Week 4

My first full week with braces is over...and I survived it. I'm still adjusting and figuring out how to live with metal in my mouth. The pain has lessened and I've been able to eat more and more each day (which isn't good for my diet). But, I still fall back on ice cream and pudding occasionally because it's comforting and delicious. Enjoy the pictures from my past week.

January 23
As a Christmas gift, I received The Game of Life. I love games and Life is no exception. It was fun to get a chance to play with Abby and Erica...and also fun because I won.

January 24
Bill and I spent the evening watching our Netflix movie (Stargate: The Ark of Truth). We can't watch the Netflix streaming movies here so we rely on the ones in the mail. We love Netflix!
January 25
Since we watched movies last night, Bill had to work extra hard on his homework tonight.

January 26
Pampered Chef party!! I had lots of fun and bought more than I expected. Maggie and I are dangerous when we "shop" together!

January 27
I'm so excited!! My shoes arrived today. I've had the same pair of Adidas sandals for over 10 years...and they broke last month. I finally have a replacement pair and I'm thrilled!

January 28
OK, so this one is boring. I realized at 10:00 PM that I hadn't taken any pictures yet. I tried to think of something more interesting but couldn't. I'll try to keep these boring pictures to a minimum.

January 29
Bill made pancakes for breakfast. They were delicious...especially with my sister's homemade Marionberry Syrup! What am I going to do when the syrup runs out?

Week 3

Here I am again...with my photos from the third week of the year. It was a big week, so let's get started.

January 16
I went to lunch with Abby & Erica at a new Italian restaurant near their house. It was good, but my favorite Italian restaurant is still Tre Scallini.

January 17
I went grocery shopping with Maggie...because it was a US holiday, I didn't have to work! We have SO much fun when we shop together and we love Riba Smith.
January 18
Ladies Bible Study started again, after the Christmas break. It was fun to be with all these wonderful ladies again!

January 19
A big day for me...I got braces. It hurt! You can read more about it here.

January 20
Bacon loves to play with the darts from my Nerf gun. Unfortunately, I intended to use the Nerf gun to stop her from doing bad things...but she just thinks it's a game. Oh well, I continue to shoot her when she misbehaves!

January 21
My teeth still hurt so we went to the mall for another milkshake. And, I tried to eat french fries but I'm not ready to chew yet. Instead, I ripped them in to small pieces and basically just swallowed them. Hope the tooth pain goes away soon - I want to eat again!

January 22
We spent some time out on the patio. It was nice. Ubi enjoyed a treat while we read. Bacon really wanted to share Ubi's treat...but he wasn't that generous. So, she just followed him around and even licked his face a few times.

Metal Mouth

You can now officially call me metal mouth! That's right, I have braces! The orthodontist took a look last month and told me I have "severe crowding". She (and the dentist) recommended braces. The dentist wanted them so he could more easily clean my squished teeth. The orthodontist wanted them to help my smile...or appearance...or something similar (and, most likely, for the money she gets $$). In a moment of weakness, I agreed. I wasn't particularly concerned about my smile/appearance/whatever...I had grown quite fond of my crooked teeth. But, the dentist made a compelling point. I HATE going to the dentist, and if getting braces will lessen the pain of future dentist visits, I thought it might be an OK idea. So, I said yes...and I was promptly scheduled for an extraction (remember, my crowding was severe).

12 days ago they took my teeth...well, they didn't really take them because I still have them...but they removed the teeth from their happy home. And today, the big day, I got my braces! I have to admit that I'm in pain. Not a sharp or stabbing pain, but a dull and constant "pulling" pain. It is also very uncomfortable to have extra stuff in my mouth. I'm getting used to moving my lips around the braces to conceal them. I think this is going to be a long and painful process, but I'm hoping it will be worth it in the end. I'm hoping that I still think it was a good idea when I'm done. Either way, there's no turning back now...the metal is in my mouth!

At least now I feel a connection to my favorite James Bond villain, Jaws!

