Glasgow

We flew to Glasgow from Dublin on January 5th; we got up at 4:15am, walked 20 minutes in heavy rain to the bus, arrived at the airport and took off around 7:05am. Fortunately we had hotel bookings in Scotland and so we were just hoping the entire morning that they would allow us to check in early. Luckily they did, and we settled in for a nap around 9:00am. We began to walk around the city just before lunch time, and we were really taken aback by the cleanliness of the city. The people were also extremely friendly; our first stop was at a coffee shop and the barista gave us our coffees for free!

After a late lunch, we worked our way over to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (pictured in this post), where we saw old knight armor, a spitfire and a cool Egyptian exhibit. We then found a tavern close by where we got to sample our first scotch in Scotland: Auchentoshen & Bunnahabhain. We didn’t do much for the rest of the evening since we knew we were in for a few intense days in Edinburgh. The next morning, before we caught the bus to Edinburgh, we walked up to the Necropolis, which is an old cemetery which overlooks Glasgow. A lot of the monuments were very impressive; it is definitely worth checking out if ever you are in town.

Galway Girl

Compared to Dublin, Galway was a breath of fresh air. It had all of the charm and character that we were expecting from Dublin but failed to find. Our first night we took advantage of the costal city and enjoyed a fresh sea food platter, complete with shrimp, smoked salmon, smoked tuna and battered and fried cod. We topped the night off at the at the Tigh Fox for traditional live music and Irish Whiskey. The entire bar was full of locals who knew the words to every song and danced enthusiastically. The band accepted Jared’s request for “Country Roads” and the song got the entire bar, as Jared would say, “Bumpin’ and rowdy.”

The next day we took a rough Ferry ride out to Inishmore, one of the 13 Aran Islands. The seas were so rough that at one point I could have sworn my window became completely submerged in water. Fortunately, we made it to the other side, albeit slightly queasy. Inishmore is a small island with only about 800 people. We biked around the island, which was up hill at all times with Gale Force winds at our front, honest truth. We stopped at a little thatched roof cottage café for some homemade soup and Irish brown bread (probably my new faviourite thing). We had our lunch beside an open fire to help warm up. We then made a short hike up to the 400-500 B.C. fort, Dún Aonghasa, perched on the edge of the island cliffs. After exploring the fort, we stopped on the way back to the ferry for a warm Irish coffee.

The following day, we headed out to the Connemara National Park. We drove though the Inagh and Maam Valley and saw sheep roaming the hill sides leading up to the Connermara mountains. Our first stop was the Kylemore Abbey, a former palace with English gardens. It was converted into an Abbey after the first world war by the Benedictine Nuns. We then headed to the Killary Fjord where the Spanish Armada harboured it ships while offering support to Ireland during an early rebellion. Here we also got a glimpse of Irish folklore, a fairy tree. Apparently the tree is supposed to grant wishes if you tie a ribbon to it; although, some of the ribbons looks suspiciously like ladies’ underwear. We then headed to the small village of Leenane and on our way there, our guide pointed out the remnants of potato farms and gave us a brief history on the potato famine. Cong was the last village we stopped in. This village is completely surrounded by water and with the winter rains several of the streets were flooded. In the town, we explored the old Cong Abby that dates back to the early 1000’s. Our last stop was the Ross Errilly Friery, a Monastery that was attacked and raided 7 times. It is one of the best preserved medieval Monasteries in Ireland. We finished the day at another Irish pub for some live music and a couple of pints, our favorites being Galway Hooker and Cute Hoor (gotta love Irish puns!).

Dublin Bound

After a day well spent in Cologne (and 29 Kolsch beers later…), Amanda and I took our first (ever) Ryanair flight to Dublin. Although the plane is packed tighter than a sardine can, we both agreed that the experience was definitely fine, especially given the cost. The one thing we were terrified of was if our bags were oversized. So, we purchased a small duffel bag for each of us (30L) and just found a way to pack 10 days’ worth of clothes, jackets, shoes, etc. in it! We arrived at our hostel at about 1:30am and of course the first order of business was to have Guinness.

