Oklahoma FFA Convention

What do Sonic, parking meters, shoppinng carts, Reba McEntire, Lane Frost, Braum's, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame have in common? That's right, they all came from "Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain..." (fyi: that's a song from the musical "Oklahoma"). There's only one thing from this great state that can top any #3 Extra-long cheese coney or cup of Braum's mint chocolate ice cream (a nearly impossible feat). What is that, you may ask? It's the Oklahoma FFA Convention, held every year in Oklahoma City during the month of April.

Kaleb and I arrived on Monday afternoon for a meal with the Fresh Country gang and a chit chat with the Oklahoma State FFA Officers. I must admit, it made me a teeny-tiny bit jittery inside to hear them practice opening ceremonies. There's just something completely exciting, overwhelming, and mind-blowing about a FANTASTIC rendition of those famous ceremony parts...(after reading that sentence over, I realized just how big of a nerd I am. ha ha.) Of course, that practice had nothing on the first general session of the 84th Oklahoma FFA Convention.

"Bring 'em out, bring 'em out" blared through the speakers, lasers danced onto the screens, and lights flashed into the crowd. Then, in the midst of anticipation, came Amy, McKenzie, Josh, Robby, Emily, Tara, Ariel, and Kelli emerged from backstage...each followed by chapter officer carrying a GIGANTIC, blown-up picture of the state officer's head (hard to explain but SO COOL!) With the tap of a gavel, the convention was brought to order...and thus, the beginning of a very fast 2 days.

We saw everything from video footage to inspirational speakers, heard everything from piano players to the final address of Amy Peel, and tasted everything from pasta to convention pretzels. We offered up some "awesome" greetings on behalf of Texas FFA, presented a workshop for 200 enthusiastic Oklahomans, showed off our Texas two-stepping moves, jammed out to Eli Young band, and made friends with the 2010-2011 State Officer candidates. Talk about a good time.

Before we knew it, we were headed back to Texas. Good-bye to the home of Sonic, parking meters, shopping carts, and cute cowboys...and hello, Lone Star state. Only 3 more days of travel left. So stay tuned as we head to our final destination of the year. It's gonna be great when we're in Area 8!