Happy Birthday, Zackery!

Today is my nephew's 7th birthday. I'll have to tell you that I'm a little concerned. He promised me several years ago that he wouldn't grow up and now he is breaking his promise. I desperately miss his adorable chubby cheeks. Now he is becoming a young man, with strong intelligence, and a loving heart.

Please indulge me as I reminisce about those squishable-adorable-kissable-long-lost cheeks.

So long squishable-adorable-kissable-long-lost-cheeks. Happy Birthday amazing young man!

I love you!

Here's To You


Everyone deserves flowers...Here's to you. May you have a beautiful day!


First 2010 Card Club Meeting

So I have a bunch of friends who like to craft like I do (surprise, surprise, surprise). Several decided last year to get together once a month and do a card kit exchange. Deal is, you make a card, then you make several "card kits" which include everything you need to make your card. We get together once a month swap card kits, and then work on putting them together while we visit, talk, and snack. I really look forward to these nights.

Anyways, last night was our first meeting of 2010. Other then catching up a bunch, finding out about Rhonda's cute new hound dog named, Beauregard Walker McGraw (isn't that just the best name for a southern hound dog), and going over who's getting married that we know, we did manage to get some stinkin' cute projects done. Here they are:Can you guess which one was my card that I shared?

Back to my roots - Scrapbooking

What a wonderful day...no work, rainy weather, amazing lunch with a friend, and a bit of scrapbooking. Almost the perfect day. I decided to get back to my roots and do some scrapbooking since I had the day off. It's honestly been several months since I've done any scrapbooking and I've recently take a bunch of really cute pictures that are just screamin' to be scrapbooked. So here's what I did today...

Jake Shimabukuro - MASTER ukulele

I went to a concert last night of a ukulele master - Jake Shimabukuro. He plays this instrument in a manner unlike any you could imagine. It is absolutely amazing to watch him perform. I would recommend his concert to everyone, regardless of whether or not you're a fan of the ukulele. If you like music, you'll love Jake Shimabukuro. His performance was awe inspiring. Here's his best known clip from YouTube...



I'd recommend checking out more of his performances on YouTube. You can also learn more about him from his website Jake Shimabukuro .

It was an unforgettable evening with an unforgettable musician.

Is the "Gay Rights" Movement a Civil Rights Movement?

A friend of mine forwarded me the article below. It made me think. I actually took the time to read it and I hope you will to. She shared a few other personal points, I completely agree with. I too know personally individuals who consider themselves gay. They are very good people and I care deeply for them. I believe that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. I also believe that we are each given burdens to carry throughout mortality. Some are heavier and more outwardly apparent then others. However, we are not left alone to carry those burdens.

This article from United Families International, for me, helped to clarify what for many has become a murky topic -- "Gay Rights". Those who perpetuate this dogma would have you believe that homosexuality is an inalienable right, a factor of genetic predisposition for which individuals are being discriminated against. This is not true. It is a choice.

I encourage you to read this article and give it some thought.

Is the "Gay Rights" Movement a Civil Rights Movement?
January 12, 2010

You've heard the arguments. "Homosexuals are an oppressed minority just like racial minorities or women." "The gay rights movement is the new civil rights movement." "Homophobia is equivalent to racism and sexism."

Renditions of this argument are everywhere, particularly in the debate over same-sex marriage. The Washington, D. C. city council passed legislation last month that legalizes same-sex marriage. Traditional marriage supporters began paying for ads on the side of city buses. The ads were very simple: the image of two wedding bands overlaid with the words, "Let the People Vote on Marriage." That's it. Two non-descript wedding bands and the statement, "Let the People Vote on Marriage."

The Washington LGBT community went into an uproar. Bloggers and same-sex marriage advocacy groups have condemned the ads as hate speech and some have even demanded that the ads be removed.

Why are they so upset?

The ads are discriminatory, they claim. They attempt to deny an underprivileged minority a basic civil right. From their perspective, it is the same as denying racial minorities or women the right to vote. They claim the whole debate is a pure and simple civil rights matter. Those who oppose same-sex marriage might as well be opposing the abolition of slavery.

This argument, however, is not only intellectually dishonest, but part of a long term strategy to normalize homosexual behavior.

Discrimination vs. distinction

To reduce all forms of discrimination-racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, or any other -ism-into one group is grossly dishonest and creates serious problems. Discrimination (in the classical sense means to distinguish and judge) plays a necessary and central role in any society. Problems arise only when those judgments are based on faulty, incorrect, or non-existent distinctions. In the case of racism, for example, past discrimination was based on the non-existent distinction between people of different skin color, wherein most people today readily accept that color truly is only skin deep.

To say that homosexuality is equivalent to race is to likewise assert that there is no true distinction between heterosexuals and homosexuals. This is patently false. As Shelby Steele of the Wall Street Journal eloquently explains, "[T]here is a profound difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality. In the former, sexual and romantic desire is focused on the same sex, in the latter on the opposite sex. Natural procreation is possible only for heterosexuals, a fact of nature that obligates their sexuality to no less a responsibility than the perpetuation of the species. Unlike racial difference, these two sexual orientations are profoundly-not innocuously-different. Racism projects a false difference in order to exploit. Homophobia is a reactive prejudice against a true and firm difference that already exists."

