Long time, no post. Brief update.

Well hi there. If the app on my phone is correct, it has now been exactly 107 days since surgery.  And to think, I never thought I'd survive the first 10...unbelievable.  I may no longer be suffering through the hardships associated with post-surgery turmoil, but that doesn't mean I go a single day without reflecting back on the miraculousness of the transformation, thanking God for granting me the privilege of going through it.  If enduring the rocky road of recovery was what I needed to build a framework of empathy for future patients as I pursue a career in this field, then it was by all means worth the struggle.

Not having to be self-conscious about people at my side seeing my profile when I smile? Miracle.
Biting cleanly through a slice of pizza or a sandwich? Miracle.
Speaking more confidently and with better enunciation than ever before? Miracle.

The only significantly negative aspect of it all is the fact that I honestly can't bear to look at pictures from before. I was dissatisfied with my appearance then, but somehow it's even worse now that I have a "better version" of me with which I can compare it.  I hate that I let it bother me so much, but I can't help myself.

Now for some webcam pictures with my precious little brother, Blaine, who has just started walking back home.  Miss you, buddy!!!!

And by the 20th take or so, he was done. haha

So what has happened in the life of Peyton since I last posted? Well, I have a job now. Pharmacy technician...not the most glamorous position by any means, but my certification guarantees more than minimum wage which was why I pursued it in the first place. It's not too shabby for an on-the-side desperate college student position.

I may or may not have also become a tad more obsessed with a certain British/Irish boy band from last year's X Factor UK. Ahem, ahem, NO they are not constantly on my mind. No I don't tweet about them incessantly to the point of driving my followers mad (I'm sure.) But by some miracle, they ARE coming to America in March and Nashville happens to be on the list. Nashville...where I saw 2 of my favorite bands for the first time, met Nick Jonas, and underwent the life-changing surgery that has been a major turning point in my life. And now where I'll see the 5 gentlemen from a foreign boy band who I never dreamed of being able to see live. Pretty pivotal city in my life, I must say.

I also saw Owl City and Days Difference in concert a week ago, and it was without a doubt one of the most brilliant concert and post-concert experiences I've had. I, along with the four friends I went with, made a pact to just remain enigmatic about sharing the details, but here. Have a nice picture of Adam from the show.

We were front row against the barrier!

He is precious and adorable and bubbling with enthusiasm for his music. I was very impressed by how much more enjoyable his songs are live than they are on the albums.

A conclusion I came to recently was how exactly to differentiate between my "all time favorite" songs and my "current song obsessions." The all-time favorites are those that I may not listen to every single day but when I do, I feel just as exhilarated and musically-stimulated (??? lol) as I was when I very first heard them. Coming up with a list of these would be really challenging, by maybe I will tackle that task in a future post.

For now, my top 10 current song obsessions! Because these are [obviously] much easier to pinpoint. (Some may be repeats from last time. And yes, I am from the USA, much to my dismay.)

1. "What Makes You Beautiful" - One Direction
2. "Say You Don't Want It" - One Night Only
3. "All Time Low" - The Wanted
4. "Kiss the Stars" - Pixie Lott
5. "End Up Here" - Cher Lloyd
6. "Gotta Be You" - One Direction
7. "Another World" - One Direction
8. "This Woman's Work" - Greg Laswell
9. "Some Days" - The Maine
10. "Fight for You" - Jason Derulo

One Direction's first album will also be released in 2 days in Ireland and next week in the UK. I preordered my copy from Amazon UK, but you know I'll be finding the tracks online before that arrives. I am so feverishly enlivened by the idea of having a selection of fresh new legitimate studio tracks from them, I can hardly stand it.

