Two Years in Texas

Just over two years ago I made the decision to uproot my life and move away from my home, and it is still the best decision I have ever made. I am now engaged to the man that makes me laugh, smile and happier than I have ever been, I have a giant family of furry, pokey and scaly critters, and I work with amazing animals in both of my jobs, which is something I have always said I would do. I get to go on big and small adventures more often that I ever could have imagined, and I take every opportunity that is offered to pursue my passions for animals and travel.

In December of 2014 I came down to Texas to visit Jared after he moved here for a job at Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge working with big cats. I drove through Dallas (actually not bad early on a Saturday morning), then headed east. As I drove, I was surrounded by flat fields of brown grass that looked exactly like Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, where I had just left. I remember thinking to myself that I couldn't do this, I couldn't move to a place that looked exactly like my little slice of Nebraska. I had promised myself that whenever I got the courage to move out of my state I would move someplace that doesn't look like home. I remember being overwhelmingly disappointed, until I hit the Pine Curtain. Rolling hills covered in pine and hardwood forests lay before me and I felt my spirits lift instantly as I realized yes, I can do this. I've travelled all across the states, so I'd seen vast forests of trees, but I looked at those piney woods differently, judging whether or not I wanted to live among them with Jared and our furry family. That visit to Jared solidified my spot in East Texas, and I started making plans to move here at the end of February 2015. I have made a life, home and career here, and I am happier than I have ever been.

I moved down to Tyler exactly two years ago today on a bitterly cold Nebraska winter day. My family came with me in a caravan of vehicles, Mom and Dad in the U-Haul, Alisha and Austin in the family truck, and I in my own car with my dog and two cats. Although we rotated drivers throughout the twelve hour drive I had wanted to be alone as we crossed the Nebraska-Kansas state line; it was bittersweet knowing that I was leaving home, most of my friends and just about everything I knew, to strike out on my biggest adventure yet. Honestly, it was a little underwhelming when we finally did cross that line, and I couldn't help but grow more excited the further south we went. My enthusiasm rose with the temperature, and when we finally hit Tyler and pulled into the driveway of my first home with Jared I all but ran up the porch stairs into Jared's waiting arms. I was home.

Only a few days after I arrived in Texas I went with Jared to his part time job working for a private individual, caring for her collection of exotic animals. I left, a few hours later, with a job and my first pet hedgehog. I still work for Mini S Exotics, a small non-profit that specializes in primates, endangered species, and other rare mammals. Through Mini S I have had the opportunity to work with animals and socialize babies of the likes that I haven't seen since I volunteered at the Children's Zoo in Lincoln. I've fallen in love with kangaroos and fennec foxes, and some day Jared and I will add them to our own menagerie. The day after I went to Mini S I met with the director at Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge, and ended up working there all day as a cashier. Now, two years later, I am the book keeper and business administrator, and I get to pursue my hobby of photography by getting out almost daily to photograph the big cats at the refuge. I have grown to love every one of the cats, from the grumpy older tigers to the young and spunky servals, and am thankful for the connections I get to make because of my passion for animals.

Now, as I started this blog to write about my adventures, you all know I travel a lot. I was travelling before I moved to Texas, but I wouldn't be able to travel near as often as I do if I hadn't moved down here. Not only are there more opportunites and closer destinations (small mountains and the gulf coast are only four hours away in opposite directions), but I am able to get more time off with my two jobs than I probably should, given my age and the short amount of time I've been in the workforce. I work hard for my time off, and take every opportunity to get out of the house and see the world. Sure, I travel mostly on the weekends, maybe taking a three-day weekend here and there, but I am also able to get in several week-long adventures per year that allow me to hone my hiking and newfound backpacking skills.

Now that I'm working on year three of living in Texas I'm excited to find out what else living in the south has in store for me. I know that I will continue working with animals (see my facebook and instagram pages for more pictures of adorable babies) and am already in the planning process for two major adventures this year, in addition to several smaller ones. Jared and I are attempting to plan our wedding (sort of - we're both avoiding it) and trying to inject some order into our house full of animals. The choices and risks taken to bring me to Texas were not easy ones, but if I had to do it all over again I would make the exact same decisions. I can't wait to see what this year will bring.

What I'm listening to: Careless Whisper by George Michael