An Interesting Parable About Work and A Free Ride

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that.

Remember, there is a test coming up - the 2012 elections.

Five statements to seriously consider:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Family History Photo CD Tin

I've spent the last 4 hours working on a family history photo tin.  It's a project I'm preparing for my family reunion/campout this coming weekend - and I've got to make 35 kits.  I've actually prepared this type of project for another family reunion I did a few years ago and it went over so well, I offered to do it for the Schaub family this year.

In case you're interested, this is a small 4 generation accordion photo album.  My dad helped me with the family group sheet and collecting all the photos.  Fortunately I was born into a family that likes to take photographs and we've been doing it for generations.  Probably one of the most enjoyable parts of this project was going through old (as in 1800s) family photos - it's interesting to see how prevalent some genetic traits are.

Here is a little tutorial if you'd like to make you're own CD Photo Album.  I've also created an instruction sheet with supplies and dimensions. You can download it here - CD Photo Accordion Album Instructions.

Here are the general supplies:

The instruction sheet will give you the dimensions of everything.  First, cut three strips of cardstock each at least 5 inches wide.  I'd recommend using 12x12 cardstock so you can get at least 2 strips out of it; however, if you want to you can use 8 1/2"x11", but you'll only get 1 strip out of each sheet.  Fold the strips at 4.25" (again check out the instruction sheet for details).

Here the strips are folded, and you can see where you'll need to glue them together.  You'll need to attach (glue sticks work great) square "A" to square "A" and square "B" to square "B" making sure that each square is 4.25" tall.

Then you just add your photos and decorate with paper.  I try to stay away from any embellishments that will add bulk (i.e. - pop dots, brads, flowers, etc) because the album is going to have to fit into a CD tin and with too many puffy embellishments the tin will look like an over stuffed suitcase.  Make sure that you do NOT decorate the top and bottom squares.  The bottom square will be adhered to the inside of the tin and the top square will have your "cover page".  Also make sure you check regularly to ensure that your photos are all going in in the right direction.

To adhere the album to the tin you will have to use glue dots -- these are the only things "powerful" enough to hold the paper to the metal.

Pretty simple and straight forward.  Here are a few photos of the finished album.

You should make a tin of your own.  They're a very simple way to share family history and they make great gifts.

Hot, hot, and hot brought to by the letter S

I'm really having fun with the 365 A Photo A Day. I'm looking for opportunities to record life. My skills still need improving, but it's coming along. Rather than bore you with a daily photo log, I think I'll just share with you the highlights of my life.

Saturday, June 25 - Crop Day
You probably realize by now that I like to scrapbook. It is a creative outlet for me that does not require a computer (which I desperately crave). I started a scrapbook group about 7 years ago called the East Valley Scrapbook Guild and have met some wonderful women through it. We get together about once a month to crop. The Saturday before last my sister was able to join us. The time always flies too quickly when I'm cropping with friends. I did take time out to snap a few photos.

The other big news from this past week has been the temperature. For my friends who live in AZ, you experienced it first hand...it was stinkin' HOT this week. On Wednesday, June 29th it was really weird because it also rained. So it was 110 degrees outside and raining. Don't believe me, check it out...

Friday's letter of the day was brought to us by my 2 year old niece....

The letter S.

This past Saturday, July 2nd my youngest brother and his wife moved from far, far, far east Mesa (ASU housing) to Kingman.  Did I mention it was a record breakingly hot...again, my obsession with the thermometer...

Yes, that thermometer is reading 119 degrees, and I should probably tell you that the thermometer itself is outside under the shaded patio.  So that was 119 degrees under the shade. AAGGHH!!!!!

So, my dad, brothers, and brother-in-law loaded everything up very early in the morning - can you imagine how much fun it is to load up a moving van with 4 engineers and a physical therapist (doesn't that sound like the start of a joke).  And then they all rolled out for a 4 hour drive to Kingman. 

