Fourth of July

I have always loved the Fourth of July.  When I was a kid, my family went to Wyoming to see my Grandma every summer.  For the Fourth of July, we would sit out by a lake and watch the fireworks go off.  My memories of the Fourth of July are combined with all my great memories from those summers: the Wyoming landscape, with the cactus, lakes, lizards, canyons, and mountains, games with my family, swimming at the lake, laying at the dock, and spending time with my Grandma.  

Once I finished school, the Fourth of July had a fun, new element, with a random day off work.  Last year was amazing.  The Fourth of July fell on a Wednesday and J and I decided to make the most of the day, knowing that his deployment was quickly approaching.  We decided to go to Longwood Gardens, a large garden open to the public with numerous plants to explore.  This was probably one of the worst ideas we've ever had.  It was over 100 degrees, and walking around outside in the sun all day was kind of miserable.  The indoor plants were even worse because there were little greenhouses with not even a tiny breeze blowing.  I decided to take lots of pictures so I could more fully enjoy the beauty of the plants once I was at home in the air conditioning.  

Still, despite the heat and the sweat dripping off my face, the day was wonderful.  It was a day with J to explore a new place, have a new adventure, and spend time together.  I found myself thinking a lot about that day this Fourth of July.  I'm sure everyone who is going through, or has been through, a deployment knows the feeling.  Yes, the day was not perfect and the memory is not perfect, but still, I would give anything to be in that moment again, because we were together.

This year, J is not here to celebrate with me, but I decided I still wanted to love my Fourth of July.  It is a day to celebrate, and with a boyfriend in the military, I have a new appreciation for the day and what it stands for.  For me, the best way to enjoy any day is to embark on a project.  So here it is: My Fourth of July Project.  

Fourth of July Rice Krispies Treats

A friend of mine found the idea on Pinterest and sent it to me.  I had been trying to figure out how I could make a flag, and realized it was going to be way too difficult.  This idea was much more manageable!    



The idea of the treats is to have a red layer, a white layer, and a blue layer.  The easiest way to use food coloring with Rice Krispies Treats is to die the marshmallow/margarine mixture before adding the Rice Krispies.  It's best to make three separate batches.  I started with the red, melting the margarine and marshmallows, adding red food coloring, adding the Rice Krispies, then pouring the mixture into the pan:

The next step was to go through the same process with white.  The trickiest part of adding the second and third layers is that it is hard to spread the Rice Krispie mixture without disturbing the layer below.  I found it easiest to drop chunks of the mixture all over the pan and just push it down, rather than spreading the mixture out like I usually do when making normal Rice Krispies Treats.  

 Finally I added the blue layer:

In the end, the treats turned out pretty well!  I might make these again for J when he comes home.  I was quite proud of my creation!  A beautiful masterpiece: 

Once I got going on my Fourth of July fun, I couldn't stop with the Rice Krispies Treats.  I decided to make a Fourth of July fruit salad for the barbecue I was going to, and I then decided to even eat Fourth of July oatmeal for breakfast:

There's a quote I love that has inspired me this deployment: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."  That's how I felt this Fourth of July.  The weather was amazing, I had my fun project, I went to a barbecue and spent time with friends.  It was a good day!  Sure, I would trade it all for sweating and burning in the hot sun at Longwood Gardens with J, but this Fourth of July I was able to dance in the rain.