..:: time to breath ::..

Crazy.

That has been the best verb to describe my last couple weeks. Those of you who read my "Cre8iveCliche's" on a regular basis, I apologize that I have not made a post in a while. I have been insanely busy and I've barely had time to stop and breath, much less blog.

Between work... college... work... church... work... family... and did I mention work? Needless to say I have been burning the candle at both ends.

Anyway I was feeling guilty about not updating the blog, so I thought I'd throw up a few comments and say "hello" again to the blogsphere.

One noteworthy happening that I should mention is that I took a few hours out of the hectic schedule last week to have dinner with my folks at one of my favorite restaurants in town...Famous Dave's. We were celebrating my moms birthday. She chose "Daves" as her restaurant of choice for her B-day dinner. Good choice mom! D-e-e-e-licious! ... I LOVE their ribs!



Also on a side note... Though my work schedule has been overwhelming lately... I am putting together some cool things which I am excited about, and I will be unveiling them to my blog readers in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned for that. ;-)

That's it for now...

..:: i remember ::..

Sometimes when you are living in the Flathead Valley during the long, cold, dull and dreary months of winter, it is easy to forget exactly why you once loved this place enough to pack up everything and move up here. When the sun disappears behind an opaque brume for months on end and the day-to-day doldrums of life's stress pound away at you like a jackhammer to the soul, it can make you slip into a comatose of apathy and listlessness.

But when the clouds finally roll away and the beautiful sun shines through and Montana's "Big Sky" returns to it's preeminent state of blue... then you remember...



You remember why you first fell in love with this mecca of mountains, lakes, rivers, forests and pure natural beauty. You remember what it feels like to be alive.

The last few days have been a wonderful wake-up call for me and a much needed reminder of how blessed I am even though circumstances try and tell me otherwise. Even though life seems to be throwing it's worst at me, I can still lift my eyes to a sunlit mountain range burning amber in the alpenglow of a setting Montana sun and know that I am blessed, if for no other reason then the fact that I am here to witness this winters evening phenomenon... I am blessed.

..:: bed monsters ::..

I was a bit spooked when I entered my room tonight to get ready for bed. I thought a Gremlin or some other spooky monster had taken up habitation under my covers. I caught a glimpse of some movement under the blankets, and then two slanted eyes appeared and began glowing in the darkness. I started to freak and grab for the nearest baseball bat or frying pan to bash the Gremlin over the head and take back the control of my once comfortable and cozy bed, when all of the sudden I heard a tiny "meow" eek out of the terrible beast and I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that this wasn't an evil monster after all, but just my cat "Katie" huddled under the covers trying to stay warm in the frigid temps...(I keep the heat turned down in the lower level of my house where my room is in order to save on propane... you think bed monsters are scary... you should see my heating bill!)

Anyway, I sure am glad I didn't bash the "monster" over the head with a frying pan... I don't think Katie would have forgiven me for that one.

..:: out of towners ::..

I ran into this tough hombre and his little girlfriend as I was leaving work today.

He's obviously not a local. The chill in his eyes and his dull, blank stare make me think he might be from the Butte area... but the shaggy beard that he and his girlfriend were both sporting lead me to believe that they may be from the deep dark woods somewhere in the Yaak.

Wherever he is from, he doesn't seem to be to fond of the locals, because as I walked passed his truck he was barking some expletives that I cannot repeat here in this family-friendly blog.

..:: givin' back 2 the body ::..

Last night our Interface group from Fresh Life decided to chip in and do a little manual labor in a few of the classrooms and offices upstairs at Fresh Life Church.

Our mission: To scrape the wall paper off all the walls in one of the classrooms upstairs...err... maybe it was just to dust and vacume... can't remember for sure... either way, the walls are now stripped bare. ;)

Our stellar crew had the job done in no time... pumped-up on motivation from a energetic collection of wall-scraping, paper peeling tunes provided by Garren, and a healthy dose of Apple Jacks, (see box on heater in photo at left). I'm not sure where the AJ's came from, (I believe that this is the only breakfast cereal that the ministry staff at Fresh Life will eat, because it has the word "Apple" on it, but that is just my theory). At any rate, the 'jacks' were fruity and free and the only source of nourishment in the building, so they seemed quite popular to the workers, until we forgot about them being on the radiator and they over heated and burst into flames. - kidding ;)

After peeling wall paper for a while, I volunteered to go help put a bookshelf together for Coy, one of the pastors at the church. This - in retrospect - was a stupid move. I underestimated the ambiguity and complexity of the instructions which, although they were printed in English, they were clearly written by a devious little foreigner with an ulterior motive to confuse and exasperate mechanically inept Americans like myself.