Week 2

I'm still going strong with Project 365. I've managed to take a picture every day so far! It's been a rough week because I'm still recovering from my teeth-pulling...a lot of liquids and soft foods this week! My mouth still hurts, but I'm surviving. Here are my pictures for the second week of the year.

January 9
A chocolate peanut butter milkshake from Johnny Rockets (with extra chocolate syrup) for my sore mouth...delicious!

January 10
I figured I'd take a picture of myself once a month...to see if I change. This is a horrible picture because I didn't feel well and couldn't really smile. We cheered on the Oregon Ducks in the National Championship game but they lost (sad)!
January 11
Another one of my new calendars. This one is at work and gives me a Jeopardy clue each day...something to look forward to. January 12
I weigh myself twice a week. That's just enough to know how I'm progressing but not too often to depress me. (Of course I'm not going to show you how much I weigh!)
January 13
Enjoying lunch outside. Chocolate milk and french fries - the lunch of champions (who recently had teeth extracted)!
January 14
We took Ubi to the park for a little bit. We bought milkshakes and then let him run around while we enjoyed them. It was a lovely evening!
January 15
We were invited to watch the Steelers-Ravens playoff game at a neighbors house. They are HUGE Steelers fans so it was highly entertaining. (And the food was delicious!)

Week 1

Here's my first official post for Project 365. I actually made it a whole week taking a picture a day. Some of the pictures are rather boring, but with 365 pictures to look forward to, there are bound to be a few less interesting ones. I'll try to have an even mix of exciting and boring photos each week, but I'm not making any promises. I will do my best to update my blog each week with pictures...but, if you'd like to get more regular updates you can check my Flickr photostream. It will be the same pictures but it might get updated a little more often (then again, it might not, who knows). Either way, here is last week in photos:

January 1
My sister's family leaving for Peru. They arrived safely and are settling in to their new life.

January 2
We left the U.S. too, on our way back to Panama. Christmas vacation was fun but we had to get back to work...so sad!
January 3
The beginning of the year is time for new calendars. I love puppies!

January 4
Another new calendar. This one we made using Bill's pictures of Panama.

January 5
More new calendars (I like my calendars a lot)! I love chocolate labs and penguins are my new favorite animal.

January 6
The animals, looking cute. (You'll probably see a lot of the animals this year.)

January 7
I had 4 teeth pulled...it was NOT fun. I'm still pretty drowsy in this picture, but they gave me my teeth so I had to get a picture!

January 8
All I ate today was jello, pudding, ice cream, and mashed potatoes!

The Beginning

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone has had a wonderful first day of the new year. I'm hoping 2011 is an exceptional year for everyone!

I don't do well with New Year's resolutions...I'm just too lazy to follow through, usually. Also, they tend to be the same every year so I guess I'm not good at actually accomplishing them with any degree of permanency. Or, maybe my life is cyclical and I just need to loose weight every winter! Because I'm not good at resolutions, I don't usually make any. Of course, I always tell myself it's a good time to change my ways, but I don't name them "resolutions" because that makes me less inclined to do them.

This year I decided to do something...and actually declare it publicly so I might feel more pressured to finish. Who knows if I can really do this...or make it last a whole year, but I intend to try. Want to know what it is? Here you go: Project 365. I don't know if that's what I'll call it the whole time, but that's what it is. Basically, I plan to take a picture every day for a whole year. Remember when I did that in October? I made it through 1 month, so now I'm going to try 12. It might not be very exciting most days, but I'm going to attempt it anyway. I'm going to try and post once a week with the pictures from that week...so, wish me luck!

To start off, I will show my picture from today, January 1, the first day of the year. It was a big day in my family. My sister and her family moved to Peru today. We went to the airport at 4:00 AM this morning to see them off. It was very sad to see them go, but it's an exciting time for their family. I will be praying for them as they start this adventure. And, tonight we're going back to the airport for our return to Panama. Sadly, our 2 week vacation in America has come to an end. We've spent a lot of time in the airport today so here's a shot of my sister and her family. We'll miss them!!