Finding a way.

.kcabward

2011-12-21T23:27:00.000-08:00

Why do we look? When will we see? What do we find?
The curious inch toward the unknown.
Desiring to learn the tail it has to tell.
So we are taught. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad.
But always learning. Save if we drawback from the unknown.

Picture of the Week #10

2010-01-31T10:48:00.000-08:00

Picture of the Week #9

2010-01-24T06:24:00.000-08:00

Picture of the Week #8

2010-01-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

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Mhhh, Travel Blogs!

2010-01-11T10:24:00.001-08:00

I find pleasure in reading travel blogs and stuckincustoms.com is no exception! I came across this blog while searching for information to create HDR Images. Trey Ratcliff does an amazing job at documenting his travels with some of the best HDR images I have yet to see. (If you are interested in creating your own HDR pictures, read his tutorial here.)

Another cool thing about Trey is that his entire blog is under Creative Commons License, which allows non-commercial user(me) to publish his work as long as credit is given!

Some of my favorite works of his are:

Picture of the Week #7

2010-01-10T03:43:00.000-08:00

This is what I call her baller face!

2010-01-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

So if you read THIS post you will know that my sister just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft).

Well, her entire party made it to the top! Here is a picture of them celebrating from the top on New Years Day 2010....way to go Michelle!

Picture of the Week #6

2010-01-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

Mt Kilimanjaro

2009-12-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

So right now my sister is climbing this mountain! Pretty cool?.....I think so!

Joe Brooks

2009-12-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

Picture of the Week #5

2009-12-27T04:30:00.000-08:00

Merrry Christmas.

2009-12-25T02:00:00.000-08:00

Picture of the Week #4

2009-12-20T05:08:00.000-08:00

Wear The Towel

2009-12-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine reminded me of these verses a couple weeks ago.

John 13:1-17(take the time to actually read all the verses!)
¹It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.^a]">[a]

²The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

⁷Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

⁸"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

⁹"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

¹⁰Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." ¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. ¹³"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

A challenge for us all during this christmas season....Wear the Towel and help those around you!

Bus Traveling Tips Part #2

2009-12-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

Grey Hound Travel Continued Part #2

~Restroom
The Best Advice: DO NOT USE IT! Trust me on this one, just don’t use it. I had to use it once...and I have been scarred ever since!(I have horror stories) Instead us the facilities at the designated meal stops and smoking breaks.

~Packing
It is very important if you want to make your greyhound trip enjoyable to be able to access all your important stuff right when you need it. My "Important List" consists of: Water, Wallet, snacks, IPod, Camera, Bible and books, Spoon to eat canned foods, ticket info, sweats and sweatshirt, pen, paper, sunglasses, Pillow, gum, deodorant,

~Carry-On Bags
The Grey Hound is very lenient when it comes to Carry-Ons, there website says that you are allowed two carry-ons up to 25 pounds. Really if you can carry your Carry-Ons and not get in anyone else’s way then you are ok. This means for example that you can have 2 Carry-Ons up to, say 45 pounds, plus a pillow and a blanket with maybe a plastic grocery bag also and be fine.

~Bus Drivers
On the route from Washington to North Dakota the bus drivers from the west coast till about half way thru Montana are all very grumpy! However, once your get into eastern Montana and North Dakota they seem to get a lot nicer! Try not to get the bus drive mad at you, they can make things ruff....in the same way don’t get mad at the bus driver, he/she normally isn’t the one to blame for problems (such as a bus breaking down). And besides, they want to get to the next stop just as much as you so they normally drive as fast as they are allowed. Which brings me to the last comment I have about bus drivers; if you are sitting in the first two rows, make sure that they are awake! Carla (my sister) told me about once when she was ridding the bus to ND, the night bus driver thru Montana was pinching his cheeks and slapping his legs to stay awake! Normally a loud cough followed by a loud clearing of the throat works.