The next day we left fairly early to find our AirBnB, which was where we would be staying for the next two nights. After about an hour of searching, we finally found it. Honestly, it looked like a drug house that even addicts would avoid. The entire apartment was not very clean, the roommate was weird and it had an unidentifiable smell at all times of the day. In the end, it served us fine since we spent most of our time out in the city. We began our two day stay with the city walking tour, which was a great way for us to be introduced to some of Dublin’s history. That night we went out for some traditional Irish food, found some live music and killed a few more Guinness’. The next day (New Year’s Eve) we went out to the Guinness Storehouse for a quick tour and a free pint at the top of the factory. The top of the factory was probably the best part of the tour since it was a room completely surrounded by windows, which gave a great high level view of Dublin. That night we joined the big pub crawl (150 people); we went to 5 bars and ended the night at a 7 story club! Surprisingly both of us didn’t have bad headaches the next day, which was great because we had to catch our bus to Galway around lunch time. We were not sad to leave our AirBnB – we both agreed that the only renovation that it needed was an uncontrollable fire.

Make sure to check out the beers slayed page; you’ll see all of the beers we got to sample in Ireland. One thing that caught us by surprise about our time spent in Dublin (well, really, all of Ireland), is how expensive it is. We expected Guinness to be cheap (since we could see the factory from the bar windows), but it still cost 5eu. The same goes for whiskey – we couldn’t find cheap Irish whiskey anywhere.

Innsbruck, Austria

On December 18th we made out way to Innsbruck Austria to celebrate the end of the semester. As expected Jared did amazing, as in top marks and 10 points for Gryffindor! We took a train and to Munich and then a bus to Innsbruck. Despite Innsbruck being 95 km away from Munich, the bus ride was 2 hours and 20 minutes because we had to go around the Alps. We snaked our way along winding roads and had a breathtaking view of the Alps as they first came into view.

Jared set us up with an Airbnb close to the city center. We spent the first night exploring several Christkindelmarks, along the water and in the old town. We had a few cups of Gluwein to fight away the mountain chill and then our stomachs were grumbling for some dinner. We spend the next hour getting rejected from every restaurant despite the restaurants being completely empty. The restaurants insisted that they were fully booked due to Christmas parties; however, I have a hankering suspicion that we looked like a couple of street rats. We finally settled ourselves in a second story Italian restaurant for some authentic, traditional, schnitzel! Jared’s came out looking like a pulverized chicken nougat: lesson learned get pizza at an Italian restaurant not schnitzel. After dinner we headed to an Augustiner brauhaus for a couple pints. Here we met two friends travelling together, one guy was from Russia and the other from the Ukraine. They recommended that we check out a bar called Tribaun. This became our favorite place in Innsbruck. They served unique micro brew varying in flavour and alcohol content. Jared’s favorite was the Beirel Mountain Pale Ale, 7.5%.

Despite staying out until 1 a.m. we decided to go for a small hike the next day. We equipped ourselves with one bottle of water, a bag of peanut M&Ms and two granola bars. We also dressed ourselves in many layers to get reader for the crisp mountain air. We took a bus to get to the base of the mountain to begin our short hike. We followed a bunch of other hikers and mountain bikers to the trails, where we were able to fully grasp the goliath of the mountain we were about to casually hike up. I immediately had second thoughts. We started hiking up the middle path, which was basically mud and loose rock. In about 5 minutes we were sweating, panting and stripping off layers. Two hours later we were finally almost at the summit. We began talking about how excited we were to take the gondola back down, how tired our legs were, how crazy one local man was for doing the hike in his khaki pants and loafers. All our complaints immediately dissolved into fits of laughter when we crested the peak…because we weren’t at the peak, just a small outcropping: we still had a ¼ of the way to go. Another 30 minutes later, we did finally reach the top and a chalet with an outdoor bar and DJ greeted us. We sat outside in beach chairs sipping a hard-earned beer looking over Innsbruck, now so tiny, and the other great Appalachian mountains stretched out before us.

A Wild Tori Appears

On November 18th, Tori Pelletier touched down in Germany for 10 days. On her first night we introduced her to some good friends, smooth drinks and a decilious Döner (a Turkish sandwich similar to a Shwarma). The following day we headed to Basel, Switzerland, for some Swiss chocolate, Swiss cheese fondue and Swiss-priced beers (ouch!). It was a rainy couple of days, so we explored a historical museum and the old Münster Church. We also had our first taste of Glüwein.

