Brought to you by the letter double-ewe. Er, you.

Happy Monday, friends. I didn't get to blog this weekend, and it felt like FOREVER! Weird. Anyway, I came across a fun little blog chain going around and thought it'd be fun to do. I've been assigned the letter W. Here's how it works:

If you want to participate, leave a comment on this post and I will assign you a letter. You then write about 10 things you love that begin with your assigned letter and post them on your blog. When people comment on your posted list, you give them a letter and the chain continues on and on.

Pretty easy, right? So, here's my list of ten. Hopefully it will be so brilliantly awesome that you'll feel inspired to comment so I can assign you the letter X and watch you sweat and cry over what ten things you could possibly love that begin with X. *sneaky grin* Kidding! I won't give you X. Unless 26 people respond; then one of you is bound to get it.

Right then. Onward.

Ten Things I Love That Begin With the Letter 'W' (in no particular order):

1. Waffles

Who doesn't love waffles? There is such an endless variety of ways you can make and serve them, from buttermilk to whole wheat, topped with raspberries or all snuggled around chocolate chips and drowning in cool whip. You can drizzle them with syrup, or toss on some powdered sugar...seriously, I could eat waffles every day and never get tired of them. Plus, they're just so darn easy to make. I mean, pancakes are great and all, but I just stink at making them that perfectly round shape. Waffles are like, impossible to screw up.

2. World Travel

Pretty self-explanatory. I love to travel the world. I mean, I've only done a little of it, but every place I've been has brought me tons of enjoyment, education and lifelong memories. I love to explore new cultures, try new food, meet great people and try to speak their language. And I love love love LOOOOVE to fly. Love it. If I could fly to work every day, I would. Even though it would probably take longer to take off and land than actually getting there. (Places I've flown to: Brazil, South Korea, and Romania three times.)

3. Walk the Line

I must admit that before I saw this movie, I knew next to nothing about Johnny Cash. But when I saw Walk the Line, I went out and bought Cash's greatest hits album, and was basically in love. With his music, I mean. Cuz he's too old (and kinda dead) for me. But anyway, this is a wonderful movie that I could watch probably once a week and still love it. Joaquin Phoenix does an incredible job as Cash, and the music throughout the movie really sells it. Plus, the guy who plays Elvis (Tyler Hilton) was in my high school chemistry class. No joke. We're totally friends.

4. Worship

I probably should've put this one first, because it really is one of my favorite things to do (not just in a W-only list). Worshiping brings me closer to God, and it opens my heart to receive blessings. It prepares me for a busy or stressful week, and it makes me thankful for all that I've got that I don't necessarily need or deserve. I love singing, journaling, praying, studying and any other sort of activity that allows me to draw near, to be still and rest in the Lord's presence. Walking along the shore of the ocean, holding hands and marveling at the breathtaking beauty of the water, sky, birds and all that...totally my favorite thing.

5. Witticisms

I love to laugh. (Ha ha ha ha! -- Name that movie.) No but seriously, I love laughing. It feels almost as good as worshiping. In fact, a lot of times, I feel worshipful when I laugh (like if I'm just laughing at God's sense of humor, or spending time with Joe and realizing how lucky I am to have him). Anyway, witticisms are particularly great because I like things that take a little bit o' smarts to "get." Every time I hear a witty joke or remark and I totally GET it, not only do I enjoy laughing at its hilarity, but I enjoy feeling intelligent enough to get it. I guess I just love language, really, because I like puns, spoonerisms, plays on words, onomatopoeia (I can't believe I spelled that right!), crosswords, MadLibs, logic problems, rebuses...it's all good in my book.

6. Winnie the Pooh

No, no...don't worry. I'm not one of those grown women who has Tweety Bird plastered all over her bumper or anything. I'm not obsessed with Winnie the Pooh. I just like it. It takes me back to childhood, makes me feel silly and innocent, and is just a classic sort of kids' show/movie that rocks. Don't act like you don't like it, too.

7. Whispering

Okay, so...if you know me at all, you know I'm not exactly a quiet person. I've even been told on more than one occasion that I can't whisper quietly. And it's pretty much true. But I get a kick out of pretend-whispering, like just doing it for no particular reason other than because I got kinda bored of speaking at a regular volume. It's also a rather new love of mine, in the sense that I looooove when Joe just puts his face right up to my ear and whispers, "I love you." Yep. I'm sappy. *Ask me if I care.* <--- that was a whisper, btw.

8. Water

This love is like, a thousand-fold. I love water for so many reasons and in all forms. I love to drink water, I love to relax in a hot shower or soothing bath, I love to walk along the ocean shore and dip my toes in the freezing cold tides, or just sit in the sand and gaze at the waves and see the sun glinting on the surface. I love the feeling of being really hydrated, especially after guzzling a huge bottle of water after a good run. I love the sound that water makes, whether it's rain or splashing in a pool or crashing waves...water is just so cleansing, and so endless. And so tasty. Mmmm...speaking of which...I need to refill my waterbottle!

9. Windmills

I'm from the Palm Springs area, and if you've ever been through there you've seen the windmills. And if you know me at all, not only do you know I suck at being quiet, but you also know that for most of my adolescence, I wanted to get OUT of the desert like nobody's business. I mean, when I graduated high school, I was like, "Peace. Out." And I thought I didn't like ANYTHING about the desert. And then, after I moved away for college, I missed just about everything. Granted, it's still not a place I see myself settling down for life, but it is a beautiful area. And the windmills, while not inherently beautiful, per se, are just a little signal to me whenever I drive to the desert, that I'm getting close to home. Plus, as a kid, I always liked to stare at them and try to follow individual spokes as they turned around and around. So, it's a memory trigger, too.

10. Where’s Waldo?

Much like my love of all things word-related, I also love puzzles. I like jigsaw puzzles and Sudoku and stuff like that. And I really like stuff like Where's Waldo and I Spy, where you have to find things in a mess of visual overload. Just makes my eyes happy, I don't know why. I guess it's just the triumph of overcoming all that traffic and being able to point at some tiny object and say, "I found him!!" And then I always love showing it to someone else, watching them trying to find it while I'm staring RIGHT AT IT the whole time because it's so obvious to ME, duh, because I already found it.


And there you have it. My ten W loves. Wanna play? Leave a comment! Make sure I have a way of getting back in touch with you, like your email address or just the ability to post a comment to your blog. PS - I can't believe I didn't choose WRITING as one of my W's. How silly am I? We'll make it the 11th.