Area IV - Home, Sweet Home!

Howdy folks! My Area IV adventure this past week all started at the State Fair of Texas! As state officers, we were invited to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony and the Annual Honor Awards Banquet along with the state officers of both the 4-H and the FCCLA. I had never been to the state fair before, so I was amazed by all the fried foods! Even though it was raining that weekend, it didn't stop us from going out and trying all of the different fried items! My favorite was the fried cookie dough :)

On Sunday, Mason, Daylon, Leslie, and I all loaded up in the FFA truck and headed to Weatherford, TX for the Area V District II Greenhand Camp! We had a great time getting to hang out with the district officer team and we met some incredible greenhands that have some very bright futures ahead of them! We then left on Monday morning so we could meet Leslie's dad in Denton so she could head back to Sherman. We had quite the rough time getting there though because Daylon and Mason decided to let Leslie and I control the GPS. After spending an hour in a town that we thought was Denton, we realized that we were actually forty miles away from Denton. We finally got to our destination though and Leslie safely made it back to Sherman with her dad.
Our first stop in Area IV was Stephenville, TX where we ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Montana, with the Stephenville FFA chapter officer team! After I ate my fried pickles, I couldn't wait to hang out with everyone, including my girl Alyssa! We had a great night playing pool and being amazed by Daylon's magic tricks. The next day, we had our first rounds of presentations in Hico and Hamilton! In Hico we met their chapter officer team and gave a very successful presentation for the FFA members in their high school. Afterwards, we ate at the local diner, the Koffe Kup with one of the Hico ag. teachers. Later on in Hamilton, we gave presentations to both the high school FFA members and also the Jr. FFA members who seemed very excited to become involved. After our presentations, we headed off to Brownwood where we stayed in a beautiful lakehouse on Lake Brownwood with Tyler and Kate! We had a great time going out on the lake and learning all about Kate's crazy cool car. She has a station wagon that she spray painted pink. Way cool!

On Wednesday morning we gave our first presentation of the day at Brownwood High School to some of the FFA members there and then Mr. Flood showed us their new aquaculture project! I loved being able to see what different chapters are doing! That afternoon we grabbed some lunch and headed over to Cross Plains where we were very impressed with our audience of students. After our presenation and some directional challenges, we arrived in Cisco where we enjoyed a delicious Mexican meal with the Cisco chapter officers and their ag teachers! The next morning, we had an early start in Cisco where we presented to a class of eager freshman who all had a great time. The Cisco ag teachers, Mr. Conring and Mrs. Holton, took us to get some doughnuts before we had a quick question and answer session with one of their classes. Then we were on the road again to Moran High School! We were somewhat amazed with the size of this school. One of their classes only had four people in it! Crazy! Because of the school's small size, we were able to present to 6-12 grade and it was great to have such a variety in our audience. Later on we headed to Albany, TX where we gave a fabulous presentation and Mr. Beard told us some very entertaining stories and even took us on a tour of their ag farm! They had a brand new quail facility and a great aquaculture program that was really cool! That afternoon, we were off to Throckmorton, TX! When we arrived, the chapter officer team cooked us a delicous Italian meal and then we went and watched a six man football game! None of us had ever seen one before so we were amazed by how fast the game went! Later on we went to the home of their chapter vice president, Tucker Brown. Both of his parents were past national FFA presidents and we had a wonderful evening being with them and the entire chapter officer team. They are definitely an amazing group of students!

The next morning, we began with a presentation in Throckmorton that went extremely well! We were soon on the road again to a town that I'm somewhat familiar with, Seymour! It was great to see so many familiar faces during our presentation and I'm so glad that I was able to catch up with Kaitlin, Bailey, and of course Ms. Ezzell! After that, we were on to our last school of the week which made me feel kinda gloomy because I had such an amazing time on the road. We arrived in Knox City to give our last presentation a little frustrated because their school seemed to be hiding from us. Nonetheless, we gave an awesome presentation to some great students and then we attended their pep-rally! I have to admit, the pep-rally really made me miss high school.

All in all, I had an awesome experience traveling with the travel team. It helped me re-focus and remember why I am doing this. Up next on the schedule is National Convention which I am oh so excited about. Until next time!

