My loving husband said this to me the other day. As you can imagine, it wasn't exactly the most comforting notion. I have been embarrased about my teeth since I was about 13 and really started noticing myself. However, I knew that we were poor and braces were expensive, so I never even asked my parents for them. I was lucky if my parents were able to afford taking me to a regular dentist! But I just knew that some day I would be able to get braces.
And here we are! I am 3 months shy of 24, and will be getting braces on March 6th. I am so thrilled but at the same time, very anxious. My husband and I are purchasing our first home together, closing February 26th, and I am praying that no crazy expenses pop up that would wipe out the down payment I have been saving so that I can afford the monthly payments. My braces will be very close to $6,000 so with $1,500 paid by insurance, and $1,000 down, the remainder ($3,500) spread over 20 months would be $175/month. Manageable.
So how did we get here?
I graduated college in May of 2013. Moved back home with my husband (then boyfriend of 4 years) and began our job searches. I landed a job with the county at the end of July. AMAZING benefits!! Woo woo! So, now I know my dental ins. will cover $1,500. Great. But, I still have my wisdom teeth, and know they will need to come out first. So I meet with my dentist, have him refer me, and I get my wisdom teeth out on January 17th, 2014. Now, we are getting married on April 12th, 2014. I DO NOT want braces in my wedding pictures. So they are post-poned until after that. April comes and goes, and around May I set up my first ortho consultation. My dentist referred me to two places, and I pick the one that is only 5 minutes from my work. I go in, get the consultation, I'm happy with the treatment plan and cost, and agree to set up my next appointment to get started. I have one month to save $700 for a down payment. A few weeks later... my husband loses his job
So... that definitely put things on hold.
Fast forward to August 2014. My husband has a new job, things are looking up. I set up some new appointments to see what my options are. I have 2 more consultations. One I really liked the treatment plan, but they were rigid with their financial plan, and would cost me $240/month! Yikes! The last place I go is by far the nicest facility. The staff were great, and the technology was most up-to-date. They were also the most expensive, but not by much. They will let me put down as much or as little as I want, then we can split the rest across 20 months. Love it. Now I still have to come up with $1,000.
Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought... I decided it would be best to wait until we got our tax returns. Fast forward to now! I filed them 1/30/15, and received them 2/06/15. Definitely a great bonus! So I set up my appointment ASAP! I knew that it wouldn't look good to go spending $1,000 while in the process of closing on this house. So, I had to schedule for a week and a day after we are supposed to close. March 6th. Whew! That only took forever and a day... Hopefully no more fiascos between now and then so I don't have to postpone any longer!
I haven't quite figured out how to add pictures, but I will post my "before's" as soon as I can!
Can't wait to go from wonky to wonderful!
I am a little worried, as I know it will probably be loud! Especially the last band, Skillet; they are pretty rocky. I'm sure it would just be lovely to feel some bass reverberating through my sore teeth! I really look forward to Winter Jam every year, and would hate to miss out. 
Just read through your thread and your teeth are looking awesome!! 
Also, I don't want my lips to get sunken in as I already have a good profile and I like my lips the way they are! I really hope I will have an opportunity to discuss all of this tomorrow with my ortho.
BUT they are also having $1.08 margaritas!! I think I can definitely have one (or two... or three?) of those 
