Go West, Young Man

I've never had a guest blogger on Beyond Blessed, before. But I didn't feel that I could personally give this particular story justice. So today's post is brought to you by a very special man in my life. Without further adieu, here is my husband, Bradley's recounting of his recent trip out West with some of his buddies. I hope you enjoy his story (and pictures) as much as I have enjoyed witnessing his talent of writing.

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"No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath... We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?" -Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts

There came a time in my life when I realized that, while good, it has been normal. Very few times have I ventured down a road with an unknown ending. Very few times have I rafted down a stream that leads to adventure. I remember standing at the edge of a cliff in Canada at fourteen. I had just watched three of my friends jump into the cool, dark water below, and I couldn't muster the courage to push my foot over the edge and join them. I didn't know where I would land. Well no more. I will live my life for adventure. I will look for the unknown and greet it head on. I want to live!

My best friend from high school called me one day, months ago to tell me that he was taking a trip. A trip that would undoubtedly create life long memories and adventure. Would I go, he wanted to know? I mulled it over with anxious excitement and trepidation, but finally committed. So a few weeks ago, Alex and I left Nashville at 6:30 on a Saturday morning and drove up the interstate to Louisville to pick up the rest of our traveling party and headed west. We headed west to the land of buffaloes, antelopes, and mule deer. We headed west to a land covered in legends and lore of bloody battles between imperialistic Americans, and fearless Indians. We headed west to the Badlands of South Dakota, the Black Hills, and a mountain peak in the Snowy Range called Medicine Bow. We headed west to adventure.

I couldn't have asked for a greater group of guys. We spent the week being "guys". We climbed. We hiked. We played with fire. We camped. We drove, seemingly endlessly, through the night to reach the vast lands that could barely be comprehended by my mind before actually seeing them. I am grateful that they let me into to their group, as they spent four years of college together. I connected with each of them in a different way, but love them all and hope to make memories with them again soon.

We spent two days in the Badlands camping and hiking, and trying to take in all of the breathtaking views. I cannot believe that a place like it exists anywhere on Earth, let alone in this country. There were so many peaks to climb and valleys to look into that a person could not possibly see it all in just a few short days. Wildlife was abundant. Prairie dogs especially impress me. Their communities of mounds and tunnels are so complex, and they even have intruder alert systems to notify each other when someone is near. Buffalo are also impressive creatures. The sheer size and stature of one is enough to leave you in awe of these animals. We actually couldn't get to our campsite one evening, because a herd of about 30 buffalo had decided that the road was an agreeable place to lounge around and lope.

After taking in our fill of the beautiful formations and mounds left behind by nature's effects on a once vast plateau, we piled back in the Tahoe to head north to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. (I feel like now would be a good time to give a shout out to the "Blue Beast", which is the nickname I have bestowed upon my Tahoe. A mere seven months ago, that truck had countless fluid leaks and was barely running, and today it has successfully returned from a 3,500 mile trek across the country. It is a champ, and for a brief moment in time it was fulfilling the destiny that every truck aspires to, adventure.) Back to the story, so two hours north of our desert playground we found an entirely different country that impressed my eyes even more. The Black Hills were once filled by tribes of Lakota Indians, and then and today are considered the central place of their worship and spiritual life. Much like Jerusalem for the Jewish people, the Black Hills were the holy land that Lakota would go to convene with their gods and seek answers to their questions regarding existence and decisions. Today, having lost the land by force and murder, it has become a tourist attraction and centerpiece of American patriotism with one of the many granite mountains being brandished with the faces of four of our country's early fathers.

Now let me also take a side step here to mention, that before I ventured to Mount Rushmore I was given countless warnings about the "let down" I would experience upon seeing this national monument. I was told that it would be a feeling of "driving to the middle of nowhere to see something amazing just to find a piece of rock that is less impressive then you expect it to be." Well my experience was nothing like this. On the contrary, I was quite impressed by the sheer size of the monument and the coordination and skill it must have taken to accomplish such a feat; IN 1930!

That night we spent the night in a hotel in Keystone, South Dakota. We found a local restaurant, one of the few left open since most towns out there close for the season on Oct. 1, and ate dinner and drank whiskey in a replica "Old Western Style Restaurant and Saloon". I had the trout and it was delicious. The whiskey burned like..., well you know, but I had to have some because we were in and "Old Western Style Restaurant and Saloon".