~Bus Stations/Layovers
Make sure you use the restroom, fill your water bottle up, and are in line early so you can get those front seats! If you have a layover of any time over an hour make sure that you are awake for your bus departure and ask someone whose on the same bus as you to make sure your on. Two years ago I was coming home from N.D. and missed my connecting bus in Seattle(Seattle’s bus station is by far the worst station I have been in yet). Anyways, I would have had to spend another 12hrs waiting for the next bus. But thankfully my brother who was working in Seattle was able to come pick me up and drive me home. :) Also if you have ipod/cell phone/laptop make sure you charge them while in the stations.

That’s about all the advice I have...Other then that, everyone needs to at least take one long bus ride(over 24hours). It builds character...and shows you a different side of American culture.... :)

Brett Dennen

2009-12-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

Great Lyrics

Bus Traveling Tips Part #1

2009-12-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

So I was going through some word docs on my laptop and came across what is below, which I wrote at the end of last summer...right after my 40hour bus ride.The past two summers I have used the bus as transportation to the Midwest, both of them had their own unique stories!

Grey Hound Travel Part #1

~Seating
One of the nice things about traveling on the train and the bus is that your are able to pick your seat. Seats are however on a first come first serve basis, so try to get in line for boarding early. I personally always try to snag a seat in the first 2 rows, preferably on the right side of the bus(this way you have a clear view out the front w/out the bus driver in the way). There are a couple of reasons that I choice the first couple rows.
1.You are able to get off the bus first at stops. Which means no standing in the hot stuffy air which usually collects in the rear of the bus.
2. Most smokers and bad characters stay as far away from the bus driver as possible i.e. they sit in the back.
3.Rarely are the first two rows taken, which means you can snag two seats next to each other and spread you stuff over both, thus discouraging others to sit by you. If at all possible, GET TWO EMPTY SEATS NEXT TO EACH OTHER!
4. You don’t have to smell the awful stench coming from the restroom located in the rear of the bus. Trust me, it is awful!

~Food
If you have ever gone backpacking with me, you know that I enjoy eating, but still don’t like to eat too much junk food. For me this "rule" still applies when I am traveling which means that I bring most all my traveling food with me, instead of buying the nasty fast-food located where the bus has its meal stops. Here is a list of the foods which I have found to be great for grey hound travel.
Snacks: Wheat Thins, some sort of gummy candy to chew on i.e. Mike and Ike's or gummy bears (my favorite),NAME orange crackers,
Breakfast: Canned fruit cocktail.
Lunch: Bagels, Bagels, and Bagels.
Dinner: the easiest and most filling would have to be Ravioli. You can also get canned spaghetti, or a noodle mix.
MAKE SURE THAT ALL CANS WHICH YOU TAKE TO EAT WHILE TRAVELING ON THE BUS HAVE AN EASY OPEN PULL TOP!

~Sleeping
Deep sleep on the bus is non-existent! However I normally am able to doze in and out for a few hours! I always make sure that I have a leg or arm thru each of my carry on items i.e. backpack, camera bag, laptop bag; that way they won’t sprout legs while you are sleeping and walk off!

Picture of the Week #3

2009-12-13T03:07:00.000-08:00

Xavier Naidoo

2009-12-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Picture of the Week #2

2009-12-06T05:49:00.000-08:00

"I love the rain the most when it stops"

2009-12-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Some great lyrics from Joe Purdy! Very peacful song. (btw: I love the rain when it falls too!)

Living in Rewind

2009-12-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

The other night I was listening to a song on the radio(I cant actually remember what the name of it was) but one of the verses talked something about living in rewind and not moving forward. This really stuck with me because too often in my life I love re-living great trips I have been on or awesome times I once had with some friends! Although this isn't always bad, I think that "living in rewind" constantly can really hinder the plans that God has for us and where he next wants us to move with Him.

Isaiah 43:18 says, "Foget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

The New Living Translation puts it this way, "18 But forget all that--it is nothing compared to what I am going to do." In context God is talking to the tribe of Israel,reminding them about what He has already done, but more importantly, He is telling them that He has greater works in plan! Verse nineteen goes on to say "19 For I am about to do something new."
We can apply this to our own lives! God's plan for our lives is greater then any of us can imagine!
The future is God's art which He has yet to paint so we can admire it! The future holds unimaginable joys and trails....but that is why it is so exciting. God is reveling the "now", as you walk on this road called life. Yes, yesterday was cool, last summer you had a blast, and you have had some amazing adventures....but nothing compared to what is going to happen tomorrow, next summer, or next year!