My sister and I rolled in behind them and spent 2 1/2 hours cleaning their old house for them...yes, that's love!  I wouldn't say that we had fun, but we definitely worked up a sweat.  Now I normally try to avoid sharing picture of myself but I'm actually going to post one. AND, it's a horrible picture of me because I have no make-up on, i'm wearing my workout clothes, and i've just spent 2 1/2 hours sweating and cursing over an old kitchen floor. Tada...

And the only reason I had my picture taken was because it was the condition under which my sister would allow me to take her picture.

OK, for a recap of my Sunday, July 3rd photos you'll need to head over to my food Blog - A Feast For the Senses, because Sunday's pictures were of my 3-ingredient-roast-that-will-knock-your-socks-off.

AND, last but not least, HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!  I'll be celebrating today with family.  I'm grateful to be an AMERICAN and deeply grateful for the men and women who helped establish this country and continue to sacrifice so that I may enjoy the blessings of liberty and freedom.

Green, Sweetness, and Heat

What do these three things have in common?  Well, they were the three themes of my 365 Photos this first part of the week.  I took some great pictures today, but I'll wait till tomorrow to share those, as it is getting late and I want to write more about them.

So Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday...Monday, I finally got around to plucking enough basil leaves from my basil plant to make a batch of pesto.  This was my first real harvest. I've been growing this basil for months, and there just never seemed to be enough leaves for me to go picking enough to make pesto.

Monday, June 20th was the day and I combined the basil with some spinach to make a wonderfully delicious pesto.  I tossed it with angel hair pasta, some feta and peas and enjoyed a DELICIOUS dinner.  Check it out...

Tuesday, June 21st was an extremely busy day. However, in between running back and forth to work I was able to spend about an hour with my niece, just holding her while she napped. What a great way to unwind. I did eventually leave to go back to work, and just before I left I snapped this picture of her waking up.

And Wednesday, June 22nd was the first day of Summer, or at least it felt like it. Oh my goodness was it hot!!! And I've got the picture to prove it.

Yes, the picture on the left was taken in my car and the picture on the right was taken at home and the thermometer is underneath the shaded patio. Seeeeeee, it's HOT!

Come back tomorrow to see my tale of the ladybugs, you won't want to miss it.

Ready, Set, SHOOT! - First week of 365

So I've been successful so far...for all 3 days. :)  It's been something that I've really had to be conscious about.  I've already found that I actually have to keep my camera out.  One of the impediments to taking photos has been the inconvenience of getting my camera down from the closet in my bedroom. I was just too darn lazy to go and get it when a photo opportunity arose.  Now I just keep it out on my desk and it's easy to grab.

So here are a few of the photos from my first week.  And it's obvious that I've got a lot of improving to do!

Friday, June 17, 2011 -- I took the theme "Purple" and looked around for something to match the theme.  I appreciated having a theme to inspire me otherwise I'd be looking around for the normal things I take pictures of, and I've got way too many pictures of the normal.

Anyways, my niece was over and playing with the fridge-magnet alphabet letters.

And it's officially summer because we've had more than 5 days in a row of 100+ degree temperatures.  The munchkins were over to go swimming on Friday. (nothing to do with purple but loved his expression)

Saturday, June 18, 2011 - A CRAZY day.  I was going from 6:30am - 10:30pm, non-stop.  My nephew was baptized on Saturday, so it was definitely worth a few pictures.  I learned on Saturday, that there is a time and a place for taking pictures.  After the baptism we all went over to my brothers house for lunch and it was just so darn crowded that it wasn't really practical to whip out the camera.  Besides that I was hungry and so I chose a plate of food over my camera. :)

Here's my brother with his son.

They barely stood still long enough for me to take there picture. Can you tell which ones are brothers?

The little girls stayed still longer, but weren't any happier to get their picture taken.

This was my favorite photo of the day - my parents.

Sunday, June 19, 2011 - Today was Father's Day.  I have the best father in the whole world.  He has been and will continue to be my hero!  This evening we had a family dinner to celebrate Dad.  I made a delicious roast and we had along with it a few of dad's favorites.

My youngest brother and my dad.

