It turns out, as I suspected, many of my fears regarding my girlfriend (I confirmed the title this morning with her) were mostly the product of my imagination which was kindled about a month ago when my mother's boyfriend quipped, "I hope she feels the same way about you when you return." Things are much much better now.
Last night I met her for dinner and showed up confident that I looked as good as I possibly could:
-Navy blue t-shirt (the colour that looks best on me)
-Just a little facial hair (that she suggested I grow a couple months ago)
-Post-dental-gauntlet teeth (braces gone, tooth implants in, veneers done, wisdom teeth out)
-Hair cut and styled earlier in the day (to cut out all damaged hair and retain an artistic look)
Voila!
Thinking that I looked good helped me to relax and be myself even though I was super nervous before meeting her. She thought I looked really good, telling me so before moving to kiss me for the first time since we parted earlier in the summer. All the commotion felt worth it.