Saturday and Sunday we went to Rothenkirchen to visit the Heils. We were immediatley treated to a delicious soup prepared by chef Michaela, complete with German sausage and dumplings. On Saturday night, we attended the official after party of the town's 850th anniversary at the community center. They showed two videos and a slide show of the festivities. In the presentation we were even able to spot a few familiar faces (shout-out to Jeannie, Steve and Willi!). On Sunday, we took Jackson for a nice walk around Rothenkirchen and got caught in a small snow storm. When we got back to the house, Michaela had prepared a mouth-watering lunch of red cabbage, knöddel and a German pork roast. We look forward to sampleing more of Michaela's home cooking at Christmas.

On Monday, we went to Heidelberg to open the Weinachtsmarkt and climb up to the castle. Throughout the day we sampled a few more types of Glüwein including strawberry, white wine, and Heidelbeeren.

On Tuesday, Tori and I headed to Munich. We had lunch at the Hofbrauhaus and Tori tried her first ever wine shorle. Tori then headed to Saltzburg, Austria, where she had some amazing adventers of her own.

We welcomed Tori back to Mannheim Friday night and she surprised us with a fondue pot of our own, so that we could recreate the delicous Swiss fondue we had in Basel. We took Tori out for an authentic German dinner at Alte Simpl for some schnitzel. We saw her off bright and early Saturday monring.

We hope she visits us again soon!

Sunny Strasbourg

On December 5th, Amanda and I took to the rails to spend the day in Strasbourg, France, with a bunch of my classmates. We travelled with two friends on the Baden-Wurttemberg ticket, which means we could get to Strasbourg and back for about 9eu each! The only downside is that it took 3 hours each way... but that is no problem when you jump start your way there with Mimosas and spend your way back drinking beer.

Strasbourg is a gorgeous city (make sure to check out the gallery!) that has many charming Christmas Markets (Marche Noel). Unsurprisingly, we had more than our fair share of Vin Chaud (Gluhwein) while sampling some of the french market food.

None of us had really looked into Strasbourg beforehand and so we were shocked to see how beautiful the church, architecture and rivers flowing through it were. It also helped that we had fantastic weather (10C) all day. As night began to fall, the markets really came alive. Christmas trees were shining bright, many new decorations lit up the street and somehow the market squares became even more packed than during the day.

Overall it was a great trip and one we are excited to do again in the summer. If you are visiting us in the near future, and have a day to spend travelling away, we highly recommend it!

Jarmanda

League of Legends World Championships

Yep, you read that correctly - I managed to drag Amanda out to the Season 5 League of Legends World Championships in Berlin. I had been wanting to go for some time and was lucky enough to find tickets just a few euros over face value on e-bay the week before.

The finals were a best of 5 between between two Korean teams (SK Telecom T1 and Koo Tigers). SK Telecom was a huge favorite to win, and it looked like they were going to sweep the Tigers after getting a quick 2-0 lead. The crowd started to get behind the Koo Tigers, who said in an earlier video that they want to win at least one game and have the crowd cheering for them. This is exactly what happened in Game 3; the Koo Tigers decided to choose their 'best' champions instead of going for a synergized team composition and they absolutely wrecked SK Telecom. This glory was short lived, however, as SK Telecom came back with their strongest performance in Game 4 to win the championship. For those who are in the know for LoL, check out Faker's Ryze in Game 4, particularly when he wins a 1v2 gank midlane.

The event and venue were amazing (at least for me; I kept feeding Amanda beer to keep her enthusiasm up!). There were people from all over the world watching, lots of giveaways and some cool booths outside showcasing some LoL art.

Check out the gallery for some pictures from the event!

Jared

Berlin and Back

This weekend Jared and I sojourned North to Berlin, which is approximately 6 hours from Mannehim.

We set out on Friday afternoon and took the ICE train to Berlin. We arrived at our Hostel, St. Christopher's and immediatly found our way to the hostel bar. They were playing some important Rugby game and Jared, along with every other man in the bar, watched excitedly. We spent the night there enjoying a few new types of beers before heading up to our room.

The next day, Jared and I set out to the Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena for an e-sporting event (details on this to come). After the event, we walked along the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery, which is a stretch of the Belin Wall that is covered in Graffiti by over 118 artisits to celerbrate the demise of the wall.

