Bridge of Light

When I was in 8th grade I got my braces off after a year and a half of having them off. After they were taken off I was given a retainer to wear until I turned 18. The reason for the retainer was because one of my front teeth never grew in, so it had a false attached to it. I got told that when I was 18, after my teeth had finally settled permanently, I could get an implant. 

Well, I turned 18 seven years ago and I have yet to get an implant. The reason is simply because its insanely expensive. Since I have yet to scrounge up $3,000 for a tooth I've had to stick to the retainer since 8th grade. 

That's twelve years.

Needless to say I've been very self conscious about it for those past twelve years. I don't look my age because all you see is metal when I smile. I hate it, but at the same time I won't go out in public without it because I don't have a tooth!

All I've ever heard about is the implant. In the last twelve years of wearing this stupid retainer nobody ever told me about a Maryland bridge.

Until I got my root canal.

When I spoke to this new dentist he gave me multiple options instead of the implant. For the first time I actually heard of something other than what I was stuck with.

We discussed the pros and cons of the bridge and came to the decision that it would be the best option for me until I can afford the actual permanent implant. 

For the remainder of my appointment he took a mold of my teeth and set up the time for me to come back. It was supposed to be a two week process for the bridge to be made so they scheduled me 3 weeks away so that it would be 100% ready for me.

Yesterday I got a phone call saying it was done early. I'm going in tomorrow to get in put in.

I don't know if anyone really understands what this is like but I am so unbelievably excited. This is something that has held me back and dented my confidence since I was 13 years old. I've hate smiling, I've hated telling people why I still wear a retainer, I've hated correcting people when they guess my age. It's been nothing but a pain and it's finally going to be gone tomorrow. 

 

Dress: Wet Seal
Hat: Wet Seal

Shoes: Forever Young

Ramones and floral

Today it was hot and windy. After I got off work I didn't even want to do anything but just lie down. Not sure why I'm so tired today because I got about 9 hours of sleep, but I feel like I just want to go to bed and it's only 7:00.
I literally threw this outfit together in about 10 seconds. I like how it turned out considering my main focus was getting my little brother and myself to work on time.

Stella likes to model with me.

Top: Wet Seal
Skirt: Wet Seal
Shoes: Wet Seal
Necklace: Wet Seal
Earrings: Charlotte Russe

Booties and cookies

The problem with having a big butt is that it makes mini skirts extra mini. It's not too bad in the winter when I can wear tights, but wearing tights when it's 80 degrees outside is not an option. I ended up needing to put on a pair of shorts to go under this skirt because otherwise the world would have gotten a peep show all day.

I got to have a girls night with Crystal and Jerrica today. I made Root Beer Float cookies, Crystal brought pizza and we played Cards Against Humanity while watching America's Next Top Model reruns. I'm so glad we were able to plan it, I had a lot of fun. Those girls make me feel a lot better! It's so hard for us to get together nowadays what with all our weird schedules and the fact that we don't live down the street from each other anymore. I miss being able to have craft nights, or grab lunch, or go to the park whenever we wanted to. Being grown ups with careers and college and husbands makes life a lot more busy. They leave to go visit Randi on Saturday for the weekend in California. I'm pretty sad that I can't join them, but I simply couldn't budget it. Hopefully I can see her soon though, I really miss her.

Top: Thrifted
Vest/Skirt/Shoes: Wet Seal

Skirts and caps

Today my littlest step-sister graduated high school! It's so crazy that she is 18 years old, graduated, has her CNA certification and is getting married next year. I'm really proud of her.
Graduation ceremonies are pretty dang boring though, I remember sitting through mine but I don't remember a single speech. I think someone quoted Dr. Seuss? I think it's great to celebrate academic achievement, and to have the class valedictorian speak. It's just a lot to sit through. Especially when the building is sweltering hot.
Not to mention Mekaila's last name starts with a T so we had to sit through a whole list of A-S's that we don't even know. But hey, they're someone's kid! So, 'grats class of 2014!

Mekaila getting her diploma

I loved this outfit a lot. I had been looking everywhere for a tulle skirt that was calf length, with absolutely no luck. Because I refused to spend $40 + on it. I was searching online and found this adorable one on Ebay for only $10! I love it so much I want to buy another.

Top: Charlotte Russe
Skirt: Ebay
Shoes: Rue 21
Belt: Wet Seal

Dreams, Feathers and Kimonos

As of April 28th it's been officially a year since my grandma passed away. It's been a rough year without her, we all definitely needed to adjust. While it has gotten easier with time, it's still definitely still painful not having her here. Since the one year of her death I've been dreaming about her constantly. Some dreams will be about normal days with her still here, as if nothing had happened and some are about her still being so sick. The last few days of her life were miserable and I would never wish that type of death on anybody, so when I dream about her still being in that position I feel a little relieved waking up knowing she's free of pain. However when I dream about her still healthy, going out to dinner together or something simple I wake up heartbroken.
It's hard. I think since she's been on my mind so much lately my subconscious won't turn off those thoughts either.
I miss her every day but I think with every passing year I'll smile more knowing how much love she had for all of us, and all the memories I have of her.

