Hey Folks,

January is flying bye. It seems like it was New Year's yesterday and on January 12 we had MFE, on the 18 I visited the Fairlawn FFA Chapter and that night the Preble-Shawnee lock-in, and here we are and it's already January 23. Might I add a very cold January 23.

Back to MFE and the mascot of MFE, Ernie. Ernie was a goldfish that every table competed for after every session. My table or family unfortunately did not get the presence of Ernie during MFE. At my table, we had Judgement Jazmine, Amazing Amanda, Responsible Reba, Loyal Lynn, Nice Nicki, Excited Emily, Jubilant Jenny, and myself, Trustworthy Tyler. We were Team Nemo with our chant "Sharkbait, Ooh Ahh Ahh!" After sessions were over for saturday, there was a dance. I think everyone had a good time watching me "TRY" to dance to Soulja Boy. I think anyone that saw it would say it was hilarious! I want to thank everyone though for trying to teach me to dance.

Friday I traveled down to Shelby County to Fairlawn High School. I had a blast with Hannah and Cameron and everyone else....with your paper airplane "businesses." After that I traveled down to Preble-Shawnee for their Lock-In. I have to give a shout out to Amanda. She got peanut butter all over her face during the workshop, but was proactive and laughed about it. Stephen your group name was still hilarious for the Amazing Race, I am still laughing at it. I would say it, but I don't know where to start to try to spell it. I have an English paper to finish, so I got to go.

On the Flip Side,
Tyler

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."
-Henry David Thoreau-

Hey Folks,

It's hard to believe Christmas is over and it is 2008. I hope everyone remembers to write 2008 instead of 2007. I was listening to a radio station on New Year's and they said you should go ahead and write 2008 on your next twenty checks so by the time you get to that twentieth check you are conditioned to write 2008. Seems a little extreme, but I have found myself writing 2007 still.

I hope everyone is enjoying getting back to school and getting there before the sun is up. I have to admit, the break was nice and I am having a hard time getting up very early for classes.

I had a fun filled, action packed December. Let me start at the beginning. On December 3rd I traveled back home from OSU to Greenville for their Greenhand Degree Ceremony. The desserts were delicious! I want to thank Sydney and the rest of the officer team for putting together a very organized program.

Jordan and Chris created the leader Pablo at the Ansonia Leadership night. It was pretty ingenious. He even had his own thought bubble acting like a little angel on his shoulder. Almost two hundred miles later I was at the Ridgewood Leadership Night. We were a little jam packed for the last activity, but had a blast and even Mrs. Davis got in on the handkerchief activity.

The week before Christmas brought back aspirations of a White Christmas with over six inches of snow and lots of wind. The next day I traveled up to Pettisville for their Leadership night. I quickly learned from Ashley that the snowmobile got the best of her as she was on crutches. I saw a pretty awesome demonstration of the worm from chase and played some "no boundary" volleyball afterwards. The next night Allen, Brittani, and I attended the National Trail Leadership Night. I met Stacy, Brandy, and Derrek form Eaton who I saw again that Thursday at their Chapter Visit. I don't think I have seen as many paper airplanes as was made at Eaton. I also want to give props to the class who broke the human table record and went for well over six minutes.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

On the Flip Side,
Tyler

P.S. MFE is coming soon....I hope everyone is attending!

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
-Thomas Edison

Hey Folks,

I just got home from college for the break and I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving. Right now, the countdown is down to nine hours and twenty-three minutes. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the food at OSU, but I cannot wait for pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, turkey, and dressing.

Last Wednesday, I traveled to Amanda and helped with a Leadership Night at Amanda-Clearcreek. It was awesome seeing some familiar faces from camp as well as meeting new ones.

On Thursday, I traveled north on 23 to Upper Sandusky. I want to give a shout out to my group in my third workshop for being connecting engineers. Frank levitated across the bridge and put it back together.