For dinner we went to the Hofbräuhaus Berlin. We were joined by some freindly and smartly dressed chaps. Jared kept inisiting that he knew on of them but couldn't recall how. After a few more beers and a bit of conversation, Jared discovered that he and his familar beer house companion went to highschool together! As Jared always says, "It's a small world!" We finished off our night by catching some live music. The artisit played a few of our Hurley's favorites including "Wagon Wheel" and "Wonderwall." We felt right at home.

We kicked off today with a 3 hour walking tour of Berlin. We visited several important sites including the Holocaust Memorial, Check Point Charlie, the Reichstag, Pariser Platz and Gendarmenmarkt.

We then met up with our ride back to Mannheim, a man Jared found on Blablacar. He asked us if we had ever been on the autobahn before and if we were comfortable with high speeds. We proudly told him that yes we had and yes we were! In no time at all we were flying at... 200 km/h!!! I am thankful that I did not pee my pants or loose my lunch. I nearly kissed the ground when we arrived (safely but a little shaken) back in Mannheim.

Jared and I both agree that Berlin is one of our favorite cities! Hopefully we will make our way back someday soon.

Oktoberfest (The one you have been waiting for!)

Bright and early on October 2nd, Amanda and I rushed out of our apartment to catch the tram to Mannheim central station. We managed to catch our first train with less than 1 minute to spare, no doubt a result of Amanda running like a bat outa hell once our tram finally arrived at the central station. From there on out it was smooth sailing to Munich; we slept, ordered coffee and stared at two fairly animated Italians that were seated in front of us.

Our first mission when arriving to Munich was to acquire the proper attire for the festival. Enter random side street vendor selling overpriced liederhosen and durndels. After each of us got to try on an outfit (don't worry fellas, the durndel didn't fit me), we paid the nice street vendor and made our way to Daniel & Mila's apartment (the fine folks who hosted us for the weekend). Mila showed us around Munich; we saw the Englischer Gardens, Amanda's university and the Chinese Tower biergarden. Once the evening rolled around, we went out for dinner at a very nice Peruvian restaurant, where we experienced 'ceviche' for the first time. We topped of the evening by heading to a really nice bar inside of an art museum.

Now, to set the scene for Oktoberfest proper, you need to know a few details. Daniel managed to wheel us a table reservation (something that is quite difficult to get, especially on a Saturday!) which guarenteed us a seat from 10:00-2:30 in the Schottenhamel tent (which is apparently one of the more traditional tents). Our group (Daniel, Mila, Harry, Uta, Philipp, Amanda and myself) got started on the task of crushing one liter beers immediately. The music in the tent was great, the food was delicious and the beer was flowing. We danced on our chairs as a big brass Bavarian band played German songs with a few North American hits mixed into their set. We ended our stay at Oktoberfest with a ferris wheel ride, which really showed us just how big the festival was (check the gallery to see what I mean!).

After saying our goodbyes, we made our way to the train station to catch our lift back home. Little did we know, we chose a cart that had no air conditioning nor any form of ventilation. We were both a disgusting mess when we got back to Mannheim.

We are pumped to do it all again next year. Thanks to the Harry, Ute, Daniel, Mila and Philipp for making our trip so great.

A visit from Momma Jarrell

Momma Jarrell made a trip across the pond and payed us a visit in Manhheim!

Mom arrived Saturday morning bright and early from Franfurt. We got her settled in and she had a short nap before we headed into Heidelberge to see the castle and explore the old town. Meanwhile, Jared was at school learning things with a sad face and some silent tears.

On Sunday the three of us took a one hour train ride into Landau for the Fest of the Federweißen. This was a small wine festival in Landau's city sqaure. We sampled wine, Glühwein, roasted nuts and Dampfnudeln (a strange pan-cooked pastery served with wein sauce). We headed back to Mannheim and had dinner at Platzhaus, a restaurant in Alter Messplatz (a square close to our appartment).

Bright and early Monday morning, Mom and I headed into Munich. Shortly after our arrival we took a 3 hour walking tour through the city and learned all about the Third Reich. After the tour we had dinner at the Hofbrauhaus in die Schwemme (I will let Mom explain to curious readers what that means).

The following day we went on another 3 hour walking tour to learn about the history of Munich. We had the chance to hear the famous Rathaus-Glockenspiel, see the Maibaum and learn some intersting factoids about the city and Bavaria.

