~National Convention~

Yes.... I am indeed a has-been. I should be pretty well done with FFA... but I can't. What can I say, it's one of my passions. So this year I went, once again, back to the National FFA Convention. This year, however, I was not competing, nor was a delegate for Idaho. I just went to help out with the Colliget FFA. While there though, I made sure to enjoy myself. Here is the stage when we went to the opening session.

The first day I got in I didn't have much to do. So I played! This is at the NCAA Museum. Jared, a state officer from this year, and I are posing with the "Flying Wedge".... football historians should know what that is...
This is the hotel we stayed in. It has 20 floors, plus a resaurant with a rotating floor at the top. (Some friends and I made sure to check that out... it was really cool)

One of the keynote speakers we got to see and listen to was Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs. It was really interesting to hear what he had to say. I really enjoyed it.

A kind police officer pointed this sign out when he saw I had a camera in hand. He said I needed to take a picture with it. It is a pretty awesome and massive sign.

Samantha and I took advantage of the fact that the State Capitol Buliding of Indiana was just a block away from our hotel. So we went and took a self guided tour... :)

This is the group of CFFA members who came from the U of I to help out with the Parliamentary Procedure event. It was fun to get to know them better!

I'm kind of nerd... and I LOVE this massive gavel!!!! It was just amazing...

When everyone participating took the written exam I thought it was sooo cool that you could see all the states across the jackets. Ohhh that beautiful blue courdoury jacket... :)

The other reason for my travels back to Indianapolis was to recive my American FFA Degree. Only 2% of FFA members recive this degree. It is the highest honor of membership bestowed upon members... basically, I'm kind of a big deal in the FFA... haha!

Here are some of the other BIG DEALS of the FFA... Samantha, Valerie, Stephen, and me.
Oh how I miss my blue jacket and all the bubbly FFA members. I'm so glad I was able to make it back for this years national convention! Yay for all those FFA nerds out there who can't get enough of FFA, even after they're a has-been.

Wow... I haven't written for awhile... so I guess it really is time for a quick update!

First of all, I'm back at college in Moscow at the University of Idaho. YAY! I still live in my sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. It's nice to be back up here with all my friends. Also I'm a senator on our student government this year. So far, I've loved it! It's been great! Oh and classes are okay too... :)

Also, I'm no longer dating Sean... now I'm dating his friend Mikkel! haha... funny how that works out, huh. This is Mik:Since being to school I have done a few really fun things! A few weeks ago some friends and I drove over to Spokane one evening to go meet up with our friend who attends Gonzaga and went to a concert at the Spokane Fair. It was a Josh Gracin concert. He was a very good live singer! I was impressed...Then we went back to drop of our Gonzaga friend. While there we (as in I) decided to be the crazy Mormon running around a Catholic campus taking lots of dumb pictures! It was great! Here I am with good ole Bing!

Another fun adventure was going to Seattle this past weekend with my Mom and sisters!!! We met up with our Aunt and Uncle and had a wonderful time!!!! We played all day on Friday, and on Saturday went shopping. Then, the best part of it all, we went to WICKED!!!!! It was absolutely amazing!!! I loved it soooo sooo sooo sooo sooo sooo soooo much! Basically that is what I have been up too... Life is good, school is great! It's just kind of weird to think that I'm a sophomore in college... But hey! I'm not complaining! :)

Fun Weekend!

