Horror Stories of National Convention

     How punny of me, seems how Halloween is coming up and students around the country are starting to gathering to start off National Convention, so I thought that I would share a few stories about my trips to Nationals.

    The first time I went with my chapter and there was very little horror stories involved but when I was a few years older and what I thought to be wiser, I went to Nationals as a State Officer and as a delegate. But this time I was sicker than a dog. Like all through delegate sessions I was so drowsy from cold medicine that I was trying to counteract it by drinking Red Bull's (I do not endorse that, it wasn't fun, trust me people). So anyways, one night, the team was hanging out and I had mentioned that all I wanted was some Thera-Flu so I could get a decent nights sleep and kick my cold faster. Daniel, being the sweetheart that he is, looked up the nearest grocery store and said that it was just a mile away and a 15 minute walk. Erin, Alyssa, Daniel, and myself step out into the dusky night, it starts to downpour. And I am not talking Idaho rain, where it sprinkles for a minute and then stops for a few hours and then starts up again. I am talking like huge globs of water that was beating down on us. Literally within minutes of us being outside the hotel room, we were soaked. As you could imagine, this did NOT make my cold any better. But Danial and Erin were persistent that we would continue on to the grocery store to get my cold medicine. We continued on for the next hour and a half. Soon enough we rounded a corner and saw the Kroger's. As we approached the front doors, one of the clerks from inside came out and said," Sorry we are closing, you can't come in." Completely drenched and quite irritated by how far we had walked and with sore feet from not only wearing offical dress heels for two days already but having walked a great ordeal, Erin threw her hands up in the air and yelled," Are you kidding me? We walked 7 miles for you to close?!?" The eyes of the clerk got really large and she apologetically said that we had 5 minutes to get what we needed and pay and get out of the store. We bustled inside to grab my medicine only to find the Washington State Officers with their Coordinator checking out. They, knowing that we didn't have a rental car, quickly offered to give us a ride back to the hotel. Thank God for them because I don't know if my sick butt could have walked me all the way back to the hotel.

     A couple days after that fiasco, we were supposed to be up and down at the lobby by 7 because we had officer pictures before the state picture. Mind you, the girls were ALWAYS 15 minutes early and it wasn't very often that we didn't have to wait for the boys. We accredited our punctuality to the six different alarms that went off from three different devices. Usually Erin and I were up by the time the second or third alarm went off and Alyssa would be up and already halfway ready before the fifth alarm even thought about going off. This morning was different. Somehow we had slept through all six of the alarms and the wake up call we received was from Brett at.......... 7:07. We all bolted upright and threw official dress on in record time and grabbed ponytails, eyeliner, mascara, and a tiny pallet of eyeshadow that I take on trips in case of emergency, like having to do my make up in the car. Needless to say we were downstairs by 7:15. Finding a little time in a convention center bathroom to hurry and smooth back our hair and blot on a little make up, we took our State Officer pictures that we later used for our business cards and all the pictures for State Convention.

I mean aren't we cute. You can't even tell that we got ready in 10 minutes.

Mr. Delaware (aka AJ)

      Well enough about the gory things that happened, I want to finish off this homage to National Convention to one of the greatest things that happened during my State Officer year that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't traveled to Kentucky. I got to meet so many people, especially my good friend AJ, who I call Delaware. Throughout convention we had joked and shared stories and became great friends. On the night of the dance, when I came back to the hotel, I found a group of State Officers having their own little dance. I got the chance to teach my Delaware friend how to swing dance and I got to learn plenty of other moves from South Dakota, Minnesota, New York, Utah, and a handful of other states. For the rest of the night, a group of us sat in the hall, ate pizza, and talked about our home states, our associations, our years thus far, and, of course, all things FFA. I made friends that I continue to talk to every day. Although we don't talk as much as we did right after convention, those are people and times that I wouldn't give up for anything.
     So enjoy to all of you who are our having fun at National Convention! It is an amazing time and will give you more memories than you can imagine. I am so jealous of all the fun that you all seem to be having. Good luck to all those who are competing in various CDE's representing Idaho! I know you are going to absolutely kill it. Good luck to all those who are running for National Office, you people are definitely the cream of the crop and I cannot wait to see the new Officer team. I will always regret not having the bravery you people have in running for office. Good luck to all and have fun!

Oh weren't we so darn cute. You can't even tell that we woke up late. 

These started off as a spoof. We were shooting pictures for our Christmas cards and the boys decided it would be funny to take some pictures with their suspenders. The girls decided that they wanted to do the same, and so these spoof pictures was the product. They turned out pretty fun, if I do say so myself.

