Introduction to a Lover of Cats, Books, and Tea

Hi, my name is Rachel, and I'm an English major. (pause for "Hi, Rachel.") It has been two weeks since someone rolled their eyes and/or cringed at my major. It's been 4 hours since someone asked if I was gonna be a teacher. That question probably doesn't bother people who plan to be teachers. I commend those people. I'm not that brave. I'd rather sit alone and edit things. That's my idea of a good time. Especially if I have a lot of extra time to read.


Speaking of books, I love them. I'd love to ramble for hours about books. They're great. I especially recommend Three Dark Crowns, my most recent read; the trilogy that begins with A Court of Thorns and Roses, one of my all time favorites; and the Infernal Devices trilogy, which ripped my heart out and still hasn't given a sizable chunk of it back. My taste in television is a bit less exciting. I've watched Friends at least three times this summer. The series, not an episode. So, yeah, I'll stick to book recs.


Since it'll probably come up eventually, I spent last fall in Italy studying abroad. I feel the need to mention it constantly, but I try to hold my tongue. The biggest thing I took away from that trip, though, is that you should study abroad. Yes, you. The university has so many options and so many scholarships, and I feel like it helps make you more of who you are. So please, go somewhere. Italy is a good choice. Espresso is cheap, pastries are cheap, airfare in Europe is cheap, it's all just a matter of getting over there. It's so worth it.


For now, I'm going to skip food, because I don't even know where to start, and end this little introduction with pets.

Personal Photo of Cleo and Misi

July 2016

Last April, we had one cat. Then our neighbor wouldn't let his daughter's cat have kittens in his house, so we took her in so she could have her babies, got her fixed, and got the babies fixed when they were old enough. We tried and failed to find them homes, so now we have five cats. When I move out, it'll be two and three, but until then, we're just that house with a lot of cats. As a sort of tangent, if you get the Tidy Cats Breeze Cat Box system and change the pads once a week like you're supposed to, you will never smell a cat box ever again. Trust me, I know. We have five litter boxes. Anyways, back to cats. In the first picture, the gray cat is Cleopatra. Cleo is the tiny baby. She is also the only one who knows how to get the treats out of the treat toy. Artemisia Gentileschi, or Misi (mee-see), the white and gray one, is one of my babies. She yells at things. Things I can't see. It's great. 

Personal Photo of Deedee and Pietro

July 2016

Deedee is our first cat. She's not overly fond of the babies, even now, but they're getting along better and better, and we still give her lots of love. Deedee is also the only one I didn't name. We usually just call her Momma though, which confuses people, because she isn't the kittens' mom. Next to her is Pietro Maximoff T'challa Samuel Wilson Schutte. He is my son and I love him. He's grown a lot since this picture. He weighs 11 pounds now, and it's all solid muscle and bone. He's large and I love him, even though he knocks all the things off of all the things.

Personal Picture of Pippy

July 2017

This is Pippy Longstocking. She has little specks of orange in her fur. She's the pretty one. She cuddles with me, and will gladly suck on earlobes, a habit she has had since kittenhood. She's a total dollface. I want to be as pretty as she is when I grow up. 

Amongst all of them, they play and squabble and cuddle and I adore every bit of it. I have a lot of feelings about them, and could probably ramble on for a million more words, but I think I'll end that bit here. Other things that could be relevant are my love for Lush, my trip to South Korea, my coffee/tea/mug obsession, crafting, crystals and other rocks, and stuff like that, but my little fingers are tired. I hope the cat pictures compensated for all the rambling. Thanks for letting me introduce myself! Bye!