Tuesday, November 29, 2011

“People often say motivation doesn’t last… Well neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.”- Zig Ziglar

What delicious drink is the start of America’s morning? What caffeinated brew helps college students keep awake to finish their papers at 2 in the morning? What is the energy-giving source to get us through our “morning grind”?

Yes, that’s right, Coffee. We have to admit that in the United States we are pretty avid coffee fans. Think about it. According to Folger’s “It’s the best part of waking up” and “America runs of it” according to Dunkin’ Donuts. Starbucks, is a huge multi-million dollar chain solely run on selling coffee. As a culture we love coffee and I have to say that I am no exception.

Yep I am in love with that rich, dark, smell good, piping hot, caffeinated, drink. My unhealthy obsession may stem from the fact that anytime I go to the grocery store I have to go down the coffee bean aisle to get a whiff of that heavenly brew. Or maybe it was because I wanted to grow up and be like my Papa Bill with his slippers on and coffee mug in hand every morning. Whatever it is, my love for coffee has continued to grow and has only been fueled more by my entrance into college.


Now, I will have to admit that as a college student I probably do not drink too much above the average amount. But, on a brisk fall morning there is nothing better than sitting down and enjoying a Mocha Frappuccino that is piping hot. That feeling of the warm coffee going down and warming up your stomach, the feeling of the caffeine rushing through your veins and waking up entire body is a truly amazing experience for me.

This caffeine though, not only gets me, but also millions of other American’s across the nation, going and has been the morning startup for decades. Caffeine gives me the energy to go out and start my day off right and get my to-do list accomplished for the day!

But caffeine is not the only thing that gets me pumped and ready to take on the day’s challenges. Oh no, in the morning my fire gets a burnin’ if I start off my day with a run or swim workout. Or in midday my adrenaline starts to flow if I go out and play a game of soccer or volleyball. These things will get my body ready for the day and help keep it ready and going. But we have to think for ourselves what gets our minds and inspiration going every single day.

For me the caffeine, or energizers, of my inspiration can come from anything and everything. I don’t know how many times I have been going throughout my day and all of a sudden, BOOM, a jewel of inspiration comes along and motivates me to go out and do something. These gems of motivation have come from listening to a motivational speaker talk about constant and never-ending growth, having a conversation with an industry leader in agriculture about the need for students with good work ethic and hands on skills, or even from watching Paula Dean on the Food Network make a new twist on an old classic to name a few. The inspiration that I have comes from a variety of different sources but all has the same effect. It energizes me and gets me going just like my morning coffee does.

Think about what motivates and energizes you throughout your day. Is it going out and having a conversation with someone about an issue you are passionate about? Is your caffeine in the creation of a new recipe or developing a science experiment to test a new hypothesis? Is your motivation stemming from a motivational quote you have taped to your mirror or the set of goals you look at everyday? What is your caffeine in your life?

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Jalapenos of My Life

"It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. Sometimes it takes a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see. Ask yourself, how many people in the world can truly make you feel rare, pure, and extraordinary?" - Marley and Me

Have you ever tried to eat a habanero pepper just raw? Well I haven’t either but my friend who relayed his experience once told me that if I ate a jalapeƱo and magnified it by 100 then I would have the feeling. To understand what my friend meant I tried eating a jalapeno raw, and let me tell you it was almost like nothing I had ever tried before. Not only is there almost an immediate burning sensation, but also it lasts throughout the entire day and keeps burning and hurting and won’t stop! It made my whole face warm, brought me to pretty close to tears and made me just look ridiculous.

Now the reason I said it was almost like nothing I had ever tried before is because even though it wasn’t a food I have similar experience with two people. These people have at times made me a little hot-headed, brought me close to tears and sometimes still make me look a little ridiculous. As odd as it sounds they have made and will hopefully continue to make me feel just like that jalapeno did.

You may be thinking right now, “Ha, this is easy he is going to just talk about his family”. In a way, you are right. I do consider these people my twin brother and big sister, but they don’t live with me, nor do we share any of the same DNA. Yep, you guessed it. These are my two best friends that I would trust anything, absolutely anything with. Now I am not saying that they are the only people I would do that with, because my immediate family and blood relatives I would as well, and I love them just as much! But, it is more of a challenge to trust the people that are not blood and be able to say you could trust your life with them.

