Arthur Lee Schaub - 10 Oct 1918-26 Jun 2009

My Grandpa Schaub passed away Friday night, June 26th. He was 90 years old. His passing was bitter-sweet. I'm terribly sad to have him gone. However, his quality of life in the past month had deteriorated so significantly that I hated to watch him suffer.

I love my grandpa. He has always been such a strong example of dedication, hard work, personal integrity, commitment, and unconditional love. He flew on a bomber during WWII, and always had such respect and love for his country. Grandpa Schaub was also a wonderful example of a dedicated priesthood holder. Eveytime I have ever met anyone from their old Phoenix ward they almost always say the same thing, "Your grandfather was my bishop and he was one of the best bishops I've ever had."

I'll always remember the "buzzzzzzz" he would do to each baby in our family, as he waved his finger around till it came for a landing on your tickle spots. Or the way he rolled his dice, swiftly and decisively (the same way he approached his golf balls).And more than anything, I will remember my Grandpa Schaub every time I sit down to play a game of cards.Grandpa Schaub will be sorely missed.

The future is here.

I'm back...

I got back from Houston Saturday night. It was a great experience. I took tons of pictures that I'll have to post later cuz my internet at home is down (I had to call in the geek squad for help -- i.e. - Ryan's coming over tonight to take a look at it).

Meanwhile...I've succumbed to social pressure. I know I can't believe it either. Actually it's more because of work. Anyways, I'm now on Twitter. So if you want to follow me on Twitter (not that anyone would actually need to know what I'm doing, because I promise, I'm really not that interesting), I'm at @meganschaub . If you don't know what twitter is, check out their website, they have a great little intro video. I'd love to know if anyone else out there that I know is Twittering. So shout out if you are.

Gordon Grant Johnson, my grandpa

My grandpa, Gordon Grant Johnson, passed away Friday night. He has been very ill, due to cancer and old age and has been in the hospital for almost two months, I think he was 83. Though his passing brings much sorrow to my family, it also brings with it peace. I love my Grandpa Johnson and will miss him greatly.

I will miss his great love for all things musical. He played the violin and the harmonica and could probably pick up most other instruments. He instilled that love of music in his children, a love that has trickled down to me.

I will miss his love of adventure. Grandpa Johnson loved to go places and see new things, especially after reading about them -- this is a picture of Grandpa with my mom (his eldest daughter) at Kartchner Caverns here in southern AZ about 2 years ago. Even when I was little, whenever I would visit my grandparents in Maryland, they would plan exciting trips for us. With them I have traveled up and down the East Coast and seen amazing things.

Grandpa Johnson also loved spending time with his family, even if it meant being dragged out into the middle of the AZ desert. Here he is in 2006 with us riding ATV -- he was content just sitting in the shade under a tree with grandma.

I'm going to miss him very much, but know that he is in a much better place. It is times like these that I am reminded again how grateful I am for the Plan of Salvation and the role that my Savior Jesus Christ plays in that Plan. That because of the sacrifice of the Savior, and because of the blessings of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ - namely the priesthood power, the saving ordinance of the temple, and personal covenants we make with our Heavenly Father -- we can be together as a family throughout all eternity. I am truly blessed.

Thursday, my brothers and mom and dad and I will be flying out to attend the funeral on Friday. I was just thinking that the menu for Friday's activities should be interesting. Usually when my mom's family gets together there is a luau (because my Grandma Johnson is Hawaiian). However, my Grandpa Johnson does not like Hawaiian food -- no exceptions! So it will be interesting to see what is served. I'm voting for good ol' hamburgers and hotdogs. Grandpa Johnson would have loved that. :)

I didn't drown.

But it was touch and go there for a while.

Last night was my first swim class in my GCC Triathlon Training Class. And it was U-G-L-Y...and I ain't talkin' about how I looked in a bathing suit.

