azzy.

I am feeling very overwhelmed with reading for school so I thought it might be a good time to take a blogging break. Azzy (pronounced Ozzy) was subjected to large quantities of me all summer since I was living "life with no job" and therefore she and I got to know each other pretty quickly. She is quite possibly the best and funniest cat I have ever met in my entire life.

Azzy can get pretty wild and playful but just like her human mama she never turns down a good nap.

I think Adam and I make perfect humans for her because the three of us are all a little goofy most of the time. She has found all sorts of ways to drive both Adam and I crazy and is particularly fond of waking me up in the morning by eating my hair. I am not much of a morning person and having my hair eaten isn't my preferred method of being woken up but she does her fair share of cuddling, too. She has a pretty sweet way of curling up next to me for a nap. Occasionally, I mistakenly interrupt said nap and am greeted by this sweet little face begging me to be a little more still and quiet so she can sleep a bit longer.

I shouldn't give her too hard of a time about napping though because she does her fair share of work around here. She is particularly skilled at reading my email for me. She really does love the macbook pro which I attribute to her vast knowledge of technology. Adam and I may not be perfect but we do teach our furry companions to appreciate mac products.

More than anything I just needed an excuse to go through pictures of her to keep me from having a school-related meltdown. I keep telling myself that a few crises of confidence are normal and to be expected but that doesn't make them any easier. I am just trying to breathe deep and take life one day at a time.

home.

On Saturday I wrote "This summer I ... made the new place seem more home-y in a few months than the old place ever did..." As I reread that post I felt compelled to clarify what I meant; I was writing only about my apartment. I am absolutely in love with this apartment. It is a gorgeous place with great amenities and when compared to the old apartment in Iowa it looks like I won the lottery. Of course some of my favorite parts of the apartment are the man and kitty who live here with me.

The apartment is a "new place" but Atlanta in general is as well. Although I am loving it here, it will never be Iowa. I miss Iowa and all the people there terribly and I don't know if Atlanta will ever feel like home in the same way that Iowa does. Certainly Iowa is home because I was born and raised there and my families are there, but it is also the place where I transitioned into adulthood and figured out what I was doing with my life. In class last night I was asked to introduce myself and describe my professional and educational background. As I talked, the professor mentioned that my old department was such a great group of people who seemed incredibly family-like when he visited. I replied that he could not have been more accurate; so many people in that department, whether it be faculty, staff, or students, are my family. It really made my heart heavy to talk about it so I moved the discussion on but I have been thinking about it a lot today.

We all have multiple families; those into which we are born and those we choose. Nearly all of my closest family members are in Iowa and so much of my identity is wrapped up in them. I struggle to negotiate starting a new chapter of my life and building new families with maintaining the life and families I already have. I know in my heart and gut that eventually everything will fall into place but as usual, I am anxious for it to be resolved. My life in the south is off to a wonderful start but no matter how wonderful, settled, and home-y it is I will always have one foot in Iowa with my families who live there.

six months and 982 miles later.

Six months ago I was sitting in my Iowa office. Today, I am in my apartment in Atlanta getting ready to begin my Ph.D. on Monday. I could say a lot has changed in the past six months but I don't think "a lot" is a very accurate descriptor. I packed up my lousy Iowa apartment and moved everything to a fabulous apartment in Atlanta. Although I briefly considered commuting to Iowa from Atlanta, I ended up quitting "life with decent paycheck" to return to "life with small graduate stipend." In between I had a brief layover in "life with no job." In between that I stumbled upon Adam and eventually brought him and his kitty home with me for good. While in "life with no job" I took approximately seven thousand pictures of the kitty all of which are stored on my iphone in case of any sudden increase in stress. I also developed several new addictions (Frosted Mini Wheats, Magnum PI, and Lego Batman) and successfully maintained a few old addictions (twitter, instant netflix watching, and peanut butter english muffins). This summer I kayaked, white water rafted, went to movies, concerts, and plays, visited Florida, ate at all sorts of fantastic new places, successfully navigated traffic and downtown Atlanta, and made the new place seem more home-y in a few months than the old place ever did in three years. Life here is hot and busy but above all, life here is incredible.