caprese salad, among other things

Sometimes I think we should get a picture of the Mt. Timpanogos temple for our aparmtment, but all the available prints are of bright sunny days. While that’s all well and good, my imagined ideal photo is of a dark, foggy, drizzly morning, just like the day we got married. One of these days I’ll just have to go out to Utah and take that picture myself.

The Virginia weather on our anniversary was similar, which I loved. We both went to work on May 2 (because we are boring adults like that), then went to J. Gilbert’s for dinner. The steak and salads were great, but the real meal rockstars were my scallops and Jason’s cinnamon ice cream.

Jason got it in his head last week that we should have a caprese salad on Saturday, so we did. I made the balsamic reduction and he did everything else. It was summery and fresh and the apartment smelled balsamic-y through Sunday morning.

I thought about trying to make some Kentucky food for us to eat during Derby coverage (since the race itself is only two minutes long and doesn’t warrant snacks). Problems with this plan: 1) I can’t fry chicken. 2) You can’t buy Ale-8-One or Mingua beef jerky here. 3) A hot brown always seems like a heart attack on a sandwich. 4) All things bourbon-y are by necessity out, which includes juleps, bourbon balls, and authentic derby pie…oh, and beer cheese is out too. 5) It was too warm outside for burgoo. That left pimento cheese, which I admittedly like, but wasn’t feeling velveeta and mayo this particular day.

Instead, we ate frozen firecracker shrimp and arancini from Trader Joe’s. There’s always next year.

Not much else is new in the Frost household. I’m reading In Dubious Battle, which is a (shorter) Steinbeck novel about California fruit strikes. Jason is reading The Sun Also Rises, in anticipation of our seeing a ballet interpretation on Saturday. I’m not sure Hemingway would approve. Neither of us have been to the ballet before, though, so we’re looking forward to it.

Frost Fiscal Year 4

FY4 has been good to us. We’ve settled into our little greater DC metro area life and are happy in our jobs and in our church callings. We didn’t move, which is actually a FY first for us. We read a lot. We ate a lot. We watched many hours of BYU sporting events. Truly, it’s been a(nother) fantastic year.

MAY
Celebrated our third anniversary with a trip to La Sandia, where I intentionally ate a grasshopper. Also, anniversary-gift pearl earrings precipitated the piercing of my ears.

Went Cinco de Mayo food trucking.
Jason Frost, M.A., officially graduated from UK!
Visited the Frosts and attended my first and Jason’s not-first DMB concert.

JUNE
Attended our primary kids’ little league baseball game.
Tried to go to Jazz in the Sculpture Garden, but it was packed so we went to We The Pizza instead.
Spent an afternoon in Old Town just because.

JULY
Were without power for 36 hours during the derecho storm.
Amanda turned 24.
Attended a Nationals baseball game on the fourth of July.

Amanda went to New Hampshire for work. Met up again for a trip to Connecticut to see newly-returned-missionary Dave.

Went to the beach for the first time in too many years.

AUGUST
Amanda and Mom Pullan went to the annual Henderson Topsail Island beach trip.

Meanwhile, Jason and Dad went to a baseball game.

The Heber Pullans stopped in for a visit as part of their great eastern seaboard summer vacation.
Amanda moved into a new office at work.

SEPTEMBER
Jason spent the entire month away on business.
Amanda crocheted a lot while watching Law & Order in syndication, participated in Mary’s fall bingo, and went to North Carolina to see the Holbeins.

OCTOBER
Hosted the Pullan familia (sans Mio and Hannah). Went on many excellent adventures.


Amanda got a passport. Finally.
Enjoyed autumn in Virginia.
Had two days off for Hurricane Sandy, which brought little more than some wind and rain.

NOVEMBER
Jason went away on business (again) and voted by absentee ballot.
Amanda spent election day with Roni in downtown.

Uncle Derek stopped by en route to a conference.
Went on a Thanksgiving morning hike.
Spent Thanksgiving dinner with just the two of us for the first time ever.

