Life Under the Beautiful Big Sky

Highlanders and their big shaggy heads. 

Misquotes literally ate me alive while I took this pic. 

The Beartooth Rocky Mountains, snowcapped during the summer. Lush foothills will turn brown soon. 

As the golden sun meets the horizon, rain falls from the sky. 

My good'ole dog of 14 years. 

    

A grand masterpiece painted across the heavens by the Creator. Words cannot express just beautiful this was. 

 

Busy bee in the garden. Macro lens. 

   

The Prickly Pear & my feet. Oh, happy, happy hot summer day!

Promise.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

If “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus],” then to trust him now in the present is to believe that his promises will come true.

Those are not two separate faiths — trusting him, and believing in his promises. Believing in Jesus means believing that he keeps his word. Being satisfied in the crucified and risen Jesus now includes the belief that at every future moment, to all eternity, nothing will separate us from his love, or keep him from working all things together for good.

Putting it all together, I would say that the spiritual beauty we need to embrace is the beauty of God that will be there for us in the future, certified for us by the glorious grace of the past.

Photo:  I took this after a thunderstorm blew through... It was gorgeous. The air smelled so fresh. 

We need to taste now the spiritual beauty of God in all his past achievements — especially the death and resurrection of Christ for our sins — and in all his promises. Our confidence and trust must be in all that God himself will be for us in the next moment, and in the next month, and in the endless ages of eternity — “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

It is he and he alone who will satisfy the soul in the future. And it is the future that has to be secured and satisfied with spiritual riches of glory, if we are to live the radical Christian lives that Christ calls us to live here and now.

If our present enjoyment of Christ now — our present faith — does not have in it the Yes to all God’s promises, it will not embrace the power for radical service in the strength that God (in every future moment) will supply (1 Peter 4:11).

My prayer is that reflecting like this on the essence of faith will help us avoid superficial, oversimplified statements about believing the promises of God. It is a deep and wonderful thing. -Piper 

Radishes of June!

A fistful of flavor. 

Today my awesome lil brother & I pulled up all the radishes! It was a rewarding & worthwhile thing to do.  Had to get out my camera. ;) Already the garden is giving back to us! We harvested many; they came in all different shapes & sizes. The majority of the radishes were ping-pong-ball sized, with the exception of a few that were smaller, & some that were oblong & misshapen. Radishes apparently grow well in pots too; they are kid friendly / low maintenance veggies. It's truly amazing how a single minuscule seed can grow into a ripe, red, spicy radish. Yum. 

-GB

Music - Park City Music | Save Us

Hey there, thanks for stopping by! Here's the latest cinematic track my brother Thomas has composed. Give it a listen & if inclined leave him a comment on the song. :)



Last year, Thomas Bailey, my brother also composed the cinematic score for the Jubilee award winning documentary Crying Wolf. Thomas has also done work for various short trailers & online cermercials, including the Kickstarter promotional trailer for the upcoming film, Axed: The End of Green.

Drawing: A realization & inspiration to do more

ART - It's everywhere, isn't it?! Some art is good, some is bad. I think good art is a work that truly captures what excites people, a drawing or painting that holds memory, an adventure! I saw this poster & had to share it. You can never sketch enough. Draw everything & keep your curiosity fresh. Ya never know when inspiration will strike you! Sometimes I'll be driving & have had to pull off the road to do a quick sketch, or take a photo to reference later. Seek out beautiful places. I almost always have my handy-dandy moleskine journal with a few pencils, eraser & ink pen buried somewhere in the depths of my pocketbook. We all should draw (& paint) more often. I sure know I need to! Make time for yourself. We need to see the beautiful creation God has made for us. Sketching is fun, & exciting. It's a way to truly capture a moment, an experience that can't be repeated. It creates something special. A little memory that will last. 

