Tagged

My friend Jeannie tagged me well over a week ago, and I'm just now getting around to it.

8 Things I'm passionate about

1. Benjamin
2. Julie
   
3. Cooking
4. Reading
5. Ice cream
6. Cheese
7. Photography
   
8. Music
   

8 Books I've read and enjoyed

1. Angela's Ashes
2. The Count of Monte Cristo
3. The Giver
4. Pope Joan
5. The Nanny Diaries
6. Freakonomics
7. The Hiding Place
8. Confessions of a Shopaholic

8 Words or phrases I say often

1. I love you.
2. Your diaper stinks.
3. You're hungry again? Already??
   
4. Thank you.
   
5. How was your day?
6. I'm bored.
   
7. Duh.
   
8. You're getting so big!
   

8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Travel to lots of different places
   
2. Get a college degree
   
3. Visit Oregon
   
4. Learn to cook like a pro
   
5. Learn to photograph like a pro
   
6. Serve a mission with Benjamin when we're old(er)
   
7. Learn to quilt like my mom
   
8. Learn to drive a stick shift
   

8 Things I've learned (or remembered) this past year

1. Be prepared. (for example, when your baby decides to come 4 weeks early, it's helpful to already have your suitcase packed)
   
2. Be patient.
   
3. There is rarely such a thing as an insta-friend. Friendships take time to develop, but they're worth investing in.
   
4. Burning bridges is not the best policy. At some point in life, you will come to those bridges again. (Side note: I am not referring here to any regrets in my life or bridges I may have burnt, but rather to the fact that I have in the past year come back into contact with a lot of old friends, with whom there really hasn't been any awkwardness other than simple passage of time.)
   
5. There's always someone worse off than I am.
   
6. I've re-discovered the joy of reading, and remembered how much I love it.
   
7. Politics aren't just black and white, one side or the other.
   
8. People change, including me.
   

8 People I want to tag

If you want to do this, then consider yourself tagged. If not, then don't.