UAFCS President No More

The Board, outgoing and incoming: back row - Natalie Hancock, Shauna Young, Shelli Barnum, Hollie Evans, Laura Schiers, Troy Chilcott, Mary Lynn, Becky Sagers, Katie Justesen, front row - Melissa Judkins, Lacee Boschetto, me, Rebecca Haacke, Jessica Dredge (not pictured: Chad Gibbs, ShaeLin Nilsen, and Emalee Brown)

It's been a blessing to serve as president of UAFCS. It's also been a ton of work. I was thrown into this position when the president stepped down. I was supposed to have a year of training under her, but I didn't get that. I was told my job was to plan the conference each year, which I did. I've since learned that there is much more that I could have done as president. I could have worked on member recruitment, member retention, and better relations with nationals. I have done my best. If I had another year, I'd do more, but I am done and I'm ok with that. I do plan to write some notes and organize some notes for the future president and other board members. I will leave things better than I found them and hopefully things will continue to improve as the years move along for UAFCS. 

Friday, Mary, Troy, and I had an FCCLA meeting all day. We had worked so hard on planning the conference. I felt that things would go great. Everything was in place and it was going to be great. The only things that would go wrong would be just glitches. The speakers were lined up, food was scheduled, and we even had a great photo wall. 

After yesterday's conference, we did have a board meeting and I'm very encouraged. We already have a plan in place to recruit new members. We have a date and place for the conference so we can mention the conference at both the mid-winter UACTE conference and the June educators' conference. I think those things will help. 

I had a great board to work with. Everyone worked hard. Mary especially worked hard. Her job was to oversee the planning and execution of the conference and it was amazing. There were so many great breakout sessions. The conference theme was "Keep Thinking." Friday we had an awards dinner and learned about dipping chocolates and did a service project. It was excellent. We had yummy Greek food and had a great time chatting with friends that we only see at conferences. I had friends that won awards. Monica Milburn, who was a TA and now teaches, won an award. Jean Manuela, who I've known for decades, also won an award. Emily Burdette, my TA, won an award for outstanding FCS college student. Rebecca Haacke, who is now our UAFCS president, also earned an award. All were so deserving. Oh, and I gave some remarks as president. I woke up one day last week with thoughts on exactly what I could say and I'm pleased with what I shared. I really don't care what others thought of it. It was from my heart and what I wanted to share. 

Shelli Barnum, Monica Milburn, and me

I have loved and admired Jean Manuela for decades

So glad to know Melissa

Meet your new UAFCS president, Rebecca

Emily Burdette

I talked about how our founder, Ellen Swallow Richards, ended correspondence with the words "Keep thinking." We come from a long line of thinkers. She didn't say "Start thinking" or "get thinking" or "think better," so I shared examples of thinking that I've seen. I shared how FCS professionals think on their feet, think outside the box, and think big. I encouraged us all to keep doing what we are doing because we are great. 

BYU FCSE. Back row: I don't know this student, Maile Fisher, Natalie Hancock, Sarah Boyd, me, Emily Napierski, Grace Hadfield, Emily Burdette, Jolynn Holt. Front row: Sierra Young, Morgan Johnson, Abigail Jenson, Michaela Christensen, Nicole Lauper

Saturday we had a keynote speaker, then had breakout sessions from 10 - noon. Lunch was great and Lacee Boschetto from BYU led us in excellent discussions at our tables. Then we had more breakouts from 1-3.  I really enjoyed the sessions I went to. Laurie Hatch, who used to live in Livermore and was a YW leader at girls camp when I was a young woman, presented a session on mental health. She helped us reframe our thoughts when things don't go as planned. If anyone knows about that, it's Laurie. She got married at 17. By age 33, she had 6 boys and her husband had decided he wasn't interested in being married. Her best friend also died. That's when she started college. She has since earned her masters and has been an FCS Department Chair at a college in California. She is one of mom's heroes. 

