Suitcases? Check. Miley Cyrus on the radio? Check. Mr. Moo Moo (Jeremiah’s stuffed cow) in the front seat? Check. A DELICIOUS meal at Babe’s Chicken Dinner House? Check. Check. We hopped out of the truck in the big town of Chico, Texas, ready to tackle our final Area V school. Kaleb and Jeremiah took a gander at their red cattle trailer, while I had an interesting conversation about McDonald’s french fries, the movie Shutter Island, and the band Motion City Soundtrack with a group of guys in the classroom. 2 presentations and some interesting conversations later, we were on the road again. I must say, though, that we ended our Area V adventures on a strong note with a great chapter.
After a fantastic taco dinner at Rachel’s house in Weatherford and a nice, long snooze, we headed to the Weatherford Invitational to scope out the range, land, livestock, and horse judging contests. Then, we took our favorite birthday boy, Aron Hutchins, out to lunch at Montana’s. Before we knew it, we were already in Stephenville for the Tarleton CDE Invitational. Despite the fact that Dakotah ripped his pants (he he), we had a fantastic day full of taking pictures and hanging out with members from all across the state. Congrats to everyone who participated in the largest CDE in the world!
Finally, we made our way on over to Austin, Texas, to meet with National officers, Randa Braune and Levy Randolph. Our tasty meal at Texas Land and Cattle had nothing on the conversations we encountered with Mr. Fischer, a proud supporter of the National FFA Organization, who has lived all over the world while working in the agricultural industry. Needless to say, he had quite the stories to tell! Soon enough, though, we were whisked away to the Star of Texas Rodeo for our final destination of the week.
Now, with our iPod plugged into the truck and our cameras ready for picture-taking, we will make our way out to Area II. So, get ready to hear the stories from our gazillion hour trip to God’s country. We are sure to make a few memories on our way to that part of the world!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
National Ag Day in Washington D.C.
No swimsuits, sunscreen, or flip flops for me. No sir. This wasn’t your average spring breaks trip. Instead, it was goodbye, Texas and hello, Washington DC! I was headed to The Hill for National Agricultural Day. Woo hoo!!
Needless to say, I was super excited to be back. My congressional visits had been scheduled. My research had been done. My plane had arrived safely…now my only problem was that I had to hail a cab to get to the National 4-H Center, where we would be staying. Oh dear. I waved my hand. No one stopped. I tried to yell. No one stopped (but I did get a few odd looks). Finally, I gave up and decided I might have to make the 3 mile hike on foot. As you may already know, I have ZERO sense of direction. So, I wasn’t even sure which way I should start walking. I glanced around, attempted to make an educated guess, and began my trek (with suitcase in hand). 2 minutes and a few blocks later, I decided that was NOT going to happen. 3 miles was WAY TOO LONG of a walk. It was then that I caught sight of The Cheesecake Factory. Brilliant! I would have them call a cab for me! Well, I thought it was a good idea; the lady at the hostess stand did not. She just looked at me like I was nuts. It’s not my fault there are no taxis in Brenham, Texas! So, I started off again. I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And FINALLY, a taxi stopped for me!!! He may have only driven me the remaining mile, but I was quite proud of my newly acquired taxi-hailing skills!
The rest of my trip was much, much less frustrating. I started off the next day with coffee and a speech from the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. Then, it was off for a meeting with Texas Senator John Cornyn. In the short few minutes that I spent with Senator Cornyn, we covered a lot of topics- everything from his support of Texas FFA’s Ag Day at the Capital to the resolution that he co-sponsored in an attempt to increase beef exports to Japan. Next up was Congressman Neugebeur of Lubbock, whom I had the opportunity to talk about our 2012 State Convention in Lubbock with. Before I knew it, I was sitting in Josh Maxwell’s office discussing Environmental Protection Agency guidelines and the upcoming Farm Bill. It was good to get the down-low on agricultural issues from a fellow Aggie! Finally, I got a few minutes to catch up with Past National and State Officer, Casey Hogan, and Past State Officer, Tate Rosenbusch, both from Texas. It amazes me to think that only a few years back, they were in my shoes. Texas FFA sure knows how to take you to new heights!
