Thursday, March 31, 2011

Oh the places I have been....

Well folks, I know exactly what your thinking! You are all wondering where I have been?!??! Well folks I'll tell ya....lately I've been on the couch. That is all changing- starting now! I'll admit I have been mildly depressed for the past few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love it here.....I am also not homesick (although I do miss everyone). Really, its just been tough not having a job. I am lonely, I only have the dog to talk to all day, and we don't have a bunch of money. So I sent myself to the couch to feel bad for myself, until yesterday. I decided to get over myself and to get my butt in gear. I've had a few interviews, and honestly they have all said that it is hard to find a good job in this town. Some have even not hired me because I'm new in town....honestly I thought that was illegal! So I have a few things for use. For one.....um, hello I am the only Wildtree Independent Rep in Bozeman. So I'm taking off. Its gonna happen. So, from here on out I'm really going to be pushing the Wildtree product I so dearly believe it. I have decided to join a gym because I really need the contact and human interaction during the day...plus I need to get back to myself. I've been working out at home, but it isn't cutting it for me right now. The gym is just down the street and I can walk there. Plus as a member I can post my Wildtree info. It is an awesome gym too....well it's actually a club. It isn't very expensive for just me, so Justin isn't included. Also I found a great church I have been attending, and I have signed up for some volunteer opportunities coming up, so I can meet some people! I have also started extreme couponing.....yep that's right, extreme couponing. I have been shopping the ads and then googling coupons for the specific items. As long as Justin doesn't go the store we save money. Things are working out for us, except...that I really really need my hair cut and colored.....I look like a giant mess. Now, don't feel bad for me because I don't feel bad for me anymore....except feel bad for Justin, he has to come to this hot mess. So, please excuse my absents and expect to see a lot more and maybe even a few giveaways (Wildtree of course). Also I will include a few pictures from the last few weeks....









According to my pictures all I have done is drink beer and eat sweets....oh, and um snowboard. While  none of these are completely true, I do need to get my butt in gear and work off this extra weight I have put on. So here are a few things to look forward to in the next few days:

Wildtree recipes, what kind of junk is in your food, great things about grapeseed oil and of course my weight loss challenge I have given myself....currently I can feel grape jelly stuck right under my lip.....this will be changing! 

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Living Room Pictures

Well folks, today has been much more productive than yesterday. I got up and took Justin into work (one of the many pleasures of being a one car family....spending a few extra minutes in the car with your hubby while he backseat drives his way to work). Then I hopped on the trainer for a quick workout.



I mixed it up on itunes so I went with whatever music came on...so this is how it went

I Love College By:Asher Roth (4:01) Warm Up
Boom Boom Pow By: Black Eyed Peas (4:12) Warm up with tempo
Womanizer By: Brittney Spears (3:44) Climb
If You Seek Amy By: Brittney Spears (3:37) Sprint on hill
Circus By: Brittney Spears (3:12) Sprint on flat
All American Girl By: Carrie Underwood (3:32) Sprint on a hill
Gangsta's Paradise By: Coolio (4:01) Climb
Right Round By: R.O.O.T.S (3:23) Sprint on flat
Sugar By: Flo Rida (4:13) Easy
Voo Doo By: Godsmack (4:40) Steady steep hill
Johnny and June By: Heidi Newfeild (3:37) Steady steep hill
I'm Yours By: Jason Maraz (4:01) Cool Down


It ended up being a little over 45 minutes, and it was a great workout I was super schweaty. 

So then to cool of (in the super amazing 60 degree weather today) Ridley and I went back to the Bozeman Creek Trail and hiked 2 miles...all by ourselves....no Justin to keep us safe. Somehow though I forgot my pocket knife, and my crazy imagination was going wild.....

Speaking of Ridley, everyone has been wondering how he has adjusted to the move...instead of telling you I will show you....




He is comfortable and totally loving life.

Here are some pictures of the living room...its cozy, not complete but cozy.