But these two jalapenos in my life can sure be a kicker, like eating a jalapeno raw, or they can be the perfect garnish to the enchilada that is my life. Either way, I believe they are necessary to for me to continue to grow as a person, socially, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

I have to say that when it comes to talking, yelling, and projecting my voice I do a good job…sometimes too good of a job. Okay, I enjoy talking a little too much. I love interacting with people and telling my family and friends stories about my day and things I learned about food…because I am obsessed with FOOD! But, have you ever had issues with someone because they are just too much like you? Well one of my best friends literally is the loudest person I have ever been around and probably likes talking even more than I do. She can talk and talk and talk about anything and sound intelligent about it. On top of that she has one of the loudest laughs I have ever heard as well. Now, don’t get the impression that she is just this non-stop obnoxious loud chatterbox, because that is the impression I got my freshman and sophomore year and man was I wrong.

I will admit this person is a big reason I was ever enrolled in an agriculture education class and I am eternally grateful to her for that. But once we started travelling together, were on an officer team together for the first year, started interacting with each other more and more, I began to realize that our two personalities were clashing a bit more and more each week. It got to the point to me where I would go home and vent about her to my family about how loud she was and we just were not getting along. My mom continued to let this venting go on until she realized that I did not see it the way she could see. She saw, that I was complaining about someone who I had so much in common with, so much history with, so many personality traits that we shared, and that I needed to stop.

My mom and dad’s sit down chat with me that night changed my life in ways that I could never have fathomed that night. Not only did it make me realize how ridiculous all the fighting was but the potential friend that I was missing out on. Jo and I soon became friends, then best friends, and now attending college together and just being together as much as we have she is like an older sister to me. She gives me all the advice an older sibling, that I never had, would, she allows me to talk to her about anything and she just has become one of the best role models I have ever had and I feel so privileged to call her my friend.


So imagine someone who is 6’ 6”, dirty blond hair color, and is a super athlete, enough so he is playing both football and basketball on the college level. This pretty much describes my twin and total opposite of me in terms of looks. Now when I say twin I mean that we have been friends since pre-school and were only born 9 days apart, not that we are anything alike.

Nick and I attended pre-school, grade school, middle school and high school together and this year is the first year we have ever been apart in school together, with him attending Baker University and me at KSU. Nick and I started off in some of the same sports, then, well lets just say the cream of the crop started to rise and those of us who were not so “gifted” stayed at the bottom. That is not to say I didn’t still try and stay active in sports. I was a 4-year member of the swim team and 3-year member of the soccer team in high school, so don’t say I didn’t try. But I still tried to stay in shape, just was not at peak physical fitness like Nick was.

One drawback however, of the athletic giftedness of Nick is that he was not able to attend many FFA events. Now I knew Nick liked the FFA but his passion was competing in sports. Whether it was a pick-up game of basketball or the regional championship of a football game he was always trying to win. Watching Nick follow his passion inspired me to really find my passion in something.

I tried sports, I liked them but I was not passionate about them. I attempted to be involved in the drama dept. in high school and that wasn’t quite my cup of tea. Then agriculture education class happened. I luckily found an organization that I was passionate about and an industry that I could be proud of. So I took hold of every opportunity I could in class and found Nick and I continuing to go in more and more different paths in high school.


When I realized that I had lost my friend in the total wrapped up state I was in with FFA I realized a need in the shift for my priorities. I started to take the time to set aside different things and hang out with Nick and my other friends that I had pushed away while I was caught up in the FFA world. This shift in my priorities was probably the biggest change I had in myself and realizing that the personal connections I make with not only my friends but also anyone I meet was vital.

Nick has taught me so much throughout my life and about how I should live it. Not only did he teach me to find my passion but taught me that the relationships I build with people are some of the most important and meaningful things I have in my life. These lessons I will hold with me my entire life no matter what I do.

My two best friends in my recipe to life have taught me so much and are two people I look up to so much. There are so many times that I could have been a better friend and took them for granted at times. But I know that they will be there for me through thick and thin and through whatever challenges I may have no matter what. They empower me to achieve my goals and never try and drag me down. Johanna and Nick are those two jalapeƱos in my life. Who are yours?

