getting out of my comfort zone

last saturday i spent the whole day with people i wouldn't normally go with "alone" - because i wanted to step out of my comfort zone. truth be told, i have all the reasons not to go. i've been sleeping late for the past how many nights so my body was crying for rest. i had a household the night before, which actually finished around 1:30am, and the people who were going aren't necessarily my hang-out buddies.

but i chose to go. i guess i also wanted to make a statement to myself and to them. i'm not sure if it was effective, but one thing's for sure - i had a BLAST!

i went to sleep around 2:30 am and couldn't bring myself up when the alarm sounded at 5am. i snoozed the alarm twice before actually getting up. the gang picked me up around 6. i rode with m&m (mac & mike). lloyd, daisy, & pie were in the other car. we stopped somewhere in dublin to get breakfast and meet with the other peeps.

i tried to stay awake, chatting with the guys, but i fell asleep (does that mean they're boring? hehehe) and when i woke up, we were almost there. yahoo!! we went to bear valley instead of tahoe because they knew tahoe will be so packed. most of them had their equipment. only pie & i had to rent.

the guys went ahead, but daisy waited for pie & me. both of them accompanied me to the super bunny slope called "cub" til lunch time. i was ok. i didn't fall much but i was having a hard time turning. at one point i could only turn right. then after a couple of runs, i could only turn left. then i couldn't get out of my "pizza" stance. by lunchtime we were all tired and were looking forward to a hearty meal!

daisy & i weren't disappointed because they had chinese food - so there's rice! it turns out that she & i share our passion for spicy fried chicken so we bought chicken strips & rice. the guys were laughing at us because they only had energy bars. hehe.

after lunch, they wanted to go to a "scary" (in reference to me =)) part of the mountain, and i chose to stay in the "cub" slope. they didn't want to leave me at first but thankfully daisy understood where i was coming from and she convinced the others that it's ok to leave me alone. they told me to call them if i needed help, and we went our separate ways.

i was really scared on my first lift ride alone. but when i got to the top it was amazing. it was amazing to be alone on top of a mountain and see God's magnificent creation. it would be so difficult not to praise him at such circumstance, so that's what i did! i sung songs of praises while coming down...and it was amazing! i forgot about my fear when i focused on God's greatness. after a few runs i found myself making my turns! ang galing!

daisy called me while i was on my 5th or 6th lift ride. they were inviting me to come with them to the "super cub" slope. i felt confident so i joined them. all five of us (jeel, daise, pie, myles & me) went up that mountain. daisy asked me to choose either side. one was steeper than the other. i couldn't choose so she chose the flatter one for me. guess what?! i made it down without ever falling! omg! that is such an accomplishment!! even daisy was proud of me (she saw my feeble attempts at my turns earlier!)....ang galing!!

after that run, daise, pie, & jeel decided to go back to the lodge. myles asked if i wanted to do one last run, and since the lift rides are closing, i said i'd do it with him. we went down the steeper side, and this time i didn't make it down without falling. hehehe. i fell and couldn't get my skis back on, so myles had to come back up to help me. it took SO long to put them back on, i'm so ashamed that even myles had a hard time helping me out! wahaha! but i finally got them on, then myles accidentally released his hold on his snowboard and it slid down the pathway to the very bottom. the good thing was that the lifts were closed already so there wasn't really much people left. no one got hurt and the snowboard survived.

it was a long ride home! we were only sustained by the thought that we will be having dinner at gerry's grill. unfortunately, the thought didn't translate into reality as there were too many people lined up at gerry's grill when we arrived. we opted to go to toppings 2 instead, where we had a fulfilling, hearty meal!

it was a FUN FUN FUN day!

thank you Lord for allowing me to have a great time while trying to step out of my comfort zone. thank you also for allowing me to appreciate the beauty of your creation - the outside beauty of nature, and the inside beauty of the people i was with!