Obviously, I have nothing else to do with time right now...somehow I managed to get five photos of 50 square feet. I also found this awesome print on Etsy that I ordered, and should be here sometime next week. I really love this artists work, and when I get job there's another print I want to order as well for my bedroom. 

I think tonight I will be making Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Cupcakes since Justin is working late (and the thought of smashing sugary cupcakes in my face really excites me), I also have my 20 minutes of yoga...of course that would be after Ellen is over. Also, tomorrow I have a book review from another book I picked up from the library (of course it came out of the Montana Room). 







Monday, March 14, 2011

Neighborly Love

To say we had an eventful nights sleep would be a major understatement. I do believe that I have mentioned before that in the apartment above us lives elephants who have dancing bowling parties at all times of the day (this actually just happens to be a very energetic 5 year old and a Jack Russell...maybe all of 50 combined pounds), well at 2 am last night......um, lets just say right above our bedroom were some people....rockin' the bed....literally that bed was squeaking for relief! Well lets start from the beginning....

First: it was a billion degrees in our apartment last night so we could hardly sleep as it was. I am a furnace at night so unless its fifty degrees inside I can't sleep. So.... 

Second: We decided to open the window which made it really noisy and Ridley barked at EVERYTHING. 

Third: I got to thinking about when bears would be ending their hibernation around here, and how they would be very hungry when they woke up. I realized that I am not as crazy as Justin thinks I am for carrying my pocket knife with me everywhere. The time is coming...bears will be waking....I could become food. These thoughts really had my mind going crazy......I had just fallen asleep when......

.......The love makers started around two, followed by grunts, groans, toilets flushing and showers. I swear it felt like it lasted forever! During their range infused love making, I conjured up this grand idea that involved microphones, speakers and sub woofers. I thought it would be totally possible to record their gorilla love makin' noises and then strapping the speakers to the ceiling and playing it back to them real early in the morning...because obviously people who make time in their schedule at 2 am for love making would clearly still be asleep at 7 am. The only thing that stopped me from doing that was the lack of supplies. This morning that idea sounded way dumber than it did last night. 

Oh the comforts of apartment living.....

Needless to say Justin, Ridley and I were major sleepy heads this morning. I don't even think I could of made today without four cups of coffee (um, BIG cups of coffee). 

When I finally got myself together, and by that I mean I was still in my pj's, but had brushed my teeth, I decided I just wasn't going to make it out for my scheduled run. I know, i know...I'm such a quitter and a looser, but I'll blame it on the altitude again and listening to my body (which clearly was saying go back to bed). So instead I decided to do some yoga. 



At home in Williamsburg I had been practicing at least twice a week at the Body balance Studio in Colonial Williamsburg. Sadly though...its probably been almost three weeks since I've even been in downward dog! So I've decided to challenge myself to do yoga everyday for the next 4 weeks. The only rule is that I have to practice for at least 20 minutes to make it count. Since we are saving money right now on a gym membership it would also make sense not to pay money for yoga classes as well. Today I turned to On Demand on our cable, and did a thirty yoga "class" with Jillian Michaels...not exactly yoga-yoga but it did its job! I also have the P90X yoga (which is 90 minutes long), and I also will be paying a little bit to tune into Yoga Vibes, but compared to yoga studio prices.....it isn't that bad. 

After yoga with Jillian I took this destructive guy for a walk....



....and our nice sunny warm morning turned to cold, windy and snowy. Not complaining though since I felt lazy anyways. I also pounded the pavement today and applied for several jobs! 

Also...once again I would like to brag about Bozeman. These shots are literally from my living room window. Isn't it lovely?





Tonight we will be dining on calzones again...but what can I say they were so good last night I wanted them again today. We have been using the Wildtree Pizza Dough. We were able to get 4 calzones out of one $6 box....not to shabby. 


Hopefully tomorrow I will have the house pictures ready, and something useful to actually read about. 

