Week One! Living the Dream!

  Alaska is awesome yo! I woke up about 4 times in the night my first night here and thought it was time to get up! The sky was light and it was 3 a.m. It was the strangest thing. I go to sleep in the light and I wake up in the light! Wow! So, we'll start at the start with my night of light. Then it was Sunday. It was a great day, and my list of things that I've never done before started right after Sunday School. My feet hadn't been on Alaskan soil for 10 hours and a lady approached me and asked if I'd go on a blind date with her son. Well, I've never been on a blind date before and I was a little stunned and tired and said, well, sure. 
  Then onto Monday. I had my first day at work for Aunt Carol in her garden! During the week we saran-wrapped a lot of ground! They put this plastic called IRT on the ground in rows with a tractor deal and it keeps the weeds from growing and keeps the plants insulated! It's crazy cool! I felt like we were saran-wrapping the world! It was cool! I also planted a TON of garlic, onions, turnips and potatoes! It was a good week at work! To keep my mind busy while I'm planting I listen to a book or music and I even made a friend in the garden. My cousin Lori's dog, Kenzie, is staying with Aunt Carol and she'll sit by me or at the head of the row I'm working on for hours and then when I get up, she spits a tennis ball at me and at the end of the day, I finally indulge her with a 5 minute session of fetch. It's pretty fun. Anyways, this isn't really going in chronological order, but whatever. 
  Monday night for FHE, I joined Willardson's and Uncle Barry gave us a great lesson on using For the Strength of Youth to help guide our lives and we talked about that when we come across something that might make us question our faith or something, that we need to turn to the scriptures and conference talks and words of our Prophet to find the answers to our questions. I know that the leaders of the church that have been called of God will not lead me astray. After our lesson, we went to the driving range for some golf practice. Ha. I tried golfing once, I scored 75 points on a mini-golf put-put. It was bad. But I went in with a good attitude and Uncle Barry did a mighty fine job coaching me! (Austin--next time we're together, we'll go golfing, but you better bring a pen and paper or a video camera because I'll be givin' you a clinic! Be prepared!) That was Monday. 
 Tuesday was work and then that night me and Sadie went and practiced golf again. I set my ball up and said, Let's see if I'm still good (which was a silly thing to say "still" because I was never good), and I hit it about 10 feet and said, Nope. But hey! I'll keep practicing and then I'll hit it 15 feet! haha. It's fun though! And after we played golf, we went to the church and played basketball with some old men. It was a little intimidating, but it was fun! 
  Wednesday was work and then Park Night for the YSA. So we went to the park and met some friends! It was a good time! 
  Thursday was my date. It was good. We hiked the Butte and chatted and then came down and that was that. 
  Friday was a little different. Instead of working in the garden, I went into town and worked for Sweetie Pies. My Kenley cousins have a business at the Friday Market and they sell deep fried pies. Talk about heaven in your mouth and belly! Awesome! I felt honored to be working with Amy and Rita because me and Sadie have always talked about the "cool set of cousins" which is pretty much anyone older than like Brett and Tyson and Keith. All my other cousins are cool too, but those girls around Katie's age, they're like the "cool" cousins that we never dared talk to and stuff, and here I was at the Friday Market working with Rita and Amy, two of the cool cousins and they were like talking to me and it was great! And we sold like 600+ pies! It was busy! 
  And then Friday night, me and Sadie and Devin and Michael and Marika went and hiked Hatcher's Pass. I thought we'd stay on a nice trail or something. Wrong. We went straight up the mountain and were whackin' through trees and going up steep stuff. Every step I took, I was thinking, I'm not going to be able to come down this, it's too steep. I'll die. And I was picturing Grannie and Grandpa waking up and reading the paper at breakfast like they always do and seeing the headline "5 young hikers found dead at Hatcher's Pass" and then going and seeing and empty bed and then finding out that I was dead. And I almost texted Olivia a picture of what I had to hike down and tell her that if I didn't live, that she should know that I love her and to tell all the family that I love them too, and how Dad and Mom would be like $500 richer because I once wrote a will that willed them all my money when I died, which is only $500 at the moment. There were times on the hike when we were hanging on to branches to keep from falling to our deaths and times when we were scrambling crab style or sliding sideways and stuff. It was an adventure if I've ever been on one. And then we thought we were home free and were taking it easy when we started thinking about how bears could so easily be hidden in the bush that we were going to have to whack back through. But, we lived and I realize I was being a little dramatic, but it was scary! Oh well, nobody died and we only had a few bumps and bruises. It was a success after all. 
  Saturday was another good day! I went and helped clean the church in the morning with the YSA and then we went to the Sutton Playground (A Playground that the community is helping to build) and did some construction work. But I'll be honest, I'm a little dumb in that field, so I held boards and sometimes screwed the screws in and I ran the sander belt. I did get good at the sander belt though. I left there early to go and join Grannie and Grandpa for our Memorial Day weekend picnic lunch/dinner at Uncle David's cabin. That was fun! I got to visit with Heidi and Dave and Kathy and it was a good time. Saturday night was also a good time! Sadie and I went out to Devin's lake house and hung out there. It was like my dream of summer. I was with friends, and we had a fire, and water and ice-cream and we just visited into the night. It was great! 
  Today I went to the YSA ward and requested my records transferred up here and I like the ward and life is really just so great!! And along with all my daily things, living with Grannie and Grandpa is a joy in itself! They are the funniest and nicest people in all the world! They say some funny stuff and they just love me and I just love them! You guys, even if I didn't do anything else fun the rest of the summer, this would be a ROCKIN' summer in the record books! I love it here!! 

