Adventuring around.

Going on 7 months in Fort Wayne. New city, new adventures... Right? That's what I thought. It's a bit harder to make yourself go on adventures alone. It's okay, though. I'm figuring it out!

I started volunteering last month at the Children's Zoo here in town. Though the name doesn't do it justice, it is a full-fledged zoo! I thought at first, maybe it's more of a petting zoo... But nope! They have lions, tigers AND bears.
(Oh my.)
I know you were thinking it.

I spent an afternoon in the Goat Yard, with goofy Nigerian Dwarf Goats. They crack me up. Some fight, some stand prestigious-ly on a fake tree stump, waiting for children to come by and pet it, one constantly had its head stuck in a bucket. It was great fun.

I have also froze my toes in the Kangaroo Yard. I need to do this one again. The day I signed up for was around 40 degrees and raining. And then it started snowing. The kangaroos were much smarter than me, and hid out inside their house. (I, on the other hand, was out on the path in a little 'shelter' that had no walls and the rain was coming down sideways.)

After my shift, I like to take a walk to a part of the zoo I haven't seen yet. (Okay, yeah, I go see the tigers every chance I get.) I also fumbling-ly answer questions from visitors. I look official, but I don't sound it. Haha. So I'm trying to learn the layout and, most importantly... Where our nearest restrooms are located.

I love it, there, though. I really truly do! I wish I had more opportunities to visit and volunteer. Ryan says he might go with me one day. I hope so. =( Pout.

I also joined a book club. It is not technically "in" Fort Wayne, but there are other members from here in it. Our last few meetings have been in Bluffton, which is just a little drive out. I've enjoyed it so far. Reading books I normally would never pick out. This month's book is a struggle, though. I'm really trying. An hour will go by and then I realize... I've only read 10 pages. My mind wanders, or I pick up my phone and play a word in Words with Friends. And then somehow I end up playing Minesweeper for 45 minutes. You can tell this book is super interesting.... Yeah, it's not. It's a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo and Ethiopian city descriptions.

For my last and final adventure, I have been packing up the pup and heading out to various parks in the area. It's great exercise, Gotti (our dog) loves it, and I get some sun! I have yet to make any friends there. Most people are leery of my dog and cross to the other side of the path. Or pretend something is really interesting over by that tree there. Right. Okay, well kids still love him. They always want to come and pet him. One little girl, probably a year or so old, kissed him right on the face. It was hilarious. And so innocently sweet. I wanted to hug her for loving my sweet pit bull. Her dad was a little horrified. I'm not gonna lie, I was slightly shocked as well. But Gotti just sat there, smiling his cute pit bull smile.

It's just a little more difficult to make yourself try new things all on your own. I'm one of those people who has always had a lot of friends. I never had to do a lot of things without 'backup'. But, hey, I'm basically an adult now. I can do things on my own. And I have. So I'm really happy about that. Pat on the back.

And there's a lot of other exciting things happening in the background of my life. We'll leave that for another day.