Anyway
On to something a little less sad.

I got these earrings when I worked at Charlotte Russe, which was back in 2011. They've still been on the jewelry card since that day I brought them home. Yesterday was the first day I wore them ever.
The funny thing Is I've done this more than once....not the best habit to keep.
Also I'm obsessed with this kimono style shawl. So cute.

Shawl: Wet Seal
Shorts: Wet Seal
Sandals: Charlotte Russe
Earrings: Charlotte Russe
Necklace: Forever 21
Rings: H&M and Icing
Sunnies: Wet Seal

New hair

Blazer: Charlotte Russe
Skirt: Wet Seal
Shoes: Forever Young

 

 

I finally got my hair fixed up! You have no idea how thrilled I am about this. It's been over a year since I've even had a trim. About 2-3 inches was just damaged split ends, it was pretty gross. I got a good trim, most of it thinned out and a deep auburn color dyed on it. I feel a little guilty going somewhere that isn't my normal stylist but I was in need of something so I went to a friend/coworker who is still in cosmetology school. She did a fabulous job though! She will definitely do well in that field.

Hades

Dress: Rue 21
Cardigan: Wet Seal
Shoes: Forever Young
Headband: Wet Seal
Necklace: Wet Seal

Today I thought it would be fun to participate in Disneybounding! If you don't know what Disneybound is, first of all how dare you! Second of all go here.
Basically Disneybound is a blog run by this adorable girl who creates outfits based on Disney characters, songs, parks, rides etc. She has fantastic taste and is so creative when it comes to mixing styles to represent each outfit. I've been a big fan of hers since she first started and now it's blown up everywhere! She has a March challenge going on where you participate in a new outfit each day. I'm a bit behind and I'm not super creative when it comes to creating Disney themed outfits, but I decided to give it a shot today!
I chose Hades from Hercules, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!

Check out her blog and give Disneybounding a shot! It's fun to see what you can come up with. I have a couple more ideas of what I could do so stay tuned!

Shots and Thoughts

Top: Cotton On
Cardigan: Wet Seal
Leggings: Head Over Heels
Shoes: Wet Seal
Necklace: Forever 21

This week started out kind of rough, by week I mean the actual work week, since I start work on Tuesdays I still tend to get a case of the Mondays. Tuesday can't disguise itself as much at it seems to sound nicer than Monday.
It was one of those days where trivial things pile up and make you feel ultimately defeated by the end of the day. Mine started with the dumbest of dumb things: the new dress I bought didn't fit like I wanted it too, not important really but I ended up needing to rush around the house finding something else to wear. I ended up being a bit late for work which is frustrating for me because I've been working so hard on my punctuality and I've been doing great. The rest of the day was mostly spent battling anxiety, and if you know how anxiety is then you know that it's the worst. I just wanted to start the day over on a different foot or go back to bed completely. At the end of the day I just had to tell myself to make the next day better.
Yesterday was better, I just needed to take Stella to the vet for her rabies shot. I also had the vet look at her leg because she has been randomly limping. She hates car rides, they make her so nervous, so I felt like a jerk making her go all the way to a new place. I've kept her too sheltered I think, because she get incredibly anxious around new people and new things. She was well behaved at the vet thankfully. Just scared. It didn't take long and she was definitely glad to be home after. I had to run to work after so I spent the entire day worrying about her, scared that she might have given herself a panic attack or had a bad reaction to the shot.
Also, might I add because it seemed to be a reoccurring event this week {see the post about my Sunday issues} that once I got to work my shoe broke. That was lovely. At least they were older and had some good wear in them. C'est la vie!

Today actually felt normal, which was nice. Work went smoothly despite it being insanely busy {I am not a fan of back-to-back calls...yuck} and luckily I had no wardrobe malfunctions.

Chocolate Shakes, Emergency Dresses, and Basement Apartments

Scarf: Wet Seal
Top: Wet Seal
Dress: Ross
Shoes: Rue 21

I woke up Sunday morning feeling 100x less gross and 100% willing to spend time with my best friends. We decided on a dinner date at Red Robin where I felt like treating myself to a pretty large milkshake {which was delicious by the way}
All was fine and dandy until I realized why I had been feeling so sick the past few days, and no it is not pregnancy - it's quite the opposite of pregnancy. Let's just say I realized why I had been so sick while wearing white shorts. Get the gist? Ok then, I don't need to go into detail. We made an emergency pit-stop at Ross because it was literally the only thing open besides Wal Mart at 6:00 on a Sunday in Utah. Luckily I was able to get in there and grab this cute dress that was on clearance for only $8.
Awkward situation? Yes. Learn my lesson? Yes. Pay more attention to the calendar next time? Absolutely.
After our little adventure to Ross we got a tour of Crystal's new apartment! I'm thrilled for her, I think she'll really enjoy having her own space for once without two sisters or 7 other female roommates. {Disney College Program} It's a cute little one bedroom basement apartment that is her very own.
Side-note: Crazy to think that neither of us girls are living with parents anymore, it seems like not too long ago it's all we ever knew. Sometimes thinking about us making it to this part of adulthood freaks me out, but not in a bad way. It just hits me and I think "whoah I've been best friends with Crystal since we were 11 and we are now in our mid twenties...when did that happen?"