My word to myself(and you also): dont dwell on the past, look to the future...which is coming into play right now!

two more things: 1. this does not mean you can't be thankful for amazing adventures or experiences in the past, all im trying to say is don't let your self get stuck in a rut of only thinking about the past.2. I use the word "future" loosely. I don't want you to think I'm saying, "always be wishing for what is to come"(this is the opposite of what I'm trying to convey)! When I say "future" I am talking about what is happening basically right now....The future as it becomes the present! ---Matthew 6:34 "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

thanksgiving weekend in pictures

2009-11-29T16:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving at the Clarks. The evening was filled with good food and drink, chess, wii, and much laughter!

Mom and Aunt Karen

Uncle Mark

Tasty!

Pink Lemonade..... :)

Eric

Grandma trying out the wii!

Friday Caleb called me and asked if I wanted to head up to the moutains. I looked at the forcast, "partly sunny", that was better then anything we had had in two weeks so we went for it. It ended up being an amazing day.

The mountains were beautiful! God truly is the best artist around!

Caleb

At the top

Saturday I got to go sailing for a little while with Titus Wenger and Jake Bumstead at Firwood. The wind was a little slack, but we still had a fun time on the Hobie Cat.

Picture of the Week #1

2009-11-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

What I'm Thankful For

2009-11-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

My Jesus. Family. Friends. Sun. Pictures. Road Trips. Africa. Sunsets. Water. Cars. My Church. Schooling. Tea. The Ocean. Conversations. The Sun. Mountains. A Bed. Worship. Food. Bikes. Music. Shoes. Books. Parents. Thanksgiving. Phones. Travel. Power. A Healthy Body. The Bible. Siblings. The Rain. Sailboats. Adventures. My Pillow. Music. Silence. And much much more....

The Art of Saying No!

2009-11-25T19:01:00.000-08:00

Oh how I hate to say no! Whether its saying no to an adventurer, activity, or friend I always find it hard to say "no"!

Two days ago I came up with the great idea that I could spend Tuesday night (last night) in Park Butte fire lookout with some friends. I called them up and after some convincing and switching of schedules we were set. Zach Swanson, Chris Ludeman, and I left yesterday directly after school so we could hopefully finish the short three mile hike before sundown. Due to the elevation of the trail head and the fact of the recent snow, I knew we would hit some snow on the fifteen mile access road. What we didn't realize was that the snow was at elevations a LOT lower then we thought! It was low enough to close the road five miles from the trail head we had hoped to park at....our three mile hike became an eight mile hike and it was already 4pm.

We set out, knowing that it wouldnt be the wisest choice to try to make it all the way to the cabin. After two miles of hiking; we decided to make a group decision, do we continue? Yes(expecting more snow, and probably not getting to the cabin until 10pm); or No(wiser, but way lamer)!

None of us wanting to face the fact that it wouldnt be that good of an idea to continue. "No" was our conclusion! Each of us was slightly ticked at the whole situation as we turned around, but after a few minutes of silence we decided to each say something we are thankful for following the alphabet from A to Z.

We made it back to the car safely and had a fun time hanging out at Chris' for the evening.
However, all the more I realize how much I dont like saying "No" to things!

Why did I think this was worthy enough for a blog post?
Recently I have seen how this concept of saying "no" applies to all parts of my christian life!
Both to saying "no" to sins AND to saying "No" to some "godly" activities! Countless times I have great opportunities to serve or fill my time with "godly" things, but more and more I have seen how many people are too busy in the rat-race of life doing "godly" things! They eventually dont even have enough down time to spend a few minutes a day alown with God and grow in a relationship with him.

Some Pics from the trip.

A sign on the way there.

Zach was very excited about the sign!

Getting ready to start our hike.

Dont give me that look!