• When you draw something you spend more time looking at the raw beauty of the object. 
• Open your eyes!
• Observe the small things. 
• Create a journal with your drawings that says "Been there, drawn that!"
• A sketch captures a moment, an experience that can never be repeated. 
• In taking the time to see, look & create (instead of taking a photograph) a sketch has the ability to bring back stronger memories. 
• A good sketch has the ability to elevate even the least picturesque location into something worth looking at & reflection upon. 
• Draw what you see & not what you think you see! 
• Drawings tell stories of our surroundings, where we travel & where we live. 
• Always have direct observation. Get out in the streets, explore your world. 
• Urban sketching is a raw & pure form of art that requires drawing from life. 
• Life! It is everywhere, draw it, rather then drawing something from a photograph or imagination. 
• When sketching your skills will become shaper, you will notice your surroundings with a new appreciation. 
• Drawing something forces you to really look at it. 
• Capture relationships! 
• Drawing a building or place isn't just capturing in on paper, its about getting to know it, to feel it, to make it your own. 
• There is always movement everywhere. Draw what you want and dismiss the rest. 
• Be selective. 
• Be creative. 
• Think outside the box. 
• Translate what you see into something that communicates to you & teaches you about yourself & your reasons for creating art. 
• Draw what you witness firsthand, see what is around you. 
• Find the beauty in the ordinary. 
• Don't draw it if it's boring. 
• Sometimes vagueness of details & usage of lines adds depth to a drawing or painting. 
• People love to watch you draw, most of the them secretly want to be drawn. 
• Lightly plan out the entire drawing, before diving in & getting caught up in the details. 
• Keep it simple.
• Start shading with the darkest places first. 
• Dramatize things. 
• Always date your sketch.
• And have fun!  

-GB

Black & White Horse

     

B L U E     E Y E D

wordly wise

We ought to take more time to truly live, more time to really see the small things. 

I found this image on Pinterest, but couldn't find the original source. The words really struck me. Ha! I hope they strike you too. ;) Busy or slow as our lives may be; we should never forget to see the wonder of it all. The endless  blessings that God has given  us. The beauty that  surrounds us.  The  freedom  we have. We need to stop the glorification of busy. Business isn't necessarily productiveness or constructiveness, it  is  an  air,  not a  virtue. Driving our lives  without purpose  & filling  our  time  with "things" that fill our time, isn't good & gets us nowhere really fast. Slow things down. Think about life. Stay home & spend time with your family. Do less. Less can be more. Though we  shouldn't  be lazy or sloth with our lives, that's just as bad as being in a constant state of frenzy! Moderation is key. We should work hard, prioritize, & enjoy the simple blessings of daily life. 

Sometimes we won't know the value of a moment until  it's become a memory. So lets try to seize the time & take every moment captive. Let's make every moment, hour,& day count while we still have the time. 

-GB

My 3rd Triathlon: Skiing, Biking & Running —

I just raced in my 3rd Grizzly Peak Adventure Race! I skied, biked and ran 11.5 miles in 00:45:07. The race was a blast, I loved the excitement of seeing everyone out having fun. 

The very first race Griz Race in '11 was put on by amazing volunteers & fun people. It inspired me to run, race & do more with myself. It was the first race I'd ever really competed in. After the race I spontaneously ran through the summer of '11. I competed & placed in a couple little races.  Then I skied all winter, & continued to run. Last year in April 2012 I raced in the Grizzly Peak Adventure Race. I placed 5th in my age group, with a total time of 0:45:40. Overall took 99th place, out of 240 soloists. 

Through the summer (2012) I became an weekend warrior. September came, & I still was running some. My average time was slower, but if I really wanted to, I could do a 7 minute mile. When I was running a lot, my fastest miles were in the 6:30min family. During the 2011-2-12 ski season I injured my knee, during a ski race - tearing the ligaments that hold the kneecap in place and giving me a bad knee for life. My knee has since healed, but it's always gonna hurt, because it healed funky with scar tissue & muscle tension.

During the fall I became an every-other weekend runner. My miles taking anywhere from 7:45 - 10 minutes. Then when winter came again, I only went running (wearing a knee brace) whenever the roads weren't iced over, or in other words, not very often.

Bikes from this year's race! 

I skied this past season of 2012-13 about 20 times. Not as much as the 2011-12 season, but I had therapy for my bum knee or out was of town, 2 of 5 months for the season. I had a BLAST this season, even though my knee was weak & the snow conditions were kinda crummy up on the mountain. I love skiing! It's not just a sport, it's a passion.

