So far in the AZ...

I know some of you have been patiently waiting for an update from me. I have been living here for two whole weeks now, so I understand the frustration with the waiting. Especially since I don't really know anyone here yet. And I live alone. How is it that I haven't found time to satisfying my blog-reading public?

All of these things are true, and I sincerely apologize for any anxiety I may have caused any of you. I'm fine, really I am.

I've been waiting to take pictures of where I live when I get everything unpacked. Seeing as organization does not come all that natural to me, unpacking has been pushed to the back burner in favor of other pursuits, like catching up on the most recent episodes of "Lie to Me" and "The Gates" and such. Oh, and I've discovered some great new podcasts. Check out NPR's "Wait, wait, don't tell me" If you want to LOL out loud. Pretty funny stuff.


Whilst you wait with bated breath for photo documentation of my current living quarters, I'll regale you with some thoughts and impressions I have of my time here:

• Arizona drivers are a different kind of crazy than Utah drivers. They accelerate fast, and follow close. Merging onto the freeway usually requires cutting someone off. Surprisingly, they don't speed nearly as much as do Utah drivers. Most of the people driving between Provo and SLC go a minimum of 10 mph over the speed limit. People in AZ seem to stick much closer to the speed limit. It could be that there are so much more people on the road.
• The roads here are pretty well organized, with a street going North-South or East-West every mile that has at least two lanes going each way that has a speed limit of 45 mph. I like it, but I do miss having numbered streets. Thank goodness for GPS on my phone!
• I should have never complained back when BYU charged $60/yr for parking. At ASU its more than $700/yr. Luckily, they can just split it up and deduct it from my paycheck. I'm planning on just pretending I make that much less and that parking is free. It'll be less painful that way.
• I've found a great butcher. Like, an actual individual that gets his meat in carcass form and chops it up into the different cuts of meat in the back of the shop. For all of you "So I Married An Axe Murderer" fans, yes he does link his own sausage. They double-smoke their own bacon, make their own beef jerky, and have kinds of meat other than beef, chicken, and pork. Its more expensive and a little out of the way for me, but I'm excited to get my meat there when I can.
• Working at the Biodesign Institute is going to be great. I'm working with some great people on some fun research. I haven't done that much yet, but its going to be good. Plus, they have an eye-scanning thingy that lets you in after hours. It doesn't have lights like they show in the movies, but it does say "Scan Accepted" or something when it matches your eye-scan.
• I love living alone. I wasn't sure I would, but its great. I love having the fridge to myself, and I love not having to worry whether or not the mess I have created by moving in, etc. is invading someone else's personal space. I love being able to use iSnooze to blast music from my itunes at 6:30 in the morning to help me wake up. I love having only one covered parking spot and being able to park in it every day.
• I forgot how it felt to have sweat running off of my body. One day I was talking on the phone outside at lunchtime. After 5 minutes, there was sweat dripping from the crook of my elbow on the arm that was holding my phone. Gross. Luckily, every building here has pretty amazing air-conditioning.
• My left leg has gotten a pretty good workout from driving stick-shift for the past month. I really like driving stick. It could be that the suspension of my truck isn't very good, and so it makes driving feel a bit like an interactive video game. Good times. Until the charley-horse in my left calf last night. It was killer. My calf is still aching.
• I am going through a lot of ice. I can't get over how thirsty I am all of the time. Must be my body adapting to the heat, but I'm turning into quite the heavy drinker, as it were. The water here does taste a bit musty. I'm going to have to spring for a Brita pitcher or something.
•  Its fun living so close to the Mesa temple, but its driving me crazy that I can't find my recommend. I'm not giving up on it until I've actually unpacked every single box. I drive right by the temple every single day, but I haven't been able to do a session yet.

Well, its time for me to hit the hay, so I'm going to leave it at that for now. Feel free to leave questions in the comments section if there's something specific you're wondering about that I haven't addressed.

Love you all!