Saturday, July 2, 2011

Screw Regrets

I changed my mind...I have no regrets about race day. Goethe taught us, "Higher aims are in themselves more valuable, even if unfulfilled, than lower ones quite attained."
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I've had quite a day of being bonked in the head over and over a couple times with this message, most recently a few minutes ago at church: Avoid perfection in pursuit of excellence. I'm listening, God.

This morning I took this boy...

this girl...

and this furry one...

...for a hike into Wahclella Falls, where we had a MOST enjoyable time contemplating life...

...searching for polliwogs...
...wondering who or what lives at the back of this very dark and lengthy cave...
...showing off our mad balancing skills over the deep canyon...
...mosying along while being sprayed with water in this deliciously hot weather...
...practicing our bull riding skills in anticipation of the rodeo tomorrow...YEHAW!
...and finding sparkling rocks that we were just sure were our way to fortune...



21 comments:

Pahla said...

Love this!! What a fun adventure you had!

XLMIC said...

Sounds perfect ;-) Love this message! And extra love that you are going to the rodeo!

Kate Geisen said...

That's a great quote. Sometimes I need to hear a message a few (dozen) times before it really sinks in. Your day looks amazing. What beautiful places you have nearby.

Raina said...

I'll have to play the video after there is no conflict with curious george...but i LOVE your outing photos! You get out to hike as much, or more, than I do. That is SO good for the kids and the soul.
I hear ya on the perfection thing. Perfect is NOT reachable and we can really beat ourselves up in pursuit of it.
Hope you have a great weekend, Julie!!

Average Woman Runner said...

That quote is great. I should paint it on the walls of my bedroom to see every morning :)
You live in such a beautiful area - so great that you can take your kids outdoors to explore.

Ransick said...

Beautiful pictures! I missed the RR and am going to read that next.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Susan said...

Julie!
I'm so proud of you - great job! I just had a chance to catch up on your last posts. Wow! You're amazing and an inspiration. Jake and Mia are lucky to have you as a role model on how to live life to the fullest. It's such a balancing act. What I love best is that you're real and you get 'it' - what's important. Like old Abe Lincoln said, "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years." The video is great. Felt like I was there tagging along. Pat the furry one for me and squeeze those lucky kids!
Susan :)

Michael said...

Man that looks awesome!! I missed you race report, heading there now!

Susan said...

Oops! JACK is your son... Jake is my son!

Julie said...

Gorgeous photos!!! And I like your attitude. :)

Have fun at the ro-de-o!

ajh said...

Looks like a wonderful place to be with your kids and dog! Let me know if you like that book. I really enjoyed it. My favorite character may have been Muriel. You'll see.

misszippy said...

Holy cow that's some beautiful territory there! So glad you found some peace.

Laura said...

What an amazing day with two gorgeous little people! Glad you are in a good place!

Pam @ herbieontherun.com said...

Atta girl! Screw regrets!

Anonymous said...

Haha! These children of yours are just like the fearless one who made me go explore the scary mine on a hike some weeks ago! They shame the rest of us... Looks like fun! :-)

Jill said...

Wow, those pictures are fantastic! You and I live in totally different worlds :), we have nothing that green here.

Glad you are at peace with the race...you have such a great spirit!!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

That looks like heaven and I love cave exploring!!

Fruit Fly said...

Your pictures are so fun, I had to Google Wahclella Falls. I laughed when it says they are near "Bridal Veil, Oregon". How cute!

Nikki Kendall said...

I need to visit!

Jen said...

I loved reading your race report. I'm so very impressed with the progress you made this year! That is a great PR and without the calf cramps and backwards shirt incidents, it sounds like it would have been even bigger. You are such a hero in my book. What a great accomplishment and for such a good cause. Really, you're my hero!