Home

Home: A place where someone feels comfortable, loved and accepted. 
--Tessa's brain dictionary.

  Cokeville is my home. I love it here! I have so many friends and teachers and my parents and siblings and other family here that totally support me and love me and I feel absolutely comfortable being here. I love Cokeville because I can be 100% me and never feel embarrassed or feel like I need to change my personality. I love Cokeville because I knew everyone in my grade, and the grade below me and the grade below that and I was darn good friends with the 7th graders in PE when I was a senior. I love Cokeville because everyone watches out for everyone. If I saw Jonathan outside playing, it was okay for me to just run over there and Mom knew I was there and Mrs. Fiscus was happy for me to come play and she took responsibility for me as much as my mom did when I was over. I always felt safe and I knew that everyone was my friend. I love Cokeville because I had so many opportunities that other people didn't get. A lot of 5'2" girls don't get to start on the high school volleyball team and basketball team or have the opportunity to be three sport athletes. A lot of big schools require specialization. It's volleyball or basketball or track. Don't even think about adding band and choir and show choir and the school musical and student council and National Honor Society. I love Cokeville because I had the opportunity to do it all. I love Cokeville because I could excel in all those things and be a part of all those things, but I had people keeping me grounded and making sure that I knew that those things weren't as important as school and church. My teachers always kept me encouraged to do well and I respected them all so much that I didn't want to get a bad grade. I didn't want to disappoint them. And I feel so lucky that I grew up with teachers and coaches that were all the same religion as me, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was great to go to practice and start with a prayer and to have our coaches encourage us to go to mutual and to read our scriptures. And the teachers were the same way. They didn't ever ask us to go to things on Sunday and they taught good values. I love Cokeville because I can walk to The Store and they know my mom's account number and they know how the teams did and they are my friends. I can walk to the Library and the ladies there know me and I can easily check out books without my library card that I think I lost when I was like 10 or something. I love Cokeville and I thought that I'd never be able to call another place home.

 Our House

Our Town

  I went to college and I was kind of a stinker about being there. I wanted to be home with my friends and my teachers and playing sports and I wanted to be with my parents. I wanted to go Home. The whole first semester, Provo was not home. My apartment was my apartment. I went to my apartment, not home, at the end of every day. Home was only Cokeville and that was that. And I spent the whole semester like that. I wasn't miserable by any means, but it was hard and I was always wanting to give up and go home. Second semester I cried when I had to go back to Provo and leave my home. Then about 3 weeks into the semester something started changing. I realized that I didn't like that I was constantly wanting to be somewhere that I wasn't and couldn't be. I decided to let Provo be home. I didn't replace Cokeville by any means. When I would leave on the weekends to come to Cokeville I said I was going home. But when I left Cokeville at the end of the weekend, I was going home to Provo. And while I was in Provo I would say, I'm going home, which meant my apartment, not Cokeville. And I enjoyed college so much more after I decided that Provo could be home too. I was happy to go home to Cokeville when I got the chance, but I didn't dread going back home to Provo. I love Provo because I had roommates and friends that were excited to see me and I was excited to see them. I missed them when I was away. I love Provo because I had a bishopric, that even though I was only with them for 8 months, I felt more support and love from them than I could imagine. I love Provo because I could meet so many friends in all my classes and even though I didn't have a personal relationship with most of my teachers, they picked darn good TA's that I did develop relationships with, that really cared if I got good grades and helped me to get those grades. I love Provo because I could go to BYU sporting events. I wasn't participating, but I could go and love it! I love Provo because it was so warm... In March! I love Provo because I decided to love it. It is a great place and in the fall, I'll not be leaving home to go to Provo, I'll be leaving home to go home to Provo. 

Provo--That big red brick building was mine!

  This week I am leaving home to go to Alaska. I have been there a few times in my life. My longest trip was 17 days and it was a great trip! This time I'm going for the whole summer! And I'm not going to do what I did with Provo. I'm not going to let myself want to come home, back to Cokeville. From the moment my plane lands in Anchorage, I will be home in Alaska. Grannie's place will be home, not Grannie's house. I'm going to plant myself in Alaska and bloom! I'm going to immerse myself in the single's ward and get to know people and make memories with my cousins and Grandparents and aunts and uncles. Palmer, and Grannie's house are going to be home. I'll leave my home in Alaska to come home to Cokevile. 

