Zorro

A few years ago, I was in the middle of my first year teaching, just barely afloat. I'm sure most of you have heard the saying "the first year's the hardest" - it's 100% truth. I remember calling my mom crying sometime during my second week just not sure how I could do this for a whole year. Of course it gets a bit easier as you get the hang of things like discipline and keeping kids engaged- you learn what works and doesn't work for your classroom. You also get huge burn out. You're exhausted- drained in a way that you've never experienced.

I was also a little bit lonely.

None of my best friends from college had wound up in the metroplex yet. I moved between three schools each day and therefore had just a few work friends. I had been desperately looking for a church and had finally found the Village, but was yet to really plug into my amazing home group that would become my family for the coming years.

I went to school. Came home. Went to bed. And repeated.

That cycle gets hard after a while.

So I thought it would be really nice to have something/someone to come home to. *insert Christian dating joke here*

Han gets it. Han always gets it.

No, I just wanted a cat. (Side note: love dogs, didn't want to have one locked up inside an apartment all day.) I had looked around for a few months and on a trip back to Waco, my mom and I visited Fuzzy Friends - an amazing no kill animal shelter.

There are several, free roaming cat rooms with a dozen or so cats each. You can wander around and just play with any cat that'll have you. This time, in a separate area, there was this funny-looking cat that had been shaved in a cage all by himself. We thought maybe he had a skin disease or didn't play nicely with others. We started talking to an employee who said, "My favorite's Zorro, he's the sweetest" and motioned to the weirdo in the corner. As soon as I opened the cage door, he had his front paws up on my shoulder and was meowing in my face. It was over. I didn't even pick him- Zorro made his choice very clear. He picked me.

Zorro was an amazing cat, right from the start. I think he might have thought he was a dog. He loved people and always wanted to be near to you, sometimes to a fault. ;) Every night when I came home, he's be right there jumping up on me and meowing like crazy before the front door was closed. He truly was what finally made my apartment into a little home of its own. 

He had some health problems about year into my having him during which I found out that he was either hit by a car when he was younger or suffered some other great trauma that left him with a diaphragmatic hernia. He had to go on special food to help his poor, messed-up innards deal with digestion, but other than that, he was healthy and happy like always. 

He did shed like crazy though, so for the summer he got a haircut. Luckily, he had no idea how silly he looked.

Every time he had to go into the vet, the techs always marveled at how he was the most easy-going and friendliest cat they'd ever met. He'd routinely rub his head against the nurses and purr while they were giving him a shot.

 When I moved away to England, my mom really wanted to send Zorro with me as a present, but it's actually extremely difficult to get a pet into the UK. I didn't want to subject such a good-natured creature to months of quarantine. So he went to live with his grandparents in Waco where he loved it. (I think he fell in love with my dad more than he ever loved me, but I don't hold it against him. My dad's pretty great.) He was also great with my two nieces- extremely patient with toddler "petting" and the like. The more people that were on the couch, the more he needed to be touching all of them at once.

My first trip back home after moving abroad was Christmas 2013 and the first thing I did upon entering our house was take a picture with Zorro. He was shell-shocked at my return, as you can see.

 We took more selfies later though:

Fast forward to a month or so ago when my mom let me know that Zorro wasn't doing well. He wasn't eating well and was lethargic and having digestion issues. My vet had warned me could eventually happen with his injuries. He lost four pounds very quickly and stopped eating all together.

He was in a lot of pain.

It's that really sucky time that you always have to deal with when it comes to owning a pet. I'm really thankful for my parents, that they were there in Zorro's last weeks, days, and minutes, loving and caring for him just as good as I could have. I hate that I never really got to say goodbye. But it's more important not to be selfish in situations like this. It's important to end suffering.

When I think about Zorro, I think about becoming an adult. A real adult who started out on her own in a new city, grew a support net, chased after the Lord, followed her passion, worked her butt off, made difficult and scary decisions- all with a cat snuggled up next to her as close as he could get. 

 Zorro, who didn't care if I got the role or was saving enough money or had a boyfriend or didn't eat any vegetables for a week. Zorro, who only cared that I loved him. And he loved me. That's all you can ask for. Being loving to him today was difficult, but it was right.

To Zorro- I love you.

A Texas Christmas

First off, important food things have happened:

I regret nothing.

Not to worry- I've worked off approximately 15% of all that food via the Cotton Belt Trail in McGregor. That thing is way prettier than the smell emanating from the adjacent city dump would have you believe.

I've also caught up with friends, mentors, coworkers, students, sorority sisters, and one very emotionally-needy kitty.

After spending a few days in DFW and approximately 36 hours in East Texas to visit my dad's family, I was finally able to settle in for a Waco Christmas. Some of my favorite pictures from the day:

My aunt painted this for my two sweet nieces. She knows the King family well.

Speaking of, Chandler is SUCH a happy baby.

  

My aunt always slips a new ornament onto our tree for us to find later. Very sneaky!

 Literally every member of the family received a Baylor gift. Mine ended up being all in black. No complaints here.

Mom's cross stitching: going strong for 26 years. #quality

My friend John and I went to look at Christmas lights later that night. We traveled through the rich people neighborhoods, but didn't get to the super great tacky stuff until we got back towards Woodway. 

I mean obviously I am a fan of any Baylor-themed Christmas lights, but I wanna see a yard where I think your December electric bill must be at least 300 dollars.

