December: An Update and National Pie Day!

It's December!

Yea, I agree, I don't know where the year went either!! But my favorite time of the year has come at last and friends, there is so much I want to share with you, plus I have a plethora of pictures too!

...here comes the list...

1. Go see Lincoln immediately. I think I've mentioned briefly my huge small crush on Daniel Day-Lewis before, but seriously. DDL is fantasticly wonderful in this movie. And James Spader, who I always want to call Alan Shore from Boston Legal, plays the same character he plays in every movie, a sort of deliciously sleazy guy (in this movie he's a lobbyist). Besides, seeing that movie in November just made me appreciate the month of no shaving a little more. Some of the facial hair in that movie was seriously impressive!

2. CHRISTMAS IS HERE!!! (Actually...it's 24 days away). But in the Soltoff household it's been here for a week and it is fabulous. We got back from visiting family last Sunday and the apartment was completely decorated (inside and out) within about 5 hours. Our tree is set up, twinkly lights are on outside, and Santa hats are being worn daily. It's only the first of December, you say? The more the merrier is what WE say!

3. Let me just say this...getting good grades is kind of addictive. I have been doing really well in my classes this semester, and seeing A's on tests and papers just makes me feel super accomplished.

4. Where did the Caramel Brûlée (I know! Look at those fancy marks on that word!) Latte come from? It's like the Toffee Nut Latte and the Caramel Macchiato decided to have an off-the-set secret love affair. It's tasty and warm and oh so gooddddddd. Definitely my new favorite drink!

5. I made schnecken. For many of you that may not be a big deal. But it was my mother-in-law's gift to me when I became a Soltoff. She passed away last year and so it's been difficult for me to make because it's kind of a "Soltoff daughter-in-law" thing handed down from HER mother-in-law and then from her to me. But I have now made it twice and it's turned out pretty yummy each time. It's a cinnamon-sugar cookie filled with jam and rolled into a crescent shape. The name literally means "snail" in German, and it's sort of really complicated to make. But I think I've got the hang of it, which makes me feel good about myself, hooray :)

6. Um...I have the month of January off? Lock Haven doesn't start school back up until January 28th, so if anyone can suggest inexpensive things for me to do, that would be great. I think I'll try to volunteer somewhere...??!??

Aaaaaaannnnnnndddddd, here are a bunch of random pictures that are cute/weird/fun/silly...

In PA lots of kids get the day off from school when hunting season starts. I was driving home from Lock Haven that day and saw this car. "Why do they have a black rug strapped to the back," I thought. Turns out it was a black bear. How could I tell? When I got closer I could see the little pads and claws on it's back legs hanging off the side #gag

Ariel secretly wishes she was Will Muschamp #muschampmania

This was in Target and I almost allllmost bought it for Ben. Now I sort of wish I had one for ME.

Finished schnecken. Raisin-less for me please! #yum

First snow!!! And hoping for lots and lots and lots more!

...and here are some shots of our decorated apartment! Our Nativity scene that I grew up with and got as a gift last year is on top. 

Bedroom tree! #treeone It's a live one and has candy canes and cinnamon stars on it. Basically the bedroom smells JUST LIKE Christmas every time you walk in. 

Hahahahahahahahahaha...Toilet tree #treetwo 

This is a massive amount of Christmas books that have somehow accumulated through the years...and the shelves are filled with Nutcracker paraphernalia. 

Our Kitchen tree! #treethree

Last of all, here is our Family tree! #treefour. Yup, we have a Christmas tree in EVERY room of our apartment. This one is probably my favorite one though because it has all our cool ornaments. Star Trek light up ones, a pink pig, several skiing animals, a snail, Nutcracker dancers, and a whole host of others, including an incredibly cute picture of five year old Ben!

#happyhusband

#excitedcatmama

#zonkedoutkitty

Lots more to share! Hopefully I'll be able to backtrack and share a few of our fall adventures in the next couple days, as well as our upcoming holiday fun!!