“Stay away from people who belittle your aspirations. Small people do that. But the truly great people in the world will make you believe that you, too, can one day become great.”- Mark Twain

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

State Fair Wisdom

“I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future”- Ralph Abernathy

Each year the State Officers get a chance to stay for some time at the Kansas State Fair. This time is filled with the smell of fried foods, watching the livestock shows, hearing all the screams from the carnival rides and did I mention the fried food? This year as a State Officer team we were charged with taking care of the Grand Drive animals after they were selected and take care of them throughout the week so the families and exhibitors of the families could go home and go back to school. Since during the week thousands of elementary students come through the State Fair and our Grand Drive Barn specifically, making it Kansas’ Largest Classroom, we decided to do something a bit more interactive to teach the science involved in food.

Food is a huge part of my life and I am obsessed with it! Not only do I enjoy eating it, which is why fair time is one of my favorite times of the year, but I like learning about it. So when the chance to teach students about food became available I was super excited. We had two experiments at the state fair for the kids coming through the barn. My personal favorite was an experiment showing the iron content in breakfast cereal.

In our breakfast cereal we get many nutrients that are hidden or woven in enough to the grain that we cannot taste them or see them. A great example of a nutrient that we need but wouldn’t’ just eat it on its own is iron. To show that iron is in your normal everyday breakfast cereal and to get kids involved we had them crush up a couple Wheaties in a plastic bag into the smallest pieces they could get them. Then the students took a button magnet and put it the cereal and whaa laa! Iron.

Not only were the students surprised to see the small black specks and pieces of the cereal sticking to the magnet, they had the realization that more is in our food than they would think.

But this experience benefited more than just the elementary students that day. As it seems with every time we don’t expect to get hit with knowledge and wisdom, BAM! It happens. As I was helping first graders crush up cereal, I took a look back and realized that these students were learning something from me. I was having an impression on these kids.

What a scary thought that I had an impression on these students that will be growing up and leading and teaching other people. It soon becomes this whole cycle of teaching, learning, teaching someone else the information you have gained from other people. It soon became evident to me that my knowledge and passion for food is worth nothing unless it is shared with others.

This holds true for any passion of ours. Whether we are obsessed with rebuilding engines, fascinated with making our cattle herd better with genetics, have a passion for vineyards, or are like me and love food, we need to share that passion and our knowledge of it with others because if we don’t share that knowledge and wisdom then what use is it after we pass on.

I firmly believe in never-ending self-improvement. But with that comes realization it can’t be just ourselves that are improving. We should strive to help those around us grow as well. Our nation’s youth are those individuals that will take up any challenges that we did not complete. They are the future of our country and are who will be determining if we will continue to be successful.

Take time in your life to share your passion with someone, anyone in your life. It can be your grandma, brother, best friend or random stranger, but please just share it, because we don’t know when the chances to share what we have gained and learned will end. Also, remember who holds the future and who will continue on our traditions and success’.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”- MLK Jr.

Friday, July 15, 2011

My Recipe

"The greatest risk is the risk of riskless living.”- Stephen Covey

So quotes are basically the only thing I collect, but man do I collect quite a bit of them. Not only have I saved up inspirational quotes but also funny ones, things that my mom has said, things my teachers have said, quotes on my favorite movie, etc… I have only been doing it for the past two years now and have really enjoyed always being able to look back on the word documents I have saved in case I need a little inspiration or a good laugh. But these quotes can always show me quite a bit of where I have been and are a good reminder of where I should be going. The one up top in particular is one that I try and live my life by, but you will hear more about that in the coming blogs.
So since this is my first blog I figured I should start off by telling you that I love food… A LOT! Because of this most of my blogs will probably be food themed. Now I am not one of those hard food critics or someone who knows a ton of facts about food, but it is a passion of mine and I love finding new recipes and trying them out. So to introduce myself to you, reader, I am going to tell you the recipe of my life

Ingredients:

