Ten on Tuesday

1. Today, I am in my second day of my new job as a student assistant for a math teacher on campus. So far, nothing too exciting has happened, but I do like it quite a bit. Yesterday, all I really did was sit through the first half of the class, so they could meet me, and then I rearranged a filing cabinet in my boss's office. I also sit up in the library in the afternoons to do some tutoring, although no one has showed up for that just yet. (They're only on their first chapter, so I think they'll be in here pretty soon after that.) As the class progresses, I'll actually get to sit in on the class and help when she has everyone do group work. Today, I got to come in later, but I also got tasked with some "teacher-y" duties. I got to grade quizzes and type out the next set of quizzes. Am I a nerd for liking that stuff? I'll just go with the fact that this is a great job for me!
2. Usually, my family has a Fourth of July get together that we celebrate on the third, mostly for whimsical reasons. This year was the one exception to that, since the fourth is on a Wednesday. We decided to move our party to Saturday the 30th, and it worked much better that way. Dad and the rest of the men smoked pork loin, brisket, and kielbasa, and it was absolutely delicious, not to mention low-stress. I say it was low-stress mostly for the fact that we didn't have to wait around until an hour before to cook the main dish, like how we did with hamburgers or fried chicken. My dad decided to invest in some misting fans, and they were a hit with everyone! After the meal, we enjoyed the massive fireworks show that the guys also rig up. As usual, it didn't disappoint! It was definitely a great evening!

3. The beauty of having our get-together before the actual holiday is that all of us are freed up to do whatever we want on the fourth. I think some my parents and Gina's crew are going to the lake, but I don't know what Emily's bunch is doing. I will be going to Tevis's aunt & uncle's house for their annual Independence Day bash. The highlight of their party is the annual bingo game with white elephant prizes. I found a great white elephant gift yesterday...a 1000-piece puzzle of a platter of hamburgers and hot dogs! It was oddly ironic, and it cost less than five dollars, so I went for it! (Last year, Tevis's brother came out of it with a giant tub of cheese balls, so that explains how random the gifts are.) Anyway, I can't wait for tomorrow!

4. I can be crafty, but usually I don't get too crafty with my cooking because it usually turns into a total disaster that I regret about halfway through. (One year I made patriotic cupcakes with red, white, and blue batter, and once I made a rainbow cheesecake...both times I decided about halfway through that I was insane for starting it in the first place.) Anyway, against my better judgement, I think I will try to do a crafty food for tomorrow. Last week, my mom and I cleaned out our pantry and we realized that we have a plethora of rice krispies and almond bark, so I am going to attempt to make patriotic-looking rice krispie treats. By patriotic-looking, I mean that I'll cut them into stars instead of squares, dip them in plain white almond bark, and sprinkle cutesy sprinkles on them. Surely I can handle this, but I guess we'll have to see!

5. When I went to Carissa's wedding two weeks ago, I got myself a new sundress for the occasion. Before the wedding, I was showing it off to my sisters and they got the idea that all of us girls should deck out in sundresses for our gathering. Usually, I settle for wearing a nice shirt and jean shorts, so this was a step up for me, because I usually just wear dresses for church or other special occasions. However, I think I could really become a sundress person, because I was very comfortable on Saturday! Also, everyone thought that it was cute that us girls were the sundress trio, so maybe this could become a new tradition...who knows!

6. For the longest time, outside of the north door of my house there was a concrete step with a huge crack in it. This has always bugged my mom, so she and my dad started thinking up ways to jazz up the north side. Last week, my dad decided to start that project. He, with a lot of help from Scotty, built a large semi-circle patio out of flagstone. They worked very hard, and it looks beautiful! Now, it is my parents' favorite place to drink their morning coffee. Eventually, they plan to put in some new flower beds next to it.

7. Speaking of gardens, I have really started taking an interest in gardening. Two weeks ago, I weeded my mom's raised bed and really worked the ground up. After seeing the finished product of how nice it looked, I was hooked. I think that most of my interest is rooted in my OCD ways of wanting everything to look neat. After getting the garden cleaned up, I took on our iris and peony beds and tidied those up also. I now understand why so many people enjoy gardening, because it is something you can do with visible results and I find it to be incredibly relaxing!

8. I have got to spend quite a bit of quality time with my friends during the past few weeks. Shea and Tonisha both made it to our party on Saturday, and today we had a great lunch date! I so enjoy getting to spend time with them, and it is nice to know that we can all keep in touch even after school.

9. I'm a little bummed because I think that Tevis and his brother will be going on their annual Colorado trip sometime soon (aka in the next week). If everything goes as planned, they'll be there for a while, which is both good and bad. It is good for the fact that they get to spend time with their dad, who they otherwise don't get to see very often because of their busy schedules. I know that they really miss him through the year. Of course, it is bad for me because I won't get to see Tevis for a while. I feel selfish for saying that, because I don't expect him to give up his dad just for me. Also, I know if I was in his shoes I would want to spend time with my dad. It will be alright; I will keep busy with work and everyone else, and he'll be back before I know it!

10. I think I'm going to take Cody and Kyle to see "Brave" sometime this week/weekend. They really wanted to see it while I was watching them, but time didn't allow for it because of party preparations last week. Also, I pinkie-promised Cody that we'd go, and I know he won't let me renege on that! Perhaps this weekend? We'll find out!

I hope that everyone has a happy and safe Fourth of July celebration!!!