Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving break was much needed in the school department for me. School is going well, but it was definitely nice to have a few days off to get rejuvenated before finals week comes. I was able to get a lot done and even put up my Christmas tree! :) I left my camera at mom and dad's so I can't post a picture of it yet, but by tonight I will.

I thought I'd post a few pictures from Thanksgiving day. We didn't have a big elaborate celebration, just mom, dad, Landon and I, but it was still a lot of fun. Dad and Landon were burning a bunch of the brush that we needed to get rid of so we just hung outside for a while so that was fun.
This all needs to be cleared out so instead of hauling it they decided to have a bonfire! It will look so much better when just the trees are there instead of all of the shrubs and dead brush.

I also rode the motor bike around and I was so proud of myself for not crashing! I wish I would have gotten a picture of me on it but at least I got one of Landon.



In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a short list of the things I'm most thankful for. (Not in any particular order) :)

1. My family
2. The Gospel
3. Good friends
4. Opportunity to go to school and work
5. Warm bed and warm showers
6. A car
7. Music
8. Agriculture
9. Technology
10. People who do the jobs that no one else wants to (if you don't know what I'm talking about, just watch Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe on The Discovery Channel)

Happy Holidays!

Life...or something like it :)

The weeks following convention have been so much fun for me. For the first time in a year and a half, I'm living the normal life of a college student which includes: late nights, Aggie Athletics, and plain ol' fun. So I thought I'd post a few pictures!

Halloween proved to be a fun and eventful night. The night was started off with a party and then a few of my friends and I headed over to the infamous Howl at Utah State. Don't worry folks, it's cleaned up a lot over the past 3 years or so, so it's not as scandalous as one might think :) Here I am, Betty Rubble, with Ginger, Scary and Posh Spice.

It was a bit crowded throughout the entire TSC...can you tell?

Really...it was wall to wall.


In the Ballroom, there was an illusionist and a performance by one of the teams from America's Best Dance Crew. They were pretty sweet to say the least


I can't forget to mention Aggie Sports...I haven't been able to make it to a basketball game yet and it's kind of been killing me. I have, however, made it to a couple of hockey games which are pretty entertaining as well. I guess it's the Canadian coming out in me that gets me so excited at the games. We have a really great team which makes it even more fun.

Here's Sasha, Audrey and myself cheering on our Aggies against San Jose State


This year we've been really good about celebrating everyone's birthday. This is our party planner, Shoat. He makes sure everyone's birthday is celebrated in style. Ironically, I don't have any pictures of the night mine was celebrated! (Don't worry about the beer sign in the back, we're just at Texas Roadhouse!)


At Texas Roadhouse, if it's your birthday, they make you sit on a saddle while the entire restaurant yells, "Saddle Up! Saddle Up!" Apparently Jeff and Sid just couldn't fathom saddling up alone, so they did it together..

Waiting..waiting...waiting...you wouldn't think that it would be too hard to get a group of 30 in, right?
I know this was a forever long post, but I had to put these pictures up sometime! :)

Contentment.

To me, one of the best feelings in the world is that of being content. Content with where you've been in life. Content with where you're at. Content with where you're going. I've felt very content in a lot of different situations. For example, I feel content on Christmas Eve when the family is together and we're just sitting around enjoying each others company. I felt content the moment I decided what my major was going to be. I feel content while sitting in church. I feel content when I'm reading a good book. So with this new little chapter in my life coming up, I am so happy to feel content and at peace with it. I have had such an incredible past year and a half and I wouldn't trade the things I've learned for anything. I'll be starting my first semester of the secondary ed teaching program in the spring and that will last for 3 semesters....and once they're done I'll be a teacher! How weird! The majority of the time, I do not feel old enough to be taking care of and teaching high school kiddos! But man, am I excited about it!

This group of kids are some of the other states National Officer Candidates. We went ice skating the night before elections and just had a fun time. These were some great people! The girl on the far left side is from Idaho and is actually going to BYU-I. Our first Sunday in Indy we took a cab to a ward a few minutes away so that was fun to have another LDS person (we were the only ones). Anyway, I loved, loved, LOVED that week and I met some really incredible individuals.
'Til next time!