Arguments demanding that the LGBT rights movement be treated as the new civil rights movement seek to erase this profound and necessary distinction. However, discrimination against homosexuality is not faulty or incorrect, but rather based on a notable distinction necessary for the perpetuation of a healthy society.

Homosexuality is not a civil right

Homosexuality, as a behavior, is not a civil right, as it does not fulfill the criteria required to establish homosexuals as a protected group under civil rights legislation. In order to achieve such protection, the trait that distinguishes a group as a minority must be inherited, innate, or immutable. Social science research indicates homosexuality does not meet any of these criteria.

Below is a brief overview of this research. For a more in-depth review of the essential arguments and research for engaging in a dialogue on homosexual behavior, you can view UFI's Guide to Family Issues: Sexual Orientation.

Homosexuality is not genetic

There is no conclusive or compelling empirical evidence showing any absolute biological, genetic, or hormonal causation for homosexuality. A small percentage of the population may have a predisposition toward homosexual feelings, but this does not mean such people engage in homosexual behavior as a result of genetic causation. Predisposition toward something does not mean that it is inevitable or that such a predisposition cannot or should not be resisted and overcome.

Homosexuality is not innate

What a person does (behavior) should never be equated with who a person is. No human being can or should be reduced to his or her sexual impulses. Impulses cannot compel behavior or identities without a person's consent.

Additionally, current evidence suggests that environmental, familial, and personal external influences contribute significantly to the development of homosexual tendencies. Seventy years of therapeutic counseling and case studies show a remarkable consistency concerning the origins of the homosexual impulse as an uncompleted gender identity seeking after its own sex to replace what was not fully developed in childhood.

Homosexuality is changeable

Reputable studies and decades of successful treatment show that homosexual behavior can be changed. Thousands of former homosexuals testify to this possibility. According to Positive Alternatives to Homosexuality (PATH), a coalition of organizations committed to helping those wanting to change same-sex attraction, "In more than 50 years of research, including 48 studies . . . there are data and published accounts documenting easily more than 3,000 cases of change from homosexual to heterosexual attraction, identity and functioning." You can view an overview of those studies here.

Many LGBT advocates cite the decision made by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1973 to remove homosexuality from its list of disorders as proof that homosexuality is natural and unchangeable. However, the decision to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) was made only after APA leaders and members had endured several years of intense political pressure and disruptive lobbying efforts by militant homosexual activist groups. Even pro-homosexual psychiatric professionals will admit that the APA's decision was purely political, not scientific.

Homosexuality is defined by behaviors that are destructive to individuals and to society

Homosexuality is defined and distinguished by risky behaviors that are proven to be destructive to individuals and to society. The most serious consequence of the homosexual lifestyle is exposure to HIV/AIDS and other STDs. Evidence indicates that 50 percent of men who have sex with men will eventually become HIV positive or infected with another potentially fatal sexually transmitted disease.

Research also indicates that homosexuality is tied to significant increases in drug and alcohol abuse and mental or emotional health disorders. One study found that men with same-sex partners were 6.5 times as likely as heterosexual men to have attempted suicide, and a separate study demonstrated that homosexuals are almost three times more likely to suffer major depression and generalized anxiety disorder.

Rates of domestic violence are also dramatically higher among same-sex couples, particularly lesbian couples. One survey of over a thousand lesbians found that more than half reported being verbally, emotionally, psychologically, or physically abused by their female partner.

Research shows that there is no reduction in the rate of suicide, mental illness, substance abuse, alcoholism, and domestic violence in areas where homosexuality is more widely accepted, proving that the high rate of emotional trauma in homosexuals is not induced by society, but rather, is the result of deviant sexual behavior that negatively impacts emotional and physical health. The same list of negative consequences attached to any other behavior would inspire broad societal efforts to prevent and discourage that behavior.

Conclusion

Homosexuality is not a civil right. Social science is still on the side of the family. Our goal at UFI is to make this research and these facts available to you. A great place to access this information is through our Guides to Family Issues. The guides help you break down the arguments and provide all of the evidence necessary to help you share this powerful truth: traditional marriage and strong families promise the best future for individuals, communities, and nations.
Those of us who support traditional marriage and family cannot afford to let this and similar misconceptions take further root in our culture.

My newest project - A hat

So while visiting my sister Kiki in the frozen-tundra-of-the-north (a.k.a. - Idaho) we had to limit our activities to those things which could be done in doors, thus I learned to crochet. I decided that I had to have a hat to match my adorable neice Karlie.

Kiki had made the hat and so she taught me how to crochet, my first project was an adult sized hat, for those cold mornings in AZ.

I worked on it on my bus trip from Rexburg to Salt Lake and finished it up this week. So rather than show you my big head in it I got Justin's kids to model it for me.

