An introduction to Allentown.

We did not really know anything about Allentown before living here except that downtown is scary. Here are few things we have learned/noticed to far:

1. There is a city called Reading. You probably just pronounced it "Reeding" in your head. Actually, it is pronounced "Redding." It was explained to us as "Reading [Redding] as in Reading [Redding] Railroad." I guess I am ignorant because I have been pronouncing it "Reeding" Railroad all my life.

2. The groceries are cheap! So much cheaper than in Ithaca. The only thing that is more expensive is milk, which I find very strange. Baby food is so cheap, I wanted to buy it for myself!

3. The roads are weird. There is no left turn at almost every single intersection. Instead, there are signs that say, "All Turns From Right Lane." So you turn right and then loop around and go straight through the light to where you wanted to go. I guess it helps the flow of traffic but I have found myself in the wrong lane more than once.

4. The library is very small. At first I was turned off by the nursing home smell but as Alex and I looked around for books, I started to like it. There are more than enough books for us to enjoy this summer and it had quite a lot of personality. I think we will like it there.

5. The gas is cheaper. Twenty to 30 cents cheaper. Hallelujah!

6. The water is burning hot in the kitchen sink. After one second, you can't keep your hands under it. It is dangerous. I am going to have to be careful while using yeast.

7. We are starting to have quite a large collection of cutting boards. Each time we move, the Welcome package has a cutting board included. You would think I wouldn't need them all and yet sometimes I can't find a clean cutting board!

8. Things aren't very close to each other here. It takes much longer to get somewhere than the GPS says. There are tons of lights and a lot of people on the road. Our temple is the Washington DC temple which is four hours away!

9. Downtown Allentown is SCARY! They are trying to fix it up though so they have built a brand new mall which is about .5 miles from our apartment and it is awesome. It has a ton of fancy-pants stores (Coach, Apple, Sephora, J. Crew) which I don't shop at but if I had a lot of money and any sense of style, I probably would.

10. This isn't exclusive to the city of Allentown, but it is humid and hot here! I was expecting weather similar to what we had been having it Ithaca but it is very different! Alex and I are able to sit on a blanket under the tree and I don't have to worry about having a jacket or bundling him. Also, the weather seems pretty predictable instead of jumping 40 degrees and way off the forecast, like Ithaca always seemed to do. We are looking forward to the pool opening on Memorial Day. I love the summer!

I am already feeling a little panicked that we don't have enough time to fully enjoy and learn all about Allentown. I feel so privileged to even have the opportunity to live here at all. We are trying to utilize all of our time from the start so we don't have to pack too much in right at the end. If Sam is offered and accepts a full-time position with AP then we will have more time to get to know Allentown, but we want to appreciate our time here just in case we never come back.