Friday I made my way back to District 5 and found myself at St. Mary's High School. I got there and I was the only one calling Mr. McBride, Mr. McBride. Everyone else was addressing him as "Sir." I thought it was out of respect, but Mr. McBride told me it was an inside joke. I found out balloons do not like shop floors. I had had some balloons, but the slag from welding got the best of them. It wasn't a problem though, because with a few seconds with a broom and new balloons all was well. I hope the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Concert that many were going to was awesome!

Monday I was at Coldwater for their Leadership Night. It was great seeing familiar faces....Nick, Rick, Ashley, Rachel, Chelsea, and everyone from camp, National Convention, and Chapter Visits. I probably had the most unique leader in the first workshop. I have had some very creative leaders built, but Chelsea's group built a leader and had a necklace and the whole nine yards for accessories. And the best part is that they could come up with an adjective for each one.

Well to all you fellow Buckeye fans out there.....I can smell the roses and Pasadena, but with a few upsets....we will be going to New Orleans!

On the Flip Side,
Tyler

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."
-Helen Keller-

Hey Folks,

I just finished my first round of midterms at college. It is a big relief because it didn’t seem like hours upon hours of studying was ever going to get over.

Let me start from the beginning, on September 28, I visited the Tri-Village FFA Chapter. I got to talk to Jordan, Chris, Harley, and Margie, all members I got to meet at Camp this summer. I ate lunch with Jonathan and Margie.

On October 5, I traveled to Preble County and did a Chapter Visit at Preble-Shawnee. Fourth period did a great job with the skits. Make sure you keep and follow through with those goals you set.

The next day I traveled to Versailles to the State Greenhand Conference. When I got there I saw Megan and Steven who I met the day before at Preble-Shawnee. Dustin and I presented a workshop on setting goals. I want to thank the Versailles Officer Team for organizing and putting on a great conference!

Saturday I went to the PBR Leadership day. Everyone met at Buca di Beppo to start the day off. I think I might have to move Buca in front of Taco Bell on my list of favorite restaurants, although Ohio State’s Burrito’s Nuechos is pretty good too. At the leadership session we heard from Mike Lee a bull rider sponsored by the US Army, Flint Rasmussen a PBR Professional Barrelman, Sgt. Chitsler of the United States Army, and Trooper Thomas of the Ohio Highway Patrol. Next, we got to participate in a workshop by Ohio’s National Officer Candidate, Jesse Branner. While there, I got to meet Dustin, Tyler, and Abby from the Chief Logan FFA Chapter. It was cool meeting them because they went to school with one of my roommates at college. The Rodeo was awesome! Probably the best ride of the night was Justin McBride scoring 93 points on Scene of the Crash. He won $200,000 for riding Scene of the Crash.

I hope to see everyone in under a week in Indianapolis at National Convention!

On the Flip Side,
Tyler

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."
-Vince Lombardi-

Hey Folks,

I just got back from my survey class. It is a class where you are shown all the resources available to you at Ohio State. The class is about a mile from Norton so I have to ride the bus.

O-H-I-O! I don't think I have heard this as much at college as I heard this weekend at Greenhand Camp. It was pretty awesome though as Ohio State won big over Northwestern. Go Bucks!

The first word that comes to mind about Greenhand Camp was excitement. Everyone was excited and willing to learn and have fun. One of the first things we did was....of course eat. The kitchen momma's have the best food. The first thing we did was go to Adventure Valley. The group I took into Adventure valley was great. We did stump gardens and the peanut butter valley. John, I told you that you could get across the valley and you did. We would have done more, but it got dark very fast on Friday.

On Saturday, there was a big camper vs. advisor football game. Reed, Patrick, Troy, and everyone, we made a great effort, but the we came up a little short to the advisors in the end. I want to thank everyone for a wonderful Greenhand Camp and strive to achieve the goals everyone set last weekend.

Well, math class starts in a few minutes so stay amazing Ohio FFA!

On the flip side,
Tyler

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up."
-Vince Lombardi