#this couldve been about 10x longer btw <3 i have so much to say about my kitty kat

[bleunicorn]

it's been EIGHT YEARS since i first met jelly bean!!

first couple pictures were from 9/30/2016. we have a local cat shelter/sanctuary where they're happy to have visitors that just wanna hang out with cats, even if they're not looking to adopt. i wasn't able to even think about adopting a cat at the time so when i took some pictures with the lil calico in my lap i didn't think much of it.

i started visiting more and more often, at first just to pet cats in general, but eventually was going specifically to hang out with that cute dilute calico that liked to sit in my lap. there's a few different cat rooms open to visitors, but she was living in one where most of the cats aren't actually available for adoption. each room has a little booklet with the names and pictures and some basic info. her name in the shelter was Mother Goose, she had been there since 2013, and she was actually available to adopt!

next pictures are from a visit on 10/6/2017. i still wasn't in a position where i could adopt a cat, but was starting to think about moving houses to where i'd be able to have a pet. i started asking a lot of questions about her (she has severe unidentified skin allergies that need to be managed) and she started to recognize me when i came in. she'd usually be sleeping in the same spot on a little shelf thing, i'd gently wake her up, and she'd run over to the bench or chair and wait for me to sit down so she could get in my lap. that was a huge honor because overall she seemed pretty standoffish and shy and independent.

i finally brought her home on 3/1/2018 and renamed her jelly bean. i was expecting her to be nervous and hide-y, and prepared for her to keep her aloof personality in general. but within minutes of being home she was snuggling up to me in bed, purring and drooling like crazy. i don't think she was necessarily unhappy in the shelter, but her personality blossomed after coming home.

last pictures are from 9/28/2024, just hangin out. she's 12 years old now and doesn't have teef anymore but she's still just a little babie to me. still a big fan of curling up in a lap.