At the beginning of June, I shared that I was embarking on a challenge to try as many new things as I could over the next 30 days, in order to break out of routine and see what kinds of opportunities popped up. Well, now I’m back to share the results!

I have to admit that I was very gung-ho at the beginning of the month, changing up or trying all kinds of things – big and little. As June wore on, I focused on it less and less. I still think I reaped a lot of benefits, some of them rather suprising.

Here are a few of the highlights:

June 1: I had a training class in the morning but we got out early. Instead of going home or running errands, I decided to use my unexpected free time to get a pedicure. I haven’t had a “real” pedicure in years. I usually prefer to save the money and just paint my nails myself. But, this is about doing new things so, to the salon I went. It was actually really nice and very relaxing. I splurged to have her do the extra spa treatment with the hot stones, and to also paint a design. Turned out really cool and it was a nice respit in the middle of the afternoon.

June 3: Sundays in the summer mean going to the lake and playing volleyball. This particular Sunday there was a lot of traffic along our normal route, so we went a different way. This alternate route ended up taking us through the neighborhood CJ lived in when we started dating. The girls have never been there so as we drove through, we pointed out places and told them stories. We then drove around the lake from the opposite side that we normally do and they saw all the big beautiful lake homes. It was a really nice family drive.

When we got there, we picked out a spot on the beach to set up that was over further than our usual. It was secluded and kind of quiet, which was great. We had it all to ourselves until a church group came in and did a baptism in the lake! Had we sat where we normally do, we never would have seen that. A day full of surprises all around!

June 8: CJ and I had a date night on a river boat! It’s something we did when we were dating but hadn’t been on one in years. This particular cruise featured a Beatles cover band. It was hot but we had a lovely time crusing along the river, with spectacular views of downtown Omaha, while listening to some good music. We even ran in to a couple people we knew!

June 10: The girls came down in the morning and announced they were going to have a “Flavored Water Stand” outside and sell cups of water for $.50 each that people could add their own flavoring to. They got to work making signs and pulling everything together. I figured it was just a game and didn’t think much of it. But then after lunch, they wanted to go out and set it up! They asked me if they could and I thought of a million reasons to say no:

• There wouldn’t be a good ROI (in other words no one would buy anything and then I’d have 2 sad girls on my hands)
• There wasn’t enough time ( I would have to sit out with them and I had other things to do)
• The conditions weren’t right (it was too hot to sit outside in the blazing sun)
• They wouldn’t see it through and I’d end up doing all the work
• The quality would be poor (and customers would be upset)

But then I looked at my girls who had put all this energy in to creating their water stand – they had signs to post around the neighborhood, colored cups ready, flavoring lined up, and a stand built to put it on. Even though I had reasons why it might not work, there was also a chance it would – and valuable lessons to learn either way. So I said yes.

The result? They stayed out there for 45 minutes and made $12! I asked my oldest what her goal was and she said $3. So she far exceeded her goal and learned a lot (lesson #1: don’t go in to business with your 5 year old sister who lasted 2 whole minutes before going back inside). In the end it was fun for them (and yes I’ll admit, fun for me), taught them some good lessons in business and they made a few bucks too. Glad I opened my mind to something new!

June 12 – 13: It was easy to find new things to do these 2 days because I was out of town for work. We went to Jersey City. The first night we got there we went in to Manhattan to see a show on Broadway. This in and of itself isn’t new for me as I saw a bunch of them back when I lived there. However, I was with a new group of gals who had never been themselves so experiencing it through their eyes was what made it fun. We ate Junior’s cheesecake then headed over to watch Denzel Washington perform in “The Iceman Cometh”. It was a good show, but a long one. We were all tired and got a little bored actually, but it was fun.

The next night we had drinks on a rooftop bar that looks out over the city, and then went to Grove Street for dinner, followed by karaoke. I won’t get in to all the details (what happens at O’Hara’s stays at O’Hara’s) but let’s just say when you combine lots of alcohol with karaoke, it gets pretty interesting.

We also had an run in with some Jersey cops. We weren’t sure where to go at one point. I saw a group of police officers standing on a corner so I walked over and asked for directions. They were very nice and eager to help. They even took a selfie with us! Another fun first!

June 22: played in a volleyball tournament that went for almost 5 hours. I haven’t done a tournament in years because they’re on the weekends and I don’t like to have that much weekend time away from the girls. But this one was Thursday night, during when we normally play. We played well and made it to the final game. In the end, we lost and took 2nd place but it was a fun night, great workout, and awesome new experience.

June 24: the girls and I went to the beach by ourselves because CJ was sick. We ventured over to a side of the beach we don’t usually go to and had all kinds of fun. Then on the way home, instead of going straight there, we made a detour to stop at a playground. Isabella had to borrow my shirt because she didn’t want to be out in just her swimsuit. Fortunately I had a sleeveless dress that I was using as a cover up so I wore that. She told me I looked naked because my shoulders were bare. After playing, we ran to the drive thru and apparently I did look naked because the high school kid in the drive thru was all stutters and then called a friend over and they were both ogling me. They even forgot to give me my drink! I just laughed about it.

June 30: I spent the last week of the month sick with a bad cold. However, on the last day of the month, we made it over to Council Bluffs for the annual Pride Parade. We have marched in the parade before, 2 years ago. The girls were super excited and they decorated the little car Cora was going to ride in. They also made litte notes to hand out that said, “Happy Pride Parade Day!”

Cora handed out the notes, along with candy, as we marched in the parade and Isabella pushed her. They were so proud and everyone thought the notes were very sweet.

We had a lot of fun and it was a great chance to introduce the girls to something that’s full of love and teaches acceptance. They are already talking about doing it again next year!

And that was the end of the month! Looking back, it was a very full and busy month, with lots of new experiences. Some big, some small, but all valuable in their own way. While you can’t always travel to mix things up, you can find simple things to do every day. The results may surprise you!!