Apparently I am not alone in my mechanical ineptitude either, because the part of the bookshelf that had already been started by Coy, had pieces on backwards and upside down ... no offense intended Coy ... I feel your pain.

Luckily my friend Jill came to the rescue and brought some fresh perspective to the project. They say that two minds are better than one and I guess that was the case in this scenario, because together Jill and I were able to get the bookshelf finished up and filled with books. It was still standing as we left the church, so if there is a pile of books and rubble sitting on your floor Wednesday morning Coy... it must have been an overnight intruder or an angry mutant termite with a vengeance.

All things considered it was a fun night, and it felt good to give something back to the church that has given so much to us.

Levi, Coy, Eric, Kevin, Jenny, Sarah, and Alaina we love you guys.

..:: big powder ::..

So, today I finally made it up to "Big" Whitefish Mountain.

With the powder days we are having this season... (snow just about every day for the last four weeks or longer)... I am too embarrassed to to admit that this is my first day of snowboarding this year, so I won't even mention that ;-)

What a great day.

I had a fantastic guide, my friend Brian and his wife Paula, who were both great ski partners, (that's Brian shreddin' a line in the photo to the left). Brian introduced me to a few new powder stashes that I had not ridden before which were great. We also hit a few of the "favorites" that I have enjoyed in previous years.

Big Horn... Elephants Graveyard... Haskill Slide... Picture Chutes... Connie's Coulee... Glory Hole... just few of our conquered trails. All together it was an awesome powder day. The north side was incredible, and hellroaring... epic!

The first run down from the summit was a bit difficult as the fog was freezing up on my goggles, and I couldn't see too much, but fortunately that didn't last, and all succeeding runs were perfect. Either the fog lessened, or the temps warmed up a bit - don't know which, maybe both, but it got great after that.

Here I am about to drop into Big Horn... sweet!



I'll admit it was a work out...I think I have been spending a little bit too much time behind the work desk, and I'm sure I will be feelin' the pain in the legs tomorrow, but it will be good pain. :-)

I wanted to snap a photo from one of my favorite lookout points on the mountain -- overlooking Whitefish Lake and the Flathead Valley from the top of Ed's Run. This is the spot for capturing some unforgettable panoramas of the surrounding lakes, valleys and mountains. Unfortunately the fog had moved in when I went over there to snap a shot. Still - as the picture portrays - you can take comfort in the fact that even when the clouds are thick and you can't see the sun... Jesus is still watching over the Flathead , and all is good. ;-)



I had to snap one more shot on my way down the mountain. I was below the fog clouds at this point and the trees opened up to allow for a nice view of WFish Lake... beautiful, even with the clouds.

..:: blue twilight ::..

As I left work this evening I was mesmerized by the blue twilight hue that saturated the atmosphere in the small town of Whitefish Montana. The luminous lights that line the ski runs of the "Big" Whitefish Mountain Resort burned softly... quietly... under the low-hanging clouds that tried to hide the big mountain from her loyal subjects below. Snow was still falling quietly from the pastel sky and sparkled in the glowing radiance of the parking lot lights as I walked to my car.

Today's accumulation of snow is now sleeping peacefully on the tree branches, rooftops and side streets as I pass through town. The entire world glows sapphire in the vanishing rays of the snow-filtered twilight. It is as if the sky itself has fallen asleep on the floor of the Flathead Valley.

As I drive home I pass by the now frozen waters of the Whitefish River. A family of whitetail deer are exercising their faith and walking on water down stream from the bridge that leads me home. They appear to be searching for food.

As I continue the drive to my house the sun sinks further behind the distant muted horizon and the Flathead Valley retreats further into the blackness of the night.