So this past weekend I went on a fun little road trip! My boyfriend, Sean, and I went to Salt Lake City for his mission president's homecoming!
We took off on Saturday afternoon after Sean's dance competition at BYU-Idaho, and drove non-stop. When we got to Salt Lake we went to his Aunt's house. We had talked forever, got acquainted, and had dinner. After that we went to my cousin Bethani and her husband Darnell's house just a mile away. We got to see there cute new home they bought not to long ago and chatted with them for a while.
Then we met up with one of Sean's old mission buddies for the evening. On our back to my cousin's house for the night, we got off a wrong exit, then our handy-dandy GPS re-routed us on what had to be the LARGEST loop of all the highway systems in Salt Lake City. Finally, we got it right and made it back to Bethani's house a half an hour later than what we should have.
The next morning we got up, dressed up, and set off to find the church building in Holladay, Utah, where his mission president would be speaking. We arrived about an hour early, to find MANY return missionaries already filled the foyers. I just kind of stood back and let Sean run around like a little boy at a candy shop- so excited to see everything/everyone he loved for two good years of his life. Occasionally he would grab my hand and use me as eye candy for all his single R.M. friends to be jealous of. haha!
It was so much fun to see about 50+ missionaries from the Washington D.C. South Mission come to support there Mission President and see him again as he returned home. My favorite part was when they had all the missionaries present stand up and sing "Called to Serve" for the full overflowing sacrament meeting.
Overall- it was a super fun weekend meeting so many people and just hanging on Sean's arm. The car ride was a lot of fun too! Not only did we get to talk a lot, but singing some of our favorite songs at the top of our lungs with the windows down was great! (I'm talking songs from Phantom of the Opera, Moulin Rouge, and some A Capella CD).
Now if only I didn't forget my camera to take some pictures..... I'll have to work on that... haha

Babysitting Adventure

The other day all the family went to the Idaho Falls Temple to be with Kylee, my brother Adam's wife, as she went through the first time. Meanwhile, Rachel and I had babysitting duty. We too the two little munchkins out to a fine dinner at Wendy's, then went and played at the park. We took just a few pictures of them enjoying dessert, and they made me laugh. So I thought I'd share the joy of kids and frostys.

Tanner enjoying licking the spoon

Kailynn still eating her fries

Here Tanner is really getting into licking his spoon, and Kailynn is putting fries in the frosty. Most of the time she would just drop them in it for us to find later. Some she actually ate.

Tanner eating a fry he found in the frosty, thanks to his darling cousin.

It was a pretty interesting time taking these two out for dinner. Maybe too much work... but wee had a fun time, and lots of laughs. So did everyone else in Wendy's that evening.

Summer Update!

Since being home from school it seems like life has slowed down a bit, so I fail at updating my blog.(Also, I lost my camera battery, but finally got a new one today!) But now that a few things have happened, maybe I can give a quick update!

First of all, I'm unemployed. That's what happens when you are home for just 3 months in a tough economy. Well, I guess I'm working on the farm still, so I can say I'm employed by Clark Farms. Yay for raking and hauling hay! :D

Next, I do miss the FFA a lot, and it makes me sad that I'm a has been. haha!

Also, my birthday was June 21st, Fathers Day, and I turned 19! It's weird to think I'm almost 20. haha!

And finally the most exciting thing.... I have a boyfriend! YAY! Finally some fun for the summer! His name is Sean Rochford. He is from Montana (and is oddly convinced it's the best place on earth... hmmm...) He is a returned missionary of the Washington D.C. South Mission, and currently a student at BYU-Idaho. We met at country dancing a few weeks ago. He's a great guy, and a lot of fun!

This is us before we went dancing last night. :D Aren't we just adorable.... haha!

Anyways, that it basically summer so far. Before long I'll be headed back to Moscow for my Sophomore year! YAY!

Theta Chi Cruise

This weekend I had sooo much fun! One of the fraternities up here, Theta Chi, had a function this weekend called Cruise. We went to Couer d'Alene and goofed around for a while. Then we changed and got all dressed up for the evening. Our group went out to dinner at this Japanese place called Bonsai Grill. It was pretty interesting, and very tasty. Then we boarded our boat at the Couer d'Alene resort and cruised the lake. Meanwhile, the DJ played music and we danced all night! Here are some pictures!

Here Sarah and I are after getting ready and previous to being wind blown and getting rained on! Unfortunately it rained for most of the day, but we still made it up to the upper deck for a while, it was a little chilly! Good thing the lower deck is closed in!

This is a picture of all of the girls from my house that got asked to Theta Chi Cruise. There are a lot of us! (must mean we're a pretty awesome group of girls! :D)

This is Mason, my Big Bro in the Greek System. He is super cool! I work with him too! We're attempting to look gangster! haha, funny funny!

This was my date, Davey. We were set up so we didn't really know each other, but we still had fun!

