stop to smell the flowers

Well....I accomplished something today that I didn't think I could. I walked to and from to work! For some reason I always thought walking to work was "soooo far" but when I walked to church last week and had no problem, I figured I could walk the extra two blocks and get to work.

I picked today because I knew I didn't have to run any errands at work, that the weather would be mild enough, and that the Farmer's Market was going on. The walk there was great. It was a bit chilly, but by the time I was half way I was quite warm from walking so it wasn't so bad! I really enjoyed it because it gave me the chance to catch up on some podcasts, take some time for myself and also to get some exercise. In the end, I made it to work in 24 minutes and took two rests. I almost made it in one but didn't want to fall in the street so I decided it was best to just sit. It's never good to start the day of by embarrassing yourself and scraping your knee.

The walk home was a bit more difficult because I was tired from a long day at work and it was warmer, but it was still as pleasant as ever. I stopped at the Farmer's Market and treated myself to a yummy strawberry-raspberry lemonade and a piece of focaccia bread from Red Fox and then visited with Karen, Lori and Marissa at our church's Free Time at First event. We played with sidewalk chalk, popped bubbles and chatted. Then, it was off!

I really love that walk up Davis. I pass Cozine Creek and some cute houses and it's generally a great place to walk. I especially love the flowers in some of the front yards of the homes I pass, and I hope it was OK with them that I stopped to take pictures of them. They were just so pretty I couldn't resist!

The fence isn't pretty but the flowers behind it are!

So all in all, it was a great walk. I feel energized and confident that I can reach my goal. Even though I'm not focusing on distance anymore, I still felt compelled to look at how far it is from our apartment to the office, and it's about 3/4 of a mile, which is pretty good! Today I walked a 1 1/2 miles!