30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 23

Ok. This has already taken my more than 30 days, but life is that way.  Busy, busy.

Day 23: List your top 3 hobbies and why you love them.

One of my favorites!

1. Reading.  Definitely my #1 hobby.  I'll read anything and everything I can get my hands on. Books, magazines, the Internet, cereal boxes, you name it.  I love to read!  Why? Reading is learning! I can learn about places I'll never visit, people that lived 100's of years before me, people that never even really existed, except on the written page, but become as real to me as my husband or my children.  I have books I have read over and over because the characters are like dear, old friends that must be re-visited from time to time, not because they have changed, but because I have.  I need to see them through different eyes.  Not only do I learn about others, I learn about myself.  I learn that my struggles are universal.  I'm not alone.  Humans all go through the same things.  And, sometimes, I read just to be entertained.  There's nothing wrong with that.  Just being lost in a story just for the sake of being transported for a while!  There is nothing better than that!!
2. Knitting.  Well, anything crafty, but I really love knitting.  It's so relaxing.  I love to make things to give away.  As I create things, I think about the person I'm creating for and pray for them.  I love to watch things take shape in my hands and know that I'm bringing someone joy in the process.  I also love that I can kind of do it without thinking. That makes it easy to just go on "auto-pilot" and just relax while I knit. Other crafts I enjoy are cross stitch and card making, specifically with rubber stamps (I love Stampin' Up!), but those are much more "thought intensive" and I just don't have the time or brain power for them these days.  Some day, I'll get back into them.
3. Game shows.  I love game shows.  I watch them all the time.  I've even gotten my 2 year old into them.  He's awfully cute when we watch The Price Is Right and he yells, "Come On Down!".  Ok. Maybe I'm biased!  LOL  I've thought about why I like game shows and I think the reasons are that I love to play along.  I love the challenge, especially with shows like Jeopardy (I'm a fountain of useless knowledge), but I also like watching "average Joes" like me win big.  It's fun.  I hope to go on a game show some day and it gives me hope that I'll get there, too.  One show the 2 year old and I enjoy in the morning is an old show from the 70's called Card Sharks on GSN.  So much fun, just to watch for the fashion and the hairstyles! LOL