Peace & Blessings,
Katelyn

Living it up in Area I :)

So far, I have absolutely loved living in Area I! Patrick, Gavin, and I are all currently living in Lubbock and attending Texas Tech University! We have had a great time so far and I am so excited for the next four years. Since the three of us are living in Area I we are getting to travel to some districts and give presentations and workshops. Last Tuesday, the three of us loaded up in my car and headed to Stinett for the Amarillo District Meeting! As we were driving North, Patrick and myself were amazed by how FLAT everything was! Both of us are still trying to get used to the landscape of the area. When we arrived we gave a workshop over effective communication to some amazing members who all seemed to have a great time! Unfortunately, we had class the next day so we weren't able to stay for the dance but we had lots of fun nonetheless! Right now, we (the entire team) are in Austin for our third round of training and we are having a blast! Patrick, however, is really pretty sick right now so he's having to rest up. Please keep him in your prayers! Until next time...Peace & Blessings!

Phase II!

One of my favorite things about being a state officer is having the opportunity to travel across the state and see some of the beautiful landscapes that Texas has to offer. As I was driving to Hunt, Texas for our Phase II Training, I thought I was in a completely different state! For those of you like myself who have no idea where Hunt is, it is about 90 miles northeast of San Antonio. I was amazed by how gorgeous the landscape was there! I also had plenty of time to gawk at it because my GPS, Carol, took me on a route to Hunt that went through many small country roads with cattle guards and sheep along the side of the road. Once I arrived, I was more than happy to see my fellow state officers and also Riley Branch and Allison Grainger!

During our time at Mo Ranch in Hunt, we went through some amazing training that was facilitated by Riley Branch. We learned how to properly put on a workshop, write a keynote address, and we looked at how our team functions and how we can make it even better! Not only did we work a lot, but we definitely had some fun! We got to take on the challenge of the high ropes course and we all had a blast!

Now that the travel team has started their presentations and  we are starting our first year of college, I feel like our year of service is fully underway! I also want to wish the travel team good luck as they begin their presentations! I know you two will do a fantastic job!

Peace & Blessings,
Katelyn

Galveston, Ahoy!

Seafood, beaches, and ag teachers galore! That's what we found when we travelled to Galveston last week for the VATAT Conference! All of us on the state officer team (except Mason and Daylon who were representing us well in Washington, D.C. at the State President's Conference) had the amazing opportunity to represent the students of Texas at the ag. teacher's conference.

The adventure began when Leslie and I went to stay the night at Tanner's with him and Colt. Going to Henderson was an experience I will never forget! We got to ride horses and cut our chicken fried steaks with scissors! We even watched The Crazies and one of us got a little too scared. (I won't say who) On Monday morning we all hopped into Tanner's truck and made the trip to Galveston where Leslie and I were less than impressed with our hotel. The first thing we saw as we entered our room was a rather large cockroach on one of the beds! To make things even better, we discovered that night that our toilet didn't work! This trip was definitely not starting so well for us.

Our first full day there we had some awesome training with Mr. Alejandro and Patrick gave some very well spoken welcoming remarks from the state officer team. The next day we began our Business and Industry Tours which exceeded many of our expectations. Our first stop was a tour of NASA! We got to go behind the scenes and even see mission control! It was a unique experience that I know all of us will remember. After our tour we were fortunate enough to visit two homes that were built by Operation Finally Home, which is a project of Dick Wallrath's. These homes are built and made mortgage-free for wounded veterans. We were able to tour the homes and hear the inspirational stories of these true heroes. We concluded our busy day with dinner and a night at the Champion Ranch owned by Dick Wallrath. Talk about a beautiful place to stay! We all had a great and relaxing evening. Well, except for the part where Patrick caught a frog to taunt me with. Needless to say, I have never moved that fast!

Our next day was spent on more Business and Industry Tours! Our first stop was Mahindra Tractors where we were given a very interesting presentation on the company and we were able to tour their assembly line, hardhats and all! Then we headed to Mcree Ford to see Mitchell Dale and drool over some gorgeous vehicles. I found myself a Ford Fiesta and I immediately saw myself driving it. My dreams were then crushed when I called my mom and she told me, "Well I want to lose 40 pounds and look 20 years younger but that isn't going to happen either." My spirits picked up though when we finally got to go to the beach that night. My favorite part was probably burying Patrick in the sand! Leslie and I were also approached by two very young guys who thought they were 18. Talk about awkward!

Our final day in Galveston consisted of attending the last session and listening to an amazing keynote by Chad Hymas! We all then attended our respective area meetings and headed home! Overall it was an amazing trip and I feel so blessed to be a part of this organization. Being able to represent Texas FFA Students to teachers and Business and Industry leaders helped me realize just how important this office is. I cannot wait for the year to begin!

Peace & Blessings,
Katelyn