The Passing of Archie

Somewhere in the deep expanses of time and space I feel that a soul mate was created for me. I am afraid, in my case, it was in the form of a car. Archie, the 1990 Oldsmobile was indeed my loyal friend for the years that we had him and that I drove him. He went on my hormone driven high school adventures with me, protected me, and was always there when I needed a place to sleep or a dash to cry on. This car will always be very special to me because he was my first and because we are the same age.

As with all things my ownership of Archie had to come to an end. I got my car Daisy almost a year ago and since then my cousin has driven Archie. He is going on his mission so it was time to sell him. Our good friends the Montierths were interested in buying him so that their highschoolers could drive him when they came of age. It all worked out and Archie is now in their care and ownership. We went to deliver Archie to them the other day and it was a very neat experience. All the Montierth kids were thrilled with the car. They squealed, laughed, and begged for rides. They said things like "this is the coolest car I have ever seen in the world." I am glad that Archie is going to be loved and used. He is a great car and I am going to miss him. I am glad he is in capable hands. Goodbye Archie.

Nathan, the oldest Montierth, standing by Archie.

Three of the kids sitting in the back testing the comfort level. It got very high marks.

The littlest Montierth Zach "dwiving cwazy".

Satan lets me keep my morals?

I have been taught many things in my life about Satan but this certainly isnt one of them. On my weekly drive to the Montierths I encountered this sign and had to share. I really feel like I am missing something. All I want to know is if you think this was on purpose or a tricky prank by a bemused teenager. Hmmmm...

Juneau, not to be confused with Juno!

IMG_2615, originally uploaded by considertessa.

There are some trips that I go on that I have alot to say about them. You cannot get me to shut up about them really. This is not one of those trips. It was beyond words. I believe that it is important to explore and understand your own country and ours is so large that it is sometimes difficult to do. I got to explore places I had never been before in my own country on this trip. I went on an Alaskan Cruise with Mom, Dad, Shannon, Zach, and my friend Tasha. I am so full of food that I am pretty sure I could hibernate for several winters, I have played so many card games I dont have any desire to play any games at all which is strange for me, and I have had enough fun to last for a while. It was a fantastic trip. There were chocolate buffets, glaciers, awesome folk art stores, and beautiful weather! Alaska is a beautiful place and I will definitely be exploring it more in the future. The only bad thing about the trip was that it made Arizona seem like a very very depressing place to live and this time of year and it is, but being reminded isnt always fun.

Click on the image for more pictures.

Happy Trails...

What A Hoot

After much adding of kitchen creations to my creative arsenal as well as my physique I have finally had time to do a bit of painting again. Most of the time I like my paintings better in the pictures but not this one. This one is better in person. You will have to settle for a picture. I have so much to blog about but I am exhausted so it will have to be another time. Enjoy the painting.

Happy Trails...

Dylans Going On A Mission!

One of my favorite people in the world, Dylan, is going on a mission! He has been called to serve in the Chihuahua (or as Dylan said CHI-HEWUH-HEWUH), Mexico Mission Spanish speaking! He has lived with us this last year while he has been going to school and I have loved every second he has been here. I am going to miss him dearly but I am excited that he gets to do this. He is going to help so many people and particularly himself. He reports to the Provo MTC on July 29th. That is all I am going to report on that for now because if I write too much more I will start crying and it is way too early before he leaves for that. Congratulations Dylan, I love ya man!

This is Dylan and I after we took his missionary photo's!

In the middle of one of our Alias Marathons!

Tree Project

This semester I have been taking an Environmental Biology class. I needed another science and this seemed much better than taking Anatomy or some other class that I would wade the rough water between passing and failing. No No, learning about Global Warming seemed a small price to pay for an easy science class. It has ended up to be one of my favorite classes. For labs we go on field trips around the valley and that is much better than doing experiments in the lab. Our last project of the semester was to teach third graders from a local school about resources we get from the environment. My group was assigned to teach the kids about forests and why they are important and what we can do to protect them. I was thrilled, of course, because of my tree obsession. There were five girls and one guy in our group. Immediately all of us girls thought, "oh great, this guy is going to be no help at all." Much to our surprise though, Ammon our 6th and only male group member is now one of our favorite people. Taking the initiative he created this person sized tree out of fencing material and fabric. He painted it and everything. It is a great tree and the kids loved it. I am still in awe of it. I love its Afro. Our presentation went really well and we all had a good time. I garbed the group with tree shirts because my vast amount and I am pretty proud to say I can do that.



Happy Trails...

Three Decades...

Stacy had a birthday! She is now three decades old! It has been a lot of fun to have Stacy home for the last few weeks and I am glad she got to celebrate her birthday with us! Everyone came home for the weekend to celebrate! There was a pinata, sidewalk chalk, great food, hat decorating, and of course a tun of cake (3 to be exact, 1 for each decade). It was a great time! Thanks Stacy for having a birthday so we could all celebrate!

See Tessa... Create!

I have decided to start a creative journal. I can 'art' (my cousin Dylan thinks it is hilarious that I use art as a verb) about anything I want with any medium. It can be completely repulsive and that is okay because it is my journal with no expectations. The goal is to put alot of myself into it and learn how to create without any inhibitions. Hopefully I will end up with a lot of different pages that reflect my thoughts, feelings, and happenings in my life visually and creatively. If that doesn't happen; that is okay too. I will post entries on here from time to time when I am so inclined. Here is today's entry...

Happy Trails...

Feeling Good

In the vast array of my enjoyments there are very few that beat a good beautifully decorated cake (a good Christian Bale Movie is the only thing that comes to mind). Stacy is here visiting from Boston and came equipped was a plethora of cook books. She picked a recipe that has been tempting and mocking her to the edge of insanity lately. It has been begging to be created and thus devoured. So the time had come and the Hazelnut Torte finally made an appearance in the kitchen. Stacy made the Torte and I decorated. So this is the celebratory dessert for Easter. MMMMMM...


My creative and blogging hiatus is over and I am back in the swing of things. My poor little blog was in a black hole of sadness...

I believe In Miracles...

After months of research, practice, and preparation Preston and Mindi's wedding came and went, and so did the cake. It feels good to have completed my first ever wedding cake! I ended up making a Ancho Chili Powder Chocolate Cake with a Coconut Butter cream Frosting. I only had one frosting debacle and besides that everything went smoothly. Zach and Shannon were a big help with the creation of the cake as well. Zach was in charge of the structural integrity and engineering of the cake which he was excited about and Shannon was the dish washer slash my hero and ribbon gluer. So a big thank you to them! I am not a great cake decorator but I will get better. The cake tasted really good which is the important part. My favorite part of the cake is the little Mindi and Preston owls that my mom made for the top. They turned out great and go with the cake really well. I am thrilled with how the cake turned out and the whole wedding for that matter. It was a beautiful wedding and a tun of fun. It was great to see a bunch of people I havent seen for a long time! We are all so excited for Preston and Mindi and I am very excited that I have a new sister! Now I need to go back to school so I can have a break!

Arent they adorable?

Yeah!!! We finally cut that bizzle up!


My Dad loves to dance and loves us to dance with him. I used to refuse to dance with him but I have learned that dancing with Dad requires pretty much zero effort on my part. I stand there and dad dances around me. Perfect. That is my kind of dancing.