Thankfully, Wooded Crest Drive never disappoints.

And just in case you ever start to lose faith in humanity, here's a video of Chandler discovering tissue paper.

Luke 2:19 is not the norm for a favorite Christmas verse, but it has always captured my attention. I love how it breaks the flow of the language and makes the narrative very personal all of a sudden. We've just had heavenly hosts filling the sky and who knows how many shepherds bursting into this barn and you know those sheep had to be bleating up a storm. It's the most beautiful, chaotic celebration swiftly contrasted with this verse of pure stillness, silence, and gratitude. How fitting for the moments after Christ's arrival to be filled with both things.

I hope your holiday was as great a reminder of your blessings as mine was. To the last days of 2013!

The Final Days

I set all the travel notifications.

I've eaten all the delicious Texas food.

I packed my life into 5 suitcases (3 big/2 little if you're a detail person).

I even shot a goodbye tour of Waco with the lovely Casen:

Backtracking to a few weeks ago, my homegroup from The Village threw me a going away party. I've been so incredibly blessed by this group of people. I could never put into words what they've done for my heart and what the Lord has shown me through their grace, patience, and love. Thank you to Janet, Marc, Kate, Jeremy, Hannah, Cory, Jody, Baron, Dan, Worris, Kristin, the Allens, the Wrens, the McCords, the Grahams, and everyone else that I had the pleasure of fellowshipping with at the Oglesby abode these past 2.5 years. I love you so!

A few photographic highlights from the night:

For the party, my friends had written me letters to open while I'm in London. I in turn made them each a copy of this:

And what was on this cd, you ask? Not to worry, I made a track listing (ignore the red squiggles just like I do):

It's a strange, extremely eclectic mix, but hey, every song means something to me. Just be glad I restrained myself and didn't include any 1D.

I came back home from DFW with an extremely full heart and a need to do lots of organizing, lots of packing, and lots of procrastinating from doing those other two things. (#Netflix) Luckily you can only stare at your computer screen for so long until your eyes rebel and force you on to other, more important tasks. 

One thing you never think you're going to run out of is luggage tags. Pro tip: If you do, just use it as another opportunity to buy something to showcase your obnoxious state pride.

This past week, I headed back up to DFW for some last minute quality time with a few very important people. It feels like I've been driving this I-35 stretch so many times my car should be able to autopilot itself there by now. The journey is always worth it to see these wonderful friends.

I'm spending my last few days here in lovely Waco running errands, basking in the smog-free sunlight, racking up phone bills by calling London at 3 a.m. to figure out utilities at my new place, enjoying my family, and assuring Zorro that "I'll be back before he knows it so no need to fall into a deep depression over my leaving." 

Either he doesn't believe me or doesn't care. I can't tell.

On Thursday, my BFFAE (google it) Emily will drive me up to DFW where I'll fly off for the beginning of an adventurous two years. It's very fitting for Em to drop me off since our Summer 2011 trip to London reminded me beyond a doubt of how much I loved this city and wanted to live, work, and study in it. If she could only stow away in my suitcase, life would be perfect.

There are two - count 'em two - Friends references above.

To my addiction of making photo collages,

#327

A few days ago I packed up the last of my things and moved out of Riverhill #327 for good. I instagrammed as much of my journey as I figured my few followers could take.

When I think about becoming an "adult" (still cringe when I say that) I'll think about 327. And when I think about what made DFW a home to me, I'll think about it too- how the only time I ever used my dining room table was to play Settlers of Catan with my home group. When Cory fell asleep while watching the opening ceremonies. Having girls' nights where we swore we were going to watch Mean Girls, but just wound up talking for six hours instead. Adopting a cat that thinks he's a dog and looks like a goat. You know, basic growing up things.

No matter how excited you are to get to the next place, leaving a home with such wonderful memories is a little depressing. I'm still in a bit of a melancholy funk, but that honestly could also be because I've been doing too much hate watching of Pretty Little Liars recently. That show enrages me. I'm at the beginning of Season 3 right now and here are some of my many questions:

• How is Ezra Fitz not in jail?
• Why do these girls keep leaving their phones/computers/zip drives that contain vital information on them out as a free for all for anyone to come along and pick up and ruin their cases/lives once again? And has anyone ever heard of a PASSWORD? Anyone besides Caleb?
• Does this school system begin their day at like 11:00 am? Do they have half hour long passing periods? Where was that school when I was growing up?
• How is Ezra Fitz not in jail?
• What kind of high school has a "daddy-daughter" dance?
• No one owns an iPhone? You drive a Lexus. Come on now.
• Does Aria own a mirror? (see below)

(Nemos only belong on your shirt if it also says Disney World on it somewhere.)

• Parents? What parents? Oh, no it's totally cool to just come home at like nine p.m. and leave again at 11 on a school night at age 16. "Where are you going?" "Out." "Oh, ok. That's a completely acceptable response from someone who's been legally allowed to drive for a hot two minutes."
• Why is half of Toby Cavanaugh's screen time just spent with him staring intimidatingly at someone?
• Why was ANYONE friends with Alison to begin with?
• How did Jason transform from this guy to this guy?

I checked imdb. The first actor had nothing better to do.

• How is. Ezra Fitz. Not. In. Jail.

I like this post because it proves I'm definitely not a full-fledged adult yet. Why? Because I just spent half my time talking about Pretty Little Liars.

To young adulthood!