2 Great Parents
1 Cupful of Little Brother
1 Tsp. of Little Sister
I have such a great family at home in Osawatomie, KS. They have been truly the reason that I have been so successful not only in the FFA, but in my life in general. They are always there to support me, lift me up when I am down, reign me in when I am getting to far away from my family values, and always love me no matter how many mistakes I have made. My amazing parents are Doug and Rexanne Laudan. They have raised me in such a way that I would not trade it for anything in the world. My brother and sometimes partner in crime, Rylan, is the dreamer of the family and has an extreme love of animals. He has gone crazy this year with all kinds of new stories about his first herd of goats, his first year on the East Kansas Swine Series and his new Donkey, Cletus. My little sister, Morgan, is the athlete and we joke that every drop of athletic gene went to her. She is a crazy softball, volleyball, and her favorite basketball, player and has more skills in all of those than I could ever hope for.



9 Whole Years at Holy Trinity Grade School
I grew up in a Catholic Grade School, Kindergarten through 8th grade, where I saw the 18 faces I graduated from 8th grade with every single day. It was a lot of fun having such a tight knit class, where we treated each other like family. And yes that means like brothers and sisters, who fight sometimes, but love each other in the end. We had the best cook in the whole wide world who I still visit sometimes for her famous Cinnamon Rolls, which I still don’t have the recipe for. After 8th grade 16 of us went on to Paola High School and two to St. Thomas Aquinas in Overland Park. Even though I have made lots of new friends, my best friends are still the people from Holy T(that is what we called our school) and they will be for the rest of my life.

4 All-Purpose Years at Paola High School




After graduating from small, wonderful, family Holy T, I was thrown to the big dogs of high school. I went from a class size of 18 to 148 and was not excited to start. Then the whole, kid is afraid of high school, kid finds a place/home in ag class, kid finds he actually likes high school, classic story happened. After my freshman year I was more involved and got to see that a class of 148 wasn’t so bad and now can name everyone in my class by face name recognition. I became involved in Soccer, Swim Team, Track, Scholars Bowl, Drama Club, FBLA, NHS and really liked it all. I made a bunch more friends and got heavily involved in the FFA and my academics. It was a wild, up and down ride but I have got to say I enjoyed every minute of it!

5+ Quotes Word Documents
Like I said earlier I collect a lot of quotes and I really enjoy them here are some of my favorites:

“Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as it always has, rock crushes scissors.”- Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory

“I wore a tanktop today because I thought it was summer and no one taught me how to read a calendar.” – Brittany from Glee

“I’m more confused than a cow on astro-turf.”- Alicia, one of my high school friends

“Careful driving, don’t want to hit a pterodactyl…”-Mom

"Bein' rich is having leftovers. Good leftovers make yo' tongue fly outta yo' mouth and smack yo' brains out."- Paula Deen

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous. But honestly, who are you to not be so?”- Marianne Williamson

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”- Martin Luther King Jr.

Favorite Things (Add To Taste)
I have a lot of favorite things in this wonderful world, so here are some of them: The Big Bang Theory(TV Show), Glee, Grape Dr. Pepper, Mashed Potatoes, U.S. Food Service Dill Pickles, Microwave Popcorn, Biscuits and Gravy, The Lion King(Movie), Avatar(Movie), Mean Girls(Movie), Risk(Board Game), Apples to Apples(Board Game), Parliamentary Procedure CDE, 4-H, Showing Pigs, the colors green and blue or any combination thereof, Giraffes, Bruno Mars, Relient K, Matt Maher, Zac Brown Band, Switchfoot, mint gum(with braces on now just mints) and eating food, lots of food!

1 Amazing Organization
I love the FFA with all of my heart. It is this organization that has truly let me discover my talents and turn them into skills that I can use throughout my life. I have gained so many lifelong friends and mentors throughout my time in the FFA. I have learned so much about myself as a person and I truly believe that this organization, this one of a kind place, has built upon the foundation that has been laid by my parents and school years and made it into the person I am today.

Directions:
Take all the ingredients and throw into a mixer. Bake in the oven for approximately 18 years. Take out of the oven and then you have the recipe for Nathan Laudan, KS FFA Reporter




So this is the recipe to my life. But remember, no two recipes are the same. Each of us is unique. Just like how everyone’s grandma’s chocolate-chip cookie recipes each have a unique touch, so do we. Remember that this uniqueness is what makes us, us, and no one can take that away from us.