Wednesday we had another early start and took a train from Munich to Füssen, the town right beside the brilliant Neuschwanstein Castle (Mom is still practicing how to pronouce this). We took a tour of the castle and learned about the area and the Bavarian King, Ludwig II (The Mad King) who ordered its construction. We had dinner at another beer hall in Munich, the Augustiner, before catching the train back to Mannheim.

We rested up on Thursday in preperation for our big hike on Friday through the black forest in Baden-Baden. Together we explored the Alte Schloss and the city of Baden-Baden before heading back to Mannheim. Jared joined us for dinner at the Keller's Weinrestaurant.

Mom had an EARLY train the next morning, so we said our goodbyes - And no tears this time!!!

We really enjoyed having Mom here and we are excited for our next visitor, Schwester Tor-wiki.

Mannheim Adler & Stuttgart Bierfest

So, somewhat out of date, but a good story nonetheless.

During the weekend of September 25th, Amanda and I joined a few of my classmates to go see the Mannheim Adler hockey team. We were told that these guys are the defending national champions, so expectations were high. Although 'Die Adler' had a rough record going into this game, they were matched up against Dusseldorf EG who had a similar W/L ratio. In the end, the local team lost to the guys from the north, but it was fun to watch nonetheless. I will say, however, that the players are considerably less physical than in the NHL; most players didn't finish their hits and most players seemed to complain about the softest contact possible in hockey.

On the Sunday, I went to Stuttgart to take part in the second biggest bier festival in Germany (Bad Cannstatt). We took the regional train pass since it was the cheapest option. Unfortunately this pass does not allow for transportation on the ICE or EC trains (the fast ones), so it took about 2.5 hours each way. This shouldn't be surprising as it costs 35eu for unlimited transportation for 5 people for the entire day. In the end, this only gave us about 2 hours at the festival, which was enough time to crush 3 litres of cold genuine draft before heading back home. This festival has apparently grown a lot over the past few years, and is especially popular amongst locals since Oktoberfest has become so popular. If you are around Stuttgart at the end of September, I definitely recommend it.

More to come soon about Oktoberfest!

Wine Festival & Baden-Baden

This weekend was an eventful one; we went out clubbing Friday night (where we came back smelling like cigarettes), went to the world's largest wine festival on Saturday (where we had 4.5L of Schorle) and went for a hike in the Black Forest (where we found a castle from Skyrim).

It all started Friday evening at the student residence with a few friends from school. After consuming a respectable amount of Tequila, we made our way to the club around the corner called Shooting Stars. Amanda made friends with a Russian girl and a German girl at the bar when trying to prove she could order drinks faster than me. Needless to say, 20 minutes later I finally got my beer (I had to go and GET it from her too). We stumbled home fairly late. I rushed to sleep (a.k.a. passed out) while Amanda instead made a sandwich and stayed up for another hour.

We left for Bad Durkehim around lunch time on Saturday. We travlled view the tram with one of my colleagues from Brazil. All in all the trip took about 50 minutes. We met up with the rest of the group and quickly ordered our first round of Schorle (a mix of wine and sparkling water, served in 0.5L sizes). Despite what you may think, they were actually delicious. So delicious in fact that we ordered 9 of them. We also took some time to check out the festivities; we sampled the fair food, rode the ferris wheel and I won Amanda the biggest teddy bear in the park, which she promplty named Princess Pony. Much to my relief, Amanda was kind enough to give it to a little girl on the way out.

On Sunday, despite our headaches, we took the train to Baden-Baden, which is a town on the border of the Black Forest. We hiked up to the castle on the peak of the hill overlooking the town. This hike took about 2 hours and was roughly a 450m elevation change. The castle itself was stunning; it is super old, super destroyed and super built into some random rock formations. It is definitely worth the trip out when you come visit us! We ended the day with a trip to the thermal baths where we were able to relax our muscles, enjoy the sun and wash away the stink of the day.

Thanks for being patient and reading this until the end. JARMANDA OUT.