Amanda started running in the mornings with Katie and rejoiced at having a running buddy again (finally, almost two years later).

DECEMBER
Amanda surprised the Pullans on a trip to Utah and had a marvelous time (in spite of almost not making it thanks to forgetting my own name).
Went to the Newseum and to see the National Christmas tree.

Celebrated our fourth married Christmas by staying home from work and being incredibly lazy.

Celebrated our fourth married New Year’s by staying home and watching Midnight in Paris and eating a New Year’s squash.
Celebrated our one-year-aversary of living in Virginia.

JANUARY
Jason marked his one-year-of-working-aversary by going away on business.

Laura visited for a weekend and we had a blast.

Attended/loved the presidential inauguration.

Went to see Y La Bamba and The Lumineers.
Made many pancakes.

FEBRUARY
Jason turned 27!
Got new glasses.
Jason rocked Valentine’s Day dinner.
Roni came to visit over President’s Day.

Amanda got into Georgetown Law.

Our venerated little car passed away, so we said good-bye to little Swift…

…and hello to new-to-us Dieter.

MARCH
Had our first snow day, which we got no snow, and a non-snow day in which we did get snow.

Amanda ran a half-marathon in PR time. Jason supported like the excellent spouse he is. Hit Lebanese Taverna for post-race sustenance.

Took a day trip to Annapolis.

APRIL
Went on a pre-General Conference drive out Route 66 to Front Royal.

Watched and enjoyed General Conference.
Hosted Laura for a (brief portion of the) weekend.

Started running together.
Had dinner with the visiting Armentrouts.

Visited Great Falls Park.

Whew. Happy anniversary!

Previous Fiscal Year reports:
FY3
FY2
FY1

2.25 day weekend

Friday afternoon was quiet at work, except for the hordes of pro-life rallyers in matching scarves clogging the sidewalks. If I were the rallying kind, I think I’d pick a warmer day, perhaps sometime in April.

We had a quiet Friday night, with our usual homemade pizza and reading. I’m in the midst of Steve Jobs and it is awesome. Granted, he’s crazy and I can’t give it my wholehearted endorsement thanks to some less-than-savory language, but the story itself is fascinating. I’ve always thought of Apple as its post-1997 cool kid persona and that apparently wasn’t always the case.

Saturday morning Jason scraped the newly-fallen snow off the car like he always does while I sat inside all toasty warm. This chivalry has been going on since we became friends and is wonderful because scraping the windows is something I really don’t like doing.

We headed to Tysons for some post-Christmas gift card spending. We did especially well at Barnes and Noble, where we came away with Julius Caesar, Simon Bolivar: A Life, Sacred Hunger, and The Brothers Karamazov . (Can you guess who picked which? Also, I used to always confuse Simon Bolivar and Simone de Beauvoir. So embarrassing…or it would have been if I’d ever had a conversation about either one.) Browsing bookstores with Jason is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

Post-shopping we headed to La Sandia for lunch and churros, then home by way of the auto parts store for transmission fluid! Adulthood is so exciting. In the afternoon we read and I napped (almost always the result of me reading on the couch). Jason went to the stake conference priesthood sesion and we had pizza for dinner.

We woke up early on Sunday morning and made a breakfast feast: pancakes, hashbrowns, and sausage links. Then we headed over to stake conference almost an hour early and were still on hard chairs mid-cultural hall. The program was good and we were especially glad we didn’t get called up for an impromptu musical number, as one couple in the stake did. Another reason to be grateful we fly under the radar stake-wise. Post-church we ate chips and salsa and built a lasagna bolognese for dinner and were visited by our home teachers.

We had laughable but delicious breadsticks and salad to accompany our earlyish supper.

On Monday morning, my alarm went off at 5:26 as it usually does and I ignored it for a while as I usually do. Then I (as do forty percent of all smart phone users) checked my email in bed. I was pleased to discover that work was on a two hour delay thanks to freezing rain. Lucky duck Jason was on a three hour delay. I reset my alarm for a more reasonable hour and drifted back to sleep. The gym was also closed, so I did a quick DVD workout at home when I woke up, showered, and was out the door by 10:00 AM. A good night’s rest and warmer weather perfectly bookended our 2.25 day weekend.

this week i

- relished non-freezing temperatures.