The following day we had planned for a hike up Harney Peak. Harney Peak happens to be the tallest peak east of the Rockies and west of the Pyrenees mountains of Europe. So early that morning we headed out on our next journey. Little did we know what we were in for. The trail we had chosen was nine miles long and led to the top of the peak to a fire lookout tower that had once sheltered rangers as they protected the forest from fires. None of us ate a filling breakfast. The hotel offered a continental breakfast, but only two miles into the nine that we were undertaking, we were all deciding that the bagel and mini muffin breakfast was lacking in calories and necessary energy to keep us going. We tried our best to keep snacking along the trail, and after what felt like an eternity, we were finally to the base of the watch tower and ready to climb. I found that zero calories makes it very hard to lift your legs up 150+ steps and I literally was dragging myself to the top because I was determined that I was going to make it. Once there, the wind was whipping and we were starving so we found shelter in the confines of the watch tower and settled in for lunch. From the top of the tower we could actually see a small fire burning in the forest, so I guess you could say that the tower must have been in a good vantage point.

Upon eating lunch and reloading on calories, we descended from the peak to our campsite. At the end of the day we had climbed for 7 hours and ascended more that 2,000 feet in elevation to reach our final summit point of 7,400+ feet. When we reached our camp we talked to some rangers and told them which trail we had just taken. They were shocked because apparently that trail is a horse trail and nobody does it on foot because it is so treacherous. Oh well. No wonder it was so hard.

After spending 2 days in the Black Hills, we headed out on Thursday morning to our final destination just outside of Laramie, Wyoming; Medicine Bow Peak. Little did I know when we were leaving the hills, but the final two days of my trip would be the most incredible with the most amazing sights that I had seen yet, and one of the most physically demanding activities that I have ever attempted.

We reached our base camp in the late afternoon on Thursday. We had reserved an old guard shack at the base of the mountain to stay in for the night so that we could rise early on Friday to attempt our climb. Apparently in this area of the country you must be on and off a mountain face by noon otherwise you flirt with the chance of getting caught in a storm and losing your way, which can become dangerous, obviously. So we rolled up to our cabin and shooed out all the mice and set to making dinner, starting a fire in the stove, and getting to bed to rest up for the next day. Unfortunately, something that we ate along the way finally caught up to three of the five of us and lead to an interesting night in the outhouse. So, needless to say, sleep was a difficult animal to catch for a few of us that night.

On Friday morning, we woke early and left the cabin at 6:30. The sun was just rising and their was snow on the ground. As we headed out, the air was crisp and you could feel excitement in the air as we all speculated about what the world would look like at 12,000 feet. As we reached the base of the mountain and started to climb, I quickly realized that breathing at that altitude is much different than breathing anywhere else that we had been on our trip or I have ever been, for that matter. For a grueling 1,400 feet, I struggled to take every step with a pack on my back and a 40-60 mph wind blowing at us from the side. What I saw that day, however, was breathtaking. The sky at that altitude is a different color blue, and the mountain was covered in snow already. Every time I stopped and looked around me I found it hard to fathom that God created all of it for me, at that moment. It was incredible. Reaching the summit was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. I had truly given every ounce of strength and energy to that mountain, and I had made it. That was an accomplishment.

Coming off the mountain and getting back in the car was difficult. It was an end to an adventure that I will never forget. It was a surrendering to the knowledge that life isn't lived on mountain peaks, but that there are responsibilities and problems to deal with in real life. It was a realization that no matter where I go next, or where the next adventure ends up, that week, with those guys, and those sights can never be lived again. But it was also an opportunity to get back to my wife, whom I love dearly, and had missed while I was gone. So it was bittersweet.

Where does the next journey lead to, I don't know, but I look forward to living life as an adventure; looking to make memories and make it interesting.

          [Complete Photo Album]

Just the three of us

As I mentioned before, Brad and I went on a little (7-mile) hike over Labor Day weekend at the Savage Gulf in the Cumberland Plateau. It was a little over an hour away, but it was totally worth the drive to share this experience with each other. (Besides, Brad let me listen to two different Taylor albums the whole way there and back. Holla!)

The weather was absolutely beautiful, and some of the trees were even starting to change and their leaves falling! I couldn't believe the look and feel and even smell of Autumn already!

We spent  hours just walking through nature together. Of course, we took advantage of God's special photo ops at every chance.

There is this little crack in the earth called the Stone Door. Rumor has it, the Indians used to travel this course to transport food, water, and supplies from one end of the gulf to the other, since its natural steps were the only path connecting the top of the bluff with the bottom.

The view from the top was incredible. The Cumberland Plateau is funny, because it really does look like God just chopped the tops off of a bunch of mountains.

More of the beautiful view over the canyon.

You know we had to take a million pictures of ourselves (with a little help from some nice strangers).

Seriously, there were cliffs and ledges everywhere. Some of them were absolutely terrifying to be near. There were no rails or anything. We were just supposed to be responsible enough to be careful. Yikes.

Brad packed us a little lunch that we ate on top of the cliff. It was the best view we've ever had at a meal. (Even if it was super cold out there in the wide open with no forest to block the wind.)

Brad searched all day for a suitable walking stick, and it wasn't until there were only twenty minutes left in our hike that he found a perfect one. But don't worry, he spent plenty of breaks "whittling" sticks with his knife. I guess boys just do some boy things that I'll never understand...