Lots of sticky candy cane love, 

~A

P.S. If you haven't had a piece of pie lately, go out and get your self one dangit! It's National Pie Day! #pecanpieforme

The Wipeout

Today I fell up some stairs.



It wasn't just a fall, it was a complete wipeout. We're talking wet, slippery, rainy stairs and a girl with a full bag, an umbrella and a travel coffee mug.



Now imagine all that splayed alllllllllll overrrrrrrrrr the wet ground.



I got one of those gross wet knees on my jeans that reminded me of being a little kid with muddy clothes.



And man! Did my shins and knees hurt like crazy! Walking around still hurts, and it has been pretty painful to move around today.



The worst thing though was the feeling of total embarrassment. When something like that happens, it feels like there is a massive spotlight pointed right at you and a big-time sportscaster giving a play-by-play of the slo-mo recap. My cheeks hurt from bring so red and I actually almost started crying (from shame? haha or more likely, from the pain).



However, I got back up pretty quickly and gave myself a quick pep talk as I continued to walk to class.



"Amanda, people fall," I told myself, "so you need to keep walking, the day is going to get better. Just keep moving."



And while other little things have bothered me today, I treated myself to a hot chocolate, took a different route on the way home, and even got a package of pumpkin cookies from my family.



All in all...not a bad day.

Love,

A

On Being "Sick"

So my amazing wifey-poo forced me to go to the doctor after I've had a cough for 2 weeks.

Wifey-poo does not equal poopy cow on windshield

I tell them my symptoms ("I have a cough, that's about it"), the doctor looks concerned, then asks me to put on a face mask before telling me I might have this really dangerous and scary sounding "pertussis". Turns out that's whooping cough. Silly me for not getting this vaccine that came out in 2005 (I still don't understand why I wasn't given it when I got all my other shots when I left for college). Of course, the only way to officially diagnose this condition is to shove a q-tip up my nose to the back of my throat and spin it around for a bit. And the test costs almost 200 dollars. And since it takes 3 days to get the results, they'll put me on antibiotics and isolate me in my apartment anyways. So really, why would I want to go through this nasty sounding test?

Silly Obama, helping to provide affordable healthcare for the young and poor

Oh, it's free through my insurance you say? Well in that case, let's do this! I know, I know, I'm contributing to the increased cost of healthcare with all these unnecessary tests. I say, I'm a rational actor doing what's best for me, the rest of the country be damned! Also, the Mrs. would be annoyed if I didn't take the test.

So now, instead of cutting open my butt (that was last year), I get this tube shoved all the way up my nose. Seriously, you could probably see it when you looked in my mouth. Disgusting.

Yup, they did this.

My reaction

So now I'm stuck sitting around the apartment for 5 days, or until they get my test results back. And of course, Amanda's attitude is that "either you're sick and I'm going to treat you like a baby...

Baby

...or you're isolated and then I'm going to be mad that I can't go out anywhere and it's all your fault and I'm going to miss this awesome homecoming parade!"

Pikachu, I miss you!

Seriously, I'm the one potentially carrying this deadly disease, and it's all my fault Amanda doesn't get to see the parade. Who made me go to the doctor again?

This girl

Mmhmm.

~B

Virus Appreciation Day

In honor of Virus Appreciation Day, the radio station I listen to as I go to school every day listed the 25 dirtiest things you come in contact with every day.



Some things that made the list included kitchen sinks, playgrounds, and (really grossly) your cell phone.



What didn't make the list? Toilet handles. Everything else is dirtier than that.



GROSS!!!



Love, A

Name Your Car Day

It's raining and gross outside today.



Plus I have two tests today. I already took one. It went ok, but I would have liked less True and False. Those are annoying because there might be just ONE tiny discrepancy and if you miss it you're done.



Anyways, I'm feeling really preppy today because I have my favorite green Ralph Lauren sweater on with my tall brown boots and jeans. I should be riding a horse around campus. Except it would get wet. A horse with a built-in umbrella.