This is all the other girls in my group. All from my house, Kappa Alpha Theta! YAY! Overall, it was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun cruisin' the lake in Couer d'Alene! :D

Date a Theta

So my friend and I were talking about our greed houses and how much cooler mine is than his. (well at least that is what I was saying...) So since we were at work and not doing much, he looked up my sorority on Urban Dictionary.com, an interesting place. This is what it said under Kappa Alpha Theta:

The most classy and fabulous group of sorority girls you will ever meet. Not only are they beautiful, smart, and funny, but they have charisma and grace. Where other sororities falter, you can always count on Theta to set the bar higher!!!

"DATE A THETA"

When my son first left for college,

his dad gave him advice for life:

you can date each and every Kappa

But bring home a THETA for a wife.

You can party with the Tri-Delts,

and it's fine to date a Zeta,

but when it's time to marry,

be sure to find a THETA

Chi O's can be on your agenda,

and Pi Phi's are fun for a date,

but never, ever forget

that you'll want a THETA as your mate.

We want you to enjoy your college years

and give all the sororities a spin.

But never buy a ring unless

KAPPA ALPHA THETA is on her pin.

During your four years of college,

you'll go from one house to another,

but take the advice of your smiling ol'dad

and bring home a THETA to your mother.

The first Greek letter fraternity for women is only Kappa Alpha Theta!!!

Here are some of my Theta sisters! :D I love us!

LIFE DOES GO ON AFTER FFA!

So I had heard from many people that there is life after FFA. I didn't believe it.... I was also told that state office wasnt' everything, that it wouldn't even be one of the greatest things I did. I also didn't believe that... well I still don't really... BUT I have found out that life REALLY DOES GO ON! Now our state conference was just last week, but lets just say I was preparing for having so much extra time after conference was over ahead of time. I knew I would need something to keep me busy. SOOOOOOO... I ran for a spot on our student government's senate here at the University of Idaho.
My friend, Stephen Parrott, and I decided to run our campaigns together. (Yes he is also one of my state officer teammates) Another one of our friends (also a former FFA member) who loves photography volunteered to take pictures and put together these little things for us that were displayed on Facebook. I think they are kind of cool. (even though Stephen and I feel we weren't the most photogenic that day...)

Anyways, we didn't campaign very hard because we were getting ready for our state conference and doing all that FFA stuff, but we still put forth a small amount of effort. We hanged two banners, talked to people, made a Facebook group, and told our friends to say good things. For the most part, we relied on word of mouth.

The results were announced last night. I did receive a seat on the Associated Students of the University of Idaho Senate. Stephen, however, did not. It's okay though. He is currently in a board position as the Director of Community Relations, and is perfectly fine with keeping that job a bit longer! Also, Samantha Perez, my good friend from high school (and FFA buddy), won a seat on senate!

Long story short, there is a life after FFA. I was Madame Reporter for Idaho FFA, now I'm Senator Clark for ASUI. I think that is something I can deal with.... :D

(Please note though, most everyone I mentioned was also involved in FFA. So even though we've outgrown the jacket, we'll never outgrow the experiences we had and people we met.)

Joining the PSO Club... Now I'm a Has-Been

For the past year my life has been consumed by the FFA Organization. The Idaho FFA Association to be exact, as I served as the Idaho FFA Reporter for 2008-2009. This past week was our State Leadership Conference. It was so much fun! We, the state officers, got to go on business and industry tours before the conference started, we were on a local radio show, we got to run the conference, gave out awards, gave our retiring addresses, and installed the new team of officers. Then we were given our PSO pin- Past State Officer. It was a LOT of fun, yet a little sad.

Here is my team outside of Idaho Milk Products that we were doing a business and industry tour at when the fire alarm went off. So we posed with the firetruck. No worries, it was kind of a false alarm. Better safe than sorry though, right!?

From left to right we have, Kelsey Day, President. Above here is Katie Mosman, Secretary. Then Whitney Tuckett, Treasurer. Stephen Parrott, Vice President. Kristin Myers, Sentinel. Laura Ann Clark, Reporter (That's me!)

