Uncommon Goods.

Being newly pregnant and moving over the last month, I can count on one hand the number of times I've put real clothes on to brave the big bad world. My go to "little black T-shirt dress" has been my outfit of choice more than a handful of times each week.  I was so thrilled to receive the cutest little packet in the mail containing the perfect accessory to take my plain dress and make it into to a stylish summer look.  Uncommon Goods sent me a beautiful Bee Love Necklace created by Nancy Nelson.  This piece just screamed my name since I live in the Beehive state and I love sporting anything that ties me to beautiful Utah. I knew right when I saw it browsing for  jewelry online that it was the necklace for me. 
Uncommon Goods is a privately owned retailer that brings together unique, and beautiful gifts created by talented artists from all over the world. Every piece is made in harmony with the environment and without harm to animals or people.  From art and jewelry to home and kitchen, kids and adults, Uncommon Goods offers a plethora of handmade goods for every family. 
I sure loved browsing their user friendly site and finding so many one of a kind products that I obviously need to fill my new home. 
My necklace came packaged in an adorable wrapped gift box with a short bio of the artist. 

What I love most about Uncommon Good pieces are the stories behind their products.  Uncommon Goods does an amazing job telling the story of how every product came to be.  With the Bee Love Necklace the story tells that Nancy Nelson's friend gave her some leftover fragments of honeycomb and her creative eye caught a glimpse of one shaped like a heart.  Nancy took the piece and put it into brass to preserve its delicacy and beauty.  "The design serves as a tribute to bees' own awe-inspiring design skills and vital role in our environment" (Uncommongoods.com) I love being able to connect with the artist of my necklace as well as the story behind how the product came to be. 
The stunning brass heart hangs from a simple gold plated chain. It's lightweight and clearly made with supreme craftsmanship. It's a beautiful piece perfect for any outfit.

Even Princess Hayden loved the necklace and took off her "magical amulet" so she could try on mommy's heart necklace. 

 I literally had to fight her to take it off.

Sister knows good style. 

A big THANK YOU to Uncommon Goods for sending me this one of a kind piece. 

Your website is incredibly buyer friendly and your products offer the greatest options for handmade and quality gifts. 

Be sure to head over to Uncommon Goods to find the perfect handcrafted item for anyone in your life or for any occasion!  A few of my favorites are linked below.
Nursery Rhyme Blocks Fresh Organic Soft Fruit Toy Basket Personalized Cutting Board Hand Embroidered State Pillows
*This is a sponsored post and contains affiliate links.  Uncommon Goods sent me this necklace at no cost for review of their website and products.  All opinions are my own*.

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.