One of my dad's favorite desserts - german chocolate cake.  I even made the frosting from scratch and boy, oh, boy what a difference.  It was delicious.

365-days of photographs -- DAY 1

So I've been thinking about setting some goals to improve my skills.  Some times I feel like I dabble in a bunch of things, but really haven't become an expert at any of them.  Sooooo, I decided that the only way to become an expert at anything is to practice.

Practicing photography, a skill I would like to vastly improve upon, means that I have to take more pictures. And hopefully, as I analyze what I take, how I take it, and then refer frequently to the experts, I can improve upon this skill.

This in mind, I've decided to take the 365 challenge.  I am setting a goal to take at least 1 photo a day for 365 days.  I would prefer that this is a "good" photo, but any photo will do.  My goal is also to share them with you.  I'm not saying that I will be blogging once a day for 365 days, but at least a few times a week in order to share with you what I've captured.

I found out more about this 365 challenge from the "CaptureYour365" website.  They explain this whole "thing" so well...

365 is about your life. It is about capturing, documenting, and preserving all that is important to us. People come to this project for so many different reasons, with so many different motivations. 

 I thought about starting this off as a New Year's resolution, but who cares when I start this goal.  Whether I start today or on January 1st it will still be 365 days and I need to get over my tendency to procrastinate (another one of those improvements I need more practice with).  I'm also hoping this will end up being a good photo-journal of my life, not just the "events' but the day-to-day living.

So today marks the start of my 365 - A Photo A Day Project.  And my first photo is

The soda cans sitting on my desk right now.  I'm in love with the Black Cherry Fresca.  I know, not necessarily a monumental work of art, but it's late and I'm ready to go to bed.  I'll shoot a better subject tomorrow.

Gourmet food truck lunch - First Friday with Phoenix Street Food

Sunshine and Spices-
tacos and samosa

I'm a self-proclaimed foodie.  Not only do I enjoy cooking and baking, but I'm always looking for new and interesting places to eat.  I've been watching EatStreet on Cooking channel and lamenting the fact that I never see any good food trucks around Phoenix. I do see the occasional roach-coach, but what they serves doesn't count as "gourmet food".

In my search for food trucks in Phoenix I came across First Friday and event in Phoenix, held, of course, on the first Friday of the month.  During lunch a bunch of "gourmet food" trucks gather to offer lunch for the hungry masses. Phoenix Street Food helps to get the word out about all the vendors. Jack pot!!!

I actually took today off of work, not just for the Phoenix Street Food lunch (but mostly).  I needed a break and today seemed like the perfect day to take it.

Kiki, her two youngest and my mom joined me for a little field trip into downtown Phoenix.  The weather really wasn't too bad. It's June, in phoenix, so we were expecting it to be at least a little warm.  Finding the Phoenix Street Food location wasn't too difficult.  All the trucks were at the southeast corner of 1st Street and McKinley in downtown Phoenix.

A covered parking area was converted into an outdoor eatery complete with misters and outdoor air conditioning units.  Fortunately we got there early enough that we got our food before the rush of people arrived.  By the time we left, the place was packed.

We had one rule - we all had to order our meals from somewhere different.  This way we were able to try several different things.  Of course I took a bunch of pictures.  You'll have to check out my pictures and read to the captions to see what I thought of the food.



Bottom line...loved the food at the Phoenix Street Food event.  If you get the chance, check it out.

AZ Desert Botanical Garden

Last week a good friend of mine invited me to join her for a visit to the AZ Desert Botanical Garden.  Sara is an amazing photographer and I was so excited to be able to go out with a semi-professional and get some tips & tricks. And the bonus was a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden.

This time of year the garden is in FULL bloom.  All the flowers, trees and cacti are blossoming, the colors are magnificent.  The best lighting for outdoor photography is around dusk just as the sun is just starting to go down (at least in my humble opinion).  Fortunately the weather was absolutely PERFECT -- temperatures in the low 80s with a slight breeze.