Schlossfest & Schneckenhof

Since arriving to Germany on Tuesday, Amanda and I have had the enjoyable experience of attending two large parties at the Mannheim University. On Thursday we went to a party called Schneckenhof and yesterday we went to arguably the biggest party of the year, Schlossfest. Let's just say that a lot of good beers were crushed both nights. I was told that at this last Schneckenhof, which goes down every Thursday in one of the palace courtyards, there were 3000+ students just raging to some early 2000s Pop music (I can confirm that Amanda and I were part of this count). This could only be topped by Schlossfest which was spread out over the entire palace. Schlossfest included live music, fireworks just over the palace grounds, another Schneckenhof sub-party and tons of beer. Fortunately we were able to catch the 2am tram heading back to our apartment, where we were reunited with half a pizza we didn't demolish earlier in the day.

So far the party scene has been awesome and we are both looking forward to losing even more sleep on account of it!

Jared

(I snagged the photo from the Schlossfest 2015 Mannheim facebook group; all of the nightime shots I take with my phone look worse than a MagicEye)

Our humble abode

Our apartement is located in an older district, across the Neckar river. The Neckar river is quite beutiful: people lounge on its banks during the day and there is a herd of swans that swim in its waters. There are plenty of bars, beer gardens and restaurants in our area. We are also steps from a grocery store and a tram station that connects us to any part of the city and to Heildelberg.

Our apartment is in a building constructed in the mid 1800's. The flat itself is open concept with 10ft tall ceilings and 4ft tall windows. We face north-east, so we always get pleantly of natural light regardless of the time of day.

Check out the gallery of our apartment to get a peak of our place. But you will have to come visit us if you want to see the real thing!

Auf Wiedersehen,

Amanda

Bicycles and Markets

After a tearful goodbye last night to Jeannie and Steve, we kicked off our Saturday by purchasing some bicycles! Jared, naturally, found his bike pretty quickly. He tested the tires, the breaks and made sure the lights worked. His bike was bought and paid for in 15 minutes! I, on the otherhand, tried out 5 different models, debated on the colour and the style and yes, I also tested the important stuff too - don't worry. I ended up buying a really nice bike that was refurbished by Mannheim 2, an organization that supports the rehabilitation of convicts.

Afterwards, we headed to Marketplatz for the the weekly outdoor market. We filled our bikes' baskets with fresh fruits, vegetables and bread (a staple in any German household).

Bye for now,

Amanda

Explorations with Some Friendly Faces

Jared and I have been exploring the beers, food and some nearby towns - in the good company of Jeannie, Steve and Willi. Holla!

We met up with these seasoned German travellers on Tuesday. Considering that Jared and I were slightly jet lagged, we had an easy night starting with a tour of our new place and then off for some Turkish food (it is everywhere in Mannheim). We topped the night off with a couple of beers. Jared and I then fell face first into our pillows and slept like new born babies on Gravol.

On Wednesday we walked to the Mannheim Univeristy Campus and bought tickets for tonight's festival "Schneckenhof." We met up with Jeannie, Steve and Willi in the afternoon and then headed to Heidelberg. We drove up to the historic castle at sunset and caught some breathtaking views of the town. We followed this with some amazing authentic german cuisine (brautwarst, stuffed dumplings, pork knucle, and spatzel). Then the evening was finished off with some more beers and a gentelman's game of Asshole.

Today we headed to Heilsbronn to see Harry, Ute and Erna. We had a huge lunch of schnitzel, potato salad and Paulaner Dunkel. Our trek back home was a grueling 3 hours (it should have been 1hr45m) due to some insane traffic on the autobahn.

Now we are getting set to head over to Schneckenhof.

Tschuss,

Amanda

We have arrived!

Amanda and I have finally arrived at our apartment in Mannheim. After our 7 hour flight from Ottawa to Frankfurt, we had about 4 hours more work before finally stepping into our new place (baggage, train, getting the keys, taxis, etc.). Our first activity was to have a 2 hour power nap but that quickly devolved into a 4 hour slumberfest; we both got very little sleep in the last 24 hours.

Everything is unpacked and the scotch/beer is going to start flowing.

All aboard!

Hello Schnitzels and Strudels, 

Jared and I are preparing for our big journey across the pond. For those of you who know me well, you'll know that I have prepared approximately 50 lists of things that we need to do before we go. Among these endless tasks was to create the "Jarmanda in Germany" website (and I swear Jared and I combined our names before Brangelina! #trendsetters).

We look forward to seeing many of you at our Going Away BBQ.

Peace and love,

- Amanda