Overall, it was a terrific day with my favorite man, surrounded by God's glory and presence through His creation. The scenery was breathtaking, the photo ops were lots of fun, and the hours of undivided attention allowed for some really great conversations and discussions.

I really enjoy times when it's just the Three of us.

PS. I know some of those collages make the individual pictures pretty small, but you can click on them and they'll enlarge. You can even click on it again to zoom in if you're just dying to see our faces even closer up!

Complete Photo Album

Date Weekend

Brad and I didn't just have a Date Night. We had a Date Weekend! Somehow, it worked out that Brad didn't have to work, at all, and he was home with me for the long Labor Day weekend! What a blessing!

 Our wonderful Date Weekend involved:

 - A romantic dinner for two at Red Lobster (where I'm always begging to go, but he's always rolling his eyes at, and I was able to finally talk him into by using the gift card his parents gave us for Valentine's Day. Seven months, people. It's time to use that free money!)

- Followed by a trip to the movie theater. We even semi-dressed up for our little date. You can't tell it by our self-portraits, but I'm actually wearing a dress! (And these pictures are at two different locations, if you can't tell that, either.)

- The most beautiful weather ever, allowing us to live the weekend with all the windows open in the house. There's nothing better than sleeping in, waking up next to your love, and feeling the fresh air breeze all around you.

- A seven-mile hike, with endless hours of undivided time with only my soulmate and my Savior,  that took us to the top of cliffs, overlooking miles and miles of His Creation, and provided uninterrupted opportunities for many great discussions. (A separate blog post and many more pictures to come.)

- Many notes belted out alongside Taylor Swift (2 different albums) every single time we were in the car to go anywhere.

- A couple rented Redbox movies that were a perfect excuse to cuddle with my honey on the couch.

- Frozen pizza dinner. And I'm not talking the little Totinos Party Pizzas, which are great, but not noteworthy, since they're so commonplace around our house. We splurged and baked a Freschetta with the rising crust! (Which, if you know me, definitely belongs on a list of pros for the weekend.)

- Lots of lovin from my other baby, and time to spend "as a family" playing doggy tag and puppy wrestling around the house.

- Mornings sitting out on the front porch in our rocking chairs, enjoying the nice weather and reading individually, but together.

 - Loving some more on Layla, whom Kris and Emily brought home on Saturday.

- A cookout that involved Nathan's brand hot dogs. (Most definitely always a treat, regardless of how often I get to eat them.) Followed by gooey, warm-from-the-oven brownies.

- Waking up to the smell of homemade pancakes by my hubby.

- Baking with my husband as we put some over-ripe bananas to use by adventuring out to follow an online Banana Bread Recipe to a T. The results were wonderful, and the experience was priceless.

- A dice game in which I totally dominated, and during Brad's last ditch effort to beat me, he risked too much and lost all of his points. In your face.

- An hour-long card game of War, where I came back from waaaay behind to kick Brad's butt. Again. (And I appropriately gloated about it for more hours to come.)

- Listening to Brad play the guitar and wonderfully sing songs on multiple occasions.

Overall, it was the best weekend ever. After living with our work schedules for however long, and barely crossing paths with each other, Brad and I so needed some time to reconnect and just spend together, enjoying each other's company. It's nice to be reminded of why we're best friends; why we chose each other in the first place.

The incredible weather throughout the weekend was a constant reminder of God's presence and blessings. All good things come from Him, for He alone is good. Mehaffey Labor Day weekend, 2010 was definitely from Him, because it was good. Very good. Many praises and thanks to my loving and wonderful Lord!

Live Action

So, we played with the camera while we were at the bottom of the waterfall. I'm kind of embarrassed to show you this one, because I look like a dork. (I was posing for the picture I thought Brad was taking.) But, Brad's too weird to not share it.

And I apologize for the sideways view. Now we know...

This one is a good (sideways, again - sorry) video of the actual falls. With this one, you can really see how fast the water was coming down! As well as the wind and the mist that totally soaked us. Oh, also look at the weird, life-like foam that was gathering at the bottom. It was super cool. Hope you enjoy. :)

Adventure for Two, Please

I'm going through a study of the book Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge with a few of my girlfriends. I'm not going to go much into the book, right now (that'll wait for its own post), but its subtitle is "Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul." The authors argue that one of the three core desires of every woman is to be part of an adventure. Well, I couldn't necessarily relate to this particular aspect. I'm not, in general, a very adventurous girl. Anybody who knows me, knows that.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and create an adventure-of-sorts for my husband and me to embark on. Besides, I know that Brad loves to do outdoorsy things, and would love for me to be more interested. And I love to spend time alone with Brad. This was a win-win-win situation.