I had soooo much fun practicing my photography and I couldn't have asked for better subjects -- they stayed still longer than my nieces and nephews.  Here are a few of the highlights of the evening



I'm definitely going to do this again.

Worse than moving in July in Arizona

At the end of February I drove up to Rexburg, Idaho to help my sister and her family move into a temporary rental.  She and her husband were fortunate enough to sell their home relatively quickly (at least in today's current market).  They are planning on moving down to Arizona and are waiting until the kids are done with school.  I offered to help with the moving and cleaning.

I really enjoyed the 17 hour drive, other than the whiteout conditions that existed between Logan, Utah and Rexburg, ID.  I actually look forward to some nice relaxing me time - plug in a good book on tape and the time goes by in a blink of an eye.

My sister had already packed up most of the house.  I just helped to do the final boxing and then the cleaning.  It was the two of us and a 3200 sq ft. home.  We worked like dogs, but we GOT IT DONE!

However, the most impressive part of the move was all the help they got from the ward to actually haul all of their stuff from one house to the other. Check it out...

And I have come to one conclusion after the entire experience...THERE IS ONLY ONE THING WORSE THAN MOVING, IN ARIZONA, IN JULY. THAT WOULD BE MOVING, IN FEBRUARY, IN REXBURG, ID.  It was sooooo stinkin' cold! The high on the day we moved was 17 degrees, everything was covered in snow and ice.   It was so cold that it was painful to run out side with things to load into the car.

** Note to self and others: Don't move in winter in Idaho or summer in Arizona.

Despite all the work to move, I made time to play with Kiki and the kids:

I'll be so happy when they all move down to Arizona...hopefully before it gets too hot.

Still looking

I'm still looking for Mr. Right.  A friend posted this and I snagged it because it is a great description of what I'm looking for...

"Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky his is to have you.... The one who turns to his friends and says, 'that's her.'”

And can take me to the Temple.

Confession Time

My name is Megan and I have a problem...with water bottles and cups in my room. Really, it's just not right. I can't help it. I just drink a lot of water. I always have a water bottle with me, or a cup. I take it with me to my room and then set it down while I'm doing stuff, or just before I go to bed. Then the next day I get a new water bottle or new cup and the vicious cycle starts all over again. Before I know it, my desk looks like this...

 I don't think there's a cure.

Stinkin' Cute Signs

My super cute cousin is getting married this week.  I was her first babysitter...I'm just sayin'  Anyways, I offered to put together some cute signs for her reception.  Just scrapbooked signs for the food table, and then larger signs for the designated food "areas".  Check 'em out...

Thanks to Susan and her lovely vinyl machine. I think they turned out pretty cute.

A food post because of my dad

This is a food post, which I would normally save for my food blog - Cre8ToEat; however, this is mostly a blog about how awesome my dad is.

I, in some fit of insanity, offered to cook teriyaki chicken for the ward luau which was scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19th.  Mostly I offered because I can't stand bad teriyaki chicken.  I also offered to make some Hawaiian style salad dressing. Agghh!!!

So this last week was crazy busy (way crazier than usually). I've been working late every night.  I bought 8 giant bags of chicken thighs from Costco on Thursday and stuck them in the fridge at home (thankgoodness for the extra fridge in the garage).  Friday after work and before my RS Presidents meeting and before all my VT sisters were coming over for game night I went shopping for teri-marinade ingredients.  Had my meeting, had my fun VT friends come over.  We played games until 10:30pm at which point I chased them all home.

This is where my dad flies in with his super cape.  My dad helped me make marinade and get all 160 pieces of chicken de-iced, and into the marinade.  We're were up until midnight.  I went to bed with cold stiff fingers.

The next morning at 7:30am, we got up and played an hour of Wii fit - he kicked my butt at golf and hula-hooping. Then he fired up the grill and the two of us spent the next 3 1/2 hours grilling chicken.  I know that had my dad not helped me I would have been in tears, and only half-way done, by lunch time.

My dad ROCKS!!!!  I bought him a Chipotle bowl for lunch to thank him.

By the way, everyone at the ward party LOVED the chicken.

