So ever since we let everyone know that we were having a baby, we haven't updated you very much on that front. Granted, we've been pretty busy with moving to Arizona and job hunting but we should catch you all up to speed on that front as well. First of all, if you haven't heard yet, we are having a baby girl. :) The exact words of the ultrasound technician were that she couldn't see any boy parts, only girl parts. We don't have a name picked out for the baby but until we do, we are calling her Shaniqua LaQuonda.

Now some of you might also be wondering what exactly I look like these days. The picture below is from July 4th when I was 21 weeks.



Still not looking pregnant really. We'll take another picture here is a few weeks but I'm 25 weeks along and still looking about the same. Chelsea threw me a baby shower right before we left Utah and that was lots of fun. We had everyone guess just how big I will get and we'll have to wait till November to see who gets the prize! Everything is going well with pregnancy though. No weird cravings or sickness. The most I have to deal with is a baby who kicks a lot. She also likes her room and won't let me slouch much anymore. Chase has encouraged her to keep making me stand up straight.

So we've been in AZ now for about three weeks and before I was even here a week, the Relief Society at church learned that I can play the piano. So my second Sunday in our ward, I was asked to stand in for the regular pianist. Not a problem since I love paying the piano. Now here is the interesting thing about our ward. The RS chorister is in fact deaf. She has hearing aids so she can hear a little bit but not much. She is also a very ambitious chorister. She is going through all the hymns in the hymnal and right now we are currently in the songs that are written for men's choruses. So for this hymn, she decides we will sing the first verse with the piano, the second verse a cappella and the third verse in a round (as suggested at the bottom of the hymn). First of all, we have never heard of this song in our lives. Chase has never heard of this song and he has a much better chance of having sung it since he is a man. Secondly, a capella is sketchy even if everyone know the hymn. But in a round? You have to be kidding me!

So we get through the first verse pretty good. I stop playing and the second verse goes horribly awry. I have never heard so many different pitches in my life but none of them were correct. Then comes the round. One side of the room starts off still singing horribly off music and the second side doesn't even bother coming in. The chorister is singing all by herself when the first side of the room finishes. Determined to make this work, the chorister has us sing the third verse with the piano before trying it again. One of the sisters asks if I can play the piano part in a round and I look at them like they are crazy and shake my head no. So off they go in a round again, off key but both sides singing. The chorister then says that was beautiful and sits down. I'm sure it was since she couldn't really hear us.

So that's my story from being down here. Other than that, Chase is getting ready for school and I am still job hunting. I've had a few interviews so hopefully we'll hear back from those soon. Till then, we'll just keep truckin'.

PHLUSH

I realize that over the past year, I never really talked about what I did at my internship. After reading the most recent adventures that my little sister is having down under, I was reminded of the time I was assigned to research public restrooms. Specifically the Portland Loo. Well, in the course of my research I found that Portland came up with the acronym PHLUSH to encourage proper hygiene. It made me laugh really hard. It still does. It would have been nice to have the above sign in my freshman apartment where we had an alcoholic roommate who would forget to PHLUSH (both the verb and the acronym) If you want to hear the adventures we had in that apartment, you'll have to wait for another time.

Anyway, as part of the assignment I had to research different types of public restrooms. You wouldn't believe the different models, and styles that are out there. There are some that automatically open after a specified period of time (I'd hate to be the poor sap who didn't eat his recommended daily value of fiber stuck in that loo) they also have ones that automatically sanitize themselves after every use. The balancing test is to give people their privacy so they use the loo, but to ensure that no illegal, or lewd activity goes on inside (which is why the angle and location of the air vents is so important. That way the cops can look inside and see just enough to determine what business is going on). My favorite public loo is in Europe. It is conveniently called the See-Through-Loo. It is made of one way glass, so on the outside all you see is a mirrored cube, but on the inside you can see everyone walking by.

It looks like this:




And this:




Feel free to store this in your useless knowledge folder.

We moved

We are no longer Utah residents. We successfully made it in Arizona thanks to my parents and Rob (he masterfully packed the U-haul, so nothing moved on the drive down). During the course of this move I have learned a few things.

1: Don't rent a U-Haul. There business model doesn't make any sense. You can reserve a truck at a location a month in advance and they will only garauntee the truck. I reserved the truck in Provo, but had to go to Payson to pick it up. The manager of the Provo UHaul store had to drive a half a day to pick up his UHaul when moving to Utah. You might be wondering why they don't garauntee the location. It's because Uhaul doesn't know what they have in stock until 24 hours before you need the truck. Why don't they have this information? Its becuase you could rent a truck for a day but keep it for a month and they wouldn't mind as long as you pay the $40 dollar a day fee.

2: Avoid Hoover Dam for a while. They are constructing a really cool bridge, and thankfully the wait time wasn't too bad for us, but going through Page might be a faster route.

3: Nothing exists between Hoover Dam and Wickieup and between Wikieup and Wickenburg.

4: Unloading a Uhaul in 110 degree heat isn't ideal.

5: Watch your 5 month pregnant wife who likes to work as hard as others like a hawk when unloading a Uhaul in 110 degree heat. I'll admit my wife is Superwoman, but I'm sure Superwoman even has limits.

6: Spending money on standardized boxes is always better than the free hodgepodge of boxes you get from the liquor store.

That's all for now. As we get the apartment set up we'll send pictures. For now ask my parental unit for a description.