Listy Wednesday: Giving Thanks

In honor of Thanksgiving tomorrow, I decided to make a list of things I'm thankful for. Enjoy.

1. My family, husband included. ;)
2. My friends.
3. Having a roof over my head that is all mine.
4. My church family.
5. My relationship with Christ.
6. My freedom.
7. My job and my husbands job, especially given that we have both been unemployed within the past two years.
8. My guinea pigs. They can be a lot of work, but they're adorable and I love them.
9. The talents and passions I've been given and the opportunities I've had to use them.
10. My life in general.

Okay, these are all pretty standard and generic, but I wanted to keep it simple. I'm no less thankful for all the little things, like clean water and a bed to sleep in. These are just the ones that encompass all the little things too.

Friday you get more 30 Things.

Until then.

Listy Wednesday: Jobs

For the return of Listy Wednesday, I will be giving you a list of the jobs I've had over the years. They're in no particular order, like usual.

1. Kennel Worker
2. Stable Hand
3. Childcare Worker
4. Preschool Helper
5. Receptionist
6. Resume Writer
7. Internet Researcher
8. Childcare Coordinator
9. Custmer Service Rep
10. Product Researcher

Nothing super glamorous, but lots of interesting things over the years.

Friday brings the latest installment of 30 Things.

Until then.

Listy Wednesday: Activities I Enjoy

Today I'll list all the things I like to do besides writing. Most of these I don't get to do too often, since my time is super limited, but I still really enjoy them when I can get to them.

1. Reading
2. Doodling
3. Jewelry making
4. Crafting
5. Researching stuff
6. Watching TV
7. Watching movies
8. Baking
9. Learning Spanish
10. Horseback Riding
11. Walking dogs
12. Going on mission trips
13. Volunteering at church
14. Yoga
15. Drawing
16. Gaming
17. Daydreaming
18. Word puzzles
19. Playing cards/board games
20. Hanging out with friends

On Friday, I'll continue 30 Things.

Until then.

Listy Wednesday: Pets

I decided that today I'm going to list all the pets I've had over my lifetime. I'll list their names and species, but they won't be in any particular order. Enjoy.

1. Bernadette (Bernie), Guinea Pig
2. Amy, Guinea Pig
3. Parker, Guinea Pig
4. Black Suede (Suede), Rabbit
5. Penny, Dog
6. Honey, Gerbil
7. Raphael (Raphi), Gerbil
8. Slate, Gerbil

And that's it. Friday continues 30 Things.

Until then.

Listy Wednesday: Places I've Been Part 3

Today I'll end my series about the places I've been by giving you a list of all the cities I've visited around the world. Well, most of them. There are some towns that I found myself in that I don't remember the names of. Still, I'll include as many as I can, including the country in which they are located if they happen to be outside the US.

1. Austin, TX
2. Rochester, MN
3. Aurora, CO
4. St. Charles, MO
5. Lubbock, TX
6. Minneapolis, MN
7. Rome, Italy
8. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
9. Frankfurt, Germany,
10. Denver, CO
11. St. Louis, MO
12. Colorado Springs, CO
13. Des Moines, IA
14. Denton, TX
15. Post, TX
16. Jacksboro, TX
17. Philadelphia, PA
18. Liberty, VA
19. Mobile, AL
20. Cedarville, OH
21. Savannah, GA
22. Turin, Italy
23. Venice, Italy
24. Guatemala City, Guatemala
25. Chiquimula, Guatemala
26. Zacapa, Guatemala
27. Trieste, Italy
28. Florence, Italy
29. Pisa, Italy
30. Vatican City
31. San Antonio, TX
32. O'Fallon, MO
33. Springfield, MO
34. Rolla, MO
35. Chicago, IL
36. Nashville, TN

I'm sure that's not all of the places I've been, but I'm having trouble thinking of the other cities.

On Friday, I'll continue my 30 Things series.

Until then.

Listy Wednesday: Places I've Been Part II

Today, I continue my series on the places I've been. This time, I'm going to list the states that I've been to. This will include ones I've driven through but not necessarily stayed in. It won't include the ones I've flown over. Enjoy!