Same old, same old

OK - so here's an update on my life

• Work is moving along, doing a lot of web designing, some graphic design, campaign analyzing, and sitting in meetings (guess which is the least productive part of my day)
• Still staying busy with my calling as Relief Society president. In fact, I just reached my one-year mark, Yahoo! I've experienced a whole lot of growth this past year, some of it less painful then other parts.
• Hey, good news...just paid off my car! I bought my Hyundai Santa Fe brand new in February of 2005. Other than a few dings (because of its amazing super power of invisibility - I'll have to tell you more about that another time), it's been a wonderful car, and now I expect to have several more years of wonderfulness (without having to make monthly payments on it).
  

• I have really been trying to do more cooking and baking. Last year I just kind of put it all on hiatus while I figured out how to do my new calling and so this year I'm tackling cooking and baking with a vengence. I've been experimenting with backing bread. If you haven't recently, you should stop over at my food blog and check it out.

Tomatoes and Peel

Just a quick note...you remember those tomato plants I've been babying, waiting for the "big harvest". Well, it was TODAY!!

The difference between these fresh home-grown tomatoes and the things you buy at the store is HUGE!  These actually taste like tomatoes!

And you may have noticed they are sitting on my new pizza peel which I'll be using as I explore Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day -- head on over to my food blog to read about my newest adventure in baking.

Insanity Never Ends - Just making it clear...

My life, like many of you, is filled from morning till evening with "stuff"! Lately, I'm up at 4am doing "stuff" before work, working during the day, and then doing more "stuff" at night until it's time to crash at about 9:30pm.  Most of it's really good "stuff" -- taking photos of family weddings and parties, having RS meetings, cleaning the church, scrapbook night with the girls, dinner with friends, Visiting Teaching appointments, Temple sessions, babysitting of nieces and nephews, etc., etc., etc.

Bear with my while I clear up one quick point for many of my friends, and many others who I don't even know, but who perhaps have single friends or family members.

Just because a person is single, and doesn't have a family, doesn't mean they have extra time on their hands...I'm just saying!

Being single for as long as I have, I've run across a lot of people who automatically make the assumption, "Oh, you don't have a family, so you should have time to do..."  I have been blessed by the Lord in many ways in my life.  Unfortunately, as yet, I have not been blessed with a husband or children of my own. However, this does not mean I am sitting at home twiddling my thumbs waiting for that blessing to come around. I'm striving to be "anxiously engaged" and so that means that my time is very valuable, as is everyones. I'm just trying to make the most of the time I've been given and hope that you are time.

*tap* *tap* *Is anyone listening?*

Enjoying the Fruits of My Labor

I partook of the fruits of my labors today...literally. I've been babying a couple of tomato plants that I started from seed last August. You're probably saying, "why in the world would you start tomato plants so late in the season?" I know, i know, but I just couldn't resist. We had a Relief Society enrichment class taught on container gardening and I brought home a bunch of tomato seeds in those peat soil pellets (the photo at the left was taken September 1st). I couldn't just toss them, they had potential!

I've been babying them along since August. Not all of the original plants survived, but 4 of them did. I put two plants in each of two pots. One pot has 2 Early Girl tomato plants and one pot has 2 Sweet 100 tomato plants. A few weeks ago the night time temperatures really started to drop so I loaded up my pots into a red flyer wagon and wheeled the plants into the garage. During the day, I wheel them out to the yard so they can soak up the sun, and then they retire for the evening in the comfy garage. They're rather pampered plants, and this is perhaps the reason it has taken them so long to come to fruition.

Anyways, my efforts paid off today. I harvested my first tomatoes...notice that was the plural of tomato. I harvested not one but TWO sweet 100 tomatoes. Behold, the plant from which I harvested my bounty.

Here are the perfect little sweet 100's which are about to be harvested.

And here I am swooping in to pluck them from the vine.

 

Unfortunately there are no pictures of me popping them into my mouth, but I can report they were delicious.

Now I'm just waiting for these beauties to ripen.