Welcome 2 My House!

After 45 days of anxiously waiting, living out of moving boxed and waiting for the WHOLE house to be painted and re-carpeted, it's time for a tour of the new FordOlogy Home.  Even with bare walls and a 3 car garage still packed with boxes to be unloaded (we really have so much crap), we're ready to let the house make its first PUBLIC appearance. 
After a quick video tour I'll do a little Q&A to answer some new house questions. 
Now grab some popcorn, a Diet Coke, put up your feet and get ready to tap your toes along to a quick three and a half minute home tour. 

(I'm still new at this movie making business... You can also watch the video over on Youtube  HERE) 
Where Is The House Located? In Utah! Provo, Utah. Kevin works in Utah County, and when we began our house hunt, we knew we were up to moving anywhere in Utah County.

How Big Is The House?  3800 square feet. Yes. It's a BIG house for 4 (almost 5) people but I've always dreamt of a home I could entertain and host and raise my babies in. It also helps that in Utah most everyone has a basement which adds a TON of square feet. 
How Many Bedrooms/Bathrooms?  5 bedrooms/3.5 bathrooms. It also has a formal living, a formal dining, a future theater room and large play room/preschool area.

How Big Is The Property? .26 of an acre which is plenty big for our little ones. The house sits close to the street in the front, which leaves tons of space in the backyard. The previous owners left a play set and we replaced our old trampoline. We have several large tree's the provide beautiful shade in the evening and 4 fruit tree's that we can't wait to harvest this first summer. 

How Much Did You Pay For The House? That's one answer I can't give you an exact number for but I will give you some details.  Both Kevin and I believe in living "within" our means, and I recognize that means different things for different people, however one major point of that for us is to have zero to no debt.  Our home is our ONLY debt.  We had a lot of equity in our previous home which helped us feel comfortable in purchasing a more expensive home, because we had more to put down. We (mostly Kev) carefully reviewed our budget and what a bigger home might do to our month to month, and together we chose a number of what our max budget was for a home at this point in our life/his career.  It also helped that Kevin was able to get a commission on the sale of our previous home and purchase of the new one.  
Did You Do Carpet/Painting Updates Yourself?  We hired out both the carpet and painting. Repainting all 3800 square feet, and carpeting 2500 square feet took a lot of work and time. Unfortunately, after our final walkthrough of the home, Kevin and I both agreed the paint and carpet were both in poor condition. Fortunately, we were able to get some cost of the updates off the price of the home.  Kevin had a business connection for a painter, and we were able to use his services which saved us a lot of money. Although it was 1 man painting the whole house and it took almost 3 weeks, it was absolutely worth it.  Our painter was so great and paid such close attention to details. We used Wholesale Flooring Inc. in Murray to carpet our previous basement before we sold the home and were so happy with their service, cost and quality that we knew we were going to use them again.  For the entire house we chose a thick carpet in a beige neutral color. It was important to us to get a carpet/pad that would last as we raised the little ones, and at $10.50/yrd we couldn't have gotten a more affordable or quality carpet. We are SO happy!  We chose the Neptune 101 carpet to help hide any messes, stains and "oopsies" we know we're destined to have with 3 small children. 

Did we use an agent? We sure did... KEVIN! Ha. Kev works in Commercial Real Estate and with his license he was able to represent us. It always amazes me how well Kevin does his job and it was so fun to watch him represent us again and fill me in on everything that was going on with our purchase. It was truly a blessing for us this time as we bought a bigger, more expensive home to have his "insider" knowledge of the market.  Good work babe! 

Thanks for watching/reading along today. We hope that answered most of your questions of our big move and home update.  Please feel free to leave any other moving/purchasing a home/budget questions below. 

We are HOME. (the move and first week)

It still seems make believe.

It feels like we are just playing house and that we are going to wake up tomorrow and we'll be back in that AWFUL apartment.

But, every morning we wake up here, in OUR home and its the most incredible feeling ever.

Saturday was moving day!

We woke up early to make sure everything was ready to go.

Kevin picked up the truck and we were ready to move at 9am.

A HUGE THANK YOU...

to our old ward family members; Jared, Jon, Brother Carr and his son, and Brother Larson! 

Another big thanks to our new ward friend Devon for helping at the house.

We were able to get everything moved over in two truck loads.

It's amazing how much more stuff you have then you think you do!

How did it all fit in our little apartment?

All week I had been bringing full car loads over of clothes, breakables and misc stuff to make the unpacking process a little less crazy. I made a total of 15 trips between Monday, when we got the keys and Saturday. It was crazy as I moved all that stuff over myself while trying to manage a nine month old but it really paid off when Saturday night rolled around.

It felt so good not to have TOO many boxes to unpack. I couldn't imagine living out of boxes for days.

Saturday night we had most of the boxes unpacked and things put away in their new homes.

Saturday, Hunter got really sick. 

After a long day of moving mommy and Hunter were exhausted and fell asleep at 6pm. We both woke up at 9 when Hunter started to through up. His fever jumped to 101 and he was so fussy. We called my folks who gave us a few tips to bring down the fever and we watched him all night. We honestly only got 3 maybe 4 hours of sleep.