You could have calf tied Michael Phelps, put duct tape over his mouth and blind-folded him and he still would have beat me at the 100 M. Aggghh!!!

I knew I was in trouble when my coach yells first thing, "Everybody in the pool and do FOUR laps for warm up." Four. Warm up. Who was he kidding?!? And that's how it went for 2 hours. We did drill, after drill, after drill. Some I was able to complete, others found me hanging on the edge of the pool trying to aspirate water. fun.

Nevertheless, I persevered and learned several things.

1) Breathing is important. During my first 4 laps, my coach was standing on the edge of the pool yelling at me "Put your head in the water. You're supposed to put your head in the water." I'm thinking "I Know!" and at one point I even yelled back (I could do this cuz my head was above water at the time) "I Know, thanks!" It's just harder to breath underwater. So I'm still working on the breathing-while-swimming thing.

2) The harder you work the more exhausted you are at the end. I've got to learn the basics better. I know that I'm flailing around entirely too much, thus exhausting myself. As I figure it, I expand as much energy in one lap as everyone else spends in 3 laps. You do the math and figure out who will win this race, hmmm...

3) Food is good. After barely dragging myself out of the pool, and pert-near crawling my way to my car all I could think about was FOOD. I didn't eat before hand and after that kind of work out I definitely deserved a drive thru Carl's Jr.

Pretty much defeated the purpose of the work out, hmmmm. But boy did it taste good!

Got home took a hot shower, cuz I could already feel my shoulder muscles stiffening up, downed an Aleve and then crawled into bed where I remained unconscious until 4AM when my alarm went off and I headed to the gym to bike 10 miles and "run" 2 miles.

Are we having fun yet?

Happy Birthday, Justin!

Today is another Schaub birthday.

Happy Birthday, Justin!

I won't tell you how old he is, suffice to say he's younger than I am.

So as a little celebration of this momentous occasion I'd like to share with you a few things that I love and admire about my younger brother...

• Justin has always been game for anything. From an early age, Kiki and I have talked him in to joining us in a variety of adventures -- building forts and water slides, catching tadpoles, building backyard golf courses, and tormenting our little brothers. Today, he's still pretty much game for most things. He's always willing to tackle new things and go new places.
• Justin is one of the very smartest people I know. I'm talking freakingly intelligent. Honestly, I don't know where he gets it from, because truthfully I don't remember him ever picking up a book.
• Not only is he smart, but Justin is one of the hardest workers I know. He has tremendous focus and once he puts his mind to doing something, IT GETS DONE! He is a wonderful provider for his family and he's always quick to offer his services to anyone in the family. You can always count on Justin to lend a hand.
• Justin always has the coolest toys. This boy knows what's hot! He's got all the news and latest gadgets and gizmos -- but only the really cool ones. That also makes him impossible to buy gifts for.
• He is an amazing father and husband. I have watched him over the past few years really grow into his role as husband and father. He is dedicated and considerate and infinitely patient. I truly admire these qualities in him.

So, there are just a few of the reasons that I LOVE my younger brother Justin. So if you see him today, make sure you wish him a happy birthday and give him a birthday spank, cuz he'd like that!
:)

Triathlon Training

So I'm on my way to Sprint-Triathlon greatness....oh kay, maybe not greatness, but at least mediocrity.

OK, ok...I'd settle for surviving the thing!

Anyways, this week was my first class. I've signed up for PED101TT at Glendale Community College -- Triathlon Training. First, Glendale is way the freak far away from where I live. It takes me between 45min-1 hour to get over there, depending on the traffic. Anyways, the teacher Mark is a Triathlon pro and has been teaching the class for 13 years. There were 30 people there on the first night. For every one person like me (absolute, complete, and utter novice) there were 4 people who said during their introduction things like, "I just completed my 3rd Ironman this year," or "I did the Alcatraz Triathlon last year and loved it so much I've signed up for 3 more triathlons this year." Aggghhhh!!!