- realized I forgot to mention the quite wonderful package we got from Jason’s parents, which included earrings and tools and bookstore gift cards and peppermint hot chocolate and Ghiradelli peppermint squares and Trader Joe’s peppermint pretzel slims (oh, and non-peppermint candy too). Yeah, they know us pretty well. My favorite thing was Jason’s childhood letter to Santa.

I’m so glad his mom included it. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

- ate beans and rice and apple salsa for four meals and the aforementioned bag of peppermint pretzel slims. Only ate triscuits for dinner once.

- watched the first half of the national championship football game and fell asleep with my neck wedged awkwardly against the arm of the couch.

- sojourned to Target and froyo with Rashelle.

- paid a professional to cut my hair. Did not invoke the three week waiting period. Was convinced against my better judgement to get layers. Felt a little Anne Hathaway-ish with the first snip. Kidding–it’s not that short.

xhdlkfjsplkdjf = head hitting the keyboard

I would really just like it to be Saturday, thankyouverymuch. This has been a long week. Part of the problem is that I’ve stayed up late every night catching up on my current Law & Order (1995) habit. I’m constantly baffled that scrunchies were once considered appropriate professional wear for an A.D.A.

Here’s how the week went (post-lame-commute-but-awesome-art Monday):

On Tuesday I went grocery shopping. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but sometimes I just really love my handwriting.

When I got home, I fixed two of my dresser drawers with gorilla glue, which made me feel like the Wonder Woman of household repair projects. I got together later that night with my friend/visiting teacher from our ward. She’s hilarious and lives close and we had a good time.

The ward book club’s annual pick-the-books dinner was on Wednesday at House of Fortune. I triple-checked the start time so I wouldn’t turn up an hour early like last time. 2.75 hours and a table-full of tasty Chinese food later, the club had selected twelve books for the coming year. I’m presenting The Sun Also Rises sometime in the summer (July, maybe?) because they’d already read my first-favorite book, Angle of Repose, a previous year. Also: though no longer an integral part of my life, the Sanders-Brown dinner was Wednesday night in Lexington!

Thursday I got up early to rock my long run, which always makes me feel great the rest of the day (but obviously not at 5:30 when I’m rolling out of bed)

I had delicious leftover Thai green curry (simmer sauce from Trader Joe’s + chicken + yukon gold potatoes + pineapple) for lunch and a busy day at work. When I got home, I made a quick pasta with red sauce and loads of fresh mozzarella for dinner, binged on leftover Michelle Obama’s cookie dough (which, Roni, is now gone without ever being baked!), then drove out to Leesburg. Rashelle, Patience, and Rashelle’s mom and sister-in-law and I got frozen yogurt, then went to the ten o’clock showing of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part II. This was my first ever Twilight movie experience and I’ve not read the books, so I was a little confused. Rashelle answered my questions in furitive whispers, though, and I got the gist of what was going on.

I was feeling pretty alert after the movie, so I drove home around 12:30 AM instead of crashing at the Oswald’s. Of course, when I got home I was really awake, which called for more Law & Order! It’s this sort of irresponsible behavior that makes me feel like I’m actually fifteen years old.

Now it’s Friday! I woke up surprsingly early and squeezed in another good run at the gym, bringing my total mileage for the week to seventeen. I can live with that.  I thought about taking myself out to dinner tonight, but I think instead I’m going to throw together some pasta and eat the rest of my 72% cacao Swiss chocolate bar.  I need to do some cleaning and maybe some laundry and go to bed early.

Saturday will be my favorite day of this week…and of November so far.