A quick luncheon and a few hours later, I was back at the airport. And this time, I did NOT have to hail a cab! My trip was short- less than 24 hours- but there is no doubt about it, it was the most educational spring break trip I’ve ever taken!
Needless to say, I was super excited to be back. My congressional visits had been scheduled. My research had been done. My plane had arrived safely…now my only problem was that I had to hail a cab to get to the National 4-H Center, where we would be staying. Oh dear. I waved my hand. No one stopped. I tried to yell. No one stopped (but I did get a few odd looks). Finally, I gave up and decided I might have to make the 3 mile hike on foot. As you may already know, I have ZERO sense of direction. So, I wasn’t even sure which way I should start walking. I glanced around, attempted to make an educated guess, and began my trek (with suitcase in hand). 2 minutes and a few blocks later, I decided that was NOT going to happen. 3 miles was WAY TOO LONG of a walk. It was then that I caught sight of The Cheesecake Factory. Brilliant! I would have them call a cab for me! Well, I thought it was a good idea; the lady at the hostess stand did not. She just looked at me like I was nuts. It’s not my fault there are no taxis in Brenham, Texas! So, I started off again. I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And I walked. And FINALLY, a taxi stopped for me!!! He may have only driven me the remaining mile, but I was quite proud of my newly acquired taxi-hailing skills!
The rest of my trip was much, much less frustrating. I started off the next day with coffee and a speech from the United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. Then, it was off for a meeting with Texas Senator John Cornyn. In the short few minutes that I spent with Senator Cornyn, we covered a lot of topics- everything from his support of Texas FFA’s Ag Day at the Capital to the resolution that he co-sponsored in an attempt to increase beef exports to Japan. Next up was Congressman Neugebeur of Lubbock, whom I had the opportunity to talk about our 2012 State Convention in Lubbock with. Before I knew it, I was sitting in Josh Maxwell’s office discussing Environmental Protection Agency guidelines and the upcoming Farm Bill. It was good to get the down-low on agricultural issues from a fellow Aggie! Finally, I got a few minutes to catch up with Past National and State Officer, Casey Hogan, and Past State Officer, Tate Rosenbusch, both from Texas. It amazes me to think that only a few years back, they were in my shoes. Texas FFA sure knows how to take you to new heights!
A quick luncheon and a few hours later, I was back at the airport. And this time, I did NOT have to hail a cab! My trip was short- less than 24 hours- but there is no doubt about it, it was the most educational spring break trip I’ve ever taken!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Area III- Part IV
"There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home." No lie. It may have taken me almost 200 days on the road to figure it out (all of which were UNBELIEVABLE), but Dorothy was right: there really is no place like home.
We started off our final trip to Area III in Rockdale, Texas, with some home-cooked lasagna and a viewing of a pretty hillarious movie. Before long, we had finished our breakfast tacos, completed our Rockdale presentation, and were on our way to the big town of Cameron. Despite what all of their chapter officers told me, I am still convinced that we could train an alligator to walk on a leash; that is my new goal in life! Next, we made a quick stop by Caldwell before making our way on over to Colllege Station.
Wings 'N More was only the beginning of an eventful evening with the A&M Consolidated FFA members. After our delicious meal, we attempted (key word: attempted) to go ice skating. Fortunately for us, there is only a 1 in 15,287 chance breaking a femur. Good to know. Luckily, we all survived the experience and were able to make it to our presentation the next morning. There, we met our very 1st chinchilla. Those are the coolest animals EVER. After I train my alligator to walk on a leash, I'm going to buy a pet chinchilla.
Once the guys dragged me away from that furry rabbit/squirrel creature, we headed to Bryan and then to Navasota. We had quite the enthusiastic crowd in Navasota. Poor, Brian. I told him if he did 200 push ups I'd give him my number...at least he got in his daily workout in. : ) Needless to say, we ended our week on a "strong" note. Ha ha.