On out way home. Donuts always make things better!

New Weekly Post

2009-11-25T16:17:00.000-08:00

"Picture of the Week"

I love taking pictures however I struggle to find good ways to share my photos with others. This is a way I will be able to get some of my pictures, which I haven't printed or uploaded to fb, out for others to see! Hope you enjoy the upcoming posts.

Too True

2009-11-24T08:22:00.000-08:00

Lynden Lions

2009-11-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Last week my sister and I went to watch the Lynden Lions Football team defeat Blackhills. A friend of mine from Box-T, Ben VanderHoek, is one of the Lions leading defensive players; he played great game and the team won 14-7. They went on to defeat Sequim this week and now they are playing in State semifinals next week in Seattle!
Below are some pictures taken from last week's game.

Ben receiving

Getting in on some action!

Nolan Gudde

Celebration!

"Not this way, Bub!" -Ben(ok, well he didnt really say that but....)

Veterans Day Snowmobiling

2009-11-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

Caleb and I made it up for a little early season snowmobiling on Veterans Day. Although we never made it into the alpine, the fresh snow was beautiful!

The set up

Ready to hit the trail

Nice Caleb! (this was a PAIN to get unstuck...thankfully some other snowmobilers passed us and helped us lift it out!

Ya, we're fly!

Bonus Video: Caleb getting stuck!

Mmmhhhh.

2009-11-15T17:17:00.000-08:00

Zach and I had planned to go sailing after school last week, but since there was no wind we decided to go down to Chuckanut. He took me to this amazing beach I had never been to on the south side.

:)

My lil' island

Epic Explorer

Zach! Ya, he's the trees!

picnik.com

2009-11-15T16:16:00.001-08:00

An idea has been floating in my head for a while about making a collage that would look something like what is above. Until just recently I couldn't work up the patience to make such a picture using Gimp(gimp is a photo editing software which allows you to do in-depth photo tweaking similar to Apple's Photoshop). Just recently however, I was introduced by a friend to picnik.com which is a light, easy online editing site. The pictures in the collage below were all edited with picnik.com and put together using Gimp.
Hope you enjoy!(open in new tab for better resolution)

Portland Night Scape

2009-11-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

If you read one of my previous posts, you know that I was stuck in Portland Oregon for a couple hours due to a missed train connection. At the time it was kinda annoying since I had to figure out different travel plans and wait around for 4hrs, but looking back it was nice being forced to take a couple hours and slow down.

What do you do when your in an unknown place with your camera? Take pictures of course!

This first picture is taken in one of the many nice river-front parks in Portland along the Columbia River.

This second picture is taken from the 5th floor of a parking garage I spotted just a little way from the park. I had taken a couple panoramic shots at the park but I didnt really like how any of them came out; thankfully with my higher position, this picture proved worth while! (click on the picture to get WAY better resolution)

Summer Adventures #2-Michelle Africa Bound

2009-11-11T20:34:00.000-08:00

Going though more pictures from this summer and came across some from when we took my sister, Michelle, to the airport to see her off to Africa. Michelle is currently in her 3rd month of a year long internship in Zambia where she is spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching AIDs awareness.

Mom looked pretty fly on the drive there!

Bank Robbers?

Michelle:
1. I love you.
2. You rock
3. Your in my prayers.
4. You better be having a good time over there.

♥

Snowmobile Scouting

2009-11-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine asked me up I wanted to go snowmobile trail scouting with him today! This normally would be a "no duhh" answer...but today I woke up to a nice down pour outside(don't worry, im used to that). After talking with Caleb we decided to go for it; we would be taking his grandpa's rhino 660 up on some logging roads by mt baker.

My partner in crime.(hey, arnt you suppose to be driving!)

My stylish outfit.

Getting ready.

We got to the parking lot and unloaded in a steady drizzle. We ventured up the old logging road for an hour exploring any side trail heading up! We wanted to find a nice meadow at higher elevation to come back to later in the season on snowmobiles.

After about an hour and a half we started to see some snow on the ground. We kept driving and eventually were in 6inch of snow.