I started running just a little February & found that after a couple months of not running, I was out of shape as far as stamina went. So I went running during the winter as much as I could, though not really very much. I got my average time to around 8 minutes. 

On the 2nd to last week of ski season in April '13 I badly sprained my right ankle (same leg as the bad knee). It was annoying - I while skiing only fell like 7 times all season. But I didn't quite land a jump & sprained my ankle… Had to end the ski day early, because it swelled up so much, & it was painful too. :P

But I went back up next week to ski, with an ankle brace on, & skied that last day of the season really easy & slow. Thankfully three weeks after spraining it, my ankle was feeling some better, but I was still hesitant about running…. But by then, the big race was upon me & I had no time left to train!

Somehow I managed to get 3rd place in my age group 20-29 females, with a time of 0:45:07 -for 2.5 mile ski, 6 mile bike, 2.5 mile run! Overall in the female division I placed 11th out of 71. Ultimately I placed 65th out of 173 soloists. (Top half, at least!) I might add that there were only 71 women soloists racing, the rest were men. 

For just the skiing part, I placed 9th out of 228 skiers, male/female. There were 173 soloists, but there was a large number of team racers, that raced as well. (With the team racers the total skiers numbered about 350. I placed 11th out of them!!)  I skied 2.5 miles in 0:01:50! My average speed was 81mph! 

My bike & run times were slower though. It took me 22min to run 2.5 miles, averaging 9 minute miles. If you have ever skied down a mountain, with the average speed of 81pmh, then ridden your bike as fast as you could for a number of miles, & then jump off to run up hill on a bum knee (or downhill for that matter) your legs will complain. My legs did, they felt quite heavy & jello like at the same time. My thighs were burning, and  I was huffing & puffing. ;)

Runners,  joggers and walkers racing their way up the hill. 

It was fun getting up on the mountain one last time for the season. Middle of April. Not too many people are still skiing then. The excitement of racing was great, I'm generally a pretty competitive person so getting through the race as fast as I could was fun. It's aways so beautiful & quite up there on top of the mountain. The views are amazing, I always feel so inspired & awestruck when looking down on the vast expanse of earth below.

I want to say just how thankful I am for good health! There are many people who don't have good health & are limited with what they can do. We should all be incredibly thankful for the abilities & heath that we all have. Talents great or small. Health poor or well. -Everything is ordained by God for our good, wether we see it or not. One day we all will see.

We can get out & do things, some things many people are unable to do. I love the outdoors. I love working hard. I love the feeling of the sun on my skin, dirt under my nails, an icy wind blowing in my face with the sent of pine in the air. To close one's eyes are listen to the sounds of birds singing their songs in the woods. Ahhh. We should all be thankful for our lives & for all that have & all that we can do. 

The time & freedom we have that allows us to get out & do the things we love, should never be taken for granted. The energy we burn running, cooking, skiing, gardening, biking, dancing, etc. is a blessing.  I'm thankful that I'm able to get out & take in the wonders of God's amazing creation! It's truly refreshing to know that we can rest in the strength & comfort that God will provide & sustain us through all things. Let Him have the glory & show Himself strong in your life. All strength comes from God - Remember your flesh & heart may fail, but God is the strength of your heart & our portion forever.  

So get out there & do what you love! Don't hold back. Stay strong, stay fit & remember always that Jesus is where your strength & life comes from. 

"He gives power to the faint & to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

"…Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." Ephesians 6:10 

-GB  

Green Spring

Spring in Virginia (April) 

 May Apple's flower

May Apples growing in the woods 

~GB 

Resurrection Day.

Beautiful…. The ransom Jesus paid for us was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ the sinless, spotless Lamb of God! I'm SO thankful for Jesus' sacrifice. Happy Resurrection Day! 

The garden in March - prep work

Planning a garden is so exciting! I love working outside - Deciding what to plant, when to plant, where to plant, & how much to plan, etc. We're preparing our little patch of earth for what will, Lord willing, be a great season of growing. Our garden is about 32x56 feet in size. We are trying to use every inch of space for planting. Mapping things out, thinking ahead. I just planted all the cold weather seeds out in the garden today. Then I planted the "after danger of frost" seeds indoors, under grow lights. We bought a bundle of eighty-something red onions & I planted them outside with the chives, carrots, radishes, peas, lettuces. 