Now, we're off to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for the state Tractor Tech contest and the Ag Awarness Day Leadership Forum. Woo hoo! Wherever our travels take us, though, we will never forget that there really is "no place like home".
We started off our final trip to Area III in Rockdale, Texas, with some home-cooked lasagna and a viewing of a pretty hillarious movie. Before long, we had finished our breakfast tacos, completed our Rockdale presentation, and were on our way to the big town of Cameron. Despite what all of their chapter officers told me, I am still convinced that we could train an alligator to walk on a leash; that is my new goal in life! Next, we made a quick stop by Caldwell before making our way on over to Colllege Station.
Wings 'N More was only the beginning of an eventful evening with the A&M Consolidated FFA members. After our delicious meal, we attempted (key word: attempted) to go ice skating. Fortunately for us, there is only a 1 in 15,287 chance breaking a femur. Good to know. Luckily, we all survived the experience and were able to make it to our presentation the next morning. There, we met our very 1st chinchilla. Those are the coolest animals EVER. After I train my alligator to walk on a leash, I'm going to buy a pet chinchilla.
Once the guys dragged me away from that furry rabbit/squirrel creature, we headed to Bryan and then to Navasota. We had quite the enthusiastic crowd in Navasota. Poor, Brian. I told him if he did 200 push ups I'd give him my number...at least he got in his daily workout in. : ) Needless to say, we ended our week on a "strong" note. Ha ha.
Now, we're off to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for the state Tractor Tech contest and the Ag Awarness Day Leadership Forum. Woo hoo! Wherever our travels take us, though, we will never forget that there really is "no place like home".
Friday, February 26, 2010
Area V- Part II
With suitcases in back and Starbucks in hand, we typed our destination into “Winston”, our GPS, and began our trek to North Texas. We were super stoked about our Area V trip…especially with all of the reports of snow. I even practiced my theme song again: “Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow…” Unfortunately, it was a false alarm. The weather man lied. All we got was rain. Sad day.
Despite the lack of snow, we had a successful week of travels! Our journey started with a stay in Boles, Texas, where Mr. Burton laughed at my awful parking job (I’m slowly getting better, though!) After a very tasty feast and a good night’s rest, we headed to Quinland High School for the first presentation of the week. Then, it was back to Boles for a presentation, where I forgot to look where I was going…and I almost fell in a hole. Oops. Before long, we were eating cookies in Greenville and talking about National FFA Week. “Yay leaders…” Ha. Ha.
The next day, we made our way on over to Wolf City to hang out with some of their Seniors. A trip to Anna (we had our very first experience with Mr. Jim’s Pizza there…YUM!) and a stop by Celina completed our day. That night, we entered into an intense tournament of Bananagrams with the Blums. Poor Kaleb. He got so upset when he lost. I think he is in serious need of some spelling lessons…
At Howe, we met some really awesome chapter members, and in Sherman, Pumpkin entertained us with the “Nickel, nickel, quarter, dollar dance”. I’m thinking he should try out for the talent contest! That afternoon, Jeremiah gave us the grand tour of his stomping grounds. We spent a little time driving down Frog Pond road and checking out the free range cattle before making our way to Garland for a chapter meeting.
Mark my words, the Garland, South Garland, and Naaman Forest chapter officers are the coolest kids EVER! We had a blast eating fajitas and telling stories. At that point, I thought that it couldn’t get any better than that. Guess what? It did. On Thursday morning, we received a tour of Naaman Forest High School’s Horticulture Department. It was HUGE, and they run it like an actual business. How awesome is that?! The caliber of students in that program completely blew my mind. I didn’t want to leave! Eventually, we had to, though. So, we headed on into Dallas to visit Skyline High School. Talk about the coolest Career and Technology Program EVER. Skyline High School is home to a childcare center, a plastics center, a culinary center, and one of only five aviation programs in the ENTIRE UNITED STATES. They have airplanes and helicopters INSIDE their high school! Of course, their Horticulture Department was not too shabby either. They have a floral sale every week and can make arrangements for just about any occasion. It was the bomb diggity! They even made Kaleb and I flower arrangements to take home with us and fed us lunch in their Culinary Arts kitchen. That was an experience that both of us will never forget.
