My real Fourth of July post!:day 19/365

first of all....my settings changed back to reading west coast time and now I am not entirely sure that I changed them back lol! I noticed it when I loaded my page yesterday and it said that the post was posted on the 3rd. I changed it once, but now I can't remember how to change it again....oh well.... means an extra two hours each day that I can use for blogging time! It would be great if i COULD spend that long blogging every day. I mean I love it, because when I am blogging sometimes, I go into my own little world! I crank the tubes and just write! and do you wanna know the best part? I write it and don't ever really know who reads it unless they comment. It could be one person who loads it 15 times, or it could be 15 people who load it once. Ultimately though....I don't really mind! Now for my real post: Fourth of July has always been a huge deal for me…for different reasons at different times. When I was younger, I loved it for the fireworks themselves. I loved watching them, I loved setting them off, and I didn’t even mind the yard clean-up the next day. As I got a little older, I started to love it for the sheer togetherness that it brought. We would all pile in the car and drive down to Drexel (my hometown) and watch the fireworks display with those that we considered family. I mean, I still loved watching fireworks and setting them off and all of that, but what I enjoyed most was being around those people that I loved! Now….Fourth of July to me is a time to pass on that love to the little people in my life. I watched Carl and Nathan set off fireworks last night and in conversation we started to re-live moments from our own childhoods or moments that we have lived with them. They ranged from Carl accidently setting a rocket off under my chair, to the time that I accidently set a roman candle off in my own face (I will get to that one here after a bit)! I mean, any time we all get together is a great time, but I think that holidays are probably my favorite! They just seem to have a different feel about them, a different feel to the air! Now as an adult, I love being on the watching side of things though, and seeing the younger kiddos start to make their own family holiday memories! Let them be goofy, serious, or just downright silly….either way, they hold on to them and maybe one day, they will be sitting in their room in the wee hours of the morning and will just giggle to themselves about remembering the past experience of a given holiday, much like what I did this morning. Some memories they will laugh about while they are being made, and others will take a bit. Take my roman candle incident for example…I did NOT think it funny at the time, and up until last year I still wouldn’t shoot them off. Even then, I shot half of one off and started freaking out. Here is what happened: I learned two valuable lessons that day….NEVER look down a roman candle barrel and NEVER listen to the drunk guy when it comes to firework safety. I was young (maybe like 10 or 12) and we (being my siblings and I) decided that we would take them to Drexel. Mom and dad were not sure if they would work or not, but we were welcome to try them. Anywho, I lit a roman candle and after standing there for about a minute or so, decided it wasn’t going to work. I asked one of our family friends where I should lay it…just in case it decided to go off later. He told me to check down the tube and see if I could see the light still burning, if so…hold on to it…if not, lay it down…it would be fine. Feeling like he would never lead me astray, I looked…and there was the blast I had been anticipating….straight into my eye….thankfully, I was wearing glasses….the first ball that hit knocked them off, but since my eyes were closed, the second flaming ball caused no damage to my eye. And if you are wondering, my mom can get to me from the porch of our friends house in two releases of a roman candle. By time the third one released, mom had already redirected the thing to shoot over the swingset. She tended to me and all was good. No permanent eye damage, no scar, no nothing….just a memory. Since 2008, I have been to Montana for Fourth of July a few times….which is always a great time. My aunt and uncle own a fireworks stand and so the fourth is….well a HUGE deal to them as well. I have missed a couple years there for weddings, on was my cousin’s and one was my sister’s wedding! I love the memories of days like that! Memories of days spent with family and friends doing what we do best…..celebrating! Celebrating freedom, celebrating independence, celebrating the greatest day in American existence, but most of all….celebrating each other and each other’s company! I have had so much fun making memories with family and friends during the last 21 years of my existence….here’s to hoping for many more memories with many more fantastic people! The first picture is of a firework we set off last year, the second of of my cousin Toria and I (yes we were wearing matching outfits.....don't judge! Also, don't judge my hair!), and the last picture is of my toe nails for the fourth! and my fun stars and stripes flip-flops....which I wore last night and I plan to wear again today! :)