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

Remington ♥

Well... we got Remington early!

I had originally planned to get him the 14th, after finals, but our breeder called me and told me he'd be ready the Saturday beforehand... and I couldn't resist! So I made the 2+ hour drive up by myself to get our little puppy :]

It was a long, whiny trip home, but after 1 night her got used to us being his new family.

We thought we were prepared, but It's been 5 years since I had a puppy, and he was a few months old at that time, not seven weeks!

So, we learned how often a 7 week old puppy had to go outside since a 7 week old puppy bladder is apparently 1/4 cup big (or so it seems...)

Learning to fetch quite well!

Gunner is not quite sure what to think at first, but now they're the best of friends :]

♥

Now Remington is 8 weeks old, and he seems to have doubled in size!

And he sure loves cuddling and playing with his brother, DeMayo... and yes, he's a cat!

& Tinkerbell tolerates him...

He is mostly potty trained and whines next to the door when he's ready to go out and sits when we attach or unattach his leash, and Brandon taught him how to shake today!

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We are very ready for Christmas festivities and hope to make this Christmas a relaxing one!

Merry Christmas to everybody! Love your family and stay safe :]

Oh, and if you're running errands on Christmas Eve, please be nice to all of the workers and other drivers! I swear I was almost involved in a shootout between to soccermoms in SUVs yesterday at the Bed Bath & Beyond parking lot!

Love,

The Zupi's

Decorating for Christmas :]

As I carted several tubs of decorations from my Mom's house (we have no storage), I realized I was done with tchotchke things cluttering up my 850 square foot apartment... dusting and navigating around them was just not worth the effort! I was able to restrain myself and keep half of the decorations in their bins, ready for when we owna house one day.

Here's how it ended up looking:

(Keep in mind apartments don't normally photograph well, at least not in my price range!)

Our first real Christmas tree!

We sold off our table so we could have more room to just move around

without having to worry about running into chairs and knocking things over...

My baker's rack that houses our microwave and my Irish dishes and plaques

I love this light-up poinsettia garland from Target!

It looks even better when the lights are off, very cozy ;)

And what's this?

We got a GINORMOUS kennel for our new puppy!!

It seriously comes up to my hip,

which isn't an easy thing to do since I'm almost 5'11"

Isn't he darling??

We're planning on naming him Remington!

This time next week I'll be cuddling with my brand new baby :]

I already have big plans for him...

-dock diving

-hiking

-awesome tricks

-5am walks every morning

-Playing with hus big brother Gunner in Grandma's yard ;)

How can you resist that face??

So excited!!

Of course, we plan on giving him a yard as soon as we can.

Our lease ends in Augustand we know that

we need to provide him with room to run.

In the meantime, Grandma will be getting Rem an electric collar for her invisible fence so he can run around until his heart in content with my other pup Gunner :]

Enjoy the Christmas season!

Please don't drive like you're the only one that needs to get somewhere

& please don't shop like you're the only one buying presents

or cooking food for Christmas festivities

& lastly please be kind to all of those working retail, they have to put up with thousands of cranky shoppers on a daily basis and it only gets worse with each day!!

XOXO,

The Zupi's

♥

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, we certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year!  A ton has happened, and as the year winds down it is time to ponder the events that have taken place.  

The Mr & I are extremely thankful for:

-Eachother, of course

-Our HUGE, loving family and the time we spend with them, even though it's loud and crazy, it's always eventful!

-Our continuing education.  Even though it's taking a very long time, we are grateful that we have the opportunity to be able to attend an institution of higher learing so one day we can have fancier jobs other than court clerk and pizza delivery boy :]

-... our jobs.  Even though they're less than glamorous, we have them.  I am able to provide our small family with great insuance and a meger paycheck, and the Mr is able to work around his full time school schedule, but they both put food on the table and provide for our lifestyle.  With the economy being what it is, we have to acknowledge our good fortune.

-Our health! Sniffles and sneezing aside, we are truly grateful that we are in one piece, able to do the activities we both have to do and love to do each day.

-Our friends.  They are really our extended family, and we love spending time with them.  It's great to not have a shortage of people to call up and waste away a Saturday night with :]

Thanksgiving was super busy for us, we made it to three family get-togethers with starting times of 12, 2, and 4. Even with those three different families, I still wasn't able to see my Dad's side of the family, which kind of stinks! There's always Christmas.  As for now, the Mr & I are tossing around ideas fro next year and how to just go to one family on Thanksgiving, without it ending up like the movie Four Christmases, which is really good I might add! And super relevant if you're from a divorced and remarried family!

Four Christmases

As for Black Friday, I had originally said that shopping at 12am, just hours after Thanksgiving dinner was against my religion, basically.  I just feel so bad for the workers having to disrupt their night.  I mean, can it not wait until 4 or 5am??

Unfortunately, I indulged in a few glasses of wine playing sets & runs with the Mr's family, and was convinced into going at midnight.  After a short nap and watching my pretty much favorite movie, Escanaba in Da Moonlight (YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!) we ventured out.

Apparently, the movie was a sign to how our night was going to begin... about half a mile away from Target we braked just enough to hit the hind quarters of a buck with a fairly large rack.  And no, I didn't have time to count his points!

Apparently the damage of this buck's butt is at least $2,000, but luckily insurance covers most of it! Amy's poor car :[

We waited for the police, but decided to go shopping anyways! I only ended up going to Target and Macy's and was amazed at people's manners.  Not only do people just jam their carts into you thinking you'll move, but they don't say 'please,' 'thank you,' or 'excuse me!'  I think next year, I'll probably just do all online shopping :]

My favorite midnight purchase were these flannel sheets from Target:

They're in the wash now, can't wait to sleep with them tonight!

As for the rest of the weekend, I believe the Mr will be forcing me to watch lots of football, but in return I'm going to make him pick out a real live Christmas tree with me afterwards!

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Shopping!

PS Watch out for those deer!

XOXO

The Mrs