We rounded off our week with a stop by S&S Consolidated High School, home of Jeremiah Miller. They had a whole wall of their high school dedicated to all of his accomplishments in high school. It was certainly a pretty cool thing to look at. And with that, we waved goodbye and made our long trek back home to prepare for The Bachelor Season Finale and a final trip to Area III.
Despite the lack of snow, we had a successful week of travels! Our journey started with a stay in Boles, Texas, where Mr. Burton laughed at my awful parking job (I’m slowly getting better, though!) After a very tasty feast and a good night’s rest, we headed to Quinland High School for the first presentation of the week. Then, it was back to Boles for a presentation, where I forgot to look where I was going…and I almost fell in a hole. Oops. Before long, we were eating cookies in Greenville and talking about National FFA Week. “Yay leaders…” Ha. Ha.
The next day, we made our way on over to Wolf City to hang out with some of their Seniors. A trip to Anna (we had our very first experience with Mr. Jim’s Pizza there…YUM!) and a stop by Celina completed our day. That night, we entered into an intense tournament of Bananagrams with the Blums. Poor Kaleb. He got so upset when he lost. I think he is in serious need of some spelling lessons…
At Howe, we met some really awesome chapter members, and in Sherman, Pumpkin entertained us with the “Nickel, nickel, quarter, dollar dance”. I’m thinking he should try out for the talent contest! That afternoon, Jeremiah gave us the grand tour of his stomping grounds. We spent a little time driving down Frog Pond road and checking out the free range cattle before making our way to Garland for a chapter meeting.
Mark my words, the Garland, South Garland, and Naaman Forest chapter officers are the coolest kids EVER! We had a blast eating fajitas and telling stories. At that point, I thought that it couldn’t get any better than that. Guess what? It did. On Thursday morning, we received a tour of Naaman Forest High School’s Horticulture Department. It was HUGE, and they run it like an actual business. How awesome is that?! The caliber of students in that program completely blew my mind. I didn’t want to leave! Eventually, we had to, though. So, we headed on into Dallas to visit Skyline High School. Talk about the coolest Career and Technology Program EVER. Skyline High School is home to a childcare center, a plastics center, a culinary center, and one of only five aviation programs in the ENTIRE UNITED STATES. They have airplanes and helicopters INSIDE their high school! Of course, their Horticulture Department was not too shabby either. They have a floral sale every week and can make arrangements for just about any occasion. It was the bomb diggity! They even made Kaleb and I flower arrangements to take home with us and fed us lunch in their Culinary Arts kitchen. That was an experience that both of us will never forget.
We rounded off our week with a stop by S&S Consolidated High School, home of Jeremiah Miller. They had a whole wall of their high school dedicated to all of his accomplishments in high school. It was certainly a pretty cool thing to look at. And with that, we waved goodbye and made our long trek back home to prepare for The Bachelor Season Finale and a final trip to Area III.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Area VI- Part II
Pizza, chips, and the Super Bowl- there is no better way to start off the week, especially when your team wins. Woo hoo! Go Saints! Layton was not exactly happy about that…of course, the schools for the week did a great job of making him forget all about his Super Bowl frustrations.
We began our journey through Area VI in Winsboro, where I had my very first Pizza Inn experience. It was quite delicious, if I must say so myself. Next, we headed to the thriving metropolis of Yantis before making our way back to Layton’s house. We played some intense games of bananagrams (that is the most addicting game EVER!), watched an episode of the bachelor, and attempted to make blackberry cobbler. It sounded like the end to a perfect day…until I added far too much flour to my cobbler and it turned out super dry. Epic fail. Oh well, at least The Bachelor was good.