Guess that's all for now. I will attempt to update more consistently from now on.
Thanks for reading! And don't forget to send me messages or tweets if you have any questions or want some surgery advice/encouragement!
http://www.twitter.com/peyton_michelle
http://www.youtube.com/purplescheerchic


Peyton

64 Days Post-Op: Because I felt like posting.

I have found myself with 2 hours of time to waste here on campus since my Philosophy class was cancelled, so blogging is naturally what I have chosen to do with some of this precious free time.  Smooth sailing in the surgery recovery portion of my life - it's hard to believe just a few weeks ago, all of my nutrition came from a rubber tube.  The misery accompanying that level of desperate longing and hunger will haunt me for the rest of my life, I'm sure.  I literally remember looking at other people and nearly hating them for their ability to eat solid food and speak clearly.  It was certainly not healthy emotionally or physically.  And while I was feeling so sorry for myself, I also despised seeing other people pity me as if I had some sort of handicap.  Confusing and contradictory, I know.  BUT...thankfully that bleak period of my life was short-lived and, as much as I hated to admit it at the time, totally survivable.

Profile Shots:

There are still times when I look in the mirror and almost don't recognize myself, especially if I've just seen some of the pictures of the former "me" I have hanging up in my room.  I wonder how long it's going to be before I always know what to expect when I see my reflection...

Also - I will probably be uploading a new video blog tonight if I can find time.  My channel is: http://www.youtube.com/purplescheerchic.

As far as the college scene goes, one major thing I'm realizing is just how innocent and non-rebellious I seem to be in comparison to a large percentage of my peers.  My aversion to the idea of partying with drugs and alcohol makes me an anomaly in this environment.  We've recently begun studying the genetics of psychology in Psych 201 as well, which has triggered me to wonder if I'm genetically predisposed to be this way.   Because I've had plenty of opportunities to experiment, but there is absolutely no appeal to any of it from my perspective. I can not for the life of me decipher why having "fun" that you won't even fully remember the next day is such a popular pursuit among college [and high school] students, especially when novelties like Facebook and YouTube can end up making you look like a complete imbecile because of these habits.

On to more non-ranty subjects.  My fantasy football team is sucking majorly this year...as in I haven't won a single matchup so far.  No matter who I have on the bench, that bench always scores more points than my actual lineup...EVERY TIME.  If I didn't know it to be completely absurd, I'd say the gods of football are completely hardcore trolling me on a weekly basis.  But I've decided to look at this season from a positive perspective: having an inconsistent, imperfect team has made me more open and willing to observe and analyze other specific players constantly -- something I never really had to do last year since my team went undefeated until the very end.  This way I'm not complacently confining my observations to my own team, but instead soaking up information and attaining a broader awareness of a large variety of players.
Also, JP Rosenbaum (winner of Ashley's season of Bachelorette) tweeted this morning that his fantasy team has also yet to win a matchup, so I don't feel TOO bad. :)

I can't go without mentioning the book I'm currently reading as well.  It was so graciously lent to me by my mother and it's called Before I Go To Sleep.  Thus far it has been one of those that toys with your mind and challenges you to put the hidden pieces of the puzzle together before the main character does.  So basically it has been keeping me up at night and overall just driving me up the wall.  I'm convinced there are shady details being kept in the dark and if you've read the book, you understand.  If you haven't, I would highly recommend it.  Definitely a page-turner that I have to force myself to put down at night.

One thing I'm going to start adding to these posts is a list of 10 songs I'm currently addicted to, and they may stay relatively the same from post to post since I tend to obsess over certain songs for long periods of time. Haha, so here's my very first "current song addiction" list (in no particular order):

1. "Fight for You"- Jason Derulo
2. "Do It 2 Me" - Allstar Weekend
3. "What Makes You Beautiful" - One Direction
4. Live "Grenade" cover by One Direction (There are many versions on YouTube, but this is the one I have on my iPod: youtu.be/-ucSyZ8IvOo)
5. "Unbroken" - Demi Lovato
6. "Paradise" - Coldplay
7. "Just In Love" - Joe Jonas
8. "Two Shots" - Lil Wayne
9. "Mirror" - Lil Wayne & Bruno Mars
10. "Lovesick Fool" - The Cab

Ten might not even be enough actually, but I'll leave it at that for now.  I'm a sponge when it comes to music; always on the lookout for song/artist/album suggestions from anyone and anywhere.

Guess that's about all I have for now.  More updates soon! Thanks for reading.

Peyton