1. Texas
2. Missouri
3. Colorado
4. Minnesota
5. Oklahoma
6. Kansas
7. Arkansas
8. Mississippi
9. Alabama
10. Georgia
11. Tennessee
12. Kentucky
13. Ohio
14. Illinois
15. Indiana
16. Pennsylvania
17. Virginia
18. New Mexico
19. West Virginia

As you can see, I've been all over the Mid West, and throughout the South, but not many other places. I've never been West of the Rockies. That's something I hope to fix one day.

Next week I'll list all the (major-ish) cities I've been too, both domestically and internationally.

Until then.

Listy Wednesday: Places I've Been

Today I'm going to list some of the places I've been. This is going to be a series of lists actually because I'm going to break it down into countries, states in the US, and cities (both US and international).

I haven't really traveled that much, so this first list will be short. As usual, there are in no particular order.

1. Italy
2. Guatemala
3. The Netherlands
4. Austria
5. Germany
6. The United States (technically since I was born here, I'm not sure it counts as a place I've been, but I'm including it anyway.)

I've flown over a number of other countries, but never actually been in them, so they don't count.

Next week I'll list all the states here in the US I've been in.

Friday, I'm starting my new series of personal posts.

Until then.

Listy Wednesday: 100

Since it's my 100th post today, I decided I'm going to push myself and list 100 of the names I like best. See, I like names. Who am I kidding, I love names. I have a bunch of baby name books (have since I was a teenager) and I'm always looking up new names and what they mean. So naturally I have a list of names I love. And today, I'll share 100 of those.

This list will consist of both male and female names in no particular order. They are names that I like for a wide variety of reasons, whether cause I would name my kid that or because it's a cool name, or because it works for a character I may one day create. As usual, I'm not telling you which is which. Feel free to guess. Also, tell me which names you like best from my list, or which ones you think I should have included.

1. Lucas
2. Caleb
3. Gavin
4. Brandon
5. Zachary
6. Levi
7. Nathaniel
8. Bryson
9. Cole
10. Braxton
11. Gage
12. Collin
13. Reuben
14. Brice
15. Benton
16. Efrain
17. Callan
18. Alden
19. Justus
20. Rowen
21. Emmitt
22. Matthias
23. Teagan
24. Brendan
25. Brennen
26. Zechariah
27. Emery
28. Braeden
29. Trent
30. Travis
31. Malachi
32. Corinne
33. Lorelei
34. Livia
35. Elaine
36. Kassandra
37. Virginia
38. Elisa
39. Elaina
40. Phoebe
41. Alexia
42. Genevieve
43. Tessa
44. Alexandria
45. Cora
46. Elise
47. Lydia
48. Victoria
49. Chloe
50. Sophia
51. Samantha
52. Zoe
53. Rebekah
54. Piper
55. Brant
56. Aidan
57. Alexander
58. Andrew
59. Asher
60. Benjamin
61. Bennett
62. Blake
63. Braddock
64. Bradly
65. Brent
66. Brody
67. Bryant
68. Cale
69. Camden
70. Christopher
71. Cody
72. Colin
73. Connor
74. Cullen
75. Gideon
76. Daniel
77. David
78. Dyllan
79. Ellis
80. Eli
81. Elijah
82. Elliott
83. Ephraim
84. Ethan
85. Evan
86. Everett
87. Ezekiel
88. Gabe
89. Geoffrey
90. Graham
91. Ian
92. Isaac
93. Isaiah
94. Tate
95. Alaina
96. Amelia
97. Aubrey
98. Tyler
99. Titus
100. Tobias

What are your favorites from my list? What names are missing? I know there are a bunch of guys names, so what girls names do you think I should add?

Listy Wednesdays: Places to Go

This week I'm going to get a little personal in the list and give you a list of places I want to visit. I'm not sure how long it will be, so we'll see when it's done. As usual, in no particular order, just as I thought of them.

1. London
2. England in general
3. Ireland
4. Italy (again)
5. Greece
6. Spain
7. Paris (mostly just the Louvre)
8. Saint Petersburg, Russia
9. Australia
10. South Africa
11. Jerusalem
12. Japan
13. India
14. Jamaica
15. The Caribbean in general
16. Los Angeles
17. San Fransico
18. Washington D.C.
19. New York City
20. Florida
21. Hawaii
22. Alaska
23. Cancun
24. Chile
25. Brazil

Oh look. I actually made it to 25. Guess it's a good thing I mixed cities and countries together into a single list. ;)

Listy Wednesdays: Literary Characters

This week you get a list of my favorite literary characters. I only came up with 20 this week. As always, they are in no particular order.