The next day, we traveled to the home of Layton Norwood himself: Prairiland. Everything turned out exactly the way we wanted…everything EXCEPT our debate on whether Brenham is in central or east Texas. I am still convinced that I was right! After a stop by Rivercrest, we headed back to Paris for a quick bite at The Hole in the Wall (mmm…delicious!) and a power nap. Several games of bananagrams, a Prairland basketball game, and a good night’s rest later…it was time to make our way on over to Sulpher Bluff.
Before we knew it, we were on our way to James Bowie High School in Simms, Texas; their school looks like a tiny stone village. So cool! Of course, the most exciting thing was the scarf that Bree gave me. I guess she knew that we would end up needing it! : ) Our last stop of the day was in Maud, where Mr. Barron showed us his albino squirrel. I’ve never seen an albino squirrel before…it was quite interesting, to say the least.
Now, for those of you that have never been to Maud, it is only a skip, a hop, and a jump from the Arkansas line. So, we figured it was only natural that we make a quick run to the state line…just to say we’ve been there. Then, we made our way on down to Marshall, Texas, for a steak dinner and a game of washers. I still feel bad for almost killing Brett with my flying washer. Oops…
The next morning, we woke up to…guess what? SNOW! It was SNOWING outside. I was so happy that I made Layton skip with me into Marshall High School, singing “Snow, snow , snow, snow!”. By the time we ended our presentation, it was sticking to the ground. We put it to good use with a quick snowball fight before our presentation in Elysian Fields. Before we knew it, all the schools were being cancelled, and we were snowed in at Mr. Jim Prewitt’s lodge in Grand Saline (not that we minded one bit!).
So, here we are, in our winter wonderland, making snowmen and having snowball fights. What a perfect way to end our travels in Area VI. It doesn’t get better than this.
We began our journey through Area VI in Winsboro, where I had my very first Pizza Inn experience. It was quite delicious, if I must say so myself. Next, we headed to the thriving metropolis of Yantis before making our way back to Layton’s house. We played some intense games of bananagrams (that is the most addicting game EVER!), watched an episode of the bachelor, and attempted to make blackberry cobbler. It sounded like the end to a perfect day…until I added far too much flour to my cobbler and it turned out super dry. Epic fail. Oh well, at least The Bachelor was good.
The next day, we traveled to the home of Layton Norwood himself: Prairiland. Everything turned out exactly the way we wanted…everything EXCEPT our debate on whether Brenham is in central or east Texas. I am still convinced that I was right! After a stop by Rivercrest, we headed back to Paris for a quick bite at The Hole in the Wall (mmm…delicious!) and a power nap. Several games of bananagrams, a Prairland basketball game, and a good night’s rest later…it was time to make our way on over to Sulpher Bluff.
Before we knew it, we were on our way to James Bowie High School in Simms, Texas; their school looks like a tiny stone village. So cool! Of course, the most exciting thing was the scarf that Bree gave me. I guess she knew that we would end up needing it! : ) Our last stop of the day was in Maud, where Mr. Barron showed us his albino squirrel. I’ve never seen an albino squirrel before…it was quite interesting, to say the least.
Now, for those of you that have never been to Maud, it is only a skip, a hop, and a jump from the Arkansas line. So, we figured it was only natural that we make a quick run to the state line…just to say we’ve been there. Then, we made our way on down to Marshall, Texas, for a steak dinner and a game of washers. I still feel bad for almost killing Brett with my flying washer. Oops…
The next morning, we woke up to…guess what? SNOW! It was SNOWING outside. I was so happy that I made Layton skip with me into Marshall High School, singing “Snow, snow , snow, snow!”. By the time we ended our presentation, it was sticking to the ground. We put it to good use with a quick snowball fight before our presentation in Elysian Fields. Before we knew it, all the schools were being cancelled, and we were snowed in at Mr. Jim Prewitt’s lodge in Grand Saline (not that we minded one bit!).
So, here we are, in our winter wonderland, making snowmen and having snowball fights. What a perfect way to end our travels in Area VI. It doesn’t get better than this.
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