Throughout the conference (that lasted 6 sessions spread out over 3 days) we as officers give our retiring address. Basically, it's out moment in the spotlight. The final speech we give as officers trying to inspire others, and let people know how we were inspired. After we give our retiring address we take off our jacket and hang it up. Here we all are after the 6th and final session, officially retired. (Jealous I can say I retired before the age of 20!?! haha!)

Here is the team after the conference, in regular clothes (it was sadder changing out of my blue corduroy jacket than you think. Pretty sure I cried. Well I cried all week practically. haha, we all did, even Stephen, our lone man. Even in our plain clothes though, we still got to hold up our banner that we all signed after the conference. Our Theme this year was, "Dream, Dare, DO". Those are the little words in the stars above the guy on the banner. We really enjoyed our theme, and our year to leave a mark on the FFA.

And now I have to show off my really cool Gonzaga shirt! My blonde buddy, Kristin, goes to Gonzaga and we all tease her constantly and try to get her to come back to the University of Idaho where she should be with us. So she got all of the team a Gonzaga T-shirt! haha, we love it! It was the first shirt all of us wore after we took off official dress.
Finally, here is a little video of what is called our Final Tribute. Feel free to check it out. It has lot of pictures of us throughout our year and each officer takes time to thank the people who have made the biggest difference in our lives. It is a long video, but kind of fun to flip through for a minute or two. (My tribute part is the second part, so like 2/6 of the way through! :D)

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me and my team throughout the year. Mostly thanks to all the Idaho FFA Members who made this year worth it! Thanks for being there and welcoming us to all of the events you guys had. I hope that we have inspired at least one of you the way that you all have inspired and touched us. Thanks!

Laura Ann Update!

So I once again have failed in keeping this thing updated very well, but I try occasionally! I figure that not everyone knows whats going on with me, so here is just a little update!

This last week I officially switched my major. It was formerly Agriculture Industry Management and Communications, and now it is Business Management and Human Resources with the emphasis in Human Resources, and I'm am still getting my minor in Public Relations.

FFA stuff is keeping me really busy this month. My spring break is next week (14th-22nd) and for most of it I will be in Oregon attending there State FFA Conference, and helping out with events, and I also get to be a workshop presenter. I'm really excited for that!!! Also, a month from today will be the kick off of the Idaho FFA State Conference- YIKES! I'm currently busy memorizing my parts of our three day 65 page script, award and degree ceremonies, and my retiring address speech. I'm even more excited for that. Also, this last weekend I attended the DECA State Conference as a workshop presenter and chaperon. (I feel so grown to say that! haha) It's been lots of fun!

Also, I am trying to get really involved here at the University of Idaho! Currently I am serving as the parliamentarian for the ASUI Senate. ASUI is the student government here at the U of I. It stand for the Associated Students of the University of Idaho. It's a lot of fun to be parliamentarian, and I love using parliamentary procedure. But of course, being parliamentarian I don't get to talk and debate, and voice my opinion. So this semester I am running for senate! I don't actually get to start campaigning yet, but I'm excited to start after spring break!

Other than that, I am just your typical college student who goes to class, goes to work, tries to get enough sleep, and does homework while playing on facebook all day!

So I've been told that I never update my blog so people can't keep tabs on me. Well I don't think it'd be fun to see pics of my studying my little heart out, going to classes, and working. Since I don't do too much else (besides FFA, but I have already let you all see a lot of that I suppose) so I decided to go find some random pics on Facebook, (yah, I know, pathetic) that I have been tagged in from other peoples pictures and put some of them up some explainations! So here it goes!

This picture was actually taken earlier this year, in October I do believe. This was the night that we after our Big/Little night. For those of you who may not know what that is, it's a Greek thing. In the Sororities and Fraternities up here there are a lot of people. So after being in the house for a while, everyone kind of gets to everyone else- our sisters. We then get placed with "Big Sisters". (Different houses have different ways of putting people together.) You get your Big after being the house for a little while. So next year when we get new freshmen coming in, I will get my "Little Sister". Here in this picture we had all just found out who our Bigs are. My big is Ashley (Not in this picture). She is super nice and I love her! The girl next to me in the grey hoodie is my "Twin Sister"! Basically, my big got two littles! And just like real family's, we have a family tree. The other girls in the picture are cousins and second cousins! (Complex, I know, but it's my Greek family tree!)