This was taken on the plane ride home. We were EXHAUSTED. Great trip. 

This was the boys at the Dirks Bently concert. Note Kyle's face. Yep, soak it in. 

My grandma hunted down a sock monkey with a blue jacket for me after I got State Office. Fittingly named Leslie Applegate (who knows their FFA history?!?), my sock monkey traveled with me everywhere and how could I NOT take him with me to National Convention. I mean come one people!

Peace, Love, and FFA!
McKenzie

Own Your Own Crazy

     Quirks. Attributes. Character. Crazy. No matter what you call it, each and every person has them. But the biggest thing about our "crazy" is that if we don't learn to accept it, it can often times hold us back from being the person that we would want to grow to become. I am sure that y'all are thinking, well "Duh, easier said than done, McKenzie." And I get that. It is totally easier said than done, but trust me it is feasible and totally worth it. It is these little characters that make you the person you are. Don't get me wrong, there are certain times that hiding your crazy is a little okay, but it shouldn't be something that you should do constantly. For the longest time in my life, I truly believed that if I didn't seem "normal" then I wouldn't fit the form of a good leader. "Hiding" my crazy became something that I did every single day. It wasn't until I got into college that I realized what my crazy really was and how to accept it.
     "But Kenz, how could you ever think you are crazy?!" Well that is so kind of you. But the fact that I am having a two way conversation with myself and assuming you are thinking that. That is a little crazy. But nonetheless, I have plenty of crazy to go around, not matter if it is my crazy addictions, or my crazy mannerisms, or my crazy habits. And I think that it is time that I share my crazy with all who will listen.

Kenzie's Crazy List

-  I am OCD. But selectively OCD. When it comes to alphabetizing, color coordinating, organizing by size, making things square, and things being straight. Those and a few other things. 

- I am not OCD about my room. It tends to be a little on the dishevelled side. Organized Chaos. But it works for me.

- I am a master packer. Like unless you have seen me pack, you don't know how well I can pack. Yes, I did a post about it, but that really didn't do it justice. But my packing skills are not contained to just packing in a bag. I am like the ultimate Tetras player. When it comes to packing bags in a car or under a bus, I can fit more bags then even my mom (who is super good herself by the way).

- I have this huge thing for whiteboards. Like I spend most of my day in a study room with a huge whiteboard. I bring my own whiteboard markers so that I can color coordinate (refer to first crazy) and study a little better. I am so obsessed with whiteboards that my boyfriend made me a fancy whiteboard for Christmas. BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

- If I am not wearing my boots or my Roper's, I am constantly wearing my Sperry's. Those things are the most ragged things you have probably seen. And Lordy Moses do they smell to high heavens. No matter if I wear them with socks or not, those things can gas up a room in no time. But goodness, they are the most comfortable things ever. Get yourself a pair and you will understand the obsession. - I literally think that Taco Tuesday should be a religion. If you have never had a half-descent carne asada taco then you have never lived. Enough said.

- I have a lot of little phrases that I use all the time, like the one above. Lordy Moses. Oh My Lanta. For the Love of Cheese and Crackers. Cool Beans. There are a lot of other ones I use. Maybe they aren't specifically special to me, but I use them enough they should be. 

- I have a thing for dogs with large ears, droopy eyes, long nose. That's right people, Basset Hound lover right here. I drool over those sad faces as the breeders on my Facebook feed post photos. When I get one her name will be Dixie. It is not IF it is WHEN. 

- Next to tacos, Apple Cider is another thing that I cannot get enough of. It could be 100 degrees outside and I will still be drinking apple cider. 

- Despite my tom-boyish ways, I love to get my nails done. My acrylic nails have become a part of me. But there is no better feeling than having a little bit of pampering every couple of weeks. 

- And one of the last ones is I like to eat salsa with popcorn. Strange, yes. But it goes together like french fries and Frosties. Don't knock it till you try it. 

     Now I am sure that that whole big long list above looks like a bunch of nonsense, but that is a little bit of my crazy. Trust me when I say that there is a whole lot more, but that is the general idea. And believe it or not, I have been judged and made fun of because of several of these things. I have been called CDO (OCD alphabetized), picky and overly obsessed, easily amused, and food crazy. Unless you are me, most people don't understand my crazy and how it all plays out in my head. In the end, it is who I am and I love who I am. 

     So people, I challenge you to identify your crazy. Own your own crazy. 

Peace, Love, and FFA

McKenzie "The Crazy"