Float Trip 2010

Spent the weekend with 10 of my closest friends (The Trojans, the Jeffreys, the Deharts, Gaylon, Matt, Jordan and Howard) floating the Illinois river. Had a great time and made some memories.

On the way down I got to stop in and see my brother and his children and have some great food at "Captains Table" on the river in Webbers Falls. My brother made a deal with my nephews and told them he would buy them a trampoline if they learned the FFA Creed. Connor has the first line done and he is only in the second grade!

Thanks to Howard for planning the trip to float the river. I am blessed to have such great friends and family. Wish we could have had a few more friends join us. Maybe next time...

The picture is of my niece, Macy holding one of her new baby pigs.


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Location:Tracys Terrace,Edmond,United States

Thanks from the military.

Below is a note I received from Sgt. Ryan Ellis from the 1-45th ADT deployed in Afghanistan. Thanks to everyone...

To everyone who was involved:

Thank you from the 1-45th Oklahoma Agribusiness Development Team for the Happy Grams from Alumni Camp. It meant so much for our team to receive letters from Oklahoma FFA members as most of our team are former members. It was such a pleasure to open a box and have 95 Happy Grams, from members all over the state, staring back at us. We are very thankful for your thoughts and time to honor us during such a busy time for OK FFA. Thank you for the coordination with Dr. Shelly Sitton to arrange for them to be shipped over with more school supplies. It is hard to express the appreciation we have for receiving letters from home and it means even more when they come from children. On a more personal note, I was very overwhelmed to see the Happy Grams. It made me feel like I was back at home and back with students, not to mention that I personally know so many of the people involved. I was so proud (as the ag teacher of the group) to show the letters to everyone else and tell them that our state FFA association was thinking about us. I look forward to meeting with some of you when I return, to share stories and pictures from our agriculture mission here. Thanks again to all of you for your support and we will see you in a couple of months when we return home. Please let the members know that we appreciate their thoughts !

SGT Ryan Ellis

Ag Education/Extension SME

1-45th OK ADT

Deployed

Man Trip 2010

Just returned from a great trip with my dad and brother to St. Louis and had an absolute blast. My dad and brother have been fans of the cardinals their whole lives and my brother and I have been to a few games but this trip was special as it was my dads first time.

Aside from the game and amazing seats (thanks dad) we toured the Brewery and we made time to walk by the arch and check out some local hot spots. I highly recommend Jakes Steaks! The highlight was just spending some time making a memory with the people you love.

It was great to see the Cardinals break their slump and win 2 of the 3 games!





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Location:St. Louis, MO

We are still fighting a war.

When I moved to Stillwater I had the opportunity to befriend some of the best people in the world. 3 of these friends are currently active duty in the U.S. Air Force. Through them, I have had the privilege of meeting hundreds of our military men and women and it has been an absolute pleasure.

I tell students and adults in my programs that if they want to send care packages, supplies and words of encouragement to those who are deployed I will supply them with addresses or mail the supplies myself. WOW! What a response I have received. I have spent most of the day responding to e-mails from individuals, student organizations and churches who want to send something. Too often we hear that "freedom isn't free" which is true, but what is the cost. On the extreme end it is the loss of a loved one but on a daily basis it is simply the worry of a mother or father. It is a son or daughter, husband or wife missing the person who means the most to them. It is a birthday celebrated without a parent or an anniversary spent alone. I hope that we all don't get to wrapped up in our own lives that we forget we only have all of this because they do all of that.

I wish I could see the look on the soldiers faces when they get a package they were not expecting from someone they do not know! The pics are of my good friends who are active duty. Thank God we live in a free country but thank him even more for the people that ensure that freedom.

Brain Fertilizer

If you are looking for some amazing books to read here is a short list I recommend. If you have trouble finding the time to read take advantage of what Zig Ziglar calls automobile university. Simply download the books on iTunes, Amazon or Audible.com and enjoy them on your daily commute:

Leadership/Personal Growth;

1) Any book by Andy Andrews. (Start with "The Travelers Gift" and read them all)

2) Any Book by Mitch Albom (The five people you meet in heaven and Tuesdays With Morrie is a great place to start)

3)The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John Mann

4) Any Book by Zig Ziglar or Og Mandino

5) The Most Brilliant Thoughts of all Time in two lines or less by John M. Shanahan

6) Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (What the Dog Saw and Blink are also good).

7) Developing the Leader Within by John C. Maxwell

8) The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

9) A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

10) How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Financial

1) The Total Money Makeover and More than Enough by Dave Ramsey

2) The Millionare Next Door by Stanley and Danko

3) The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

4) Wealth on Minimal Wage by James Steamer

5) Secrets of the Millionare Mind by T. Harv Eker.

Real Interesting reads.

1) Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh

2) Where Men Win Glory (The odyssey fo Pat Tillman) by Jon Krakauer

3) Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.

4) Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

5) The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

Hope you enjoy them...

August 15

Traveled to Hollis, OK last monday to work with the teachers and faculty at Hollis Public Schools. Had a great time teaching them some habits to make their year more effective and enjoyable with the students. What a great group of teachers, staff, administration and faculty they have in Hollis. It is without a doubt the best school in the county.

Today is my brothers 28th birthday and it is good to know that he gets to spend it with his children and our parents. Hope you all are keeping close ties with those you love. After all, the most important thing we can hope to do is nourish the relationships with the ones closest to use.

My best,

KB