Today is Name Your Car Day. But mine is already named BNJNDA or Benjanda for those of you who can't fill in vowels/don't know us well.



I always thought it would be fun to name a car after a stodgy old man. Something like Herman or Albert or Norman. Those just seem like car names to me.



We're having chili tonight, and I'm going to VEG because I have to go take another test now. Also it's raining and why wouldn't you veg when it's raining and icky outside.



Love,

A

It's October OOOH LA OOOH LA

I don't really know what that even means, but I felt like typing it.



I'm wearing ORANGE to celebrate October!!!



I'm wearing an orange dress, and I also have on cute boots that used to belong to my mom. I got complimented on them too!



Listen up guys. I'm getting serious. I NEED to keep posting stuff on here. For posterity and also because it's kind of not fair for me to email Ben every day and stream-of-consciousness my morning life. Why not do it here and let the world laugh along with the two of us?!



Also, I wish that I took more pictures but guys, those take SO DANG LONG to upload and reposition and put in and by then I'm tired and want a snack.



The Steelers did NOT play this week, but do you know who did?!!??!



THE REFEREES DID!!! Heck yesssssss they are back in action. With all the worldly troubles out there, I am actually mildly amused by how much news the ref lockout generated these past few weeks. Apparently in America we don't mind if schools fail, but dang it if we are going to let our football league have inadequate refs.



Finally, I want to share with everyone how heinous having a canker sore is. I almost posted an online picture of one, but it's (slightly) before 12, so I won't. Friends, those things are terrible and horrible and how can something so small cause so much discomfort?!



It's almost time for my last class of the day, so I'm going to go. And then I'll go home, snuggle with my kitty, study for my two (!!!!!) tests tomorrow, and probably end up watching a little Downton season 2. Hey, I'm keeping it classy.



Love and pumpkin seeds,

Amanda

Joy comes in the morning

Today's September 11.



If I told you that 12 years ago, you'd probably look at me and say something along the lines of, "yeah silly, and yesterday was the 10th."



But in our country, today has become especially significant, and I don't think we'll ever look at today as just another day again.



Today I have seen so many statuses of people remembering where they were, and tweets stating things like "never forget" and it makes me really think about how diverse our country really is. Our country's citizens were forever changed by the tragedy of 11 years ago. They knew someone in the towers personally, or a friend who was working in the Pentagon. Others were residually affected through the media coverage and reactions of those around them.



For some, me included, I think this event caused them to stand back and see what our country's really made of. In that time of crisis our country put aside party lines and political agendas and came together as one nation to support the grieving and the sorrow fellow countrymen endured.



The reactions that are present in a time of uncertainty define us.



As a country we stood up to the injustice of terrorism with our military, yes, but we also stood up to it with our resilience. We didn't look at the rubble and wreckage and say "well we had a good run, but now we're finished." We consoled ourselves, picked each other back up, and began to rebuild.



So as I'm thinking about all this, I saw a good friend's status with this verse:



2 Corinthians 4:8,9 - We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.



Which in turn reminded me of this song we used to sing in youth group called "Trading My Sorrows." It's a great song, and one line stuck out to me. 



Though sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning



Regardless of religious belief, I think that is pretty meaningful in how our country reacted to what happened on September 11. We were hit hard, sucker-punched by others who were seeking power and attempted to find it through the terrorization of others. But like the verse states, I think our country's reaction and the continued remembrance today shows that we won't let power win. Our country's belief in democracy and freedom lives on because its citizens refused to be shut down by terror. 



September 11 may have been one of the darkest days in our country's history, but the mornings that came after brought joy. Joy that we could remain united. Joy that we could, albeit painfully, rebuild. Joy that democracy was not struck down. Joy that September 11 did not end us. Joy that we persevered until the morning.



Here's to September 12. 



USA! USA! USA!

~A