Since there is literally nothing exciting to do on a Sunday here we didn't have much else on our agenda. We drove around, talked, laughed and mainly enjoyed each others company which is completely fine with me. I don't see my friends as often as I used to so any time we can just get together is always good.

Awkward issue aside {which I'm fine with laughing about because I was dumb enough to not realize what cold have happened}Sunday was a pretty good day. I'm ready for the work week ahead of me!

Happy Monday friends!

Yuck

Top: Ross
Jeans: Wet Seal
Long Sleeve: Wet Seal
Shoes: Wet Seal

I hope you can't tell how utterly nauseous I was in these pictures. I ended up leaving work early because I got slapped with a giant wave of sickness and I had to rush off. Luckily I didn't puke (TMI? Sorry.) but the gross icky feeling didn't go away for the rest of the day. I really liked my outfit so I snapped a couple quick pictures before swapping my jeans for sweats and jumping into bed. 
Today consisted of a lot of lying in bed and reading. I'm feeling a bit better, but not wonderful. I hate feeling sick, so I'm really trying to talk myself out of it. 
I'm spending the rest of the night relaxing with some Redbox movies and a giant Dr. Pepper.

Lately

Top: Charlotte Russe
Skirt: Thrifted (Plato's Closet)
Shoes: Forever Young
Tights: Wet Seal

Well, since the weather froze over, I survived another holiday in retail and it became a new year not a whole lot in my life has changed.
Except, as luck would have it, I was able to snag myself a full time job! Hooray!! It's a call center, nothing extremely glamorous, but I had gotten in inside my head that I was going to spend the rest of my life doing nothing but retail. Getting this job has actually helped my self esteem when it comes to my range of work experience. I was hired on as a temp, but even if I do get laid off I'm confidant enough to have a fuller resume to help me find something else. Currently, I'm really enjoying this job. It's new, different, challenging, something I've been hoping to stumble on. Did I mention it's full time? I couldn't be more thrilled to finally have 40 hours of a set schedule every single week!

Other than my job news Taran and I have been having a pretty normal, boring married couple life. We eat a lot of breakfast burritos and watch a lot of tv series. (Supernatural, Breaking Bad, The Vampire Diaries, etc etc) Our puppies are their normal playful selves, they crack us up constantly with their funny personalities. 

I'm mostly focusing on getting my life into a nice routine. It's definitely a lot easier to be a grown up when you have life under control. Work, bills, friends, family, dates, it can be overwhelming when you're still new at the domestic life. I've gotten better at cooking, I've learned to clean up after myself more often and I'm doing my best daily to be a good wife, not just for Taran but for me. I'm reaching that point where I'm happy with things, instead of feeling like I can't keep my head above water. I guess people do say the first year of marriage is the hardest, which I can understand. We're getting the hang of each other, of marriage. I'm pleased with the direction we are headed in.

 

natural

Dress: Bohme | Jacket: Charlotte Russe | Necklace: Wet Seal | Hat: Wet Seal

The best part of having my hair this long is that I literally don't have to style it some days. When I get out of the shower and don't have time to blow dry it I just put a bit of mousse in it, pop a hat on and I'm good to go! It dries into nice natural waves. Hopefully it keeps my hair a little bit healthier too, since there's no type of heat on it. My hair could use all the health treatment it can get.
Being a grown up now means I don't have much spare money to splurge on a haircut. It's been almost a year since I've had even a trim.
Here's hoping now it'll be easier for me to save up to get it maintained.

Well hello.

Everything is Wet Seal.

I know I don't have the most eventful, exciting life but I do enjoy blogging and I know there are some people who follow this blog.
So, I'm sorry for being MIA the past few months. My blog has been under construction, a friend of mine is giving it a makeover for me. While she's been doing that I've been pretty busy myself. Since my last post I ended up getting a second job to help us more with finances. When I first started I was working 12 hour days and I was exhausted.
Now things are a little more stable and my schedules are working around each other, so I feel a lot better. So far it's definitely helped having that extra paycheck.

Hopefully now I'll have some time to blog again too, and I will put up some photos of our house since we've decorated a lot more now!

beetlejuice beetlejuice beetlejuice

Top: Ross
Leggings: Wet Seal
Boots: Wet Seal

Earrings: Charlotte Russe

Today I got told by several people that I looked like Beetlejuice because of my leggings.

One girl actually told me I look like I came right out of a Tim Burton movie.

I am totally taking it as a compliment.

One of the girls at work decided we should wear certain styles every day of the week. For example; yesterday was maxi skirts and dresses; Tuesday was 'grunge'. Today was stripes!

Funny enough, we showed up to work this morning wearing almost the same outfit.

Twin Beetlejuices!