To say the least Sunday morning we were walking zombies.

Hunter was still not feeling well and his temp was still over 100.

He wanted to be held all the time and would SCREAM anytime would lay him down.

Longest Day Ever.

We were able to make a huge delicious breakfast to give us a little energy but spent most of the day taking care of our sick little guy.

Hunter had his nine month check up Monday morning.

(more about that in the next post... but Dr. did verify hunter had a stomach bug)

The rest of the week has been spent getting the home settled. 

Getting final boxes put away and trying to decide how I am going to decorate.

We also had all of our home amenities installed. 

Comcast, Direct TV and Vivint Home Security. 

Today our landscaping was started! (3 days late but no big deal) 

The Fire Pit area.

Sprinklers.

It's so exciting! 

(Hunter thought so also)

Our neighborhood is still pretty new and there are a lot of unfinished yards so I am very happy ours will be finished and look beautiful just in time for Spring and Summer!

Oh and did I mention we are getting a fire pit put in?! 

Parties in our backyard ALL summer long. 

There are still a few things that need to be done. 

Organizing the basement, which is quickly turning into a complete MAN CAVE.. complete with gym, ping pong table and cable Internet.

Getting the blinds installed, finding a few more pieces of furniture and putting things on my walls. 

All in time. 

Stay tuned for lots of home posts as we continue to make it ours.

For now here are some more photos! 

Kitchen

Laundry

Living Room

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Hunters Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Stairwell

The 4th bedroom will be used as an office/craft room until baby #2 comes along (NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT). More pictures once that is better organized. 

The basement also needs a bit more organizing and Kevin has to set up the ping pong table and then we will post pictures.

Thanks for stopping by Readers! 

Happy Thursday! 

The never-ending July and right on into August....

I'm sick today. Been cooped up on the couch all day watching movies and being lazy. Kevin taught our Primary Class alone today. I'm not sure why now, but I suppose its time to update our blog. The last time I wrote we had just come home from California.We've done a lot since that first July trip home and now things are finally starting to settle down in the Ford home.

We returned to Sacramento for my sister Aubrey's wedding just two short weeks after our first visit out there in the beginning of July. It was a wonderful, quick trip home. Aubrey and Daniel made a very fun bride and groom. The reception was held at the same location Kevin and I had our reception. It was truly amazing to see how different the cultural hall looked for Aubrey's reception compared to ours. Each absolutely expressed our personalities and we had the same amazing people pull it all off.

 

It was so wonderful to see Aubrey and Daniel sealed in the Sacramento temple. I know that their lives will truly be blessed for making covenants with their father in heaven on their special day.

 Like I said, a quick trip home and Sunday we headed back to Utah. We took the long way (the southern route) home so we could stop in Bakersfield to visit Kevin's younger sisters. Marianne was visiting Kevin's other sister Melissa and her husband who live in Bakersfield. Sunday also happened to be Marianne's birthday and we thought it would be a lovely surprise to see her while she was so close.

We haven't had the chance to see Kevin's parents and siblings very often so we were so excited at the chance to see both Melissa and Marianne that day, even if just for a few short hours. It was so lovely to be with them. I miss them so much and wish everyone lived closer. I truly wish we could see the Ford side more often. We are terribly excited for December when we will go to Washington for the holiday. Kevin's older brother Jeff and his wife Hayley live there with their sweet daughter Lucy. They are also expecting a little boy to arrive two weeks before we get there. Kevin's parents and youngest sister Marianne live there as well and we are so ready to spend some time with them.

The following weekend we moved! Not far, only 10 feet across the patio but it was still work!

Our neighbors, who we love SO much, Kyle and Carly, moved to Nevada to start their own business! We were so sad to see them go, but very excited for their new adventure! The new place is A LOT bigger then our first apartment and its still in the same ward and area which is so great. The new place has two bedrooms and is plenty big enough for Kev and I to stay in for some time... maybe even with a couple kids!

We love, Love, LOVE the new place. It is so perfect for us. We are excited that it's a bigger place so we can entertain and even have people stay over!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom came to town last week for her Aunt's funeral and was the first guest to stay. It was a blast to have her and we had a great time with her as our guest for a few days. We went and saw the "UP" house in the Parade of Homes show and it was so neat. We saw lots of other beautiful homes too but the Up house was by far the coolest!

Kevin and I have been working on a few home projects. The first is a garden. Since we are renting we don't have a yard of our own so we decided to plant a garden in a wheelbarrow (I saw the idea on Facebook of a friends daughter who did it in class.) We found an old wheelbarrow on KSL for $5 bucks. Got some topsoil on sale at Lowe's (they give u discount if the bag is ripped) and a few herbs, vegetables and flowers from random places. Its a start. The weather has been hot so we have to make sure we water it EVERYDAY and its looking great. The vegetables haven't sprouted yet but we just got them planted. We will keep you up to date when they finally do.

