Friday Fun: Show us your Hobby!

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

Hello there! 

My first Friday Fun topic - yay!

Spending a few years close to the software industry and Atlassian's ecosystem, opened my eyes to many things. One interesting observation is that behind every Jira administrator stands a mighty hobby! Well, okay, not just Jira administrators  

This year the Las Vegas Summit met me with many different and exciting people (Thank you, Summit!). Between the serious conversations, I'm always trying to find more about the person whom I'm talking to, and one of my favorite questions is, "What are doing in your spare time?". Wow, what an answers! There was a man with extraordinary skills in making a balloon art (I saw some photos), people with a passion for muscle cars, marathons, cooking, and so much more! 

For example, one of my colleagues shared with us about his hobby, and it turns out that he loves to weld together metal parts in different constructions. 

Let me leat the thread! Few of my hobbies are hiking, photography, and cooking.

Sometimes hiking in terms of Surviving: rain, mud, cold, thunderstorms. 

Photography and cooking are hanging out together most of the time. 

These activities can always brighten up my day, help me relax, or grab my mind for a moment. :)

Your turn, Community! And don't forget the keyword "show" ;)

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Love this Friday Fun topic, and how you lead with the question when you meet people, of what they do in their spare time. Before I read the book Essentialism, I used to have tons of hobbies, until I started "Doing less, but better".

This is a quote from my article that still stands true "I’ve even applied Essentialism to my personal life. Summers go by so quickly and in the past I always filled my evenings and weekends with soccer, tennis, yoga, golf, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding (SUP) – trying to fit everything in. This summer I’ve decided that I won’t commit to any teams or classes – that way my evenings are free and I can focus as much time as possible on SUP – my true passion."

So there you have it, my true passion/hobby is Stand Up Paddle, and I switch it up between kayaking on those extra windy wavy days. I don't have many photos but this one was one of the first times my dog went paddle boarding four years ago :)

In the past I blogged a lot as well, but got out of the habit of it. I even did a 365 challenge (taking a photo(s) a day and blogging about it for a year): http://jodileblanc.blogspot.com/

Since then I still take tons of photos, and my focus is on nature and stillness these days.

These photos are taken with an old canon powershot (that i used for my blog) or an iphone, so I can only imagine the details if I had a better camera. But I like taking photos in the moment so carrying around a big camera case and putting it together I may have missed a few of these moments (eg. the raccoons and foxes hugging).

Have a lovely weekend!

Jodi

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

Wow, @Jodi LeBlanc, this is fabulous! 

I love kayaking, and always wanted to try a paddleboard! Beautiful photography, thank you for sharing.

I'm heading to your blog; my curiosity wants to see the 365-challenge as soon as possible.

Great weekend to you too!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

I wish you lived closer, you could come try paddle boarding with me :) Thanks the 365-challenge was from 2012. I had a friend that started on January 1st, and my friend and I were inspired so we started on January 7th, and the friend who started January 1st lasted 3 months, and my friend and I that started January 7th made it through the full 365 :) It was fun to do, after that I stuck to monthly challenge blogs as it is a bit less of a commitment.

[A.]

@[deleted] I really need to read that book! I've recently graduated and got my Master's degree and for a couple of reasons, I found myself having 2 months of free time. Don't get me wrong, after 2 degrees and 10 years at University, it felt AMAZING. However, I noticed that I started way too many hobbies at once (mostly things I've been putting off for years due to my studies) and I found myself doing a little bit of this and that and basically planning my days even if I was supposed to be on vacation! I should definitely narrow down my interests, haha.

[Tomáš Vrabec]

My two hobbies on four pictures :-)

Guess that no description is necessary :-) 

[Jodi LeBlanc]

You know what they say, a photo is worth a 1000 words - no explanation required :)

[Monique vdB]

One of my hobbies is birdwatching. I went to Hawaii last month and I just finished going through my bird pictures from the trip. Added 11 new birds to my life list including this Red-crested Cardinal. I love cardinals (we have no bright red birds here in the Bay Area) and I had no idea there was a red-crested version! Such a cool bird!

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

So interesting :) Thank you for sharing, Monique!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Wow Monique, what a gorgeous shot! So colourful! Do you have a Trello board to keep track of all the birds on your life list?

[Jimmy Seddon]

This is a great post @Teodora V _Fun Inc_!

One thing I have always been doing in the spring and summer months is some sort of vegetable garden.  When I lived in an apartment I had a really good belcony setup that has travelled with me to my house:

This year I finally found the time to start expanding (with some help):

Also along the back fence is raspberry canes.  We started with just 4 from a friend and have relocated the saplings so that our entire back fence line has raspberries!

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

Oh wow! I can imagine the feeling when you take the first bite of your vegetable harvest :)

I was sure that exciting things would pop out!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Gardening is awesome in so many ways - looks like you have a great setup and amazing helpers. My neighbour has a massive garden so I love when she brings us over some of her harvest. She is harvesting the green and yellow beans today.

[Jimmy Seddon]

The beans have been slow for me this year they are getting there but not quite ready yet.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

We have had a perfect summer for gardens, my neighbour said this is one of her best years so far.

[Jimmy Seddon]

Oh wow!  I have not obtained that level of garden (yet)!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Your garden is perfect the way it is! But yes she has had decades of practice :)

[Jimmy Seddon]

I'm one of those people who can always see where I can improve upon things I build ;)

[Heth Siemer]

I'm boring. I just watch either Harry Potter (or Shark Week) while playing (watching) video games (that play themselves, auto-chess games).

The best part is I stream.

So people watch me watch Wizards' Chess while nerding out about Sharks. It's great.

I don't have a pic right now so have this instead.

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

Haha the picture rocks!

[Jimmy Seddon]

When you mentioned Wizards' Chess that reminded me of the fond memories growing up playing Battle Chess! :)

[A.]

@Heth Siemer not boring at all! I'm a proud Hufflepuff, by the way.

[A.]

What a nice thread! I'm trying to narrow down the number of hobbies I have.

However, I've been blogging for more than a decade. I run a personal blog, so I can definitely consider it a hobby. Another thing I'm very passionate about is playing The Lord of the Rings Online (which is a Role-Playing game similar to World of Warcraft but set in Middle-earth).

[Jimmy Seddon]

I played Lord of the Rings Online many years ago. I was a part of a couple of the beta tests before it was released.  Then I got married, adpoted a couple of dogs and had a kid.  I don't have time for games that require that much of a time commitment anymore.  But it was alot of fun while I was playing it!

[A.]

@Jimmy Seddon that's awesome! I started playing it in 2013 and, even if I can't play it on a daily basis, I still slowly manage to level up and explore. They've unlocked a lot of new areas recently!

[Dharma Ramos]

Games, at home it is computer games. At my husband's store it is board games, card games, dungeons & dragons, and the occasional miniature game.

[edwin vasquez]

Salsa Dancing!

[Heth Siemer]

The lady in yellow does not look pleased.

[edwin vasquez]

Hopefully someone didnt step on her lol

[Gonchik Tsymzhitov]

I like to collect coins from different countries :)