We live near a very large river & apparently our yard used to be river-bottom. The little rototiller we have, failed us miserably, because the ground is rocky. (It's like 70% rock with the rest being dirt.) So we shoveled, hoed, & broke the dirt by hand. Then we pulled & sifted the rocks out of the earth. Once that was complete, we had a lot of rock. So I decided to put some of the rock where the pathways were, the rest we wheelbarrowed out. The river rock that we are so abundantly blessed with, is always round, & anywhere from softball to golfball sized, with smaller silver-dollar sized rocks being the most popular.

In the spring of 2012, we fenced, de-rocked, landscaped, planted grass & installed a sprinkler system on our two & a half acres. It was a huge full time job through summer. We planted over 60 trees & bushes & lots of flowers. It was  backbreaking work. Working hours each day, we did everything ourselves, with the exception of a few dear friends - Who most graciously spared time from their busy lives to help us sift, dig, & move tons of rock & dirt. It was a tremendous blessing, & eventually we got it done. Sometime, I'll post a before/after pics of our yard.. Hmm. Anyways, I had a garden last year, but it was wild, because I didn't have the time to properly tend it. (I did a little  blogging about it though. hehe) 

So this year, I'm really hoping to have a productive, orderly garden… Wish me lots of rain, few grasshoppers, fewer rocks, & maybe a little luck for my green thumb. ;)  

-GB

Art Workshop with Loren Entz

Here's a pic from a workshop I took recently. Loren Entz was the teacher. If you don't know who Entz is, you should look him up! He's a phenomenal artist & really great person. I've been fortunate to be able to take a couple workshops from him. I'm the second from the right, painting on my Open Box M easel. The class was a lot of fun! Below are some of Entz' work! Enjoy ——

"A Helping Hand" by Loren Entz

"Lazy Days" by Loren Entz

"Shipping Day" by Loren Entz

"Solid Rock" by Loren Entz

SKIING PICTURES 2013

A Mountain Chickadee. I love birds!  :) 

Black & white! Cole Creek Quad lift. My favorite! 

My good friend Audrey took this pic for me. :) This jump was huge. Did a 360.  Way fun. 

Had to hike off trail for this one. The snow was 3-4 feet deep! 

Soft morning light, looking up the run. 

The snow came late this season. Early on, lots of trails were closed.

This un's crazy steep. Cold shadows.  

Old wood, new growth. I love the gnarly trees up on the mountain… 

Breathtaking views, from atop Drifter Run. 

Sluice Box. Double Black Diamond.  - my favorite run! :D

This little guy found a seed or something. 

Looking over to the next ridge above the tree line.  Grizzly country. 

On top of Grizzly Peak; a skier's horizon.  Elevation 9,416 feet.

Not all days are bight & clear. Some days are dark & cold… oh so cold.

The Palisades.

The Beartooth Wilderness. 

I love the mountains & snow. I love the challenge of skiing. Doing moguls, jumps, speeding skiing, making trails winding through the trees... The sent of pine, the cold air blowing on my face, it's so peaceful, quite & inspiring up there. 

I've gone a total of skiing like 18 times so far this season. I know I already posted a bunch of ski pictures, but those were taken with my little ipod. These pictures were taken with my nicer camera, the rebel T1i. I'm really not much of a photographer at all, I mainly just love getting out there & taking them. Here are some of my favorite shots from this season…. Still got a couple more weeks of skiing left before it's too warm & the snow starts to soften. Gonna make the most out of it! Skiing is the best! 

Check out www.redlodgemountain.com - It's a wonderful ski resort that has a verity of terrain for all types of skiers - learning or advanced - there's a run for you here! From the magic carpet to the double-black diamond runs - to breathtaking views - to a toasty fire or a glass of Montana-made beer - you'll love it here. Skiing season starts late November and last through early April. Average snowfall is 250". 

