Or more exactly YOU did it! Yes, just before Christmas, our 196th card arrived in the mail from our last state- Nebraska. Straight from North Platte, Buffalo Bill’s home town. Well sort of straight from there. It actually came via San Jose, CA, but at this point we aren’t picky!

The amazing angel behind this card is Jen, my greatest friend from college who helped us with many a NY and NJ card. When she heard we only needed Nebraska, she parlayed her online Christmas shopping skills into postcard shopping and found a website (Zazzle.com) that makes custom t-shirts, mugs, invitations, photo cards and even postage. Yes, you can put your face on a stamp! You can also order postcards and have them delivered to people who thought a project like this would be easy!

So thank you, Jen, for saving me once again! And thank you to EVERYONE who sent us a card, supported our craziness and generally kept up with our shenanigans. We had so much fun with this project and learned alot! THANK YOU!!!!

P.S. Included in Jen’s note was a fun fact about Nebraska- that in 1927 Edwin E. Perkins of Hastings, NE invented Kool-Aid. Yum!

P.S.S. Stay tuned for a round up of all our cards! And our next project for 2011- LOL!

As much as I loved the Christmas cards in today’s mail, the small manilla envelope addressed to Riley and Kellan honestly made me jump up and down. Postmarked: University of Wyoming! I hadn’t been as excited about seeing an academic institution on a return address label since high school (and no, I’m not going to admit how long ago that was).

The boys initially fought over who got to open it and Kellan was only subdued by the three Christmas cards he could open in exchange. And as Riley ever so slowly peeled back piece by piece, my own patience reached it limits! I mean come on, Wyoming was our next to last state!

And we were not disappointed. Riley’s comment (after overcoming his speechlessness?):“Mom, this is wicked cool. Whoever sent it is really really nice.” He was talking specifically about the Wyoming Football schedule card with the team slogan (and picture on the right) of Cowboy Tough. Next season Riley wants to fly to Wyoming for a college football game where ‘Every Game is a Gold Rush!’

We also received the college basketball schedules, Fan Guide and a great postcard of the Old Main campus building.  A giant thank you to whomever in the Athletics Media and Public Relations Office sent it all to us! We greatly appreciate it!

Go Cowboys!

Only one state to go!

My first Google search for Vermont led me to the Vermont Country Store. This family run store states it’s the ‘purveyor of the practical and hard to find’. How perfect! I sent an email and about a week later a postcard arrived wishing us a Happy Holidays!! Unbelievable!

So if you’re heading to Vermont at all next year, stop by the Country Store in Weston or Rockingham. Or order their catalog for some great apres-holiday shopping! I just did!

Thank you, Orton family and Vermont Country Store employees for helping us with our project!! We hope you have a great holiday as well!

So if you are out looking for gifts for loved ones and see a card from one of these states, please help us out! We need:

Nebraska, Vermont and Wyoming!

Thank you in advance!

And then, the universe must have been listening because in my mail a few hours later was a postcard from Jessica, our most faithful supporter! She rocks. And she wrote on her Connecticut card- “It was unacceptable that you have just one postcard from Connecticut. So here is another one that shows some of the historic homes of Mystic’s early merchants and sea captains. There is a lot more to Mystic than Mystic Pizza!  There is a long history of Native Americans, early English settlers, whaling and sailing. There is Mystic Seaport (Maritime museum), Mystic Aquarium and lots of shops and restaurants. It’s a great place to live and visit!”

Thank you, Jessica, for all your help on our project! We wouldn’t be this far without you!

The Capital is Dover and the state is only 2,057 square miles in area- 96 miles long and 35 miles wide. In 1996, the population was 724,842. State flower is Peach Blossom, bird is Blue Hen Chicken and tree is the American Holly. Delaware was the 1st of the original 13 states!

The University of Delaware’s mascot is the Fighting Blue Hens, named after the state bird and the mascot’s name is YouDee! Kellan has a thing for mascots so he found this tidbit hilarious!

This card is DELAWARE! Rehoboth Beach to be exact. And according to the card: A biblical term meaning ‘room enough’, Rehoboth was first developed in 1872 by Methodist church leaders looking for a quiet place to hold religious summer camp meetings. By the 1920s, Rehoboth had become a popular resort for those escaping the summer heat of Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Rehoboth’s boardwalk is the center of excitement.

Jessica also shared that the beach in Delaware is one of the best places to be in the summer time! Lots of swimming, surfing, sailing, shopping and eating. And the best way to get around from place to place? The Jolly Trolley!

This card is of Park City, Utah: Founded as a silver mining town, Park City offers the charm of turn-of-the-century buildings along Main Street and the hillsides. Year-round amenities are abundant in this town that stays lively with skiing, snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking, Alpine Slide rides, shopping, galleries, concerts and fine dining.

Our beautiful card was sent by Jessica’s friend and YA author, Tina Ferraro. She’s the author of a number of books for teens with messages that you should always dream big! My personal favorite is Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress! If you love YA without the vamps or wolves, then check Tina out! She definitely won’t disappoint.

Thanks, Tina for the card!

Baltimore City Hall

In the United States, an independent city is a city that does not belong to any particular county.  Because counties have historically been a strong institution in local government in most of the United States, independent cities are relatively rare outside of Virginia, whose state constitution makes them a special case. The U.S. Census Bureau uses counties as its base unit for presentation of statistical information, and treats independent cities as county equivalents for those purposes.

Now if you started following this project from the beginning, you may have seen a running commentary on state counties. Not sure why, but it was something we kept track of and shared with you…I think it started with our Iowa cards.

In Massachusetts, the counties are not a strong dividing line typically. However, in other parts of the country (except in Louisiana which is divided into parishes and Alaska into boroughs), counties create a strong sense of identification and importance  and have a broad role in deciding public services, facilities, officials and departments.

I love how this card ties back to all we learned in the beginning!

Thank you, Sister Elizabeth!

So I did some research (aka went to Wikipedia) and here’s what I found out:

As provided by the Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the seat of the United States government is a federal district known as the District of Columbia. When created in 1790, the District comprised 100 square miles (260 km²) of land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. Columbia was a poetic name for the United States used at the time.

The City of Washington was built in the center of the District, but other towns were also located in the territory such as Georgetown and Alexandria. The United States Congress returned the Virginia portion of the District back to that state in 1846. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 revoked the charters of the individuals cities of Washington and Georgetown, and instead created a single government for the whole District of Columbia. The City of Washington no longer exists; however, the name continues in use and the city is often referred to as just Washington, D.C.

Since the Home Rule Act of 1973, the District of Columbia has been run by an elected mayor and city council. Congress retains ultimate authority over the District and has the right to review the local budget and taxes, overturn laws passed by the city council, and terminate home rule. District residents pay federal taxes and are represented by a single, non-voting member in the United States House of Representatives.

Because of the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, the people of the District of Columbia are allowed to vote for President of the United States. The District is allotted three electoral votes, equal to that of the least populous state. Before this, the residents of the District were not afforded the right to vote for the President who resides within their territory. The District still does not have voting representation in Congress, however, despite having a larger population than that of the least populous state, Wyoming.

So, Washington, D.C. is a city but not a city, federal entity but not a state and there’s a mayor without a Congress. And residents were not able to vote for the President, who lived miles away, until 1961! How crazy is that?

Thank you, Sr. Elizabeth for teaching me something new today!