We ended up exploring both sides of the valley driving until the rhino couldn't make go further(about a foot of snow). We didnt find any meadows, but we also weren't able to make it to the end of the road! The plan is to keep exploring this area on snowmobiles when we get some more snow.

Caleb coming down

Last Weekend

2009-11-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

....was busy!

Pacific City

This past weekend I had the opportunity to ride the train down to Oregon where I was able to hang out with some good friends and meet many new ones. The main reason that I headed down to Oregon was to talk with some folks who I possibly will be heading over to Africa next summer with to do missions work.

Me attempting to surf

Thursday I left in a whirl wind right after school finished to catch the afternoon train heading south. The ride was nice and I was able to do a little reading and even catch some wonderful zzz's. I pulled into Salem late in the evening where I was picked by Rachel Swanson(boxt friend), then we headed to Sheridan where I spent the rest of the weekend.

Titus riding the wash in.

Friday I had a late start to a relaxing day with little planned. Jonathan Bigelow and I decided to head out to some falls about half an hour away...an hour and a half later we finally found the falls located on some gravel back road. The short hike out to the falls proved worth while; there was a steady stream of water cascading down the probably 60ft free-fall. It was beautiful and very peaceful. After the hike we headed back to the dorm for some dinner which was followed by a surprise birthday party for Jake Bumstead.

Jon-o and I at Niagara Falls

Saturday morning I got to meet with Dan and Regina Bumstead(the folks who I might travel to Africa with). The Lord blessed our time; I was able to learn a little about what they are doing in Zambia, and they were able to learn a little bit about my vision and who I am.
After my meeting Jono, Rae, some others, and I headed out to the Pacific City on the coast. The drive over was amazing, and the beach was even more beautiful. Unfortunately the waves weren't the best, but Jonathan, Titus, and I all got to do a little surfing(it was a blast).

Rachel

Sunday we went to church which was followed by a potluck. Church potlucks rock! Unfortunately I couldn't stay long because I had to catch the train back to bham from Portland. I planed to get to the station about 15 minutes before the train left but....there was steady traffic all of the way. We pulled into the station and I ran to catch the train but....you guessed it. It had already left. Lame. Eventually, after many phone calls to my sister and parents, I figured out that I could catch the 7pm train and be in seattle my midnight. Carla was nice enough to come pick me up and drive me back to Bellingham. Thanks Carla!
Since I had a couple extra hours to kill in Portland, I was able to take a couple pictures of the town(I'll post some soon) and even meet a nice homeless man named Richard.

I♥the ocean

2009-10-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is amazing. It gets me pumped every time I listen to it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsnFvEQYJPU

(This is best listened to in a quiet area with the volume cranked!)

Summer Adventures Part #1

2009-10-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately due to a lack of blogging and picture sorting I was not able to upload many pictures from my summer escapades! Thats about to change! This is part 1 of hopefully many future blog posts of some of the pictures I took throughout the summer.

Family Climbing Trip at Erie:
The weather was decent, Jeff and his girlfriend were up from Cali, both good reason to head down to Mt Erie for some climbing!

Dad belaying Jeff on one of the faces.

Kristen

Dad

Who says males cant multitask. This is me taking a picture while belaying someone...thankfully they didnt fall:)

Mom and Chell

Rainbow

2009-10-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

Tiss the season for rainbows!

Sounders FC vs. Dallas

2009-10-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

Since the Sounders came to Seattle I have wanted to go to one of their games, but haven't had the chance....untill whatcom had tickets plus a bus ride down to Seattle for only 15 bucks!

Zach at Quest Field

Opening Ceremonies

The Swanson boys and Jose

And their off

Zachypoo

Who says soccer isnt a contact sport....

Yellow cards are always nice.

I♥MLS

In the end the Sounders won 2-1.They played a great second half to come back from 0-1.

Blog #2

2009-10-25T14:17:00.001-07:00

I am starting this blog because hopefully with the ease of use on blogspot.com I will post more then I have been on bradwidman.com! Don't get your hopes up though...will see what actually happens.

me