A Visit to Nebraska: Reconnecting with a Friend After Twenty Years

If you are new to this blog and want the full backstory, you may want to read that earlier post first. In short, I recently returned from a week visiting a dear friend in Nebraska whom I hadn’t seen in twenty years. The trip was filled with warmth, laughter, and lasting memories.

It’s hard to capture an entire week in a single post, so I’ve put together a condensed, scrapbook-style recap of the highlights. Here we go.

Meeting Kerry Lea

First, meet my friend Kerry Lea.

Even after two decades apart, our friendship picked up where it left off. We spent seven full days together and never ran out of conversation or shared memories. These photos were taken late on my last night there—her husband kindly snapped these candid shots of us throughout the rooms we’d worked in together, and they capture the joy and laughter of our visit.

Her Home and Family

Kerry Lea now lives in a scenic farmhouse in the Nebraska countryside.

Since we last spent time together, she has welcomed a husband and five children into her life, including a set of twins. The house is full of personality and family activity.

Birthday Preparations and Little Moments

One of my first tasks was helping prepare for their youngest daughter’s sixth birthday. As a mother of three boys, planning a girls’ birthday party—with banners, games, goodie buckets, and a horse theme—was a delightful new experience. I was struck by how quietly attentive the nine little girls were throughout the party.

Decorating Projects: Craft Room and Pantry

Kerry Lea and her husband had recently added an addition to the farmhouse and asked me to help with decorating. The builders were still finishing, so much of our work was planning and organizing, but we managed some hands-on projects as well.

The Craft Room was a highlight—Kerry Lea is a talented quilter with a lovely collection of fabrics and vintage linens. She demonstrated a neat method for folding fabric over backing boards so each piece is uniform and tidy (there’s a helpful folding tutorial linked in the original post).

We also worked on some behind-the-door storage in the new pantry, repurposing sturdy old oak drawers as shelves. Arranging her vintage pieces and everyday essentials on those shelves was a fun, creative project. I took many photos, and the pantry arrangement felt both practical and charming.

The Finishing Touch: Schoolhouse Bathroom

On my final day we finished a small but thoughtfully designed downstairs powder room with a schoolhouse theme. I intended to photograph more details, but this was the only image I brought home. Even so, the room’s simple, classic feel was exactly the sort of finishing touch that made the addition feel complete.

Unpictured Moments I Won’t Forget

Beyond the photos, there were many small, memorable experiences: tasting a Nebraska runza, enjoying half-price strawberry smoothies during happy hour at Sonic, browsing Hobby Lobby and yard sales for vintage finds, discovering a pair of very comfortable $5 flip-flops at Walmart, reading “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” with the children, savoring French press coffee, learning about jasmine rice cooked in a rice cooker (I want one now), singing harmony in church, attending high school drama performances, sipping vanilla rooibos tea, sitting on the back porch, and having long late-night conversations. These simple pleasures are the threads that made the visit meaningful.

Thank you, Kerry Lea and your wonderful family, for the hospitality and the memories. More than anything, I cherish our friendship and the way it has endured and deepened across the years.

With love and gratitude,