1. Meliara Astiar from Crown Duel
2. Eowyn from The Two Towers and the Return of the King
3. Faramir from The Two Towers and the Return of the King
4. Tris from the Divergent Trilogy
5. Keladry of Mindelan from The Protector of the Small Quartet
6. Cinder from the Lunar Chronicles series
7. Cress from the Lunar Chronicles series
8. Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heros of Olympus Series
9. Annabeth Chase from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heros of Olympus Series
10. Trisana Chandler from the Circle of Magic and the Circle Opens Quartets
11. Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice
12. Cassia from the Matched trilogy
13. Cat from the Heist Society series
14. Tally from the Uglies trilogy
15. Four from the Divergent trilogy
16. Briar Moss from the Circle of Magic and the Circle Opens Quartets
17. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series
18. Laurie Holbrook from the Lauren Holbrook Series
19. Eff from The Thirteenth Child
20. June Iparis from the Legend trilogy

Listy Wednesdays: Movies

Today I'm going to list a bunch of my favorite movies. They come from all different genres and, as usual, are in no particular order.

1. Pride & Prejudice
2. The Avengers
3. The Proposal
4. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
6. Beauty and the Beast
7. Tangled
8. Frozen
9. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
10. Pirates of the Caribbean: Cures of the Black Pearl
11. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
12. 27 Dresses
13. Letters to Juliet
14. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
15. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
16. Star Trek (2009)
17. Iron Man 3
18. Miss Congeniality
19. You've Got Mail
20. Ever After
21. Mulan
22. Inception
23. The Dark Knight Rises
24. The Princess Bride
25. The Hobbit (both of the two that are out are tied)

Listy Wednesdays: TV Shows

It's Wednesday. You know what that means. I list something.

I like doing this because it's a way for you to get to know some info about me, but in a fun way.

Today I'm going to give you a list of my favorite TV shows. As always, these are in no particular order. I don't necessarily watch all of these all the time, particularly because many of them are no longer on TV, so don't think I'm just sitting around watching TV all day. ;)

1. NCIS
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
3. Stargate: Atlantis
4. Fringe
5. Star Trek: Deep Space 9
6. NCIS: LA
7. JAG
8. Stark Trek: Voyager
9. Stargate: SG-1
10. Warehouse 13
11. Eureka
12. Life (The one with Damian Lewis)
13. Castle
14. Once Upon a Time
15. Downton Abbey
16. Doctor Who
17. Sherlock
18. Elementary
19. Flashpoint (the Canadian cop drama)
20. Veronica Mars
21. Leverage
23. Covert Affairs
24. Firefly
25. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Listy Wednesdays

I liked making the list last Monday, so I've decided Wednesdays will be list days. Or they will be for as long as I can come up with things to make lists about.

Here's the next one: 25 of my favorite books in no particular order.

1. Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
2. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
6. Squire by Tamora Pierce
7. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
8. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
9. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
10. The Final Kingdom by Golbert Morris (The Seven Sleepers Series)
11. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
12. Cress by Marissa Meyer
13. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
14. Divergent by Veronica Roth
15. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
16. Miss Match by Erynn Mangum
17. Matched by Ally Condie
18. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
19. Heist Society by Ally Carter
20. The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce
21. Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
22. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
23. Thr3e by Ted Dekker
24. Legend by Mary Lu
25. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

My Favorite Writing Things

I decided it's time for a list post. (To be honest I'm having trouble coming up with a topic for this post, so you get this list instead). Here is a list of 25 of my favorite things that have to do with my writing in some way.

1. Writing
2. Reading
3. Music
4. Stories
5. World creation
6. Character creation
7. Plot twists
8. Writing sarcastic comebacks
9. Researching other cultures
10. Greek mythology
11. Notebooks
12. Inspiration
13. New pens
14. What if?
15. Magic systems
16. Backstory
17. Happy endings
18. Physical descriptions
19. Horses
20. Adventure
21. Sword fights
22. Chemistry (between characters)
23. Brainstorming
24. Castles
25. Mysterious strangers (in stories only)

There you go. 25 of my favorite (and random) writing-related things.