It's Here!

You got it! Convention time is just around the corner...literally! I'm leavin' on a jet plane tomorrow for Indianapolis and then it's off to the races. I know it's going to be one of the most challenging yet rewarding weeks of my life and I'm so excited to get started. Dad and I talked for a long time last night about a lot of things. He gave me some really great insight into a lot of the different ag topics that I'll need to know inside and out. Thank goodness for him because I got some really great information. He also gave me a lot of really great personal advice-man am I grateful for him. And am I ever grateful for my mom who knows how to sew!!! :D (Oh, and she's kind of been a big support through this all) I wish all my sisters could be here tonight for our little going away party, but know that I'll be thinking of you! This will most likely be my last blog post until I get home from convention so know that I love you all and thank you so much for all of your support-through my year as a state officer and through the last 5 months of preparation! Off to Indy I go!

Kindness...Isn't it about time?

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but the topics of charity and kindness have seemed to be so prevalent throughout church lessons and talks lately. Those two topics have really been on my mind lately, so maybe that's why I've noticed it so much. To me, they compliment each other and often times go hand in hand.

We definitely live in a world where kindness, service and charity are put on the back burner. Sarcasm is a common means of communication and many live on a one-way street named "Me". I was grateful for President Monson's talk in conference this morning about service and kindness. I think that it was a very heartfelt and thought provoking message for all who listened-members of the church or not.

"I have wept in the night for the shortness of
sight that to somebody's need made me blind;
But I never have yet felt a tinge of
regret for being a little to kind"

I'm challenging myself to seek out ways to be charitable and kind this week. As President Monson invited us to, I will ask myself each night, "Have I done any good in the world today?" I know that the Lord blesses us with opportunities to serve when we are looking for them, even if they be small acts. It's so easy to fall into the routine of every day life and forget what is really important, so it is my hope that I will become more conscious of all of my words and actions so that I can answer "yes" when I ask myself each night if I have done any good.

Here's a youtube for thought. :)

23 Days and Counting!!!

Believe it or not, I leave for Indy in only 23 short days! Preparation for National Office has been one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. Call me a nerd, but I guess I just have a good time studying something that I love.

While I had the chance, I thought I'd write a post that had all of the information for convention that you might want in case I don't have time to before I leave. You can watch the election on TV/Online on Saturday the 24th during the final session (starts around 1:30 and goes until it's finished) Regardless of the outcome, as candidates we will all be introducing ourselves on the Friday afternoon session at 1:30. Come check us out!

Thanks to modern day technology, anyone who wants to watch any of convention from home will be able to starting October 20. That way, you can feel like you're with the other 55,000+ FFA members, parents, teachers and guests that will be attending convention! If you have RFDTV, (comcast channel 203) they will be broadcasting it. If not, you can go to this website
http://www.ffanewhorizons.org/index.php/convention/2009
and check it out!

You can also check out this website for the convention schedule if you are wanting to watch any of it!
http://www.ffa.org/index.cfm?method=c_convention.events

Do we have any "Dirty Jobs" fans out there? One of this year's convention keynote speakers is Mike Rowe, the host of the TV show. Here's a little bio on him if you're interested.

Mike Rowe has had more jobs than you. In fact, Mike has had more jobs than anyone. As the creator and executive producer of Discovery Channel's Emmy-nominated series Dirty Jobs With Mike Rowe, Mike has spent years traveling the country, working as an apprentice on more than 200 jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid.

Dirty Jobs is entirely unscripted, and Mike doesn't cheat; he actually does the work, with a sense of humor rarely portrayed in such professions. In fact, the notion of depicting hard work as noble and fun is central to his personal mission. On Labor Day 2008, Mike launched a website called mikeroweWORKS.com, where skilled labor and hard work are celebrated in the hope of calling attention to the steady decline in the trades and bolstering enrollment in trade schools and technical colleges.

Hope you all have a fantastic day!

212 Degrees

Today in one of my classes my professor showed us a video on youtube. It's just a few minutes long and I think it's worthwhile to watch.

Going just a little farther, pushing a little harder, and focusing just a little bit more makes all the difference.

Enjoy!