 

 

 The second project we have been working on is trying to have a proper and organized food storage. In the new place we have this AMAZING pantry and before this weekend it was just cluttered with random things.A lot of the grocery store's have a couple CASE lot sales during the year where families can stock up on canned foods and lots of other food storage items. Kevin and I set aside some money for this go round of case lot sales so we could get our food storage started. It was a little harder then I thought. I knew it was important to buy enough to last us a few weeks/months if we weren't able to shop or whatever the situation might be, but I just didn't feel like we needed 50lbs of flour. There is after all only two of us. We did a great job, I think, of buying things I could actually cook with and things we would actually use of the course of time so we didn't waist anything if we never "HAD" to use it. With our set aside amount and guesstimating what we were at we only went over by 28 cents at the register and our food storage is WELL on its way! I am so proud of us. It took me a good hour or so to organize everything in the pantry once we got it home. I felt like we got so much but in the room it didn't look like anything! I organized everything in sections putting the closest expiration date in front to be used first. It was work but it turned out great and I feel blessed to be prepared (starting to be prepared) like the prophets have asked us to be!

 

Our newest project came this weekend. Kevin has been showing me the "value of a dollar" and we have been shopping every weekend. Garage sales, KSL and DI trips to find great deals on fun stuff. The first week we got a printer (yes it works, just needs ink) for $2 and 7 yards of a gorgeous floral fabric for 50 cents (I plan to take a sewing class during the fall). This week we found a beautiful green vase for the office and an old wooden screen. The screen we found has got to be the best buy ever! We found it at DI for $3.

You can see why it was only $3 but I had a vision much bigger than that. With some sand paper, primer, yellow paint and hard work my vision became a reality. I have an incredible husband who helped make this  DIY project a huge success. A photo/artwork screen to be kept around for years. Our first "DIY Project" and a treasured piece of furniture we hope to be a part of our family for a long long time. It was a blast to do, super easy and made me feel so proud to have done it ourselves! I have definitely got the domestic juices flowing now!!

 

  

 

This weekend was also busy with service projects, cleaning the church and volunteering at a car wash to raise awareness for Dystonia with  Tonic for the Dystonic. It was a lots of fun and so great to see so many people supporting the cause!

Nothing big planned for K2 for a little while. We are taking it nice and easy and trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer. I told Kevin that I felt I was missing out on all the back to school stuff. Some of my greatest memories were clothes, food and school supply shopping before a new school year with my parents, brother and sisters. So much fun and I am actually a little jealous of all the fun things Haley, McKenna and Desi are gonna get this week in their back to school shopping. Speaking of those 3 real fast. McKenna and Desi are going to be SENIORS! I cannot believe it. McKenna is ASB President this year and I am so proud of her. I see her FB post the last few days and they have so many fun things planned already. Senior shirts, Senior sunrise, ah, I miss those days with my friends from high school. Senior year truly made some of the greatest memories. Little (well she is taller but ALWAYS will be younger so I can say Little) Haley is going to be a sophomore! I can't hardly believe that either! She will be getting her learners permit here pretty quickly. It kind of frightens me! She also will be in Student Government as Sophomore class president and she is currently on track to graduate high school with her AA Degree. I definitely have some pretty amazing sisters and great parents who make it all possible. I am really excited to be going home this year a few times to be apart of McKenna's last high school experiences. Halls, Sports A Rama, Sr Ball and Graduation. It's going to be a great year Mickey G.

Kevin's birthday is on the 1st of September. It's almost been a year since we first met and its crazy that we have been married for 5 months of that year! Last year I met Kevin a few days before his birthday. I had talked to him once in person the day we met, once on the phone to set up a date and wished him happy birthday through a text a few days later. Birthday's are a big deal (for anyone who knows me) but I think it's a little different for Kev. He'll be 28 and I think he's at that age where dinner and a movie with his wife and maybe a few friends over for some ice cream cake will be about all he can handle. That's fine with me... this year :) I have already told Kevin, family and friends not to make plans for September of 2013. Turning 30 is a HUGE deal and I plan to give Kevin a HUGE, embarrassing, incredible birthday party to be remembered! You're all invited to.

OK, OK now I'm getting ahead of myself. Well, that's all we've been up to lately. I miss posting more often. I will have to try and do this once a week instead of once a month so these blogs don't go on and on.

We are so blessed to have such great friends and family who read our blog and care so much about us. We love you all and promise to continue to keep having amazing adventures and stories to share with you over the years!

Happy Sunday Readers

<3 The Fords

PS. A few extra pictures taken this past month I thought I'd share. Enjoy! (They are really Random)

Cooked Dinner for Kyle & Carly b4 they left.

Bride and Groom

Bridesmaid's/Groomsmen

Car ride to California

Mr and Mrs.

Aubrey's rocking Bouquet

I didn't miss out on back to school shopping. I got 3 new books!

 

Bride/Groom Night Before

Aubrey Started a new job at my work and Left me a love note!

Hedlund Wedding Day.

The AWESOME Aunt Rene working her magic!

The CUTEST picture Ever.

Crepes in Vegas

Homemade Desert. Borrowed the idea from Ashley Nichols. Banana Bread, Bananas and homemade Carmel.