This picture has more of my family in it! This is most of us that are still in house, or on campus. My pic is the girl right behind me. Her Big (My Big Big- like a grandma I suppose) is right next to her in the brown jacket. And some of my aunts are in there and more cousins!



Here we have a picture of some of the gals at a sisterhood activity. We are in our dinning room painting bed tags. (We sleep on "sleeping porches". basically its a big room with lots of bunk beds in it) That way we can know who sleeps where if we have to find someone or wake them up!
This is me and Amanda!



This picture is actually very recent. I'm actually thinking this was Friday night... so two nights ago. We went out that night to a fraternity- Alpha Kappa Lambda. For some reason I look like I just stepped out of the 80's. haha!! It was super fun!
From left to right we have, on the back row- Karen Margaret, Emily, Michelle, and Amanda. On the front row there is ME! and Montanna. (Yes that is her real name.)

This picture has nothing to do with my sorority, but I was tagged by Kristin and I love it. For one of our more recent FFA events last month our state officer team went on some business and industry tours. At the United Dairymen of Idaho they gave us milk. Kristin and I were really excited to get a dairy product in our favorite color, PINK! Yahoo for the blondes on the team! haha!

So hopefully I will have something fun to update you all with here in the new future! But until, maybe this random pictures from facebook think will work out! I had fun finding and explaining them anyways!

"Oh so this one time on a chapter visit..."

Every time I say that phrase I get laughed at. My roommates and all my friends say that it's one of my often used phrases. It how I start out most of all my stories. So I decided to start this entire post out the same way!

For being a state officer for FFA I get a lot of really great opportunities. One of which is doing chapter visits. I get to go around to various high schools that have FFA programs and put on workshops for the students. A lot of the workshops I do are about the FFA Organization, and the great opportunities involved. One of my other favorite workshops is about communication. It gets students involved, and never fails to get everyone laughing. Not only do I get to meet lots of awesome people and do all this fun stuff, I get to travel with some of my favorite people!!! (The other state officers!!!!) So here are some pictures of what I do on my chapter visits:

Oh the joys off the FFA, and my amazing chapter visits that I so enjoy... maybe next post I'll tell about how Stephen, Mr. Vice President, got us lost on our way to a chapter visit. ha ha!!!

College 101: Random Road Trips

So this past weekend my friend Stephen, a fellow FFA State Officer, and I decided to take off to Seattle for the weekend to get away and have some fun (while working on a little FFA stuff if we were to get the chance). We took of Friday after our last class, went and stayed with some of his relatives, and got back around midnight on Sunday night. Check out some of our adventures!

First off, the Ferry:

Second, we have Idaho kids in the BIG CITY:

See that lit up sign in the background? After further inspection we realized what that was....
WHAT THE DEVIL!?!?! YOU DON'T FIND THAT IN MENAN!

Finally, our sushi experiment:
(this may have needed a post of it's own! haha!)

I have Uncle Brian and Aunt Kathi to thank for this delightful opportunity at Sushi Land in Renton. Oh what an adventure.... Here goes the first bite of... who knows what!?!

As you can likely guess... whatever that was that we put in our mouths was... interesting to say the least. Somehow Stephen managed to swallow it quickly (maybe whole!?) But a good 5 minutes later this was still me....

Lets just say that was really really really chewy!!!

Here is me, failing at using chopsticks, so I used my fingers to place the sushi on the chopsticks... I'm a white girl (one of the four white people, and the only blonde in the entire restaurant not to mention) who was raised on a cattle ranch people!!! So you can just cut me some slack!
This dish was better consumed without viewing...
Oh and Aunt Kathi... she's not a fan of sushi....


Overall, it was a great weekend! If only I had pictures of me driving and freaking out in 5 or 6 lanes of traffic, Stephen attempting to calm me down while giving directions and figuring out the map, us eating Tai food the night previous our sushi dinner, our reaction to a 9 story Macy's department store, us finding the ferries, and Pikes Place Market. But after this little trip, it got me thinking... taking off on random road trips is a pretty good idea.... next trip NEW YORK CITY!!!! (ha ha... I wish...)