Question: Have you ever had noisy neighbors? 

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Bozeman Creek Trail

Today was the first day Justin had off from his new job since he started. We decided to make the most of it...plus we also had a 50 degree day, which really felt like 65.

The day started off like any other here in the Raynes house, with breakfast! Since we lost an hour during the night we ended up sleeping till nine. After we ate we headed out on our mountain bikes to look for trails. We ended up doing 2 hours in the saddle, and found two trail systems in town....as well as lotsa lotsa hills to climb. One of the trails we found was the Bozeman Creek Trail, and we decided to head home and get Ridley to hike it.


The trail is on the outskirts of town, but not to far from our home. Its nowhere near as steep as the M Trail, but its an out and back trail that is 7 miles long and ends at Mystic Lake. The trail is like an old logging road that is kept cleaned and groomed by the Nordic skiers in town. Today we only made it a bit past the mile 2 post, which means we hiked about 5 miles. Ridley was in heaven, the creek was thawed out enough for him to wade in it, and there were a TON of other dogs on the trail. 


Spring is springing here in Bozeman...as a matter a fact both Justin and I have crazy sunburns. 


This trail was absolutely beautiful, we really enjoyed every minute of the walk...except for the last mile which really, really, really dragged on for me.



Ridley loved being able to be in the water, we really encouraged him to dip his toes in it......until


....we saw this sign! Oh well...ooopps!


Justin would throw him snowballs into the creek, and he would bring up these big rocks back to us...he is so crazy!


The scenery was so different from the M Trail, there were tons of trees and big boulders.







The creek runs along the side of the trail. I imagine that its a lot wider during the summer, but what do I know?



Some areas were in direct sunlight and most of the snow was melted, but there were areas of the trail that must never be hit by the sun...ever! Some areas the snow drifts were so deep that Ridley kept falling into them. On that note....you know the word crevice? Well here they call pronounce it creeee-vass...therefore, Ridley fell in a creeee-vass many times. 




Shortly after we saw this sign...Justin asked if I wanted to turn back, and I was like heck-to-the yeah! Both Justin and I were huffing and puffing at one point, i don't think I will ever adjust to the altitude! 


Here is Justin thigh high in snow....caaaarazy! Also, obviously we don't give our son enough water, he looks parched. 





Ridley had to hide my chubby body so I would actually take a picture. 


As soon as we got back to the car I broke into our stash of Lemon Drops...I am totally obsessed with them. Sometimes at night I sneak out to the car and eat them under the Montana moon. 


I guess there is one good thing about them...if you look closely they state they are Fat Free.




All together the day was awesomeness. Our dinner consisted of homemade calzones...they really filled my major calorie deficit today. Now we are watching Easy A....and we might watch Jackass 3D again too. 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Historic Homes of Bozeman

This afternoon was very spring like for Montana. A mild forty degrees and sunny. I knew there was only one thing I wanted to do. GO GET ICE CREAM! OK, just kidding that would not be very polite I should at least wait till Justin gets home, that wasn't really what I was thinking. I wanted to head out on my mountain bike and do a Historic Homes of Bozeman tour. You see, just the other I day I became a proud carrying Bozeman Library card holder. While I was there I tried to check out not one, not two but five different books that were ALL checked out....Boo! So instead I headed to the Montana History Room...you see I don't have a job yet, so I have time on my hands.....lotsa time.


I found this great book on the Historic Homes of Bozeman, and I read it cover to cover.....it's a great picture book. So this afternoon I wrote down a bunch of the addresses and I headed out to see them.

There was only one thing that stood in my way to walking out the front door.....I wont name name's, but lets just say someone has gotten really attached to mama lately.


Those sad eyes were saying "don't leave me or I'll ruin the apartment...I'll rip up your new pillows and pee on the bed".  I told him I was just going to the laundry facility and I would be back in a second...I lied to him, but he believed me because he was in the same place I left him when I got back.

