First day of the 3-day weekend!  I decided to get up and run in the cold.  It actually wasn’t bad.  There was no wind, it was just 31 degrees.  With gloves and my turtleneck on, I was fine.  Actually a little sweaty after 2.5 miles.  Funny how I realized that I could have just gone to the gym and run on the treadmill  (that’s what happens pre-coffee, though!).  However, I wanted to get prepped for Sunday’s conditions and be in the cold and out of my comfort zone.

Had some layered blueberry cream of wheat for brekkie when I got back in:

My parents have a new addition at their house as of today!

This is Lizzie – the new lab puppy!  She was pretty sleepy.  My mom bought Lizzie a bankie that she said would be perfect for a pink picture!

Regarding the comfort zone:

The comfort zone is a great place to be, isn’t it?  We feel safe and secure and know what’s coming up.  But the only way to progress in anything is to step outside of those boundaries.  Otherwise it is just treading water.  You don’t need to take a flying leap, but step outside and stay there for a little while.  The interesting thing is, you can expand your comfort zone.  Back in the day (last year…), the thought of running for more than 15 minutes during my C25K training sent me into worry and nervousness, but I also knew that the only way to be able to run that far was to do it and do it again.  Now I can do 15 minutes without even batting an eyelash!

The end result of where I am today was a series of steps outside my comfort zone.  These were steps like the Great Veggie Experiment, which has helped expand my horizon of healthy eating; or buying clothes that fit properly and actually wearing them out in public and getting used to being looked at (this is still a little hard); or deciding on a triathlon.  The duathlon this weekend is another event that is outside of my comfort zone, but I am looking forward to seeing what I can do.  So go out there and challenge yourself a little bit – you are probably capable of way more than you think!

Mom and I did a little consignment shopping today.  I dropped some things off, and had to come home with a couple items – then it was off to the cafe!

Plus this raspberry goodness:

Dinner was one of those fun experiments that turned out good!  I picked up some chicken at the smokehouse today, and we had some andouille sausage.  I also had cubed up a sweet potato, and we ended up sauteeing it all with some cajun spice and added a bit of broth.  Cooked until it thickened up into a stew and it was soooo good!

It’s like fall in a bowl 😀

I am enjoying my weekend so far.  Might see if I can twist John’s arm to do some raspberry picking tomorrow!

Question:  How often do you step outside your comfort zone?