evacuated from my hotel on the river which was eventually under water, and ended my trip with sunshine and an incredible last few days on the beach :) In the one month that I was gone, my little nephew learned how to crawl, stand up on his own, and is getting his first two little chompers! I've chronicled my winter break into a photo blog.. enjoy!

My cousin Samantha and I at her dad's wedding.

Me and my monkey on his FIRST Christmas :)

Jackson likes gossip mags just like his Auntie !

Overlooking Vail

Showing off my grill.

Me and Aliey!


Me standing on the median of the very flooded highway.

The spider we found in my friends apartment. They all failed to mention to me that this was the FOURTH one they'd found and killed since I started staying there..

:) at Gold Coast

Mikey and I.


Feeding an elephant at Australia Zoo!

Bindi, Terri and Bob Irwin (Steve Irwin's family) at Australia Zoo

I budged in front of someone to take this picture of Bob Irwin with a lizard.. Little did I know it was Terri Irwin standing right next to me (see reflection...)

Seaworld in Gold Coast.

My last full day in Australia, getting a new tattoo :) It says 'no worries' -- a very common Australian saying, and is written in my mommy's handwriting.

I have an ortho appointment next Monday, so look out for another update then!

A candid picture of my profile! I am jutting my jaw forward in this picture to be able to make a kissy face, so it's not a very good representation of my actual profile. I was laughing because my nephew was being goofy, hence the failure at actually making a kissy face. As you can see, there is a lot of tension in my chin from bringing it forward.

I hate my profile, but I love this picture too too much :)

I went in for my fourth (scheduled) appointment at the ortho today. I actually had to drive home from school on Friday because the wire on my upper right was poking into my cheek and driving me crazy. I didn't want to be stuck dealing with it through the weekend and the week, until today's appointment.

Today I got my wires changed! On both top and bottom, and they're bigger! I always get excited with wire changes, because I feel like leaving the same wires on is just keeping me in limbo and I am not making any progress. Well, they bumped me up to 20's! Does anyone know the actual sequencing of wire sizes? I am not sure what I would have started at ?
I am in the midst of finals week, so wish me luck! I have two on Monday (Genetics and Zoology) and a presentation on Tuesday. I am trying to spend a lot of time at home in the next few days between my finals, as it feels more 'Christmas-y' here than it does in my sorority house. I will be jetting off to Australia right after Christmas, so I am thinking it won't feel much like the holidays once I land in 85 degree weather. I am trying to soak up as much of it as I can now!

It's Jack Jack's first Christmas, and we are all SO excited, so expect a few pictures after the holidays :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

This is my favorite commercial of all time.

I think that, for the most part, jaw surgery patients deal with a lot of issues with their appearance. I know that growing up, I struggled a lot with the way that I looked, and continue to do so. I always had a massive overjet, big front teeth and a little jaw. I was not happy at all with the way I looked. Although I now am aware that it is a medical condition and there are things that can be corrected, it isn't going to solve all of my problems. This video is just a little reminder that appearance is not everything, that every single person has issues with the way they look, and that regardless of changes in my appearance post-op, I am still the same person :)

I finally, finally, FINALLY had my first break off university... and it went WAY too fast. I have about 3.5 weeks left of the semester, and am off to Australia in just under 4 weeks!

Thanksgiving was fine, not much to report. I did meet up with a longtime friend today, whose life has changed DRASTICALLY since high school, and hearing her update me on her life just made me antsy for the surgery to come sooner. She went from dancing ballet on a scholarship, to cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles, and traveling all over the country. She is here and there and everywhere, and her life is so thrilling now. The thing is, I have been desperately wanting to get out of the Midwest for nearly two years. This surgery is just one more thing that is keeping me here, and keeping me from exploring what else is out there. The sooner the surgery comes and goes, the sooner I am outta here!

Me and my little monkey on Thanksgiving :)

I know that most of my followers can't entirely relate to this one but ... one thing I truly was worried about through the whole braces ordeal was dating. I am not talking about finding a boyfriend, but just having guys judge me in general. I realize it's silly, but I am 21 years old, my mind is on that type of thing. For anyone going through this at my age, one thing I have learned thus far is GUYS DO NOT CARE. Nobody cares, for that matter. I was really nervous to talk to people initially, but when I just act normal and don't draw attention to the fact that I HATE them, no one seems to pay any attention. I honestly think I have more game with braces than I did without. Success :)

Pointless post. Just trying to keep you all updated on my life :)

p.s. I apologize if all of my posts fill up your 'new post feed'.. I had to increase the font size of them all so that people could actually read what I was writing!

