Internet Pornography.

A few weeks ago, I submitted a research paper to the Stand for the Family symposium and found out this week that I won an award for it and that it is going to be published. I am really excited about it, and a little nervous, because next Saturday I have to present it to an audience at the symposium. The title of my paper is "The Destructiveness of Pornography to Family Relationships: Preventative Measures and Help with Addiction." In my paper, I discuss how internet pornography is different from other forms of pornography because of its "Triple-A-Engine Effect of Accessibility, Affordability, and Anonymity. Then, I go on to describe the ways in which pornography affects the marital relationship, the parent-child relationship, and the individual in a family. Last, I discuss preventative measures and help for those already in addiction.
I think internet pornography is a huge issue today. It is widely available and comes up when one is not even looking for it. I think I decided to write about this topic because my husband I are about to have our first baby, a boy. Statistics show that the average age of exposure to pornography is age 11, and although women can become addicted to it, it is much more of a problem for men. We know that our son will be exposed to it, but we want to teach him healthy ways to confront and battle against it. I will post the link once my paper is published next week!

"Sales"

Recently, my husband and I attended Institute in Orem and a lecture was given by a man that spoke about finances. Although we've always had a good budget and save money well, I learned so much there that I didn't know, particularly about advertising. Often, we see signs outside of RC Willey or other companies that say, "TV sale--only today!" or "Furniture Sale, this weekend only!" It's funny because before I attended this lecture and would see those signs, I would tell my husband, "Oh, we have to go check it out today!" when we attended the lecture, we learned that often companies do this not because they necessarily want you to buy their products with cash that day. Frequently, they do it because they know that most banks are closed on the weekends and if people don't have the cash to pay for it, they can lease it. RC Willey, for example, only marks their products up 5% from the amount they buy them for. So, most of their revenue comes from leasing products. This is because if you decide to lease it and don't pay off the whole amount in the time they allow (often 6 months), then you have to begin paying interest on the FULL price! I didn't know that before, and I'm glad I know that know because my husband and I were thinking of leasing a piece of furniture a few months ago. Anytime I see an advertisement that says "Sale today only!" I am going to think twice before I walk into the store.

Taco Bell's drive-thru diet...What?!

My husband and I went to Taco Bell for dinner and saw their advertisement for the new Fresco Drive-Thru Diet. We looked at each other incredulously, thinking "No way!" and then proceeded to read the advertisement, which told of a woman named Christine that lost 54 pounds doing this (comparing her to Jared from Subway). I further read into this because it's just something I cannot believe.

This is one article I found:

While Christine certainly looks slim, her story is a bit thin on the details. She claims that she reduced her total daily calorie intake by 500 calories to 1,250 calories by choosing from the seven Fresco items and "making other sensible choices," leaving us to wonder what those sensible choices were. Exercise? Other low-calorie foods? Diet supplements? She also doesn't state how much of her daily 1,250 calories were from Taco Bell.

Funny, on the ad there are all kinds of dislaimers in finer print, such as "this is not a weight loss program"...so ridiculous! I personally don't believe that Christine could possibly have lost that much weight eating tacos from Taco Bell that are around 9 grams a fat a piece. To me, it just seems like Taco Bell's way to deceive people into thinking their food is healthy so they can make more money, and ultimately contribute to America's ever-increasing obesity rates. Man, I had a hard enough time losing weight on the Atkins diet (eating no sugar or carbs). Although I eat Taco Bell occassionally, I don't believe their ad for a second! It's too bad that they can't actually sell what they are advertising and have to be dishonest about it.

Lord of the Rings and the Gospel

Since I was young, I remember my dad talking a lot about the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series. He loved the trilogy, and had even learned a lot of the language the J.R.R Tolkien made up from the books. My dad knows everything about LOTR. When the first movie came out, it was a huge deal for my family. My dad was so excited to see it, and it got us all pumped up. We went to the opening showing, and got there way in advance so we could get good seats. I remember I was blown away by the special effects and the beautiful scenery of New Zealand, where the movies were filmed. Wow! I think the reason I like LOTR so much is because of the message it gives. I think there is a lot of analogy to the gospel. For example, Frodo was burdened to carry a ring. He was the only one that could control himself enough to do this because he was so innocent and submissive and through destroying the ring, he would be able to save middle earth from being overtaken by Sauron, the dark lord. In some ways, this is similar to the gospel in that Christ was the only one that could save us, and he had to carry our sins and sorrows to do this. The ring is similar to the burdens that we all carry and that Christ took away from us if we repent. The ring had to be destroyed or Sauron would take over, just like our sins have to be repented or the adversary wins. I love how there are so many analogies like this in LOTR! My husband have the trilogy and watch these movies often. They are long, but so much worth the time and emotion felt!

