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. :)