One Hell of a White Picket Fence

After my stay with Paige, I went to go meet Jeni. I have gotten to know her really well, but have never had the chance to meet her. Let me tell you. It was well worth my effort to impose on her. She is something else.

As an aside, I have to restate here that for some reason, everyone I visited feels like they didn't do enough to "show me a good time". First of all: there's only one person who can REALLY show me a good time, and none of you are him. Unless, of course, you're reading this, B. Second of all: I think you are all insane, because every one of you took me someplace, fed me, gave me a bed, kept me company while my family is gone, and really made my trip wonderful. So no more of that talk from any of you.

Anyway. Back to business.
Can I just say that sista can COOK? Wow. We had shrimp, salmon, tri-tip steaks, brown rice, tomato salad (eat your heart out, Rachel!) and homemade white rolls that ripped me from my standard whole grain regimen. I secretly think people were conspiring to fatten me up. Frankly, I was a willing guinea pig.

Jeni's family was fun. At first I thought her husband was ignoring me. Then I discovered he is the witty, silent type. Turns out he's actually as crazy as Jeni. And her boys were so funny! I will keep all the family secrets quiet (no need to go public with who likes to wear what while watching a movie...) but suffice it to say, they wasted no time in making me feel like part of the family.

We took a day trip to Columbia, which is sort of like a refurbished old ghost town. There were tons of things to take pictures of, and I learned a lot about California state history. This is important because my husband is from California, and now I feel closer to him.

Here you will see a picture where I busted Jeni and Byron sneaking out of the Fun Sex bathroom. They were both giggling, plus Byron had that brown bag with a bottle in it. I knew the only thing to do was take a picture and ask no questions. So naughty.


There was panning for gold, shopping in an old country store, and a lot of laughing and playing.


Another treat was a visit from Denae. She lives by Jeni and Celia. So we sat around and talked until Celia's husband made her come home. He's such a ball and chain, that one.

My vacation was amazing. It is such a nice feeling to have friends. I cannot imagine sitting home by myself for six weeks. I would die of loneliness. Or I would die from running out of things to organize. Either way, I am really thankful I have the opportunity to travel, and the friends to make doing so worthwhile. So THANK YOU a million times over to everyone of you and your families for making me feel loved. And stuffed.