Living Blossoms

I've been writing this survey for a while, adding questions here and there when I thought of them. It will be fun to see if this one comes back around in a few months like the last one I wrote did.  =o)

1. Did you ever wish you had a different name? Not anymore, but when I was a little kid I wished my name was Tiffany, and then a few years later I wished it was Jade. You can see how I evolved as a child. LOL. And can I state for the record how much the name Tiffany would NOT suit me now?

2. What is your middle name? Lynn - just like every other female whose middle name is not Marie or Elizabeth.  ;o)

3. What is something unusual about you? I'm an oxymoron: tomboy who dresses like a girl, logical yet creative, easygoing yet stubborn, unemotional but cries easily, etc.

4. Where does most of your money go? The mortgage.

5. How do you take your coffee and/or tea? Coffee: flavored cream (usually 2 of the little creamer buckets) and maybe one sugar. Tea: little bit of milk, medium amount of sugar.

6. How many miles are on your car? Almost 130,000.

7. You could eat your weight in: home-grown tomatoes with salt. And donuts.

8. What is your favorite lunch meat? Turkey! And bacon!

9. What is your favorite drink? Hard cider. Yum.

10. What is the best movie you've seen recently? Inception.

11. What is the farthest you've been from home? I'm not sure which is farther, Australia or Papua New Guinea, but either one is about as far as you can get.

12. Are you a cat person, a dog person, or a something else person? I'm totally a dog person, but I like cats too. We'd have one if I didn't think Nala or Isaac would kill it. Heh.

13. Is there anything that you didn't like to eat as a kid but you like now? Onions, peppers, coffee, tea, and much more.

14. What do you wear to work? Basically whatever I want. It's nice. When I first started working there I tried to dress in business casual... and then I saw Ken come in in shorts!

15. What are you looking forward to? Going to Ethiopia to get Elijah, and being his mom!

16. What style do you most regret wearing when you were younger? I didn't really have any style when I was younger. LOL. But the bike shorts with large, baggy t-shirts, and canvas shoes were pretty bad.

17. What is the default ringtone on your cell phone? The bridge of "Save Me" by Hanson.

18. Would you shave your head for $1,000,000? $100,000? $10,000? Heck yes! I need money more than I need hair. Hair grows. Money doesn't.

19. If you had to choose one clothing store to shop at for the rest of your life (and everything there was free for you), which store would you choose? If everything was free... oh, man. Maybe Banana Republic, Ann Taylor/LOFT, or a nice department store so I'd have options.

20. What are three things you wish you liked? Exercising, cooking, calling people.

21. What are three things you wish you didn't like as much as you do? Shopping, tasty-but-bad-for-me food, um... always correcting mistakes and inaccuracies. That tends to annoy people, especially when it's for things that don't really matter. I'm trying to be better about this though.

22. Is there anything that you disagree with many of your friends about? Theology.

23. What are some things that it seemed like everyone else had before you did? Cell phones, LCD/Plasma TVs.

24. Why did it take you a while to get those things? I didn't need them and they were too expensive at first.

25. What are some trends you didn't like at first, but they grew on you? Skinny jeans and gladiator sandals (although I still don't like either thing too extreme or on everyone), among others.

26. What's something that frustrates you about yourself? I am awesome at making close friends online, but kind of suck at making them in person. It seems like people are so busy here; it's so hard to get close to most people.

27. Your favorite albums of all time are: dc Talk's "Jesus Freak" and Hanson's "The Walk".

28. What is your favorite restaurant? Carrabba's, or any good Japanese steakhouse.

29. Does caffeine affect you? Rarely and randomly.

30. What is your dream job? To be an actress or own a small restaurant/cafe.

Feel free to comment with some other questions and I'll add them! And feel free to steal this and do it yourself!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Definitely gift wrap. It's so much fun to take off, and looks much better. But usually when I give gifts I give 'em in bags because I always forget I need to wrap them. Hehe.

2. Real tree or artificial? I like the idea of a real tree, and we had a few of them when I was a kid, but I kinda think they're more work than they're worth, especially since a pre-lit fake tree means I don't have to mess with the stupid lights.

3. When do you put up the tree? My family always put ours up the day after Thanksgiving, but Isaac and I are usually slackers and put it up sometime in early December. This year we'll probably put it up this Saturday afternoon.

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime after New Year's.

5. Do you like eggnog? I haven't had any since I was a kid, but I liked it okay then.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmm. Nothing stands way out right now, but there was one Christmas that a church or some other organization gave us a ton of presents because we were missionaries. That was an awesome Christmas.

7. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A holiday nail care kit, LOL. This was back when I was a huge tomboy so I was like, "What the?!" And even now I'm still not sure what all those things were for!

8. Hardest person to buy for? Dad.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Me. Er, I mean, Isaac.

10. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. It was given to me by one of my favorite coworkers at SnS before Isaac and I got married.

11. When do you start shopping? Whenever I see a good deal on something someone will like, no matter when it is.

12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Multiple times. I actually see no problem with it unless something was specifically chosen or made for you. I've only regifted generic presents, like the default "I have no idea what to get her" present for a girl: a set of nice-smelling body stuff. LOL.

13. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peppermint bark! Candy canes! Pie! Turkey! Everything!

14. Lights on the tree? Why would you have a Christmas tree without lights on it?

15. Favorite Christmas song? Hmm... there are several. "What Child is This?" for singing, Bebo Norman's "Come and Worship", Relient K's "I Celebrate the Day", "Mary, Did You Know" by... anyone, and for sheer listening pleasure, there's Hanson's "Christmas Time". And many more.