Other things to which I am looking forward:
- Picking up our new phones. My current one has lost the ability to vibrate. (Aside: you know what kills me? My MacBook laptop, which I received in 2006, only has 60GB of memory. You can get an iPhone 5 with 64 GB! Technology.)
- Thanksgiving. Having the day after Thanksgiving off to lounge about in a turkey coma and not even think about going Black Friday shopping.
- Only two more full weeks of work in 2012, thanks to some schedule-finessing by yours truly.
- 37 days until Christmas Eve (which I might like a little more than Christmas Day).

Superstorm Sandy, Day II

We knew last night that we wouldn’t have work today, so we didn’t set alarms and woke up around 8:30. The power was still on and the bedroom leak had stopped and the crazy wind was over, so we settled in for a(nother) relaxing day at home.

We:

- watched a lot of CNN
- were grateful we do not live in NYC
- talked to both Pullans and Frosts
- made crock pot beef stew and homemade rolls for dinner, which made the apartment smell phenomenal.
- played three games of chess, of which I won two (though one of those was by accident). If Jason hadn’t told me he was checkmated, I would’ve continued playing. I wish I were a more strategic chess player.
- crocheted (me) and finished his Wendell Berry book (Jason).
- watched Law & Order.
- ate more delicious brownies.

Tomorrow we’re back to work, which means showering long before 3 PM and not eating snacks all day long. Here’s hoping the commute is not a nightmare.

autumn bingo: eleven things for which to be thankful

As you can see, I’m a little behind on autumn bingo (but could be winning had I been more judicious in my box placement). In the interest of crossing off more activities, I’ve put together a quick list of ten eleven things for which I am thankful (because having only ten makes number ten seem like it has to be significant. Maybe I’m the only one who feels that way about even numbers).

1. That Jason will be home tomorrow. That he is funny and smart and kind and patient.

2. Our apartment complex is not kicking us out at the end of our lease to remodel, as I have uneasily suspected they would since we moved in. This time next year, Virginia will hold the new record for Frost’s Longest-lived-in State/Commonwealth/Domicile.

3. I live in a place where I get to vote.

4. I worry more about what I am going to eat and how much I have eaten than whether I have food to eat.

5. Done with school. Great jobs. Good health. Wonderful families. {Those all seemed to be in the same vein}

6. The gospel, which is comforting and wonderful and meaningful, but also the church, which provides us with a community wherever we go. Along with this: The Book of Mormon and the temple and General Conference and the opportunity to teach primary (even when I think the kids like Jason better).

7. Friends: old, new, near, far, work, high school, college, church, lifelong, Utah, Connecticut, Kentucky, Virginia, best, etc.

8. My knee is doing great. I’m (fingers-crossed) signing up for another half.

9. Books, especially cheap ones from Amazon and free ones from the library.

10. Hannah returns from Argentina on March 29th!

11. We have a dishwasher.

[Ignore the lack of parallelism. I did.]

the pullans/frosts walk approximately 8.4 miles in very cold weather

We celebrated Columbus Day with a little voyage of our own: to the monuments!

First, though, was breakfast via Dunkin’ Donuts. (Aside: I had my first Dunkin’ Donut at the airport on our honeymoon. Little did I know there would be a DD on every street corner throughout the New England area). Beginning at Federal Triangle, we headed past Taste of DC up to the White House and down to the National Mall.

We hit the Washington Monument (no scaffolding yet), the Vietnam Memorial, the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial Duck Pond (they really ought to post a more prominent sign), and the Lincoln and Korean Memorials. We debated whether to hit lunch–though Robert’s Rules of Order were not invoked–but decided to visit the FDR and the MLK Jr. Memorials first. We eventually headed back toward Farragut West and ate lunch at Potbelly’s.

After lunch we walked all the way from downtown up to Arlington National Cemetary. We arrived about an hour before the gates closed, but were able to see the Kennedy graves and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where we got to see the changing of the guard. That’s one of my favorite touristy things to see in this great land of ours.

We have matching boat shoes, and I own mustard yellow skinny jeans (as seen while waiting for the changing of the guard).

