Halfway done!

It's hard to believe (and also a relief), but as of today I am halfway done my Invisalign treatment!

It has been a lot more time-consuming and annoying than I thought it would be (much more than it is advertised as), but the results so far are undeniable. The overlap on my top front two teeth is practically gone and now the trays seem to be focused on pushing the left tooth back even with the right tooth.

One of the things that has surprised me about this treatment is the need to file my teeth down. It only makes sense: I have a crowding issue and the only way to relieve the issue and correct my front teeth is to make room and push the other teeth back. But I was taken completely aback when at one of my standard visits, Dr Hurtado began sawing between my teeth with sandpaper floss! And it feels as awesome as it sounds. At one point, he had to break out the "diamond saw" because sandpaper floss and miniature files weren't enough to make room between my molars. Yeah, that sucked.

Halfway done straightening (sans tray)

So, as you can see in the above photo, another drawback for me personally is the fact that the anchors that the Invisalign trays snap on to and that provide tension to move your teeth, stain. I don't drink a ton of coffee but apparently I drink enough that the anchors are a dingy yellow while my teeth are slightly whiter than when I began treatment (likely from the increased brushing). So it can be embarrassing at times when I feel like my anchors make my teeth look yellow, but my plan is to give my teeth a good whitening once everything is done and hopefully have no residue.

I went to the dentist today and this is the second visit in a row that he hasn't had to file my teeth down, so hopefully those days are over. I got enough trays for the next six weeks and hope that the remainder of my treatment will have my visits stretched out to every six weeks instead of four.

In other news, our garden is doing well. The cucumbers died and although they appeared to be returning, Jay had to remove them because our tomato plants are choking them out. We have green beans out the wazoo and the eggplant is starting to sprout. My mom gave us some good advice: perhaps the cucumbers died because we weren't picking them quickly enough when they were mature, thus sending a signal to the plant that growing time was over. We have been picking our green beans more often since she suggested this and have had no issues. In fact, we've had so many we don't know what to do with them!

harvest time

new tomatoes coming in

jungle of green beans

I'm glad I took these photos last night, it has been nothing but torrential downpours and high winds today! We were totally unprepared for it as it hasn't rained like this in months! If you notice, the pictures of the garden have a purple tint to them. The sky last night at sunset was pink and then purple before the sun was gone. It was so incredible but I couldn't get a good picture of it.

Honolulu Bubble Run 2016

And the random photo of the post is the Honolulu Bubble Run, which we did in early January. We "ran" with our friends and their daughter (who was in a stroller, too). The plan was for the guys to run with the girls and for me and my friend to walk, as she had a foot injury and wasn't advised to run by her doctor. Well, we were at the front of our heat and when the horn blew to begin, red bubbles came pouring our of the foam generator. We thought we could protect Evie by pulling the shade over the stroller. We thought wrong. Foam went straight up into the stroller, over her head, and in her mouth. I thought we had gotten her cleaned off and settled down, so Jay took off with her. About 15 mins later I get a call that she is crying for me uncontrollably and we need to meet up. Somehow, my friend and I had walked right past our husband and kids, so we ended up waiting for them to catch up and then walking the rest of the race.

So not a PR but we finished and then treated ourselves to some Teddy's burgers and milkshakes. Lesson learned: no more Bubble Runs.