If you’re new to this blog and want the backstory, start with this post. In short: I recently traveled to Nebraska to visit a dear friend I hadn’t seen in twenty years. The trip was full of warm memories and simple joys.
How do I possibly sum up seven days of reunion, laughter, and home projects in a single post? I used to scrapbook many of these experiences; these days the blog serves as my journal and photo album. For today, I’ve put together a condensed virtual “scrapbook” of the visit.
First, meet my friend Kerry Lea.
Despite a twenty-year gap between visits, our friendship felt unchanged. We picked up right where we left off and spent long hours talking about everything. It was a true blessing to be with her again. These photos were taken on my last night there at about 10:30 p.m.; Kerry Lea’s husband kindly snapped pictures of us in the rooms we had worked on together, and there was a lot of laughter involved.
Kerry Lea now lives in a beautiful farmhouse in the Nebraska countryside.
Since we last saw each other, she has added a husband and five children to her life—yes, including a set of twins.
One of the first casual tasks after I arrived was helping prepare for their youngest daughter’s sixth birthday party. As the mother of three boys who hasn’t done much girls’ party planning, this was a delightful new experience. The party followed a horse theme—banners, games, goodie buckets, and outfits—and the little guests were almost shockingly quiet and well-behaved.
Kerry Lea and her husband recently added an extension to the farmhouse and invited me to help with decorating. I arrived before the builders finished, so much of our time was spent planning and talking through ideas, but we did complete a few fun projects.
The craft room is a quilter’s dream: a lovely collection of fabrics and vintage linens. Kerry Lea showed me a neat way to fold fabric over comic book backer boards so every stack is neat and the same size (you can find a tutorial on that folding method here).
We also organized some clever behind-the-door storage in her new pantry, repurposing old sturdy oak drawers as shelves. It was rewarding to arrange her vintage pieces and find good places for everything. I took countless photos, although only a handful made it home with me.
Our final mini-project came together on my last day: the new downstairs “schoolhouse” themed powder room. I had hoped to take more detailed photos for a full post, but this single image is all I managed to bring home. Trust me—it was charming.
Beyond the projects and photos, there were many small moments I’ll always remember: tasting a Nebraska runza for the first time, half-price strawberry smoothies at Sonic during happy hour, browsing Hobby Lobby, digging through garage sales for vintage finds, discovering the most comfortable $5 flip-flops at Walmart, reading “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” with the kids, savoring french press coffee, trying jasmine rice from a rice cooker (I need one of those!), singing harmony in church, catching a high school drama performance, enjoying vanilla rooibos tea on the back porch, and staying up late talking.
Thank you, Kerry Lea (and your lovely family), for the memories. Even more than the photos and projects, I cherish your friendship.
With love,
