Day 23 of 30

Wow, it's been so long since I've made a daily blog challenge post. I guess it's time because I really want to finish this challenge soon, just to have it behind me. If you'd like to read more about it, especially since it's been so long since I've done one of these, click here to read about it!

Today's Challenge: 23. List your top five hobbies and why you love them.

1. Reading. Reading always puts me at peace if I'm worried about something. It also allows my mind to enter alternate worlds. I love that I can read about anything in the world, and a new adventure always awaits me. I have enjoyed reading since I first learned how to before I was even in school. Books are the one thing my mom ALWAYS bought for me no matter what, and I have always been thankful for that. Reading is more than a hobby for me; it is a passion.


2. Writing. I've always been a writer. It probably has something to do with the mass amounts of books I read, but I always think I have a story to tell. I normally don't share my writing with others, but it's something I enjoy doing for myself. I wrote funny little short stories all through school, expository and research essays in high school, and decided to major in English in college, ensuring that I had PLENTY to write about. I love it. Nothing relives my stress like writing, which is part of the reason I started this blog in the first place. In 2010, I participated in NaNoWriMo (click here to read more about it), in which I wrote an entire 50,000+ word novel in just 30 short days. I still need to edit it because that's not the fun part. Getting my thoughts, my ideas, MY ORIGINAL STORY out there... THAT was the fun part.


3. Running. Running isn't something I have always enjoyed. I ran occasionally with my dad when I was young. I participated in many sports than involved running, and I always knew I had endurance... but to say that I enjoyed it would be a joke. Then, I joined cross country for something to do in middle school. I loved the competition aspect of it and how I could compete against others or just against myself. That gave me a rush, and I continued running for the rest of middle school and all of high school. I always felt confident about myself while running, even if it was a "bad run" day. Then, I stopped running, and that was the worst mistake of my college experience. No, I was never GOOD, and no, I would never have made a collegiate team, but I would have felt so much better about myself had I continued running just for fun. I have picked it back up, however, and I am loving the way I feel about myself. It relives so much stress, gives me time to think, assures a great cardiovascular workout, and allows me to participate in races!


4. Crafting. When I have nothing to do (or those times when I have plenty to do but convince myself otherwise), I craft. That can mean many things. Sometimes, I make things for my classroom, like these canvas letters, sometimes I make things for my friends, like this wine bottle project, and sometimes I make things for myself, like this collage of our engagement photos. Other times, I scrapbook. I have made three giant ones recently, one for my relationship with Dan that covers every picture we have taken together in the past three and a half years, one for my own college experience that covers all four years at the University of Central Missouri and focuses on my time in the amazing national honor fraternity, Phi Sigma Pi, and one of Dan's time at the United States Air Force Academy that I update each summer (and he's not allowed to see it until his graduation day, but he does know I am making one). Crafting, like my other hobbies, makes me happy. It relives stress and makes me feel good about myself because I am good at it (by my own standards).


5. Do I have a fifth hobby? I really can't think of one that I would consider something that I do frequently and enjoy as much as those other four. One part of me wants to think I am a boring person for only having four major hobbies. But the other half of me knows how deeply I jump into all of those other four, leaving no time for a fifth. Is it fair that I skip this part of the prompt? Probably not... but what's a girl to do when she honestly cannot think of another hobby? I guess you could say blogging is a hobby, but I would classify that as writing, which was Hobby #2. Oh well.

It's always fun writing about things I enjoy!