Fall Survey 2019.

 Leaves I will never rake. 

Because even though the Christmas decorations are out, it's still fall. Sure, it's supposed to snow today, but it's still fall.

1. PSL or peppermint mocha?

Anything peppermint is much preferred to anything pumpkin. Peppermint is my Christmas flavor of choice but, realizing it's still #fall, that's not what this question is asking.
I don't do PSLs though because they're sickeningly sweet and I don't like squash-flavored (however slight) coffee.


2.  Pumpkin bread or pumpkin pie?

Pumpkin cookies.


3. Thanksgiving dinner or Thanksgiving leftovers?

Dinner.


4. Candy corn or Tootsie Rolls?

Candy corn. I confess I threw half a bag away last week though because, after multiple days of bingeing on it after Wells was in bed, I realized it was leading to some real poor sleep at night. And sleep cannot be compromised on during this season of life.


5. Haunted house or pumpkin patch?

I worked at a haunted house as a teenager and I almost want to say haunted house because the weather is iffy at pumpkin patches. I've never been to one where I wasn't sweating to death or freezing. But I don't particularly like being scared.


6. Corn maze or hayride?

I've never actually done a corn maze. I did a hayride once.


7. Caramel apple or candy apple?

Caramel. I don't know that I ever had a regular candy apple, though. They never look that appealing.


8. Boots or scarves?

Boots. Always.


9. Holiday movies or holiday music?

I don't do a lot of music, so movies. I need to find a way to get good ones this year. The Netflix/Hulu selections are weak and I don't have a DVR, but I could probably play the Hallmark channel all day in the background. I own a few of the classics but I don't think we have a DVD player anymore. I may need to start from scratch in order to start a true holiday movie collection.

10. Tire swing or jumping in leaves?

Tire swing. Though, I might get sick as an adult. I developed some pretty intense motion-sickness post pregnancy. 


Borrowing this survey from Michelle!

Because everyone else did the survey...

I am not a spring person. I am a fall person. You'll notice that my answers below are entirely colored by my experience in Colorado, which has really just been the manual labor I've been subjected to on our 35 acres in the last 4 years. No one expected Scott to deploy three times out of this base or go away to multiple field exercises or trainings, leaving me to my own (weak arm) strength and devices. However, if I've learned to dislike one season lately, it's been the onset of spring/summer because it's just so. much. work. I don't know if I ever felt this way about spring in other places? Spring in Missouri, for example, is delightful.

From last summer-ish

1. What 3 colors remind you most of Spring?  Things with flowers on them. Pink, yellow, etc. 

2. What is the first thing you’d add to your wardrobe in Spring?  Usually a new dress I can wear to work. 

3. What is the first wardrobe item you ditch in Spring?   Boots. I've already packed up all but one pair. Hope it doesn't snow again. 

4. Who mows the grass where you live?   Whoever has time to hook up the mower to the four-wheeler and ride through the field. Seriously. Usually it's me because I have time in the summer. Scott, if he's home and not deployed, will do it on the weekends. Everyone else's answers to this question crack me up: Yes, I do use an actual tractor/brushhog-like device to mow the field. My entire summer is usually spent on property maintenance in this way. 

5. What’s Spring like where you live?  It's not much different from winter. Just lighter out and trees start to bud. Honestly, January through May all kind of runs together in Colorado. And we'll get a snowstorm in late April to finish out "winter". It's usually just semi-warm, windy, and dry. 

6. What’s Your favorite thing about Spring?  I like wrapping up school years and finalizing things in that way. I see spring as an "end" and usually view fall as a "beginning" because of the teaching thing. 

7. Are you a Spring Cleaner?   Not really. I clean all the time, and usually do a major purge/cleaning after each holiday or before a transition like a new school year. January and then July are my big cleaning months. 

8. Are you a Baseball Fan?   Not even a little bit. I count down the days until football season, though. 

9. Tulips or Daffodils?   Orange tulips. 

10. Favorite Outdoor Spring Activity? I like walking the dogs? But I do that year-round. 

11. Flowers in the Ground or in Pots?   I like flowers a lot but they've been known to die under my care. 

12. Favorite Bird?  Whatever the dogs can flush out of the field and chase. I don't generally care for birds. However, we have some little birds that live in our porch rafters and I don't turn on the porch light at night because that seems mean when they're right next to it trying to sleep (I understand how strange of a habit this is). 

13. Car Wash or Wash Vehicles at Home? I have so much mowing to do that I don't have time to wash cars. I go to the car wash. Scott will wash them at home though. 

14. When Do You pull out Your sandals?   As soon as I've gotten a pedicure or given myself a decent one. (Speaking of, I painted my toenails on Sunday and that's likely the last time I'll attempt it myself til after this baby is born. Holy cow.)

The Blended Blog

3 Things (because other bloggers provide the best inspiration always)

Because if we can't get good ideas from other bloggers about what to read, eat, buy, and write, what can we get? Aside from friendship :) 
This came from both Jana and Rebecca. 

^^They're supposed to be hunting. Instead, they took a nap. 

