I adopted a kitty!

So here's the story.

I decided to adopt a kitten a couple days ago. I went on craigslist and found a 3 month old male kitten that had his shots and was neutered. He came with toys, two food bowls, a self refilling water station, and two litter boxes. All for a $50 rehoming fee. So I emailed the family and arranged to pick him up at 9am the next morning.
I woke up 2 hours earlier than usual because their home was over an hour away, and took my daughter to school. When I was halfway to Gig Harbor, where they lived, I received a text cancelling because it was their daughter's birthday and she was crying over them giving their kitten away.

Who gives away a child's pet on their birthday!?


So I returned home and posted my own ad on craigslist ad looking for a kitten or young cat preferably already with their vaccinations for a small rehoming fee. I received several messages, but one was local and VERY reasonable. This time, for a six month old female kitten. I arranged to pick her up that very day.

As soon as I had arranged that, the original family texted me, saying they were willing to give me the kitten for free now because they were sorry for the mix up. I apologized and told them I couldn't afford to drive that distance again. They begged me to take the kitten, but I just couldn't drive all that way again before school.

 My friend and I went to pick up my new kitten at a little house in Edmonds. The house had 5 roommates in a two bedroom, and there were books about pot all over the living room. There was a huge bong proudly displayed over the fridge.

The story we were told about my kitty is that she was found in the woods at around 3 weeks old, and was bottle fed. She was abandoned. She is a shy, sweet kitty, and needs a quieter home than the one with the 5 young people acting all crazy. They were party people. (Nothing wrong with party people, but just like people, some animals don't like that atmosphere.)

So I brought her home, and after just a few hours here at home, she is already willing to come out of hiding and interact with myself and my daughter. She is super sweet and I just love her to pieces.

Without further ado, meet Arya.

The Future Is Going to Be Bright With Opportunity

I am so excited about the future. I know I say this quite a bit, but I really am looking forward to, well...LIFE.

• I think my love life will be just fine. I am a strong, capable, beautiful woman and I know that love will find a way.
• I think my child and I will thrive as I begin to increase how much I have her to more than 50% of the time.
• I think I will be successful in school.
• I think financially, I'll be able to budget properly.
• I think that since I'm taking Momo's sperm donor to court for child support, I'll finally be able to cut the cord with him and stop talking to him.
• I think that someone will someday step up and be the father Ariana deserves.
• I think I will flourish in my religion.
• I think I will make friends and keep them for years. 
• I think I will be happy consistently for all of 2012. 

I can't wait to see what the future holds for me.

Working Out - Next Phase

Okay. So usually, I am a little skeptical when I see a diet or workout touted as "the best." I think it's kind of rich for people to try to advertise their workout or diet as THE BEST because some things work for some people and some things don't.

I'm not star athlete. I'm dozens of pounds overweight, and I am battling a food addiction. I prefer to cozy up in bed with a good book, show, movie, or my laptop to physical exertion. But that's all going to change. There is an extra credit project for my P.E. class that has me going to Livestrong to track my food and activity level for three days. While tracking my food, I followed a link to something they are touting as The Best Fat Burning Workout You've Never Tried. I took a look at it.

I am very excited about trying this. I hate getting bored with my workouts, but I am too shy and introverted to really try anything else (I do want to try Zumba, but that's another story!). I'm stoked to begin doing this.

What's the worst that could happen?

I'm going crazy!

Embracing my motherhood is a big part of my religion. I want to excel at my natural task of rearing a child. My child. But due to my mental illness, it's really hard.  My mom usually takes my daughter a few nights a week to give me a break, but my mom is out of town this week and so I've had my daughter nonstop since Tuesday. It's killing me. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my daughter and I love being a mom, but the stress is giving me anxiety attacks and it's affecting my ability to do my homework. I don't know what to do. My mom won't be back in town til late Tuesday, so she'll be picking up my daughter from school on Wednesday. I have so much homework to do before then!

I wish I wasn't so severely ill. I'd be in a much better place in my life if I wasn't. 

My Patron Deities

A couple days ago, I completed a guided meditation with the focus of meeting your spirit guides. It was fantastic, but instead of meeting spirit guides, I encountered my patron deities. This was amazing, because while I had a name from the God, I didn't have a name for my patron Goddess. She had not revealed it to me yet. Since my breakup, I have been spending a lot of time studying my religion. I guess that's why they decides to reveal themselves to me in that sacred place.

 Cernunnos is my patron God.

And Andraste, or Andrasta, is my patron Goddess.

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever really seen my patron deities. I heard Cernunnos tell me his name before, but I never saw him the way I did that day. Even during my meditation, Andraste didn't even tell me her name, really. I just got a notion that it began with A and had an S in it. I am drawn to the Celtic pantheon, so I researched, and there she was. What was uncanny to me, in a sense that I have not grown used to this kind of closeness with the divine, is that there was also a creature there that looked at first like a wolf, but once I got closer to it, it was actually a thinner bear than I'm used to. I don't know what role that noble creature has to play. Imagine my surprise that wasn't quite surprise when I learned that Andarta, the fertility goddess that is suspected to be linked to Andraste, is associated with the bear.

This was immensely powerful experience. I cannot wait to further my study and deepen my relationship not just with my patron deities, but the divine within myself.

My morning devotional.

I wrote a devotional. It's simple and cheesy, but I am rather proud of it.

Morning rises, the sun is here

I shall keep the Goddess near

And to guide my path today

The God of the Sun shall light my way

Hail, Lord and Lady, shining bright

Protect me until blessed night

May I today learn your name

As I light this sacred flame

I too must grow as all life must

In perfect love, and perfect trust

May I find the Divinity in me

To feel the Lord and Lady’s harmony.

So...I'm suddenly single.

My boyfriend broke up with me. It's a long story, but I was at fault and I did deserve it. I didn't cheat on him or anything, but I did hurt him. Badly. I'm going to try to win him back, however. I love him more than anything else in the world, except my daughter. I need him. I know that's pathetic, but I need him back. I love him too much. When things are good, they're amazing. He told me he was thinking about proposing. I have to at least try to get him back. I would do anything for him.

Anything.