Meet the Cats

Losing Parker was one of the hardest things I have experienced in my 27 years of life. I loved him with all of my heart, and I still do. I miss him each and every day. I still hope that he is alive somewhere out there in the world and that one day he finds his way back to me but I'm afraid that is no longer a possibly. We, as a family, also lost our beloved Sebastian after 15 years of love, friendship, and loyalty. This summer was tough because we had to do it without our beautiful fur babies.

We are a family full of animal lovers though and we knew our family was no longer complete. On July 30th we decided it was time to start considering getting a new cat so we headed for the local animal shelter expecting nothing more than to look at the cats. Instead, we met MoMo and fell in love. He went home with us the next day, although we changed his name to Finnegan James or Finn.



Finn stole our heart by being an absolute cuddle bug. We brought him home and our relationship with him was slow to build but now he is a very important and loved member of the family. We aren't sure about his past life or what he went through before becoming a Harris but he has come to realize that this is his home and we are his family. He's a sweetheart who loves nothing more than to be held like a baby, upside down and cradled in our arms. He is very vocal and likes to talk. He is also very independent and loves dividing his time between the great outdoors and our home.

He is one of the most stunning and beautiful cats I have ever seen. He's a very unique buff color and has amber colored eyes. He is a year old and lean, tall, and very muscular.

On the 15h of September we added another furry little face to our family. My parents could tell that my heart was still hurting from not having Parker in my life anymore so they decided to do an internet search for Turkish Van Rescues. Without any luck they ended up, on accident, at a local cat rescue website where they found a picture of a 5 month old Van named Harpo. My Dad and I went to the rescue place the very next day.

I can't even begin to describe how cool this place we went to was. It was a big room full of cat furniture with 40 or so cats. We went and sat down and were mauled by kittens and cats climbing all over us and each other to receive a little affection. We had SO much fun. I don't think either of us have ever smiled more or had more fun. Anyway, back to the story. The moment I sat down a little boy, Harpos brother Harper, came and sat on my lap and gave me so much love and affection. He ended up picking me and Harper went home with us.



Harper is now named Hunter. Hunter Parker Harris to be exact. He's a 5 month old who looks and acts so much like Parker, but he is not a replacement. He is absolutely in love with me and I am with him. He refuses to be away from me for long and likes to kiss, cuddle, and snuggle. He's an absolute sweetheart and is such a mamas boy! He's very calm and lovey. He has only been with us for 8 days but he is already so loved. I hope Parker gets to meet him one day because I think he would really enjoy having a mini me.

Cooper and the cats aren't friends yet, nor are the cats friends with each other but no one seems to hate each other yet either. I have high hopes that they will all soon be very close.



Would you like if I shared photos of them once a week on the blog Facebook page?

End of Summer Catch Up

I have received a couple of really thoughtful messages from readers in the past couple of months and I just want to say that I am so thankful for the kind words. I am grateful to have all of you here on BYDLS and I want you to know that I would love to hear your stories as well. Just because I started this blog as an outlet for me to share my story and talk about the ups and downs of living with a chronic illness doesn't mean this blog has to be all about me. I would love to interact with you all, personally, on the Facebook page or in the comments section. We don't have to be sick and alone. I know you're all hear for me and you should know that I am here for you as well.

With that being said I want to do a little update post. If you follow BYDLS on Facebook you probably saw my "time off" post. I received some terrible news about the disappearance of Parker and it sent me into a tail spin. Fortunately it turned out to be a misunderstanding but it broke my heart into a million more little pieces and I essentially shut down. While he is still missing I am slowly healing, although I know I will miss him for the rest of my life.

Health wise, it's the same old story. I was actually feeling alright for a little while but I'm back to not doing all that great. I'm so exhausted all of the time and can never seem to get enough rest. I'm also always riding this weird line of being really sick and being okay. I mean, I'm always ill, but I seem to flip flop between coming down the flu and then being okay. My status can change by the hour and it makes life really difficult. I never know what to expect. Right now I'm feeling drained, I am so sore my skin even hurts, and my glands are swollen and tender. Oh, did I mention that I've been dealing with a kidney infection?

I have had chronic nose bleeds since I was 11 years old. I'm not really sure what the deal with that is but they haven't stopped. I have been dealing with an average of 2 bloody noses a day for the past few weeks. It's not very fun. I should really go to the doctor and have them cauterize me but that sounds absolutely dreadful and I think I would rather deal with the gushing nose bleeds instead.

I don't think I have mentioned that fact that I think I am fully recovered from the hell that Cymbalta, and Cymbalta withdrawal, put my body and mind through. I finally feel 100% myself again and life is so much better than it was a few months ago. I cannot believe what that drug did to me and how long it had a hold of me. It reminded me though that I am strong enough to make it through anything. I'm so glad I kept fighting through the darkest of those days and I am now free again.

What else is new? Well, I guess I failed at sharing my life with you all over the summer. The loss of 2 of my beloved furry family members made this summer a difficult one but I was lucky enough to get to travel around the state with my wonderful Parents and for that I am so grateful. We went on 2 coast vacations, 1 camping trip, and countless day trips. Up until the past year we haven't been able to travel as much as we would like so getting to go on so many adventures this summer was really awesome. I plan on doing a separate post about the trips we took with lots of pictures included but here is one photo from our Neport, OR vacation. Cooper went with us and loved the coast!




I also spent a lot of time in the pool (although I'm sad because it's too cold to float around now), read some good books, watched a lot of movies and binged on One Tree Hill (also sad about this one because I finished last night).

The weather is changing here and although I prefer to feel the sun warming my bones I am excited about the colder months. There is something really beautiful and special about fall. It's such a cozy season and I love to snuggle up under a soft blanket and read a good book. Not looking forward to winter though. I can't pretend I like snow. I don't. I don't like snow even a little bit.

Oh goodness, I just realized that I never introduced you to Finn. I did on Facebook so if you're following me there you already know about him but if you're not then you don't know about the sweet little buff Tabby cat we adopted from the local animal shelter in July. I promise I'll do a post all about him soon! Here is a photo of Finn:







I guess that's all I have to share for right now. Sorry for the excessive rambling in this post. I'll start getting my vacation and Finn posts ready so one of those will be up next. Also, I was thinking… would you like me to do a Q&A? If you have any questions for me, about me or my life personally or about my illness please feel free to ask. If I have several to answer then I might do a post but if I only get one or two then I will answer them on Facebook. Let me know what you think!

Oh, one last thing. I would love to know what you have been up to so feel free to share your update in the comments (sorry about the captcha!) or on Facebook. See you all soon!