Things Unseen & Death Defeated

The other day I was on my way home, driving on wide open roads, through vast fields blanketed in snow. The beautiful sky overhead, with winter storm clouds brewing ominously in the distance. The sun was sinking below the horizon, casting hues of yellow & pink into the heavens. I was tired, it had been a long (but good) day of skiing. The radio was blaring. I couldn't take it anymore, I need silence. Time to think. Time to pray. I stopped the car, got out, & stood on the gravel road for a few moments & took this ^ picture. I was pondering a situation & asking myself, "Why Lord?" Or maybe it really wasn't a "why" question, but more of "how do I process this?" wondering thought. Then later at home scanning through the Bible, I read the following verses:

"Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth… As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. ~Colossians 3:2, 2 Corinthians 4:18

We live in a fallen world. All is vapor, a dust blowing on the wind. A flower quickly fading… We shouldn't "really" be bothered or angered by the trivial things of the world. We need to trust God to know whats best! He does, every time. I need to remember this, even when the going gets tough. When we rightly trust & fear God with a holy sense of awe & wonder, we should have nothing to fear! (Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. ~Psalm 112:1,7) We need to seek refuge under God's wings.

Now, I have another thought. What truly are the things above, that I am to set my mind on? Obviously it's Jesus. Jesus plus nothing equals everything! His promises of eternal life & the assurance of His forgiveness are amazing. I should dwell on God's Word & seek to serve His people. God's Word & fellow Christians are the only things (here on earth) that are eternal. We should strive for the best, using every infinite morsel of our entire beings to glorify & serve our King, to the upmost of our abilities in everything we do. I (we) need to live with eternity in view. ...But how is this thought pattern & mindset to become something that is engrained on our brains, & in our everyday lives? Well, for starters, you & I can totally submerge ourselves in the Living Word. The Bible is such an amazing book, it's so rich, so powerful, ruthless, & poetic - it's truly divine! There is a wealth of information there, just waiting to be read. So dive in deep! We should completely surrender ourselves to God & His infinite wisdom.

Ya know what? I have great peace knowing that all things are in Jesus' hands. My country, the government, my life, etc. Christ has a plan. Sure, at times these "vapors" or problems we encounter can be pretty rough. Sickness, cancer, politicians, or even a broken dishwasher, can discourage you. But stand fast & do not falter. It takes strength & faith in God, to trust in Him through all things; the good & the bad. (So do not fear,  for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. ~Isaiah 41:10) The Christian must never give way to despair & hopelessness. We can always bring our pain & struggles before the Lord in prayer, & He will always do what's best for us. Even if it seems really hard, Christ will never give us more then we can bear. With each coming day Jesus is preparing us for the next. I know the Lord loves me & cares for me, even though I'm a wretched fallen sinner, deserving His just wrath. 

God loved me so much that he sent His son to suffer & die on the cross for my sins. The power of Christ is so magnificent that even Death was defeated by that perfect sacrifice. God sent His Son to die for me, to die for you. Not because of anything good we did or can do, but because of our sin & God's glory. It's SO awesome to think about - The immensity of God's mercy, faithfulness, judgement, & righteousness is incomprehensible! We have been born again adopted into His Kingdom.  (According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. ~1 Peter 1:3) 

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  ~Romans 6:8-11

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. ~ 2 Timothy 2:9    

It's simply unfathomable. I'm so thankful for Jesus! I always get really excited as Easter approaches. :) Let's continue to look to great things unseen, celebrate the miracle of life & Christ resurrected.
Have a truly wonderful & blessed Easter!

-GB

Music - Bastille

I just discovered this artist. I'm liking his sound. Acoustic is always my favorite, but some of his electronic stuff is pretty fun too.

Edit: 4 months later and I'm still completely hooked on Bastille! The lead singer's voice rocks. This band is amazing - all of their songs (to my knowledge) have clean lyrics. While most of the music videos are dark, the music is good. Give it a listen! Look Bastille up on youtube too - there's lots to see and listen to there…
 

Here's another song I've been stuck on lately.. The Band is Beta Radio - the song is Darden Road.  Just like Bastille everything this band has ever made has been good.

Draw what you see

  

Never go anywhere with out a pencil & pocket-sized sketch book. :)