Something New

To continue with the same theme of new, part of my new year's resolutions for 2014 is to try more new things. By new things, I don't mean anything elaborate, drastically different from what I usually do, or anything earth-shattering, for that matter. What I have in mind is to just challenge and expand my comfort zone. Push the boundaries a bit, so to speak. So onward I go, and these are two new things I have tried so far this year:

Taking new routes

I have certain routes for places I go often, such as the grocery store and the post office. But one day, I tried a new road. This might come very easily for some people (Hubby is extraordinary with directions - and I am not exaggerating one bit), but for someone who is often directionally-challenged, this does not come to me naturally. Since I don't have a smart phone, I don't have a GPS at my disposal either. But I looked up directions in advance as much as I could and tried anyway, and it was quite fun! I got to see a part of town I did not see often so it was nice. I also found another new route yesterday, this time without having looked up directions ahead of time. I had to stop for a minute to figure out where I was, but the new route took me to a section of the road I had never gone before, so that was quite satisfying! 

Doing a photo shoot (!)

That is something I had never thought too much about, and I had not had a photo shoot since our wedding day (for which I did not have to think twice about what to wear). But a dear friend of mine, who happened to be a photographer, gave me a photo shoot as my birthday present a few months ago, so off we went! As she gave me specific instructions on preparation, I was a little overwhelmed. I was not sure if I would embrace the idea of having a bunch of photos taken of me, and I had no idea how to pick out "colorful outfits" (how colorful is colorful?) and how many of those to bring with me. But as my friend coached me along the way, both before and during the photo shoot, I came to enjoy it very much, not because my pictures were being taken, but more so I could spend time with my friend as she did something she loved. We giggled, goofed around, and bounced ideas off of each other. Quite fun! And the weather was picture perfect too. It was sunny with blue sky and there was just enough wind to keep the air crisp. I have not seen all the photos yet, but from what my friend showed me from her camera, some of them turned out quite well. :)

How about you? Are you challenging yourself by trying something new this year?