16. Favorite Christmas movie? Christmas Vacation!

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I like both.

18. Do you always want a white Christmas? They're definitely pretty, but I am far happier here in Florida not freezing my butt off. I figure if warmth and palm trees were good enough for Jesus, they're good enough for me. ;o) But I don't blame people for thinking it's not Christmas without snow (even though most of the world never/rarely has snow for Christmas) because it's been drilled into our heads for decades now that that's the ideal.

19. Angel or star on top of the tree? I prefer stars, but angels are pretty too.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning, definitely, although I'm cool with opening one the night before.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? In general, commercialism and greed. Specifically, this year, those Gap chanting commercials are driving me up the wall.

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don't like tree themes. They look pretty but they usually have no sentimental value. My ornaments are every color in the rainbow and more, and they nearly all have meaning beyond just a decoration.

23. Favorite food at Christmas dinner? I can't choose!

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? $25,000 to bring my baby/ies home without draining our savings. On a smaller scale, I'd love some slippers that cover my ankles, a 50mm f/1.8 lens for my Canon XSi, and gift cards for stores or restaurants so we can still shop and eat out while saving money.

25. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? Getting an ornament each year. It's always so fun to see which one I get this year. I'm still bummed that my mom stopped getting me one when I got married, and it's been 6 years now!

01. Answer each of the questions below the cut using the Flickr search engine.
02. Choose a photo from the first three pages.
03. Copy the URL of your favorite photos here.
04. Then share with the world.



01. First Name: Bethany. So many great pics came up, but this was the most ME pic.

02. Favorite Food: Tomatoes. *licks lips*

03. Hometown: Jacksonville, FL is home now.

04. Favorite Color: Purple.

05. Celebrity Crush: Taylor Hanson. For 11½ years, and counting!

06. Favorite Drink: Cherry Coke. Who knew it could be so cute?

07. Dream Holiday: a beach in Australia.

08. Favorite Dessert: Fresh berries. I could eat berries with every meal and never tire of them.

09. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up: Adoptive mom. I first put in "actress", but all the results were lame.

10. What I Love Most In The World: Husband. (Because all the "Jesus" ones were cliche.)

11. One Word That Describes Me: Optimistic, because "easygoing" didn't return anything good.

12. My LiveJournal Name: kimana83. Actually, just kimana, because kimana83 got no results.

1. 171/365, 2. f.r.e.s.h. tomatolicious, 3. Sundown, 4. purple sea snails, 5. Taylor, 6. Like my costume?, 7. Little beach, NE Australia, 8. Fresh from the market, 9. White Tiger Cubs with Chimp Mom. , 10. Husband's Valentine 13/29, 11. Feeling optimistic, 12. Blick auf Kilimanjaro im Kimana Reservat

When I did that silly, short survey the other day and said I ought to write one of my own, a few of you said I should. So, caving to peer pressure, I did. For those reading this on Facebook or who aren't on my LJ friends' list, I assure you that despite your being able to see my posts as two surveys in a row, there were other things between. You're just not allowed to see them. Hmm. I'm not sure if that will actually make you feel better...  ;o)

1. What are your first and middle names? Bethany Lynn
2. When you were a kid, did you wish you were named something else? If so, what? Oh, I had many I wished for. Tiffany, Jessica, Jasmine, and Jade were some. And I've been happy that my name is not any of those for well over a decade now. Hehe.
3. What is your favorite national pizza chain? Pizza Hut
4. How many pairs of shoes do you own? I really have no idea. More than I used to, that's for sure. I do have 20 or so pairs of flip-flops, but that includes my dressy ones.
5. What is one TV show you’ve seen at least one episode of, but you can’t stand? Big Brother
6. What’s your favorite cereal? Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Multi-Grain Cheerios, or Cookie Crisp.
7. Would you rather have temperatures above 100º or below 30º? Above 100, especially if I can go to the beach!
8. What is the best concert you’ve ever been to? Hanson's "Walk" Tour. Followed closely by dc Talk's "Jesus Freak" tour, which I got to see twice, and both times for free thanks to winning tickets from the same radio station 3 months apart!
9. Do you have a college degree? If so, what? A.A. in graphic design
10. What state is home to you? Even though WI, IL, MI and CT are like home too, FL is definitely my real home. I love it here so much!
( Read more... )

Haha, Mr. Monk so would not like that I ended this survey with 64 questions.  =o)

Edit to add: New survey questions from pansyprincess!
65. Have you ever walked out of a restaurant after being seated without ordering anything? If so, why? I know I have, more than once, but I can't think of any specific instance.
66. What's the worst injury you've gotten from an animal? I got a bad bite from a half-blind dog when I was very young - about 4 years old, I think. But despite that I've never had a fear of dogs, and always had an intense love for them!
67. Are you the type of person who enjoys rain or gets depressed by it? Enjoys greatly, unless it goes on for more than 3 days, in which case I start to get subdued and antisocial.
68. Do you enjoy animated films? Nearly always, at least if they're by Disney and/or Pixar and/or whoever made Shrek. Hehe.
69. How do you prefer your steak cooked? Medium if I plan on reheating leftovers, and medium well if I plan on eating the whole thing at the time.
70. What's the last thing you bought? My mom forced me to go to another Goodwill yesterday (the woman is an enabler! An enabler, I say!) and I got a totally cute recently-in-stores blue paisley tee (Daisy Fuentes brand, from Kohl's), some cute denim bermudas, and some really nice jeans. =oD