We metroed home, after which Adam and Mom and Dad checked into their hotel–because for some reason they didn’t feel like sleeping on the floor for an entire week–and Grant, Jason, and I watched the Nats lose to St. Louis. We went to La Sandia for dinner, then crashed, exhausted after a good 8.4 miles of walking.

the pullans go to virginia

After the very-early-morning BYU pseudo-victory over Utah State (I can’t call a 6-3 field-goal-disaster, potentially-quarterback-injuring game an all-out victory), Jason and I got up super early on Saturday to accomplish Many Big and Important Things in anticipation of my family’s arrival that evening.

We went down to IKEA, where we picked up four MARTINs, two JEFFs, an OLUNDA, a package of BUMERANGs, four VIKA ADILs, a FJÄDRAR, and a BJORHLOKA (a.k.a. four kitchen chairs, two folding chairs, a Matisse print, some wooden coathangers, four black table legs, and a throw pillow + sham). We were sorely tempted by the FROST, but resisted.

We got home just in time for the first session of General Conference, during which we ate deliwiches and built the MARTINs and gasped collectively with the rest of Mormondom re: revised missionary age limits.  In between sessions, I made bechemel sauce and constructed a lasagna while Jason cleaned. We also hung the new print, which I think ups the ante in our hallway.

The fam hit traffic on 495, so they arrived at our place around 7:45 PM. The boys and Dad changed for the Priesthood Session and headed over with Jason. My mom and I stayed home, ate a leisurely dinner, and ate chocolate chip cookies on our new couch.

The next day, we woke up sufficiently early to shuttle six people through our shower, then drove down to Leonardtown by way of the Jefferson Memorial.

The weirdest thing about having my family in town is that my brothers have grown. It’s been fourteen months since I last saw them, in which time they’ve both gotten tall and manly looking and have low voices. Grant especially looks really different to me (in a good way), and it is mind-boggling that Adam will be a licensed driver/dater in less than a month. I seek comfort in still being the tallest Pullan daughter.

We watched the Sunday sessions of General Conference down in Maryland with Mark and Amy and their fam, taking a break between sessions for sandwiches and a walk down to the bay.

On the way back, Scout the dog started tracking something in the woods, which turned out to be a mole. He caught it, and my cousin rescued it. Moles are gross looking little creatures. Current wildlife report: one crab and one mole.

We returned home late after a great dinner and pleasant evening with the fam.

five pretty great things

1. While half-heartedly making my singleton menu for this week, I realized I haven’t cooked supper for myself since last Monday.

On Tuesday I went to a Relief Society meeting, grabbing some triscuits and cheese as I headed out the door. On Wednesday I ate out after a work event. On Thursday the Oswalds fed me Chinese food pre-football game. On Friday and Saturday Mark and Amy took care of me. On Sunday I ate with a family from the ward.

I think that might be a new non-vacation record for me.

2. On Thursday night, I got a wonderful surprise in the form of a package from my Aunt Sharla. She’s amazing and I’ve always looked up to her. When we were little, she’d have us over for sleepovers and girls nights; my sisters and I were just a tiny bit sad when she got married because it meant less girls-only time together. I miss living close by and seeing her incredibly adorable kiddos grow up.

Sharla and Baby Amanda Panda, circa 1989.

She sent a survival kit, including cinnamon bears (!), brand new sharpies, and three little notebooks. “‘Larla!” knows me very well.

I’m also–and have always been–in awe of her handwriting.

3. Here’s the fruit of my crocheting labors. It’s actually been 98% done for almost two weeks, but I was being lazy about the edging. I think I’ll let Jason see it in person (because I’m a showoff like that) before sending it on its merry way.

4. This is out out of date now. Only six links remain!!

5. On Wednesday, I got to work and discovered that the hem of my dress had fallen out. I was distressed, but my coworker Lisa had a sewing kit. I threaded up some gray yarn and went to work, hemming the entire thing while still wearing it. Definitely required some flexibility and finger dexterity, but I got it done and the hem is good as new.