So I texted Brad and asked if he would like to go hiking at Burgess Falls on Saturday. He quickly replied with a simple "sure." Over the next few days, we got more and more excited about our upcoming adventure. Neither of us have ever been to Burgess Falls, so it would be new for both of us. An adventure experienced together. Furthermore, we were going alone. We've been hiking plenty of times, but always with other people. It ends up being Brad and the boys leading the way for the girls and me who are following behind. We never actually have the same experience. I could not wait to be alone with my husband in the middle of God's glory, and observe Brad in the environment in which the Lord created him to thrive.

Saturday morning couldn't come soon enough. (Well, the actual morning came a little too soon. We were exhausted from the Casting Crowns concert the night before, and hit snooze a few dozen more times than we intended. Oh well.)

After layering on clothing and a conversation-filled, hour-long journey to the state park, we were thrilled to find that the river was exceptionally high due to all of Tennessee's recent rain.

We were definitely anxious to see their waterfalls in action. Burgess falls was actually a great choice for the marital hike, because it's a lot of bang for the buck! You get three waterfalls in less than a mile hike. One hundred feet from where we began, we came across the "First Falls." It doesn't take much to impress us, and we were loving it. The sound of the raging water was absolutely beautiful. It was our first glimpse of God's glory.

Brad and I took our time hiking the trail. We looked at various trees and plants, and all the many different types of mushrooms that were popping up everywhere, enjoying each other's company. Only a quarter of a mile further down the trail, we came upon the "Middle Falls."

It was marvelous. The horse-shoe shape reminded me of a mini Niagara Falls, which immediately reminded me of our honeymoon. (Yea!) Brad couldn't resist throwing a stick (or two or three) from the Over Look to see how far down it was, even though signs specifically said not too. Oops.

When we were finished playing and taking pictures of the Middle Falls, we proceeded on the next quarter of a mile to the "Big Falls." With a name like this, we had pretty high expectations. They were most definitely met! Here is our first view from the Big Falls Over Look. So beautiful!!

After a while of catching our breath that was taken away by the glory of it all, we took the trail down towards the bottom. We could actually walk right up next to the top of the falls. I couldn't believe they let you get so close. Brad continued to throw rocks, sticks, and leaves into the river so he could see how quick the current was. We kept trying to watch it fly over the edge, but it was too fast for us.

Then we went down the (scary) stairs, located right beside the waterfall, to the "bottom." Once we hit the ground, we could immediately feel the mist saturate our clothing. It was awesome.

Brad looked at me, then back at the base of the fall, and then back at me, and asked "Well? Are we going down there, or what?" Without much thought, I said, "If you are, I am!" After all, I was looking for an adventure, right? Here it was. There was no trail to the very base, and the rocks we'd have to climb over were slippery and dangerous! But, together we could do it. Bring. It. On.

We finally made it down, but I did need some legitimate help from my husband for the first time all day. We were automatically soaking wet. The wind and the mist was extremely forceful.

(*TMI Alert*) In the midst of all of God's creation, the wind, the water, the rushing sound, Brad kissed me. We held each other, and the whole world stopped moving. It was just us. Us and God, in the middle of His creation, glorifying His majesty. What an incredible moment!

Besides the super romantic setting, the view from the bottom was totally worth the risk it took to get down there.

After basking in the moment and risking the the life of my camera for some incredible shots and even some videos (to come soon), we climbed our way back up to safe ground. Together, hand-in-hand. We did it. Just the two of us. We went on an adventure, and we succeeded. And the uncanny resemblence to our first week of marriage produced some wonderful memories that we'll always remember.

Thanks, John and Stasi Eldredge, for giving me the confidence and desire to tap into that side of my soul, in turn allowing my husband to tap into that side of his soul. It truly is a blessing to genuinely see yourself (and your partner) as God created.

Have you ever truly felt like you're at one with God? Or seen the Lord shine through the one you love? Ever been on an adventure that's totally out of your comfort zone, but lived to tell about it? Well, then tell me about it. I truly hope that you have experienced the love, passion, joy and peace that I was able to capture this weekend. It's such a blessing.

New Year's Day Hike

Brad started off his new year in the great outdoors. He's embarking on an adventure to experience God through Nature, and there was no better way to say hello to 2009 than a day hike with the guys. His friend, Pat, from church invited Brad to join him and some old friends as they trailed through The Savage Gulf in the Cumberland Gap, which is basically a giant gorge with lots of wilderness and waterfalls. To document his journey, Brad took my new camera with him. He took a ton of pictures, and I'm going to make collages of some of them so you can see more in this post. (I may be doing that more from now on.)

This is a picture that one of the other guys took. If you look really closely, you can see Brad sitting near the waterfall.

I believe it would be impossible to not encounter God when surrounded by His glorious Nature. Thank You, Lord, for speaking to us through Your Creation.

Complete New Year's Day Hike Photo Album