Sunday School

So I've been teaching Sunday School in my single adult ward since June of 2009. It is a fabulous calling that has forced me to delve into the scriptures more. Just what I needed. It's a stretch getting up every other Sunday in front of amazing people and pretending like I know what I'm talking about. I figure that I'm always safe if I just stick to the scriptures and the words of the prophets. Needless to say I've been learning a ton and have felt my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ grow.

Today's lesson is from Moses 1. The topic is "For behold, this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39). I am grateful for continued revelation and the Spirit which confirms to me how much my Heavenly Father truly loves me. Despite the vastness of His creations, He knows me individually, loves me completely, and wants the absolute best for me, to ultimately have me return to live with Him.

What a great Sunday!

New Years Resolutions

"New Year's Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." -- Mark Twain

Megan's New Year's Resolutions
  • Weight - lose some of it
  • Money - save more of it
  • Men - find some of them
  • Spirituality - get more of it

I've got to start somewhere. Good luck with your New Year's Resolutions.

Happy New Year - Highlights from 2009

Happy New Year!

I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season. I just got back yesterday from spending 6 days in Rexburg, ID with my sister Kiki and her family. The visit was fantastic and it went by entirely too quickly. However, I can say that today I'm thoroughly enjoying sitting at home with the windows open because it is 68 degrees outside.

I was thinking about how quickly 2009 went by, and all of the momentous occasions of this past year I wanted to capture a few of the highlights for my own sake, but you're welcome to check them out.

January
  • went on a business trip to Clearwater, FL; stayed in a totally spooky haunted hotel called the Belleview Biltmore



February
  • my roommate from Ricks College (1992-1994) Diana Slack/McInelly came out from Nebraska and stopped for a visit.



  • another business trip, this time to Myrtle Beach, FL where I had the best seafood dinner I've ever eaten (and that's saying a lot because I hate seafood and try never to eat it).
  • (my coworkers from Pinnacle that went to the conference with me - btw I designed the company banners for our "booth")
March
  • garage sale - didn't sell much but always enjoy putting out our junk

April
  • some friends and I went out to Disneyland in CA and had a blast!


May
  • the last time I went out for Pizza with Grandpa Schaub; my G'ma and G'pa Schaub had a long standing tradition of Peter Piper Pizza ever single Thursday night, anyone was welcome to join them. May was the last time I had pizza with Gpa Schaub (sorry the picture is blurry, but it is precious to me)

  • Baby Karlie is born on May 25th and I and my sister-in-law Ellie drive up with our niece Kaylie to visit the Weichers Family and see the new baby.




June
  • On June 13, 2009, Gordon Grant Johnson, my maternal-grandfather, died after battling cancer for months. My family went out to Spring, Texas for the funeral on June 19, 2009.


  • me and my Grandma Johnson


  • On June 26, 2009, Arthur Lee Schaub, my paternal-grandfather, died. We had his funeral on June 30th.

  • (my dad and all of his siblings, and his mother at their father's funeral)


July
  • July 4th competed in my first Sprint Triathlon - the JCC Scottsdale Firecracker Sprint Triathlon, and finished.



  • Schaub family campout at Woods Canyon Lake on the Mogollon Rim. The Weichers family drove down to join us.


August
  • My company moved me to a new office building just down the street from our old building. Along with a new cubicle I got a new title "Marketing Programs Manager" - someday I'll get a paycheck that matches my hoity-toity title, till then I'm just grateful for a job. Here's my "mug-shot" for my new employee badge.


  • Also had a big personal move as well, due to some changes in my roommate situation and a desire to get my finances in order, I decided to move back with my parents. It was a difficult decision to make, but it was the right one. My family is wonderful and supportive and I am enjoying time spent with my parents.
September
  • apparently a quiet month, cuz I can't find any good pictures

October
  • Dad and I hiked the Grand Canyon's Indian Garden trail in one day, the weekend before my birthday. Yahoo!!!!



  • Auntie Megan had her annual Halloween party again



  • My Grandma Johnson was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma a form of cancer, and begins chemo.

November
  • A little dutchoven cooking with some friends.



  • Thanksgiving with family was pretty low-key this year. I spent much of it chasing after Kara trying to get a picture (aka -hit a moving target).



  • Baby Adam Schaub was born to my brother Justin and his wife Rachel on November 30th.



December
  • My great-uncle John and great-aunt Amy came from Branson, Missouri to visit us for a week. My Uncle John is extremely musically talented and has been a Hawaiian music performer for most of his entire life. My auntie Amy is a wonderful hula dancer.



  • This past Christmas I spent time in Rexburg visiting my sister Kiki and her family.


I have been extremely blessed this past year. Though there have been many trials, and challenges faced by myself and my family, we have been richly blessed. I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who has given me an abundance of support, love, strength, learning experiences, growth opportunities, beautiful memories, and peaceful moments of reflection. I pray that 2010 will bring all of us a year filled with peace and love.