WE HAVE THE HOUSE! DAY 1

It's official- WE HAVE THE HOUSE! We gained access today and began to tape the walls for paint this weekend!! Lindsey and Rob, and Dad came over to celebrate and help us out! This is where our future couch will be....so we posed as we would have on a REAL couch!
Justin and I on our "invisible" couch again.
Lindsey and Rob brought over champagne! Our cups were properly identified :)
Cheers to our very first time in our very first home!
Justin worked hard taping all the walls and ceilings.
We cracked open the bottle immediately....in our brand new kitchen!
The goodies Linds and Rob brought over! Bananna muffins, chips and salsa, water, and champagne.
Justin prepares to caulk...work clothes and all!
The first and only thing to be placed in our fridge :) Bubbly!
View from our walk-out basement.....we have a large yard with lots of trees!
The "den" basement. Complete with wood stove. The wood paneling smells great!
Our Master bedroom....the pea green color changes tomorrow!
Our spacious bathroom! Once was used as a bedroom.
Living room with plenty of natural lighting.
And my personal favorite....the kitchen! We are keeping this the way it is :) We already love our house, and with time it will become our "own". The paint flies tomorrow with the help of family and friends!

Autumn Tradition

Ever since my sister and I were little, we'd go to the farm markets each fall to pick out our pumpkins, have cider, and eat fresh pumpkin donuts. This year was nothing different.....and we were all together again to carry on tradition! Here we are at Gallagher's Farm Market!
Older and wiser.....but still LOVE the fall season. It's not complete without pumpkins!
Justin and I sat on some squash :) It was a crisp fall day!
We look like a little family....with a pumpkin child! Haha. They had so many cute assortments there. It was fun to see all the kids go nuts picking out their annual pumpkins to carve for Halloween!
The display at Gallagher's was beautiful! I love fall for so many reasons...and pumpkins and apples seem to always be my favorites! We got FRESH cinnamon sugar pumpkin donuts, and a jug of apple cider to share. We also took some time to visit the chickens, goats, and pigs that were on site! Such a fun fall day!

The Big Week is Over!

Well....the big week of events is finally over!! I am more exhausted this weekend that i've been in a long time. Justin and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on Wednesday~here are the balloons and candy I had delivered to Justin at his office! I was so excited for him to get them, and he really was surprised! I figured there was no way to top my "gift" of surprising him in MT last year....so this was the next cheapest thing. We are true frugalistas! Justin surprised me with Annie's candy and a card (great minds think alike). It was a fast day.....I wish anniversaries lasted longer.
I wanted to throw in a photo of my proud purse purchase!! This massive piece of "luggage" was only $60! It is a knock-off of a Gucci purse. I have always wanted one of these, and bid on a few of them off of Ebay one year...but never won. Now I'm glad I waited for this cheap-o look-alike!

News on the house: We did NOT close on Friday. The Rural Development Loan office took too long to process our paperwork, so we had to file an extension on it. We hope to close next week, or by the 27th. It's frustrating since we are lining up our big-ticket purchases (couch, tv, bedroom set etc.) and many of them are not going to be on sale in a week. Oh well....it is what it is! All we can do is wait now.
Lindsey and Rob are home! Back from London for good. They got in around 2am Thursday night. It's good to see them again.....and the house is suddenly very packed again! Six people....and no room to store anything! Another reason Justin and I are antsy to move out- so we have room again! It's fun catching up though. And it looks like everything is getting back to normal :)
I took the MTTC exam yesterday. This is the exam to certify me to counsel in the state of Michigan....pretty big stuff. It took me 2 hours to complete the 100 question test. I feel okay about it, but I know there are many questions I struggled with. I just pray that WMU has prepared me enough. Results won't be in until November 13th. A long time to wait for a huge result. My cohort friends were down in Kalamazoo taking the NCE (national counselors exam) yesterday. This is the last step before earing their LLPC's. Whoo hoo! I'm proud of them, knowing they did WMU proud :)
I participated in my first week of the Doula program on Wednesday! It was an eye opening experience. There were about 15 girls there, 3 dads, and lots of babies and toddlers. It's amazing to see such good parents at such a young age. I really enjoyed watching them and learning about their lives. Each parent got free diapers, food, and baby clothing. 1 week down...4 to go!
Thank God the week is over!! I only wish it weren't Sunday and I didn't have to go to GR tomorrow. I will update my counseling on Tuesday. Happy Sunday everyone!

