Two 8 Things Memes!

Nina from Painted Rainbows and Chamomile Tea tagged me for this fun meme. Here are the “rules”: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I am having a really hard time coming up with 8 things about me that you all don’t already know. Seriously. You already know that…

1. The very first thing that I do every morning is get a cup of coffee…before anything else.
2. I must read something before I go to sleep.
3. When I am ready to go to sleep, I rub my foot on the sheet.
4. I don’t eat red meat.
5. But, I do love raw fish (as in sushi!).
6. I am an obsessive list maker
7. I don’t particularly enjoy cooking. If it weren’t for my husband and children, I would still be eating rice and peas for dinner or going out every night.
8. I am a blog and email junkie.

Then, I came across the revised rules for this meme. You share four things that were new to you in the past four years. Four things you learned or experienced or explored for the first time in the past four years. New house, new school, new hobby, new spouse, new baby, whatever. Then you have to list four new things you want to try in the next four years. I liked thinking about the four new things that I want to try.

Four new things I learned or experienced in the past four years:

1. Quit a 15 year career in the corporate world to get my teaching certification.
2. Built a new house from the dirt up…don’t want to do that again for a long time.
3. Became a mommy – twice.
4. Overcame my fear of failure and opened an online store.

Four things that I want to try or do in the next four years:

1. Spend a week at the Jersey shore with my family…smelling the salt air and feeling the sand between my toes, playing in the ocean, taking long afternoon walks along the beach, walking the boardwalk at night…aaaah bliss!
2. Learn American Sign Language – I was so moved when I watched a new friend worshiping through sign language at the women’s retreat. I have often thought about learning ASL, but my experience at retreat really encouraged me to find a class. I’ve been checking out online resources, but I really think that I need to attend a class.
3. Return to China with my daughters to tour their birth country and volunteer at an orphanage. Realistically, this might not happen within the next four years, but a girl can dream!
4. Explore more opportunities to create while contributing to our family’s income.

I am tagging the following bloggers for this meme. You can choose which one to complete or do them both!

Christie
Erin
Robyn
Valerie
PandaMom
Stacey
Cathy
FunkyMonkeyJunk