Yesterday I had my 3rd check in with my OD. It was a longer scheduled appointment, because they had to reposition a few of the brackets. My teeth were initially so crowded that they're goal was just to get a bracket on the tooth, wherever it would fit! I had read a lot about ceramic braces removal and heard that it was really painful, so I was SO nervous going in. I am not sure if my braces are different or what not, but it took the OA a matter of seconds to pop off all of the brackets that needed to be replaced. There were two on the front bottom, and one on the top left front tooth. My absolute biggest issue with anything having to do with braces is the polishing part. I am not sure why, but the grinding/vibration of my teeth is absolutely nauseating to me. I may be a bit dramatic, but it's worse than nails on a chalkboard / silverware scraping on a plate / whatever. I asked if I could listen to my iPod as a distraction, because I really just can't handle it. Anyway, I turned up my music really loud and did my best to stay distracted. The polishing of the front little tooth was excruciating though, YUCK!

They also decided to place brackets on my back four molars. I realized that they didn't have brackets initially, and was totally confused as to why this would have been. I asked them about this and they told me that typically the back molars don't need to move a lot, and that not bracketing them gives the front teeth more of an ability to straighten out. Well, now my back molars don't line up with any of my teeth on the top or the bottom, so they've got some serious movement to do. I absolutely hate the feeling of having brackets way back there, and my jaw is aching from the pressure on the molars now.

They didn't change the size of either wire, once again, although they did replace both wires. My OA said that a larger wire wouldn't possibly fit through the brackets. I asked her if that meant I would be wearing the same size wire the rest of the time, and she said no, we would increase it later. Not sure how the wire doesn't fit now, but will fit later? Odd.

That's all of an update I have for now :)

Sunday night I realized one of my brackets in the back near my upper molar had popped off. From that moment, the thing became like a loose tooth, I couldn't stop playing with it and thinking about it! I wasn't able to get to the orthodontist until today because my life is insane and Thursday is the only day I have time to do anything other than school work. I went in this morning to have it reglued on, and my tooth must have really moved because uhhh it really hurts now! That one single tooth is making my whole lower jaw and head hurt. SO, moral of this story, if a bracket breaks loose, get it fixed asap, save yourself the pain of your braces yanking on one single tooth to get it back in line. I still can't believe how quickly that sucker moved!

As I was heading out of the orthodontist office, I saw a few familiar faces in the lobby, although one of them didn't look as familiar as it should! A woman who lives just down the street from me, whom I have known for years and years, was there with her oldest daughter, whom I used to babysit! Ali is turning 16, and is just as tall as me, if not taller (and I am 5' 8''! ). I have seen her around but just not often enough to really recognize her at first. Anyway, we got to chatting, and she is in the process of getting jaw surgery as well! It was so insane to come across someone who I know personally who will be dealing with all of the same things I am now. This will be her second time in braces, but she is lucky that her teeth are so straight already, she will only need them on for about 6 months prior to surgery. My lovely ceramic braces caught her attention and she instantly asked her mom 'Can I get clear ones too!' . Anyway, the whole experience made me feel really old. For one, being in an orthodontist office makes me feel old because there are kids half my age rolling in and out at all times, and now the little tiny girl I used to babysit is catching up with me in life. Crazy.

My next appointment is November 17, and it will be longer than normal because they need to pop off a few brackets and reposition them. My bottom teeth were so crowded when I got the braces on that they couldn't be too picky with positioning the brackets, they just needed to get them on the teeth.

Brent- I can't seem to find a 'Follow' button on your page. Any idea where it's located or if you've enabled having followers?

Tara- My little 'blogs followed' news feed says you've posted something new after your post about ceramic braces, but when I go to your page, there's nothing there, and it is also not allowing me to comment because it says it's restricted only to the owner of the page.. Just a heads up in case something changed with your settings-- unless it's something from my side of the system!

20 days until Thanksgiving. 51 days until Christmas. 54 days until AUSTRALIA. =]