Purse Party!

On Friday night I went to my very firsy Purse Party! My co-worker Lori (pictured above) held the party at her house. A woman who frequents NYC to purchase HUNDREDS of "knock off" purses, brings them back to sell them at people's homes as a "party". It was a lot of fun shopping and digging through all the purses (that look very authentic) wallets, sunglasses, and jewelry! The prices of purses ranged from $35-100. I found a perfect winter purse.....it's a large black Gucci "hobo" style purse. I just love it too! I also found a cute pair of white Dolce&Gabana sunglasses!
Lori works with me at the law office, and she is really good at her job. She worked at another law office for 12 years before finding us :) She is a lot of fun and keeps the office laughing all the time. It was really good to have some fun with her outside of work! Since her purse party sales soared over $700, Lori got 2 free purses!! She invited about 15 other girls, and everyone found something they liked. Lori even made some spiced wine for the party, and of course there were tons of munchies!
After some of the party left for the evening, Lori got silly with her step-daughter's pink scooter! It was hilarious. Justin ended up picking me up from the party and stayed a while to meet and greet everyone and their spouses. A fun night!

A night out...and a baby home!

Last night Justin and I went out on the town :) We went to one of our favorite places for Calamari...Firefly! It's a cute little place behind the restaurant section of the building. Formerly known as "310", but now it's called Firefly. We watched the Tigers, and sipped some beverages, and had calamari. Then we ran into my bosses wife (Kathleen) and my co-worker (Lori)! It was awesome to see them, so we sat down and enjoyed the evening. Jessa (pictured above) came out to join us as well! It was a really fun night for us. Since we don't get out much (due to finances and house "stuff") it was really great to be with good friends.
HAYDEN CRAIG TEOPAS! As I mentioned before, he was born October 1st! A healthy baby boy to my cousin Allison. Everyone is thrilled, and ready to "baby hog". They just brought him home today and from what I hear, Hayden is a quiet baby (so far). Cooper (their dog) is perplexed about what this little ball of baby is doing in HIS house. I guess Cooper gave him a lick-down already :) We are all very excited for the Teopas family!!

2 weeks from reality!

We are now 2 weeks away from being 1st time homeowners!! Hard to believe huh? We are scheduled to CLOSE on October 16th. Today we paid our first year's home owners insurance...and got a VERY good deal by going through an independent insurance agency. It really does pay to shop locally. It feels as though we are shelling out SO much money for the beginning stages of owning our home, but in the long run....it's SO worth all this money. We will be making such an amazing investment. A place to grow in, a place of our own, a place for family and friends to gather. It's really just an extension to our social lives!
Justin and I were just commenting today on how ironic it is that we are closing on our first home 2 days after our 7-year anniversary together! Holy cow! Seven years is quite a long time, and I am so proud of us as a little family. It seems like centuries ago that we first met.....ah the memories.
My sister Lindsey, and my brother in law Rob are set to move back to the US on October 14th!!!! They have been in London for one whole year....working, and traveling. It will be good to have them back on American soil.........and just in time to help us move OUT! Justin and I already have 3 paint colors picked out :)
In BIG BABY NEWS: My cousin Allison gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday morning!!! Hayden Craig Teopas came into the world at around 7:30am on October 1st. He is 8lbs ! I look forward to meeting him soon! Everyone is SO excited for the Teopas Family!
612 NEWS: I officially counseled my FIRST client on Monday!!! It was scary, heart-pounding, nerve-wracking, and tense.....but SO awesome. I have a little old lady who is adorable and has so many problems in her life. I cannot wait to help her cope with them during my next 11 weeks. I truly feel as if I was magically paired with her. It's scary counseling a REAL client, but so rewarding in the end. My nerves have really been surpassed :) 11 more weeks to go! I also have begun my Women's Resource Center training. I am training to work with the local Doula Program with Teen Parents. This is good stuff. I love infants, teens, and group work. What better way to log hours for 612 than holding babies and comforting teen moms!? This is going to be an awesome opportunity.
I'm busier than I ever thought I would be....but it's a good time to be pre-occupied! It's fall, the air is colder, and I'm being pulled from every direction in my life. This must be a sign that I AM cut out for this counseling stuff after all :)