Me and Laurie Hatch

Annie Oswald presented in the afternoon. She joined us for lunch and the discussions at lunch. She really enjoyed herself. Then she came the the pasta making class that my TAs and I taught. I reached out the the FCS students who took the pasta making class with me in Florence to see if they wanted to teach with me. With 6 helpers, we had a great time. We had 16 participants in the first session and 8 in the second session. Everyone seemed to have fun. I snuck out during the second session, leaving everyone in the able hands of my students, and enjoyed some of Annie's session on determining your destiny. She walked the participants through designing a mission statement. What I heard was excellent and we will ask her to present in our February conference. 

Discussion at lunch

I left Jordan High School in Sandy around 5:00 pm and was home by 6:00 pm. It was a great conference. We got many comments on how much people enjoyed the conference. It's a small conference with about 90 - 110 awesome attendees. 

Woo Pig Sooie - BYU vs. Arkansas 2023

Allie, Melia, me, Kamiko, and Bekki at Old Main

A year ago, the Razorbacks' football team came to Provo. So did a few of Allie's college friends. We had a blast hanging out together and going to the game. Arkansas won and it was fantastic. We promised ourselves we'd be in the stadium in Fayetteville when BYU came in 2023. 

We found tickets for only $45 each. We could have flown standby, but I didn't trust that we'd be able to get seats on flights, so I bought tickets (Merry Christmas). We got a hotel room in Bentonville. When we mentioned to people that we were going, someone told us the Bentonville Temple was being dedicated that weekend. Wow! What a time we would have. 

Arkansas, here we come!

After work on Friday, September 15, we flew to Denver, had a 2-hour layover, then flew to Tulsa. Our flight was delayed, so we got into Tulsa at 112:30 and still had a 2-hour drive to Bentonville. Bekki drove and it went quickly. We talked and were happy to be back. The hotel was clean and the beds were comfy. We got free breakfast. We got going around 11:00 am to go to Fayetteville and meet up with Allie and friends. 

We shopped in downtown Fayetteville. I got a cute water color print of the stadium that I will probably hang in my basement. I also got some fun stickers for Starlyn and Natalie. It's of Dolly Parton (wearing a hog hat) and Kenny Rogers from the 1980's. It's just perfect. Allie stayed in a hotel with Taryn and Lane. Tina and her husband and Taryn's brother and his girlfriend met up with us for the game. 

Lane, Kamiko, Bekki, Allie, Taryn, and Mel. Let the fun begin.

Lane and I have matching shirts. It's the one Lane and Taryn brought me last year. 

Downtown Fayetteville is so dang cute. There are shops with the best merch - t-shirts, buttons, stickers, banners, purses, etc. It's just perfect. I absolutely love it there. The weather was also wonderful - in the 80's. We went to a great thrift shop and spent time on campus, taking pictures. I walked over to the institute building with Mel to take a picture for her. The institute director recognized her. It's the same institute director that was there when Mel served there. It was just magical to be in Arkansas. 

The whole gang: Mel, Allie, Lane, me, Bekki, Taryn, Kamiko, Chandler and his girlfriend, Christina (Tina) and her husband.

My college roommate, Syd Hoopes Ash and her husband, Scott, and their daughter, Elizabeth, also went to the game We texted and tried to connect, but never could figure out a time to meet. Then, when we were taking pictures by Old Main on campus, the Ash family walked by. So we hung out and took some photos. Syd got all the history of U of A from Taryn and the other kids. It's so funny because last year we ran into another old roommate, Carlet. So, my kids and Allie's razorback friends have met 2 of my college roommates. Crazy. 

We went to the stadium around 5:30 for a 6:30 game. There were a lot of BYU fans there. There were 2 sections of blue shirts and a lot of blue shirts interspersed in the crowd. The stadium is ENORMOUS. It seats about 12,000 more people that the BYU stadium holds. I was so happy to be there with the kids and friends. I only wish Crystal Arel, Taryn's mom, could have been there, but she's having some health issues and had to stay back in Cabot. 

I love these smiles

The game started off great, with Arkansas scoring 2 touchdowns in the first 5 minutes. We were excited about the trajectory of the game. Well, BYU caught up and kept scoring. The game actually went back and forth, but Arkansas never caught up and didn't pass BYU. In the end, all of the drunk Arkansas fans were disappointed to lose to BYU. It was a game that BYU could be proud of. I don't think anyone expected BYU to win. Before I left, I told people on campus that I would win either way, but they would be the losers. Well, that wasn't the case. BYU won. Good for them. 

