The Longest Postcard Ever

Last month, Real Gil and I loaded up our swagger wagon and headed to Idaho to be with friends...who have lots of friends...which meant, we came home with lots of new friends. Or at least, we think we did.

If I had a postcard to mail from Idaho, the cursive on the back would have been hurried (because we were having so much fun), full of exclamation marks (because it was exciting), and peppered with the occasional grammatical error (because I was a bit sleepy by the end of the trip). And the postcard would be record-breaking for length. Aren't you lucky all you have to do is scroll down? Just give your little pointer finger a warm-up, wouldn't want to strain that knuckle with all the scrolling you're about to do...

My postcard would go something like this...

Dear Friends,

Don't you hate when people write postcards that tell you all about how wonderful life is where they are at, only making your mundane day seem a bit more mundane? I don't want to do that, but I also don't want to miss relaying any of Idaho's greatness. So, I'll just tell you forthright, and when you go to Hawaii, you can get revenge on me and really rub it in.

Anyways, Idaho. It was much more exciting that just potatoes and football.

For one thing, they have great thrift stores here, full of treasures and good company. This is Lisa:

So you understand why I stayed out of her way while we hunted for deals. (I can't believe I didn't take pictures of some of her finds, or the way she uses them in her house!) Anyways, she quickly introduced me to her beautiful bunch of friends and then, set me loose in a thrift store with them. Nothing could be more intense than potential bargains with cash-carrying stay-at-home moms. "Oh, where'd you find that?...No, I don't want it, I just really like it...harumph! I so wanted that..." It was delightful, even if Lisa-Queen-of-Funky found all the treasures and I didn't have the nerve to tackle her. Becky won out, though, in the end with this vintage 1950's dress complete with the original beading still intact. At $39.99, we were insisting she buy it, which meant she was done thrift-store shopping, but I hope she still thinks it was worth it.


I would have to tell you about the party we crashed - a little four-year old's birthday at the swimming pool. We came uninvited, unannounced, and enjoyed the pool immensely. The kids loved the long, twirly water slide, especially when Mama helped at the top and Papa planted himself at the bottom to catch the little kids when they shot out the end. If you are suffering from an acute case of public-swimming-pool-vanity, nothing will cure you faster than giving your son a gentle nudge down the water slide only to see that Daddy is not ready to catch him and then, scramble down three flights of stairs with that mom-fear look on your face. The Little Man has sworn off all water slides (so has Mama), but is asking to go swimming for his birthday so I think he has forgiven me.

There were water fights and hours of squealing between new friends...

And s'mores together in the backyard.




And if this really was a postcard, I'd be taping the following pictures onto it. You can all thank me later for my shameless drooling over Jade's house, complete with the sporadic flashes of my amateur camera. Before heading to her house, Idaho Lisa informed me that Jade ran a daycare out of her home, made jewelry in her free time, and sold home decor at a local store. Now, imagine me smirking because, please, who could possibly do all this and still be sane? Poor, tired woman, thought I. Unfortunately for you, upon entering her ranch-style home, it took me a good minute to remember that little silver contraption in my hand called a camera, so great was my awe. By the time I started taking pictures, we were in her craft room...

Jade uses the slits in this old door to balance her rings and buttons.

Oh yes, she had a butter dish full of craft stuff!

This is Jade. You can't see her superwoman cape, but I'm pretty sure she's got one
tucked into one of those suitcases up there.

Just seeing this craft room makes me want to craft. In fact, this is probably the reason I'm craft-challenged. I don't have this craft room.

I wimped out on taking pictures of the master bedroom - it was super cute but we were late for dinner and Jade was still getting ready. Every time I turned around, there was this adorable little guy smiling at me...

Finally, I took his picture and he let me into his bedroom.

My favorite part of the boys' bedroom is this: she painted the floor!
I gotta get me some painted floor!

The main living area in the home did not have plastic daycare toys spread all about, just this little built-in shelving unit...


In her formal sitting area, Jade had a great mantle and lots of details I loved.



My favorite part of the house was her kitchen stove. She tells me it's not practical, but that's all right by me, nothing as cute as this needs to do anything but sit there and preen.



She even had a patio table made out of old doors under her honeysuckle awning...


I had to ask for a mop to clean up all the drool trailing behind me. How fun to admire another person's gift of homemaking! There is only one disappointing thing...can you see it on her cupboard calendar?

"Set up website and Etsy."

Now, I know the poor gal is running a daycare, making jewelry, juggling a business, and taking care of hubby and kids, but really? You can't tease me with this house and tell me you sell stuff, but then not have a website. It hurts, it really really does. So, Jade tells me she's working on it and when she gets it completed, she'll let us all know. Or we'll just come raid her house. It's totally up to her.

Other highlights of the vacation included watching my daughters make lifelong friends, sending my husband on his first elk-hunting trek, and teaching my two-year old son the art of Interstate Urination, wherein Papa begrudgingly stops on the shoulder, and the child with an overactive bladder opens the van door, pulls his pants down, and pees from there. It's a beautiful thing, this carside service...that happened every fifteen minutes between Fernley and home.

Thanks to Idaho - you received us like a slab of butter on a hot baked potato. (I couldn't resist.)

Fully unpacked but still savoring the memories,

Resting in Him,
Karen