Some Alaska family the last time I was there

  For me, Home is where you can feel love and support and safety and be happy and that's all about attitude. It's incredible what the brain can do. I know that I can make a decision to like something and then do all I can to live that decision. I'm always going to call Cokeville home, but there's going to be a lot of homes in my life. The chances of me not living in Cokeville are pretty high. I know I'm going to have to have a good attitude about my location and even if I get planted permanently in Rich County or somewhere else like that (haha), it may be hard, but I'll find all the good and call it home. Life is a happy time and with a good attitude it's easier to be happy. I'm sad to leave home in Cokeville this week, but I'm excited to experience home in Alaska and all the other homes that I'll live in in my life. 

Mom

(Me and Mom after "muddin" through town)

So, I know ya'll are just now skimming over everyone's thanks and praise of their moms, but it's awesome that everyone is showing such appreciation for their mothers! I want to add my thanks as well. I love my mom! She is the best mom for me! She does a lot for me! She makes me clothes and she feeds me and even when I'm trying to cook and making a mess (like today when I was making dinner for Mother's Day and I dropped a spoon that was covered in sour cream all over my foot) she doesn't freak out and she lets me clean it up and learn how to be a better and more efficient cook. She's really great! She taught me the most important things in life: family, the Gospel, the Book of Mormon, being nice, serving, and much more. She also lets me call her at random times and sometimes multiple times a day while I'm away. I will never stop needing my mom and I'm glad that she's not ready to get rid of me. I really love her so much! And now, my three favorite Mom videos! 

My mom is very awesome! I love her so much and I know that I was fed and clothed and happy and taken care of and supported and was allowed to dream because of my mom! I love you Mom!! 

The Randomness that is Me

  Sometimes I just think about random things and I wonder if anyone else wonders about these things too. So, I will tell you about my two latest random thoughts and then you will all be thinking about them too, and then I will share some other stuff as well. 
  First, all my life I have used the word "way" synonymous with so or very in sentences like, "I am WAY excited!" or "I want to do that WAY bad!" Then I went to college and my roommates that aren't from around these parts told me that "way" is not used in that way anywhere but at BYU. So then I got to thinking, for quite a while, what is the definition of the word "way"? I knew it was a direction, like "that way" and I knew that there was a "way to do things." I had come to the conclusion that I was using the word "way" in totally the wrong way. (I've typed the word "way" so many times now, it just sounds "WAY" weird to me!) So, today the wondering ended. I looked it up on dictionary.com. The dictionary had examples of "way" as a noun. It was what I expected to find. Way is a direction and how someone does things. But as I scrolled down I ran into "way" as an adverb. The definition was "at a great degree; at a great distance." Then it gave the example of "way heavy" and "way down the road." So, indeed, "way" can be used to show something to a great degree. I am WAY excited about this new bit of information that I have found. And now you are all informed of the uses of the word "way."
  Second, I went down to the BYU Track Meet this last weekend and when we were driving through Heber I saw a crane in a marsh and it was standing on one leg and I was impressed at the balance of that bird! And then one word popped into my head--Ostrich. I don't know where it came from. But for the rest of the ride to Provo I was wondering where in the world ostriches come from and where they live. When we got into the track meet I asked Coach Toomer if he knew where ostriches live. He told me he wasn't sure where they came from but he knew that near Kemmerer there was an ostrich farm. So ostriches can live in Wyoming. Well, I wasn't satisfied. I just don't often, well actually, I never see ostriches running around wild in Wyoming. Today, I answered my question. I googled ostriches and where they live. According to National Geographic, a renowned magazine, ostriches originate in the deserts of Africa. They are omnivores and get most of their water from the plants they eat. They stand around 6 feet tall and have huge eyes--2 inches across! That's the largest eye of all land dwelling animals. There, now you've learned about two cool things today! 
  And on a more serious note, at Relief Society today we learned about how to be a good visiting teacher. It was a great lesson and for the closing song Brother Leon Pope sang a beautiful song called "His Hands." I felt the spirit so strong. I was already cold, but the shivers I got when he was singing were not related to the temperature. The song was beautiful and his delivery of it was perfect. This is not him singing, but this is the song:

  It's beautiful and I love it. I love my Savior and I'm so thankful for all He's done for me. He has made it possible for me to return to my Heavenly Father and live with my family forever. He loves me and He did a lot for me. I need to remember to use the great gift that He's given to me. I'm so excited that I can be forgiven for all the things that I do wrong and I can always try to improve and be more like Him. 
  And because you're all wondering about my latest adventure to New York, you can visit my sister Olivia's blog and find out! She took all the pictures because she has a smart phone and I have a really cool flip phone, so her story will be more entertaining because blogs with pictures are always better, so sorry this one has none, but it does have a video! Anyways, visit her blog to learn about how we totally ROCKED the Big Apple! 
http://www.lifeaslivi.blogspot.com/