2012 in Review

The best way to sum up my year is...

I never thought that I would feel so comfortable outside of my comfort zone. 

Over the last year there have been times that I have pushed myself to my limit....running 13.1 miles was totally stupid, but I am also considering doing it again. My first triathlon gave me a passion for riding and even running.  If you would have told me a year ago that my husband and I would have a new favorite past time that was free and helped us be healthier I might have laughed at you, and been a little clueless as to what it was.  I am honestly shocked at how much we both enjoy spending our weekends and evenings riding around, and how simple it is to ride and get a cup of coffee together on a weekend morning.

I also want to mention how grateful I am for my new things list in 2012 and the stuff that it DIDN'T include.  As I look over my list there is nothing that is sad or heartbreaking.  I have been extremely blessed and can look back at the year full of adventure without too many tears.  Other than our bikes going missing, though it sucked, the year went over pretty well.  A year of health, rewards, and love, for us and those that we care about.  For that I am extremely grateful.

This doesn't mean that the year was perfect, there were still moments of frustration, impatience, and exhaustion, but none of them had endings that were heartbreaking, and most of those have turned out better than I could have guessed or imagined in the moment.

Through some long overdue changes and some new opportunities, there are now a number of areas that I never or rarely went to that I find myself in on a regular basis.

Basically throughout this year I have stretched myself....even if I only got about halfway through my goal.  I feel like this year of adventure has been good to me, and taught me that it is okay  to go outside of my bubble.  If you have read more than a couple of my posts you probably got the idea that I was living in a bubble for probably about the last 12 years, maybe even longer.  I still consider my world a bit of a bubble, because I don't think that it is possible that one person can embrace the entire community all at once, but I have to say that my bubble has changed over the year.

I have had some experiences that I would repeat, some that I am very excited to repeat (Triathlons again and hopefully at least 2 in 2013).  I also plan on continuing the adventure into the next year, and writing down the new things that I have attempted or accomplish.  Some of the new things that I tried in 2012 have become habits and that is a great reward in itself.

One of the best adventures of this year has been the wonderful amount of new recipes that I have attempted, and mostly succeeded.  I think I have only come up with one or two disasters, and have really enjoyed most of the fruits of the labor.  And the tasty desert treats have been delicious as well....though I fully admit that some of these things cancel out the triathlon training!!

I am looking forward to 2013, and new things that I can try, and hopefully succeed.  If 2013 has half as many blessings I think I am in for a great one!

Happy new year to my loved ones, thank you for being part of the lessons that I have learned over the last year.