3 foods I hate & refuse to eat
1. Salmon
2. Meatloaf
3. Hardboiled eggs and/or pickled eggs/beets

3 foods I love & eat more than I should
1. Chips. They've always been my favorite food. I have my favorites, of course, but generally just chips (not plain ones though).
2. Cereal. 
3. Pepsi. I've gone through phases where I've been able to cut out soda altogether. This is not one of those times. I just crave a good Pepsi all too often. 

3 chores I avoid until absolutely necessary
1. Cleaning the basement
2. Hanging up clothes in my closet
3. Mowing the field

3 chores I always do
1. Dishes. There's always so many dishes.
2. Vacuuming
3. Wiping off the counters. I can't function if the counters aren't spotless.

3 wardrobe staples
1. Leggings. 
2. Vests
3. Brown boots.

3 things I don't spend money on.
1. Salon haircuts #greatclipsforever
2. Anything on FB boutique sites/Craigslist/etc. I don't browse for things I don't need online.
3. I generally don't buy a lot of books. 

3 things I do spend money on
1. Pedicures
2. Purses
3. Good pens/planners

3 TV shows I frequently watch in reruns
1. The Office
2. Friday Night Lights (before they took it off of Netflix :(
3. Weeds

3 movies I love that might surprise you
1. Inglorious Bastards
2. 27 Dresses
3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

3 genres I generally don't read
1. Sci-Fi
2. Dystopia YA
3. Romance

3 things I'm looking forward to this year
1. Re-doing parts of the Wyoming house. 
2. Cleaning out and packing up my classroom (I'm just ready to condense my career into boxes and move on for now.)
3. Selling this house and condensing our life into one town. This year, I think, is all about prioritizing and condensing. 

Feel free to take this for your own post! Hope you had a relaxing weekend!

A very long survey.

(Copy/paste is not my friend today. So this is blue.)

1. What are your nicknames? What you do like to be called? I have no nicknames. Most often I just hear Mrs. Darhower over and over (and over) again all day long. 

2. What books are on your shelf begging to be read? Red Rising. Been sitting there since Christmas. Also, Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst. 

3. How often do you doodle? What do your doodles look like? I don't really. There's an interesting answer. 

4. What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep? Toss and turn? Try to get up and do something productive? I read and that puts me to sleep real quick-like. Or I online shop and/or get up and do something productive. I rarely allow myself to toss and turn, but that almost never happens anyway. One problem I don't have is a sleep problem. 

5. How many days could you last in solitary confinement? How would you do it? Probably awhile, having been through several deployments and I spend all my at-home time mostly alone. 

6. Do you save old greeting cards and letters? Throw them away? I'll save them for a month or so until I start going through paperwork and then I toss them. I'm not making a binder full of Christmas cards. 

7. What is your dream career? Eh. I want to say I'm doing it? But I always wanted to be a college professor. Professional dog-petter probably isn't a thing. 

8. When making an entrance into a party, do you make your presence known? Do you slip in and look for someone you know? Do you sneak in quietly and find a safe spot to roost? Stay as unassuming as possible and desperately look for someone I know. And usually I dread the party for the three days leading up to it and try to think of a way to get out of it.

 9. What is your strongest sense? If you had to give one up, which would it be? Smells really bug me so that probably is my strongest. Other than that, you can't taste if you can't smell, so...I'll say what Angi said and give up my sense of direction. It's practically worthless anyway. 

10. How many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror? Several. But just because I stand in front of people all day and like to know that I (kind of) look okay. But if I'm at home, rarely.

11. What’s the strangest thing you believed as a child? That thunder was the sound of clouds hitting together. I just assumed that for an embarrassingly long time. 

12. What is one guilty pleasure you enjoy too much to give up? Blogging. Or candy corn. Or Rose Gardner mysteries. 

13. Who performs the most random acts of kindness out of everyone you know? My husband. He insists we buy dinner for random people in restaurants. That's the kind of person he is. 

14. How often do you read the newspaper? Which paper? Which sections? I don't read a newspaper. I watch the news like a fiend though. This is why I won't give up cable. It plays from 5am-7am and from 5pm-7pm every day in the background.

15. Which animals scare you the most? Why? Rattlesnakes. Self-explanatory.

16. Are you more likely to avoid conflict or engage it head-on? I like to do my research and prepare in advance. 

17. What was the most recent compliment you’ve received and savored? Well, I cheated and asked my husband. He said I'm a good dog mom, a good cook, and a good house cleaner because I get "all the crevices". There we are. I know things would not run in the household without me. Scott can deploy and I can manage but I don't know if it'd work the other way around. He takes care of a lot of things, but food/cleaning/laundry is all me.

18. What is something about yourself that you hope will change, but probably never will? I've been trying to convince myself to start getting my brows shaped. I like my thicker, more natural eyebrows and I'm always afraid someone will ruin them. 

19. Are you a creature of habit? Absolutely yes. 

20. Are you high maintenance? Explain. Absolutely yes. This would take too long.

21. When was the last time you really pushed yourself to your physical limits? A few weeks back when I had to help more the old furniture out of the living room. It wasn't pretty. Also, when Scott made me help him lift the 400 pound double-oven into place. Or when I had to help haul a refrigerator down the flight of stairs and then haul another one up the same set of stairs. 20 open-air deck steps that are wooden and wobbly.

