Super Power: Praying Cats into Being...

Yes. A super power. Not many people can say that they have such a thing, but I think I do. I pray cats. I call them unto myself. My record is 2 for 2.

...Okay this is nonsense...It's not a super power. I think it is just the favor of God. But nonetheless, let me tell you about my history of praying for cats.

Back when I was a little girl I wanted a cat so badly. My parents said "no" for years. I would pray and pray and hope and hope, but no cats appeared. One night, when I was about seven or so, my parents and I were discussing cats on our back porch and finally said "okay, you know what, you can have a cat if God sends you one." Now, with their permission, I prayed even harder that night.

The very next day my mom and I were again on the porch. My mom answered a phone call: my dad. I could tell she was trying to be all hush hush or speak some secret parent code, but I was onto them. "ITS A CAT, ISN'T IT?!" I yelled.

Yes. It was a cat. A calico kitty about 3 years old. She had shown up at my fathers law office. She had jumped into his vehicle. She snuck herself into his office.

To summarize that story, that day I got my first cat because God sent her to me. We named her Csokolom (meaning: "kisses to you" in Hungarian). She was a fantastic cat and was so very tolerant of the loving "torture" I put her through (such as wearing hats and doll clothes or being worn around my neck like a scarf). I also had a rather bizarre made up language I spoke to her in. I was devastated when we had to put her down due to cancer several years later. I never thought I would love another animal as much as I loved that cat.

Now fast forward a couple years to JoJo's first deployment. He and I had always talked about having pet cats. I wanted a gray kitty named Trinculo, named for the comic relief character from Shakespeare's The Tempest. JoJo wanted an orange cat named after Milo from Milo&Otis, his favorite childhood movie. By the time we were into month 5 of the 6 month deployment both of us were miserable and there was little that we could discuss over skype which made us happy. Cats, however, were an exception. Whenever we were grouchy we would both google images of cats, watch cat youtube videos or look at ridiculous cat memes. Perhaps this is not a normal deployment strategy but...whatever. It worked. Towards the end of the deployment we also spent some time looking for images of the future kitten we were talking about getting once he got home. We would try to find kittens on google that just resembled what we would want. Somehow it was a good pass time.
These were my favorite dream kitten images:

 

I began praying that the two of us would be able to find the perfect kitten for us once we got to our new home in Washington.

Then, 2 days later ,in mid-November of last year my uncle sends me a text with this image (Mind you, I was in CT at this point and JoJo was in Qatar).

My uncle's family came home to find a cold and hungry Maine Coon kitten (who of course looked exactly what like what I had wanted) in their garage. The temperatures outside had been below freezing and he just wanted to get warm. My Aunt and Uncle weren't interested in another cat, but they thought I might be, knowing I am a softy for all critters. I tried to turn him down at first. I didn't think I could possibly manage to adopt a kitten, get it all its vaccines and whatnot, and get him on a plane to Washington in a span of 2 weeks. Plus, I thought my husband would think it was a crazy idea. But my uncle kept on texting me all day trying to guilt me into that kitten. I kept refusing to go see it because I knew I would wind up taking it home. When it came time to talk to my husband over skype that day I sent him the picture and explained the situation and was like "just going out on a limb here...any chance we should adopt this kitten despite all the craziness we'll have to do to get him to WA? He needs exams and shots and..."

His immediate response: "Bella, that kitten needs love. Go get him. Now."

 My husband is the coolest, by the way, and is just as much of a softy as I am. Immediately, I went to my uncles house and brought that baby home.

That 8 week old baby cat got lots of vaccines, a $150 plane ticket, a fancy $70 traveling bag, lots of treats and toys, and an 8 hour flight across the country to be able to come and live with us. He's a tough little bugger.

Having him made the last 2 weeks of the deployment so much more bearable; God's timing is so perfect like that. He knew we needed that little guy before getting to Washington. He kept me busy and it made my husband happy to be able to skype with a silly kitten. God knew he was perfect just for us.

JoJo and I adore that cat. More so than any pet either of us have ever had.

 

He is our Trinkilo (changed the spelling so it better matches with Milo) and he is so perfect for us. We have about 5 million nicknames for him- HiHi, MisserWhissar, Stinkilo, Weis , OwlEyes...and many more that also don't make sense! He is our furbaby. He has the most adorable personality. He is loving and sweet, but very rascally and ridiculous. He makes strange sounds- rarely meows but often "trills" and "chirps." He does weird things like attack the imperfections in the wall, bites eyebrows, attacks bear legs, and chews on just the ends of all our bananas.  He can jump 4 feet in the air and also specializes in catching popcorn between his front paws. He is the absolute perfect cat for us. He is now about 7 months and is 11 pounds and still growing! I really get a kick out of looking at the pictures and seeing how much he has grown!

 

Now, fair warning: I am praying for the seemingly magical appearance of our second cat, an orange kitty we can call Milo. Hopefully, updates on that to come soon! I apologize for the very long post; obviously, I am an unashamed cat lady!

