luna, my moon

This past Saturday, I was able to go to the farmer's market in downtown Lynchburg with one of the law wives. She's the same one that I took a walk with downtown, and I was excited to have another opportunity to experience something local and unique!
Now, I must preface this story with the fact that I have always had an extreme weakness for homeless kittens. For any animal, really, but mostly kittens...I grew up with a lot of animals, and I've always loved them. Living at home in Arizona, I believe I am the cause of around 7 cats and 2 dogs that we've had (that I can remember).
The farmer's market was really great. They have home grown vegetables and freshly made bread, as well as a lot of places in the indoors portion that feature local jewelry artisans and other sellers. I didn't have any cash, so I wasn't planning on buying anything. They had one table that was different goat cheeses, and Allison told me they were the best. I really want to try some, particularly the sundried tomato!
As we first walked up to the market, however, there was a really nice older man with a wire-covered wagon of kittens. I immediately gravitated over there, then quickly stopped myself, and told Allison about my weakness. Later on, though...as she was over buying a basil plant...I couldn't help myself. Most of them were black, with different white and colored patterns across their chest and faces. They were so cute! People were gathered around, holding them and enjoying them. There was one grey one, with white and gold-colored specks on its face. It was my favorite, along with one of the black ones with a really unique orangey-red spotted fur on its face. I started imagining what it would be like to have a kitten in our new little home, and to have some company when Dusty is deep into studying and I'm sitting and reading, or whatnot. Justification is easy, when you want it to be.
As we were getting ready to leave, I asked the old man if he was selling them. And he said, "Giving them away." Oh, crap.
I left with Allison and she dropped me off at my apartment, and I told Dusty to get ready FAST and that we were heading back to the market. I didn't tell him why. There were about 8 kittens there in the morning, and I told myself (and I'll admit, I was asking God, too) that if one of the two that I liked best were still there...
We got there, and there were three left. Dusty shook his head, knowing that that's why I had brought him there. No one had taken the cutest one, the little one-of-a-kind grey one! The wonderful older man was giving them away, and I could just tell he and I were kindred spirits.

We brought her home, and I ran and bought her necessary supplies. She's the sweetest. She pretty much slept that whole first day, while we thought up names for her. We went through a LOT.

We weren't sure if she was a boy or girl, so our first two choices were either Samson or Hermione. We liked the idea of naming her after some series or character that we really like. Other favorite ideas were: Spoon, Ginny (or "Virginia"), Minerva, Latte, Goose, Milky (after Dusty's college friend, whose nickname was Milky), Barney (from How I Met Your Mother)...we tried many of them out, and finally it came to us. The most quirky, sweet, loyal, creative, and sincere character of all. Luna Lovegood.

Little Luna, or Loony or Lovie, is doing quite well. She's not hard to take care of, and is already litter-box trained. She is loving all of this space to herself, and is extremely playful. Although right now, she is curled up on my collarbone, swatting at my eyelashes every time I blink.

 She was a little scared at first, even of the little mouse toys I got for her. She liked to find dark corners to curl up in.



We're having so much fun. She's already proven to be a wonderful study buddy for Dusty.





It's been a great weekend! The hurricane did not affect us at all, except for some clouds and a few moments of drizzle and spit. We were very fortunate. Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, and was in the 70s! It was beautiful. We were able to go to church, and our Life Group leaders offered to take us to lunch with their family. It was a wonderful time of getting to know them, and sharing our lives with them. It was another affirmation that we're in a great church. We may still try out another church at some point, but we're really loving it there.

Saturday night, we went to a barbecue with three other law couples. It was really fun to get to know some more people, on a couple basis. I made the most amazing cookies! I didn't want to show up empty handed, and was looking for something that I could make with what was already in my cupboard. And, praise the Lord, I had everything for this recipe. Truly, truly yummy cookies. I had never heard of oatmeal butterscotch cookies before, but they have changed my life.

Check out the recipe :

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/oatmeal-butterscotch-cookies/detail.aspx



Be sure to follow the comments of instruction below the recipe. Bake at 350 instead of 375, use a whole cup of butter instead of 3/4 cup, and refrigerate the balled dough for a little while before baking, until they're not so gooey. You won't regret it :)

Everyone loved the cookies, and I got to serve the rest of them on Sunday night. We had some friends over (Michael, Dusty's law friend who he met working at CBU, and Jon and Paul, who we met in High School and got randomly reconnected with! Paul's girlfriend Liz also joined us) and played games and had a late night Taco Bell run. It was like CBU all over again, and made me miss it, but also made me excited for future times. :)

In love,

Cait