22. Do you have a whole lot of acquaintances or just a few very close friends? Why? Both. I have a few friends I talk to every day, both via text and online. Other than that, I have acquaintances all over the world thanks to the army, but it's hard to keep in touch. . 

23. Are you more inclined to “build your own empire” or unleash the potential of others? Who wouldn't want to build an empire?

24. What’s a strange occurrence you’ve experienced but have never (or rarely) shared with anyone? I don't know what kind of answer is expected here. 

25. What do you think about more than anything else? Currently...a few things. But I've really focused in on not trying to play God in my own life. It's a struggle. More often than not, though, I'm thinking about my dogs. So much so that my coworker tried my dogs' names as my computer password at work one day when I wasn't there. (My password is not my dogs' names.)

26. What’s something that amazes you? How life moves along and a lot can happen without you even realizing how much you've gotten through and accomplished. 

27. Do you prefer that people shoot straight with you or temper their words? Tact goes a long way. As does professionalism. Also, if it's not helpful, it's usually hurtful. 

28. Where’s your favorite place to take an out of town guest? Ha. To our home on the prairie. 

29. What’s one thing you’d rather pay someone to do than do yourself? Pedicures. 

30. Do you have a catchphrase? Not really. I say "indeed" and "ah, got it" a lot. And my dogs know my voice when I say iloveyoumylittlefluffernutter. I say that a lot. 

31. What is one of your most cherished memories? Any homecoming ceremony after a deployment. 

32. How and where do you prefer to study? Let's call this "grade papers". I grade papers between 5-9am, always with coffee and a good show on in the background. 

33. What position do you sleep in? My side.

34. What’s your all-time favorite town or city? Oooo..tough. We were really fond of Palmer, Alaska. Alaska was an inconvenient place to live, yes. But that small town was nice. I love Boston though. 

35. What are the top three qualities that draw you to someone new? When they do what they say they're going to do, when they ask questions as well as talk about themselves, when they're generally kind and friendly to everyone (not just me).

36. How has your birth order/characteristics of siblings affected you? First-borns are thought to be high-achieving and I struggle with perfectionist tendencies. Also, I've always been bossy, but not particularly independent. I've gotten better at independence, but I'm also introverted in that I like being alone (and I'm 99% sure I have one of those highly-sensitive personalities), so independence has grown on me. 

37. If you could eliminate one weakness or limitation in your life, what would it be? I plead the 5th on this.

38. If you could restore one broken relationship, which would it be? Probably childhood friendships that went by the wayside after high school and college. I'm generally pretty good at making friends where I am and I love my Co Springs friends, just like I loved my Alaska friends and my Missouri friends. The army has done me a service by bringing these relationships into my life. 
However, it'd be nice if I had the kinds of friends back home that Scott has. I do have friends in PA that I love to see when I can but we'd have to go home for that and we've not done that for awhile. 

39. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? I never wanted a different name because I figured I'd never settle on the perfect one. People do spell it wrong and that's annoying. 

40. Do you believe ignorance is bliss? Why or why not? I kind of learned that the last deployment. There were things Scott and I didn't tell each other because him knowing that the township in Pennsylvania was threatening to fine us over "too high weed-growth" outside our house there...or me knowing that something else went wrong in Afghanistan...none of that moves the needle. I believe there's things we just need to absorb and get past on our own.
And yes, sometimes there's things I'd rather not know.
For example, I don't check my work email on the weekend. 

41. What do you consider unforgivable? Using the last K-Cup. Eating my leftovers. Taking food off my plate.

42. Have you forgiven yourself for past personal failures? Sure. I don't like to dwell on things that can't be changed.

43. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize? I think the issue is that the person doesn't believe they have anything to apologize for and that's not anything I can change. I can usually forgive ignorance, if this is the case. 

44. Do you hold any convictions that you would be willing to die for? Indeed.

45. What three fictional characters best represent you? I'm really not sure. If you have any ideas, please send them my way. 

46. In what area of your life are you immature? I'm bad at money or dealing with things I don't want to do. I will put off phone calls for eternity. In fact, there's one I've been avoiding for 2.5 years now. 

47. What was the best news you ever received? Getting my first real job. I remember the phone call well. 

48. How difficult is it for you to be honest, even when your words may be hurtful or unpopular? I don't go out of my way to tout my opinion about things that may hurt others. It's just unnecessary. However, I've never really cared about being popular, so if someone doesn't like me over the fact that *insert whatever here*, that's not something I can change. I'd like to think that we can find other common ground, though. While I don't want to be actively disliked, I've never felt a compulsive need to be liked. 

49. When did you immediately click with someone you just met? Why? Well, my husband was like-love-engaged-married at first sight. A friend here in CO because we hate the same things. And blog friends are really easy to sort into "yep we click" and "no we don't click" pretty quickly. 

50. When do you find yourself singing? Never. 


Feel free to copy/paste! I got the survey from Angi.