Montana Life... Culture Shock... Hutterites

One of the perks.. Some people may feel differently.. About being a Military wife are all the different places and people that one may encounter. Moving from California to Montana, we knew would be a pretty huge adjustment for the both of us. Luckily we both have quite a lot of traveling experience under our belts and figured we would just make the best of what serving our country brings to us.

In moving to a new place there's always one shocker or another... And boy was this definitely one. THE HUTTERITES OF MONTANA

A Hutterite you may ask? yea... I was just as confused as you probably are right now.. I mean I had heard Amish, Mormons, Masons.. But never a Hutterite. They're quite distinct people with distinct cultural customs. Nonetheless living in town one hear's a lot of rumors/facts about how they live their lives. Some of the things we've heard are:

• They are the richest people in Montana (which in fact I've come to learn that they are.. just to give you an example they own most of the "empty" land that you can see driving through the state)
• They are extreme bargainers (extremely true, they can definitely bargain to get the best price possible)
• They speak a dialect of German (I unfortunately don't speak German so I can't prove this)
• The men let their beards grow out when they are married (TRUE! I've actually asked a Hutterite this and he said yes)
• The women don't have their own money to spend so they try to knit things and make things, and when they come into town they try and sell their knick knacks (I've actually gotten a little gift from a Hutterite at work -- a cute little scarf that probably wrapped around my arm lol)
• Men and women must court before they marry (Not proven by me)
• They do not inbreed (in fact there's this "rumor" that men will pay other white males with evident "white male genes" such as blue eyes, blond hair, tall, etc. to have intercourse with their daughters in order to prevent inbreeding within the colonies.. whether this is true I don't know) 
• They travel in Carriages.. sometimes :) (TRUE)
• Some colonies allow use of cell phones and "modern technology" others completely forbid it. (True, there's different colonies and depending on their last names one can see the different customs that each practice)

These are only a few of the things that I've heard and seen about the Hutterites.

So the farmer's market that only takes place during the months of summer in Montana (due to the winter) is a perfect place to see quite a few of them. Unfortunately the women do not show up to these markets until the end of summer, so I'll have to update you on pics of them later on.

And here's my favorite :) 

Honey took this picture when he was out in the middle of no where one day for work. 

Anyways hope you enjoyed my little 411 on the Hutterites. :)

I Like Pretty Things -- My Own Jewelry Holder

So as many of you may already know.. I basically LOVE Pinterst! so you need to follow me :)

Barbie's Boards

I've recently been on a mission to find ways, gadgets, and inspirations to organize anything and everything in my house. For months now I've had all my jewelry stored away in a little box mother gave me like 5+ years ago. One day through my hefty searching of Pinterest I found some really good ideas of how to organize all the pretty jewelry us women tend to have. So today I decided that's what I was going to do.

I went ahead and drove myself to GoodWill <<< like it or not it's probably one of the better places to find things that you basically cant find anywhere else.. and IF you can they're usually about 1/3 of the price @ GoodWill.. Sometimes.. More often than not. But I had no luck, so conveniently Ross is located right across the street. The post I had seen on Pinterest used a Paper Towel Holder
 Here's the tutorial for that one

So after looking around in Ross, I went to the bathroom accessories isle, and found something pretty unique, as I usually never see this. I bought a "On the counter bathroom towel holder" It was really cute and it only cost $3.99.. UM PERFECT! I thought for necklaces especially cause it has three different bars at different heights. Then I figured I needed something to put my bracelets in and I found a toilet paper holder that was almost the same color. This one was only $4.99 -- again score! Especially cause Montana is tax-less (side note: maybe the one thing about shopping here that I love). 
Here's a pic of what I got.. see almost the same color but not quite. 

I then figured I would probably need to either distress them or paint them so that they would match somewhat in color. I drove to ACE (which is basically another version of Home Depot) and I looked around at different paints.. I'm currently obsessed with anything that comes in Tiffany and Co colors.. and WALA I found paint that looks like that beautiful minty/pastel blue color. 
After about 30 minutes of letting it dry here is what it looked like :)

I absolutely love how this turned out!!!! 
So then I grabbed my box of jewelry and untangled everything... Placed it on my bedside table.. and now I can look at it and admire how pretty it is :) 

Now if only I had a huge Vanity with a Huge Mirror... mm.. next project?.. maybe baby :) 

Blogging.. The first of many.. Hopefully =/

Blogging...

The want to be able to record my life and share it with all those wonderful people that already don't know enough about me through Facebook and Pinterest. ;)

So currently enjoying the last tid-bits of Montana Summer.. :( so depressing to know that in a few weeks I will be stuck in the horror that is winter. Not only will I lose the wonderful tan that I have managed to acquire in the past couple of months, but I'll find a dire need to update my wardrobe with tons of winter attire. My favorite part is wearing scarves.. And that is all.

Enough about depression.. For those of you who don't already know I like to think of myself as "BARBIE the HOMEMAKER".. I know it sounds lame. But not only have I rediscovered my artistic talents through Pinterest, I've also managed to learn that I love organizing my home. It's quite an obsession I have, but really who isn't obsessed with Pinterest and hoping to make their virtual homes turn into a reality.. Too bad we don't have the tons of money that would require our dream home to be built in less than a couple months < as instructed and perceived through Pinterest. HA! But don't worry folks, as I will be showcasing the little things I have done in order to get myself going to becoming a better person through art and cleanliness.. :) gotta start somewhere right?

Well enough for my first blog... don't want to get ya'll bored.. I'll check in later :)

And by the way.. Yes the hubs and the pups are doing just great.. Just for proof here's a pic of me and the hubs on a camping trip we took last weeked. :)

Swan Lake, Flathead National Forest, Montana, USA

Adios!