This leads to my new mantras..."Enjoy the journey" and "I'm only competing against myself".

So the schedule for the class is killer and the piece de resistance...I'm participating in my first sprint-triathlon in 4 weeks. That's right, ya remember that 6 month goal I had, where I was going to do my first sprint-triathlon on Thanksgiving day. Well the timelines been moved up some. Aggghhh!!!

We have to compete in a sprint-triathlon to complete the class, so I'm training my guts out right now so that I'll at least be able to get myself across the finish line (upright -- that's not too much to ask, right?!?).

So here's where I'm at right now...Yesterday at the gym I rode the stationary bike for 10 miles in 27 minutes. Then I immediately jumped on the treadmill ("oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" -- that was me for the first minute while the blood rushed down from my quads and my butt came unsquished). Then I "ran" for 1 mile in a record 14:19minutes. I will always put quotes around "ran", because I'm sure that for most people a mile in 14:19minutes is not running, but for me IT TOTALLY WAS. But I must remember "I'm only competing against myself!"

This morning, the temperature outside was PERFECT!! It was cool and beautiful, so I jumped on my bike (actually I'm borrowing it from Justin and Rachel) and went on a bike ride -- you can only imagine how cute I look with my bike helmet on and my camelback :). Anyways I think I rode about 12 miles this morning, out and round the area where I lived, and I loved it! I biked over to my mom and dad's and stopped for a quick visit. It was great. Now as long as the sprint-triathlon course doesn't have any hills, I think the 13 mile bike ride portion of it should go OK.

This week I'm going to start training in the pool. This means that first I'll have to find somewhere to swim -- I'm reticent about swimming at the pool at my gym because it's like a freakin' fish bowl, and I would be the whale in the tank (or at least a large porpoise). However, I won't have a choice come Wednesday's training class. We're meeting at some club pool and a guest olympic swimmer/trainer person is going to be working with us.

I hope I don't drown.

Happy Birthday, Kiki!

Today is June 5th, that means...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIKI!(She'll probably kill me for posting the above picture, but I just love it!)
Kiki has been my one-and-only sister for 33 years. That's a long time...thank goodness I like her. And I've decided, over the years, that there is a difference between "loving" a person and "liking" a person. I will admit that there were a few years there (probably when we were about 13 and 14) where "liking" was a challenge (on both our parts). However, I can happily say that Kiki is one of my very bestest friends and I not only LOVE her but I truly LIKE her. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for my one-and-only sister, cuz otherwise I'd be stuck with nothing but brothers, and there is a HUGE difference between brothers and sisters. :(
Anyways, in commeration of my little sisters birthday I would like to share with you

10 Reasons Why I Love, Like & Admire My Sister, Kiki
10. She always listens to me. Being single, I don't have a built in sounding board in my home (a.k.a. a husband), so I call my sister instead. She doesn't hesitate to stop what she's doing (which occasionally means she has to hide in her closet from the kids) to listen to me and interject the appropriate "You're Kidding!" or "Oh, no."

9. She makes me feel pretty. I've got a bunch of hang-ups (and you're saying, "well, duh, doesn't everyone") and Kiki is so good are sincere compliments.

8. She is my scrapbook-co-conspirator. Fortunately Kiki is more than happy to share my additiction to scrapbooking. She let me drag her to Orlando for a scrapbook conference 2 years ago and is always game for the occasional scrapbook conventions. We really love spending time together scrapbooking.

7. Kiki is UBER TALENTED. This girl is a concert pianist, a cello virtuoso (she still plays with the Rexburg Community Orchestra), she played volleyball in high school, she was an avid rock climber (in her earlier years), she sews, she has a degree in interior design, she cooks, she takes care of 4 kids, she's a gardener, holds down a church calling, and still has time to finish the Twilight series.

6. Kiki has a very soft and charitable heart. She has deep love and concern for all of her family members. Her greatest joys in life truly do stem from her family.

