First Foster!

Tomorrow we are becoming foster parents

to a wonderful little female GSP!!

Can you tell I'm a little excited?

Her name is Robin, she is 9 months old and she is traveling all the way from West Virginia.

She has been spending time at a prison out there for a cell dog program (glamorous, I know.)

In an effort to home dogs that would be otherwise put to sleep and to also keep inmates from becoming too hardened while inside, programs like this get to exist!  I am told she will have basic doggy manners such as sit and lay down, but luckily she is already spayed, housebroken, and crate trained.

I can't wait to see how her and Remington will do together!  I hope she likes to swim... because I bought a pool!  After seeing Remington try to jump in my mother-in-law's fountain repeatedly, I figured it'd be a good $16.99 investment haha :)

Please check out GSP Care of Ohio for more GSP's that need loving homes! Send me a message or text or whatever if you're interested in Robin, too! :)

Here is the dog product I'm loving at the moment: Compressed Rawhides from Dog.com .  They are listed at a super reasonable price, ship quickly, and it takes Remington hours just to chew the little nubs off each side of the bone.  Another great thing is that the rawhide won't fall off in chunks like regular rawhides do.. I always worry about Remington not swallowing them right or if it could hurt his tummy!  Dog.com definitely has a TON of things to offer that you won't find in a lot of the pet stores around here, and at really good prices :) Plus they send you a bunch of coupons and frequently have sales! Right now is the Memorial Day sale...


XOXO,
KMZ.

Swimming Lessons

Wow... been a while!

Happiness project is still going well, living it more internally than externally (read: I remind myself everyday but don't always want to be on the computer blogging lol)

Last weekend we took Remington to his FIRST event at the Dearborn Mutt Strutt.  Ultimate Air Dogs had a dock diving competition and I guess I just assumed Remi would be wonderful at it.  Well, he wasn't... and I think I may have scarred him for life!

We went attempted to go swimming one time before the event, which got him excited abotu water, but not so much about being up to his neck in it.  After failing to jump in after Justine's dogs, I had to throw him into the water so he would realize what he was supposed to do... I got this instead...

Kolby, Abbey, and Remington

 Talk about feeling guilty after seeing this face!

At Mutt Strutt:

Poor baby :(

Um...really??

The same afternoon i was still really upset that he didn't love water, and it was warm enough so I put on some old clothes and ran into the water so he'd chase after and realize it's fun.  Luckily he has separation anxiety enough that he followed and realized that he actually can swim and that it really is fun!

Proud Momma :)

 Remington has been swimming four days in a row now and starts barkign and prancing when water comes into sight!  He even races down the hill and jumps in the water before I can meet him down there.  So proud of his progress!  Hopefully we do better at this weekend's dock diving event :)

XOXO

-KMZ,

Day Thirteen

Lovely trip to Disney World this past week!

We were whisked away by Brandon's grandparents in order to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, so fun!

We ran out of batteries and I didn't feel like buying more at DW for $1,000,000 so I'm mooching pics off of everybody else :)

Here is my favorite Disney Character- PLUTO!

Speaking of dogs, I just submitted an application to foster German Shorthaired Pointers. I know that we want to add to our little canine family, but we want to help a rescue dog instead of a breeder this time. While looking for younger dogs in need, I came upon http://rescue.gspca.org/ which led me to a specific one in Ohio, named http://gspcareohio.org/

I am hoping that they choose us to help their dogs in need, because I have a lot of love to give! Hopefully our home will be an in-between from pound/surrender to forever homes. Just thinking about being able to keep the dogs safe from harm and shelter killings makes us so happy!

<3 Mrs Zupi

Day One

today happiness is realizing that i can't possibly paint the whole house in the time i allotted myself. happiness is realizing that i am only one person and worrying about what is and isnt painted isnt the most horrible thing in the world to have to worry about.

happiness is finally making myself enjoy my sitting room. its a good glass of spotted dog wine, a new book, and my own spotted dog at my feet :)

its also not caring that im typing this on my blackberry and for some reason it won't let me capitalize letters.. let go!

xoxo,

mrs zupi

The Happiness Project

It seems like everyday we strive to do more, be more, and feel more. All I've ever wanted is to be happy, and that has sometimes been a challenge for me the past year. On the outside how could it be anything but happy? I got engaged, obtained a 'big girl' job, and eloped with my best friend. But certain losses in life have held me down. The introduction of planning a wedding along with going through other momentous life events was a struggle, looking back now. The inability to relax seems almost hereditary, but I can change that!



I have finally been feeling like myself again... happy, optimistic, ambitious, gratuitous, etc.



I know it might sound materialistic, but pulling into the driveway of our new house makes me grin from ear to ear. It's not that there's a house in front of me, rather a reflection of the hard work the past year or so I put in to be able to obtain it.



Being able to settle in to a space that really is just 'ours' has been wonderful. No landlord, no one teling us our dog is barking or that we can't paint the walls, and so on. I love hearing the people around me mow their yards and the birds chirping. I think the season of spring is allowing me to mentally, emotionally, and physically turn over a new leaf.



When I went to go check my email this morning, I saw the following link:

gretchenrubin.com/happiness/happiness.html

Gretchen Rubin spent a year striving for happiness, doing different things everyday in order to reach the level of happiness she desired. It definitely inspired me to start down my own path to hapiness project, which I will be documenting here from now on:)




On a different note, we are finally in our house and everything is slowly coming together! I will also be posting updates on that soo, too! :)


xoxo
mrs zupi

A Long Time Gone

Wow, it's been a while!

Mr. Zupi and I have had so much going on...

With school and work, we're always busy, but we added on the task of searching for a home!