Sunday Mel and I got up and went to the nearest church for the Bentonville Temple dedication broadcast. Poor Kamiko and Bekki realized their recommends had expired. They brought church clothes and recommends, but noticed on Saturday that they were expired. We were to be seated by 9:30 and I was a nervous wreck as we hit every red light. We did make it and they actually seated people after 9:30, so it would have been ok. 

Elder Bednar came to Arkansas to dedicate the temple. In his remarks he said that he knew he'd be sent for that dedication because he's the only member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that speaks Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The Bednars moved to NW Arkansas in 1980. At that time, he was called to be the stake clerk in a stake that covered much of the state. Because there weren't 12 brethren on the high council, Elder Bednar would often be asked to speak in wards. His first assignment was in the Rogers Branch, where there were about 30 people in attendance. There we sat in a chapel in Rogers. Rogers has a stake. Kamiko and Bekki were in the Rogers Stake when they lived there. In fact, we met their Stake President and he spoke very highly of them. In Elder Bednar's remarks, he suggested that the members refer to the temple as The House of The Lord. He shared a story of a man who had a priceless pearl. He wanted to keep the pearl safe and still let people see it so he had a beautiful display box made for the pearl. When people saw the pearl in the box, they were only interested in the craftsmanship of the box, not in the valuable pearl. The temple can be like this. We get more excited about the building than what goes on in the building. 

I was struck when he said that people are very excited when a temple is announced. They go see the site, they watch it be built, they visit during the open house. They are so excited to see the temple dedicated and they flock to the temple - for a while. He asked the members to keep the temple busy, even after the excitement of its newness. He said it should be so busy that Arkansas will need another temple. His remarks made me realize how lucky I am to live near many temples. I go monthly and want to keep that an important part of my life. Elder Bednar also said to not call it a small temple. He said "You can call it less large, but don't call it small." Elder Bednar was very emotional many times during the dedication and said he wouldn't apologize for being emotional. When it was over, a sweet hispanic couple that was seated by us shook our hands and thanked us for coming. I spoke to them for a bit in Spanish. I was so happy to be there with Melia. There we sat in her mission boundaries, watching the dedication of the temple. I remembered when the temple was announced in general conference. I was with Melia and she dropped to her knees in front of the TV and started crying. 

After the dedication, we got Steven's Special, that Mel had been waiting to get all weekend. It is delicious! It's Mexican rice with white queso and protein - we got steak. Mel also got the most delicious horchata. We then drove by the temple. It is so beautiful. It isn't very big. It's a cream color with the most subtle, beautiful light blue dome on the very top. We had enough time before heading back to Tulsa to meet up with Allie in Fayetteville. We went to the Fayetteville Funky Yard Sale, now rebranded as the Fayetteville Funky Flea Market. That place is so fun to explore. They have antiques, vintage clothes, and tons of artsy items. There is a lot of Razorback stuff, old and new. We also got Andy's custard in waffle cones. That stuff is amazing. 

Steven's Special is soooo delicious. Look at that! when the queso cools a bit, it sticks to the rice and becomes a clump of delicious rice and cheese. 

Then it was time to head back. We were tired. Bless Kamiko for driving the 2 hours to the airport. The flight was uneventful. Tulsa to Dallas, where I got Whataburger because there were not smoothies available. Then we flew Dallas to SLC and got in around 11:30. Kamiko had to get up at 5:30 for work, Mel and Bekki both had work. I got to sleep in a bit, but it was a long day. I had a lot of catching up to do and a lot of work to do to tie up loose ends for the UAFCS conference. Such a great time. 

It's a week later as I write this. As I drove home last night, all I could think is that we were in Arkansas a week ago, seeing where Mel spent time on her mission, seeing the thrift stores where she volunteered, seeing the institute building where she spent time, and walking campus where she walked. We saw Bekki's building on campus, drove past where Kamiko worked, and ate their favorite foods. I don't know if I'll go back. I've seen the Razorbacks play football and my kids were there, so I think I'm good. 

I do think that if I can't afford to live in Utah during my retirement, I'll think about moving to Arkansas. We love it there.