He Restoreth My Soul

My father, who is a neurosurgeon, recently published a book about how pornography addiction affects the brain. It is called "He Restoreth My Soul" and is available at the BYU Bookstore and Deseret Book. Although I am a little biased, I think his book is absolutely amazing! It has really opened my eyes as to how common and huge this addiction is.

Here are some interesting and somewhat scary statistics that the Lighted Candle Society (an anti-pornography organization) provides:

More than 70% of men from 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site in a typical month
47% percent of families said pornography is a problem in their home

Not a lot of research has been done on pornography use as an addiction. A lot of people do not think of it as an addiction, but my dad touches upon some of the research that negates this idea. He also shows that these numbers are not much less, even in the Church. His book is spiritually based, with a lot of scriptures that provide hope for those who are struggling with this addiction. He is speaking at the Stand for the Family symposium in March that the Law School is hosting. I just thought I'd spread the word along so that anyone who is interested can attend or read the book to help others!

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

As a child, my all-time favorite book was called Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? I absolutely loved this book and my mom read it to me all the time. Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? is about a mother bear that asks her little boy bear what he is going to wear in various situations. It is humorous, and a very cute story! My husband and I are expecting our first baby due in May and my mom recently sent this book to us for Christmas and wrote a short note in it to our baby, explaining how much I loved this book as a child. I thought it was so sweet of her to do this, and it brought back so many memories of when I was a young girl. Currently, my favorite book is probably the Harry Potter series. I have read all of them and over the Christmas break, my husband and I read the last one together. He hadn’t read it together, and we both enjoyed it so much!
I think one reason that I enjoyed reading Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? so much was because I felt the same bond between my mother and I as the mother bear and the little bear in the story. I loved it when my mother read to me; I felt an emotional bond with her and was comforted when she read to me every night before bed. Another reason I think I liked the book so much is because I have always been a very creative and visual person, and the pictures and very well done and beautiful in the story. I loved looking at the pictures and they evoked many thoughts and feelings within me. This is a book that I will definitely share with my children, and will hope that they love it just as much as I did!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

I saw this movie a few weeks ago and honestly thought it was really poorly done! I know a lot of people who thought it was a great movie, but I think I know why I had such a hard time with it. This was one of my favorite books to read when I was a child. My mom would read it to me often, and when I heard that the movie was coming out, I was so excited! It brought back many feelings of nostalgia thinking about how much I loved the book. When my husband I went to see the movie, I was disappointed. I didn't like how the story line had a weird science theme to it and didn't have much to do with the book at all! It was somewhat of a let down. That's one thing that bothers me about the movie industry; they think that they can change a classic children's book into something better and more original--this rarely works! Oh well, I will get over it sooner or later.

Thoughts on Texting...

In one of my classes, we were discussing technology and how it has progressed so far and there are amazing things available today. We also talked about cell phones and the average number of texts that teenagers send each month (almost 3,000!). I started thinking about how much texting bothers me! I have to say that I do use it occasionally because sometimes it is easier to get a hold of someone through a text than a phone call, but overall, I think that it distracts from building social relationships. Just to illustrate this, my younger sister (still in high school) has a boyfriend and she rarely talks to him on the phone, but is CONSTANTLY texting him. My brother has even asked a few girls out over a text message. It's even more ridiculous that you see people at parties sitting there texting instead of interacting with the people around them. I think it's sad that people are missing out on building close relationships with others. Texting allows us to communicate with those who are away from us, but we are not able to communicate with those that are right there with us because it is so distracting and time-consuming. Honestly, texting drives me crazy! I have seen people text in formal settings such as at church, at funerals, and at weddings. I think this is totally disrespectful. So, my point is that, I think texting should be used for important reasons and situations, not just talking to someone on a normal basis. ARghhh!!