5. We have sooooo many wonderful memories of our childhood. Though their may have been a few rocky years, as children we were each others best friends, especially since we are so close in age. Every time we get together, we inevtiably play the "Do you remember..." game.

4. She is always improving herself, her home, her family. Kiki is not content to just sit back and let life pass her by. She is always doing something to improve herself, or to learn a new talent, or to tackle a new challenge. i.e. -- the gardening thing, she and her husband always seem to have a garden no matter where they live. The orchestra thing, a mother of three (and most recently a 4th was added) surely doesn't have a lot of spare time, but Kiki found a way to pursue her love of the cello through participation in the local orchestra.

3. She is an example of personal faith and commitment to the Gospel. Kiki has faced her own personal challenges in life, and through it all I have seen her diligent commitment to keep her covenants. She is an example to me of "by small and simple things, are great things brought to pass".

2. My sister has been the greatest "cheerleader" in my life! No matter what I am struggling with, or what outrageous goals I have set for myself, Kiki has ALWAYS supported me, encouraged me, and cheered me on. I can never express to her how very much that has meant to me in my life. She has shown me nothing but joy and enthusiasm as I have worked to reach my goals.

1. And the number 1 Reason I Love, Like, and Admire my sister Kiki -- why because she's my sister of course! And there is no better sister in the world than Kiki!

I love ya Kiki and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Rexburg, ID with the Weichers

I gained a greater appreciation for my sister Kiki, and her role as mother last week. While Kiki and Jared had their hands full with the arrival of Baby Karlie, I helped watch their other 3 children, plus my other neice Kaylie (with the incomparable help of my sister-in-law Ellie). My fabulous sister-in-law, Ellie, and my equally fabulous niece, Kaylie, drove 17 hours to Rexburg and enjoyed 4 days with the Weichers family.
I spent most of my time cooking, doing laundry, introducing my neices and nephews to fast food (much to their father's consternation), running errands, and bathing children -- it was perfect. And here's why:
I loved spending time with the kids! We rode bikes (I walked) to the park -- the weather was amazing, went to see "Up" (and Auntie Megan laughed more than the kids), had a welcome home party for Mom, baked apple cinnamon bread, and cuddled.Eli got up early and found me in the kitchen making bread. I love how he still young enough that first thing in the morning, while he's still half asleep, he'll come looking for you and immediatey want to be picked-up and cuddled, gradually coming awaking.

And, I actually did get to spend a few moments with my sister, in between hospital runs.
We drove back to AZ on Sunday, making time to stop and visit Glenn Canyon Damn. Kaylie (and Ellie) was the absolute best traveling companion. I'd take her again in a heartbeat.

New Update on Karlie Kiani Weichers

Just a quick update, from AZ this time...On Friday Baby Karlie was not improving despite being put back on the CPAP machine. The doctors at the Rexburg hospital decided that they did all they could for her and it would be better to transport her to the Idaho Falls Hospital where they had a neonatologist on staff who would be better equipped to help Karlie. Needless to say this was all a bit scary, but Kiki and Jared were troopers (not to mention Baby Karlie). After spending a few hours in Idaho Falls with Karlie in the NICU, Kiki and Jared returned home to report that Karlie already seemed to be improving. The neonatologist there was able to inject more serphactin into her lungs and they sedated her, which all seemed to help relax Baby Karlie and ease her breathing.
After visiting her again on Saturday morning, Kiki and Jared said she really seemed to be improving...oxgyen levels in her blood were good and steady. And she still seemed more relaxed. Everyone was very realeaved. The antibiotics also seemed to be working well on her pneumonia.
Ellie, Kaylie, and I had to leave early, early Sunday morning to make the 17 hour drive back to AZ (we did it in 16:) ), but called in for reports. Kiki said that during their Sunday morning visit, Karlie actually took nourishment from a bottle (they had been feeding her through a tube placed through her mouth). So things are looking much brighter.
Thank you for all your prayers!