The homebuying process was confusing, overwhelming and aggrivating... We found a house in our hometown in a cute little neighborhood, but due to a dealine we didn't know until the day we closed if we could actually close on it.

The house also came with tenants that did not move out when they were supposed to... so we've been in limbo since closing... two weeks ago. And on top of that, we have to figure out how to sub lease our apartment. We've come close a few times, but things seem to fall through at the last second. Crossing our fingers it will be someone else's this week!!

Unfortunately, we lost our lovely cat, DeMayo. It breaks my heart to think about him and his untimely death. He was only 4 years old and a virus presented itself all of a sudden, a problem that was out of our control. We brought him to the vet thinking he had an obstruction in his bowel and we could have him go for surgery to remove it, but it turns out he was going into kidney failure and had no obstuction. The vet told us that even is she had put him on fluids and a feeding tube and kept him in the clinic for a week, he still would have only had a 10% of survival. We had to do what waas best for him, but it has been really hard to process since he was so young and there was truly nothing I could have done to make it better. I miss him so much still.

DeMayo and our previously adopted cat, Angelo

I'm excited to move into our house- we get to move on St. Partick's Day, which is also the day of my cousin's bridal shower, so it'll be a very busy weekend! I can't wait to feel like my house is actually my house! After we are settled in, there will definitely be a trip to the Humane Society in our future. I would love to give an older cat a loving home, just as long as they can tolerate Remington!

More updates and pictures coming soon, promise!

-Mrs. Zupi

Slow and Steady...

SO... The Mr. and I are trying to buy a house.. We have our apartment lease until August, so we were looing at a forclosure or shortsale to get the most of our money's worth and we had the time to spare, so why not?

Well, we found a shortsale, but due to timelines for the bank everything has sped up super fast!

All parties are planning on closing by the 23rd of February which is less than two weeks away now. Which has made everyone scramble to get documents together and stress out!

Hopefully it works out for the best! Fingers crossed that everything will be ok :]

House Hunters

So... instead of doing homework I'm trying to figure out pinterest... and as usual, I'm behind the trend! And as usual, I already have problems with it!

1.) Why do I need to be invited?!

2.) It seems like things start repeating after a while

3.) I'm not quite comprehending the idea of a bulletin board online that I share with people...

HOWEVER, there were some super cute ideas for fixing up bathrooms and other rooms that I can't wait to try......

because the MR. & I are trying to buy a house :]

We had an offer in on a house this weekend, but I wasn't too keen on the location. Also, the previous owners apparently didn't believe in vacuums or washing their hands or bodies, because the whole place was a hot mess! We knew we'd have to put some money into it for new floors and a fence for Remington, at the very least. We were about the have the home inspection today, but at the last second I got an email about a listing in Saline!

We thought our hometown just wasn't going to work with our budget and the kinds of things that were on our MUST-HAVE list. However, this house fit the bill wonderfully. It even already has a fenced in yard and finished basement, and is super close to downtown!

So, knowing that there were other showings scheduled for this house, we put in an offer. Yup... we put in an offer without even seeing the house. Some of our best friends live right near this house and it has a pretty identical floorplan, so we knew what we were getting in terms of space. We do get to actually see the property this Wednesday and can cancel our offer based on the home inspection, so it was a calculated, but pretty safe risk, by my standards at least!

I think that this house appearing at the last second, in our price range, was a blessing. I'm hoping that the process continues to be a blessing to us and that we can finally have our little house :] We are excited at the thought of walking downtown with Remington, being close to coffee and botiques, and of course the 'stimulating' night life Saline has to offer ;)

Trying not to get too excited, as the seller has not even looked at our offer, but we are hoping and praying for the best!!!

Until then, here's a video of Remi misbehaving when his Grandpa came over!!

-XOXO Mrs. Zupi

Trail Goers

I think our favorite thing to do with Remington is to walk the trails behind our apartment.

Since we don't live in a big city we stil have country in our backyard, and it's secluded so Remi can be off of his leash.

He follows behind us dutifully until we turn around and head back. That's where his instincts take control- he runs for about 20 feet with his nose to the ground, tracking our scent, and then stops and looks back to check in. He runs back to us, then returns back to his trail. It's so cute to watch and I'm glad he has the opportunity to traipse around back there!

Something I am looking foward to doing this spring and summer is learning about dock diving. It's where dog owners throw out a toy for their pup to catch mid jump on their way from the dock into the water. From my understanding there is mch finess involved with timing and placement of the throw or toss. I think Rem would be great at it due to his build and that it could be a fun, structured activity for our little Zupi family to get involved in :]

We'll keep you updated!

New Beginnings

Happy New Year!

The past two weeks have just FLOWN by...

The Zupi family had a wonderful jam-packed Christmas season with lots of family time!

I think we have developed our own New Years Eve ritual, inspired by my Dad and Stepmom

We walked around town with Remi and reflected on the past year thinking of all the good things that have happened, and picked our absolute favorite. My favorite moment of 2011 was how I felt when I was looking at my best friend on the beach at sunset while he recited his marital vows and and how wonderful and uncomplicated that day was. It brings me to tears just thinking of it now. I think I am going to make a new resolution to try and feel like that more than once a year!

We talked about our future, what we wanted to do in the next 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. It basically involves graduating, finding employment and furthering education... maybe even settling down or something like that!

For now we are trying to take things as they come, live in the present while also looking foward to the future. We've discovered that it takes guts to make decisions that affect the rest of your life... being full time students we haven't hardly had to make any in a while! (Except getting married, and no we didn't take that lightly!)

PS Is the Mrs. a traitor for getting a Master's at MSU??

(at least it'd be online only...!)

x0x0

-the zupi's