So I pedaled towards the college and made a right on Third, and that's were my bike ride through history began. 

Well, maybe a little bit of Bozeman history first.... In the 1860's thousands of Americans flocked to Montana because of the civil war raging in the East, but also because of the lure of free land promised by  Lincoln. Mainly people immigrated to Virginia City, Montana which was a booming gold camp. In 1863  John Bozeman opened the Bozeman trail which connected the southern Oregon Trail to Virginia City through the Gallatin Valley, which later became the location of Bozeman (the town, not the man). In 1867 Bozeman got its first significant surge in growth thanks to Fort Ellis, which was an outpost. The town later became incorporated in 1883, 6 years before Montana became a state. When the Northern pacific Railroad finally steamed through Bozeman, the population experienced yet again another fast gain in population. Also after the railroad arrived the towns architecture began to change the character north of Main Street. The North were working people from diverse ethnic backgrounds that constructed modest Victorian style homes near the rail road, warehouses and mills (many that are still standing today). South of Main, more distant from the industrial area (were talking a distance of feet ... not miles) the professional class built very large Victorian residences. 









This house is the Cobleigh House at 909 South Third Ave, built in 1912. Around the turn of the century Bozeman's middle class was growing, and began to fall in love with a down to earth type of American architecture. The Cobleigh House is a Craftsmen style home, which rejected the previously popular fussy Victorian style.  I love this home, it's absolutely adorable.






I personally love this house the most. I love the cut out niche on the second story, perfect for coffee in the morning and wine during the sunset...and an easy place for teens to sneak out. 







These are the markers on every corner...you see here in Bozeman, every street has sidewalks...unlike Williamsburg. These corner markers are so cute, when I stopped to get the Koch St marker I thought to myself....why Chelsea, why didn't you wear bike shorts today? Oh sorry, TMI.....oh, heck that's who I am. 




This is the King House built in 1906 for "an influential engineer, baker and politician" E.W. King. It sits at 725 South Willson (yes 2 L's) Avenue. It incorporates the Queen Anne and the Colonial Revival style.











In total the tour was approximately seven miles, so I had to ride around a bunch extra to add some miles.

I also took many more photos, but I would hate to bore you with my historical banter. Therefore, I will explain about the job interview yesterday. It went really well, and it is a fantastic opportunity, however, it probably is not a good job for US. It was with the Montana Conservation Corporation working with youth (15-17) . We would be working on trails and other conservation jobs in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Sounds awesome right, the problem is that I would be gone a lot, for up to 4 weeks at a time all year. I feel like it would be such an awesome experience, but its not the right time in our lives that. So, saying all that we have decided that I not take it. Its ok though, I have heard from the University and I should be in for an interview in the next week or so. The University job has great benefits, its like a 1/2 mile from home, and it pays better for me to sleep in my bed with my hubby and my son every night. 


So, I will continue being a housewife and stay at home mom to Ridley for a wee bit longer.....My uniform is fantastic....

I also am able to make a great lunch and dinner for Justin everyday, as well as memorizing the cable channels and make a permanent butt imprint on the sofa (joke, i joke...I am enjoying the great outdoors, and browsing - not buying- at Target). 




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Welcome!

My name is Chelsea and I am 25 (nearly 26 year old) housewife/Wildtree Independent Direct Sales Rep. This blog follows my hubby and I as we set up a new home in Bozeman, MT where we don't know a soul, healthy living, exercise, food (usually Wildtree) and life with the worlds most stubborn chocolate lab. I love sweets and veggies and I am constantly learning how to balance the two!

Our Son Ridley

Our Son Ridley

My Wildtree Shop

I am a direct sales rep for a fabulous company called Wildtree! Wildtree sells a natural food products as wells as grapeseed oils. Every Wildtree product is natural, containing no additives, MSG or food dyes. For more information please email me cjraynes (at) gmail.com!

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