I'm Back: Military Wife, Military Life and What Have You

Well.

I'm back. Sort of fell off the posting schedule, I suppose. My last post was in November and I figured I was due time to update you, seeing as most major aspects of my life have changed since we last talked.

Quick recap:
Married an Airman on May 26th, 2012.
That Airman Deployed June 4th-December 12th to Qatar while I stayed at home on the East Coast.
He came back and I joined him on McChord Air Force Base, in Washington state December 18th.
We've been married nearly ten months now and have been living happily ever after in the Evergreen State now for 4 months.

I haven't the slightest idea how to bring you up to speed on our lives, and I feel horribly awkward jumping back into posting, but here I go anyway...


We moved to McChord and got ourselves a nice little baby house on base.

 

 

 

We got ourselves a sweet and rascally furbaby. (He actually came 3 weeks before the move across the country and got the pleasure of sharing a 11 hour plane trip with me.) His name is Trinkilo. Not to brag, but he is the best kitten ever.

 

With a bit of church hoping, we successfully found a new church: Puyallup Foursquare! You can check out their website and stream their services live here! We like it a lot there. We have joined a young couples small group and can't wait to get more involved.

 

My new job is finding a job. I spend a large portion of every day on job boards looking for someone to hire me. I've applied to an absurd amount of places in the area, everything from nannying, to retail, to restaurants, to libraries. I am now a pro at submitting applications and resumes. However, I am still without a job... Ultimately, I would like an office assistant/receptionist type position, but for now I would settle with just about everything. We aren't desperate for the income, but I am so very desperate to have some responsiblity outside of the walls of my home.

 

In the meantime, besides job hunting and trying to get my Associates finished through online classes (online, by the way, is agonizing) I have taken up various hobbies and wife-ish responsibilities and I am loving my life!

 

I've taken up gardening. Or I am trying. As of yet, there is nothing growing, but things have been planted! My handy husband helped me build a  raised bed in our little back yard and we've planted bush beans and sugar peas so far, with herbs, mesculine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and tomatoes to come. I'm sure I'll be posting plenty about the garden's progress as time goes on! We also made our own composting bin out of a trash can, a post on that to come. And as you can see, joblessness leads to increased craftiness: I have been painting garden markers on rocks (another post in the works!).

 

I've been doing a whole lot of cooking and baking. I've always enjoyed cooking, but it was never a necessity before when I was still living at home. Now, if I don't cook, we won't eat (or we will eat one of three things with my husband specializes in: grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, or ramen). Having to come up with three healthy meals a day has become a fun challenge for me. There will be a lot of posting in the future about my cooking adventure, I assure you.

I've made it my goal to make as much from scratch as possible. For example, I've taken up making all of our bread instead of purchasing it weekly. I am also trying to avoid paying for convenience. That means I avoid purchasing mixes and whatnot. McCormick taco seasoning and I broke up after one way-too-salty taco session. The dough boy, Betty and I aren't on speaking terms, as I am not making my own brownies and cakes without their help. However, me and the instant mash potatoes are still buddies. Those I won't part with as I simply loathe making mashed potatoes. Microwave popcorn remains a favorite too.
Hopefully I can get some practical "how to" posts on making your own mixes up for you shortly!

I've been couponing. Is that a hobby? No, not like those people on that show that causes all of our jaws to drop. Not extreme. Just couponing to the extent that I am able to save about $30 off of our grocery bill every month. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but I like the idea of an extra $360 in out pockets at the end of the year. (And for the record, I am only buying healthy things which we would normally purchase anyway, not stockpiling 8,000 deodorants and 60 sugared cereals).

Besides couponing, we are trying to be as frugal as possible. Growing up in a home of 10 people with the thrifting queen as my mother I learned a lot about frugality and homemaking. I am pleased to say that, thanks to God, we have furnished our entire home completely free of debt and are well on our way to saving for our futures. Being responsible with our finances is our goal!

I'm still knitting and crocheting. That goes without saying...

In my mind, I've been painting. I love the idea of painting and my home needs some art on the walls very badly, but I've never been much of a painter. I went out and bought canvases, brushes and paints and so far no art save for the garden rocks has been produced. Let us hope that soon I will be posting some fantastically artful thing.

I've been doing laundry. Lots of it. It is not a hobby I chose: it chose me when I married an Airman. I thought I, as a female, had a lot of laundry. Apparently I had nothing on his at least 3 required (ad thoroughly dirty) outfits a day. The frugality has extended to the point of making my own laundry detergent and fabric softeners though! Thank you, Pinterest!

With the addition of talking to the cat, that is pretty much the extent of what I do as of currently. I am planning to get back into blogging and post a couple times a week so stay tuned for more!


 

The torture is almost over.

In about a month and a half I get my Airman back! Finally, after 6 months of separation and torture we will be able to be together again and really start our married lives together in our new home!

www.onlinecountdowns.com