A new RV Park

 

We recently moved to a different RV Park and are loving it!  I thought I would share how we have things set up.  

 This is our outdoor seating area.  It is under the awning so we can sit out here during the rain (provided its not storming)

 The birds also live outside under the awning.  The kitten likes to watch them from the window above.

The front of the RV.  I tried to hide the hitch and make it more homely. 

Patience Pays Off

I have been wanting a truck box for my truck for a long time.  Have you seen the prices for truck box?  200...300...400... Not in my budget!  Yesterday hubby took me to the pawn shop because he had seen one out front for sale.  We thought that since it was used, the price would be decent... wrong!  They wanted $200 for a beat up white (white?  my truck is black!  totally wont go) truck box.  The pawn shop employee helpfully suggested I could spray paint it any color I want.   I might be inclined to spray paint a truck box if I got it for free.  Not if I have to pay $200 (but its a really high end brand they said).  As we were getting ready to get in our truck (without a truck box) the pawn shop employee said he would take $150.  We politely said no thank you.  Well at that exact moment a truck pulled up next to us.  The customer says he has a box at home (only lives 5 minutes away) that he will sell us for $100.  We figured it was worth it to go see.  And no, if I was alone I would never have followed him to his house, but I am safe because hubby was there.  Imagine my delight when we get to the guys house and the truck box is double the size of the way too expensive one at the pawn shop.  We handed the nice guy a $100 bill, put the box in the bed of the truck and drove away.  After purchasing a mounting kit at Lowes (less than $20), Hubby was able to install the box on my truck.  Lowes sells this brand and they were asking $329 for the same box.  Ha!  I will gladly take my used box for $100.  Its just going to get beat up anyways.
 

  Now you might wonder why a girl needs a truck box if I don't work a traditional truck-box style job.  Well, I nanny and there is NO storage in a truck.  My truck is a full size truck and can seat 5 adults comfortably.  My afternoon family requires 2 car seats and a third child all to sit in the back.  So if I want to keep jumper cables for example, I have to keep them on the front seat.  Now I will be able to keep them in my truck box and leave the front seat clear for hubby.  Hurray!

 

Saving at the Grocery Store

Today I went to Randalls.  Have I mentioned how much I love Randalls?  They always have awesome clearance deals and I find I primarily shop the clearance section.  I did buy things not on clearance but lots was on clearance.  I got all of this for $65.  The chicken will last a good long while and I got a bunch of supplemental ingredients.  Normally I will only buy pasta if it is under $1 per box/bag.  Randalls had this brand on sale for $.89 then with a Randalls coupon they were $.79 each.  I bought 5 packages of pasta.
 
  One way I save money when buying meat, is by buying the cheapest package.  The meat is priced per pound.  This chicken was $1.99/lb.  Now some of the packages had way more poundage, therefore making them cost more.  I sifted through the packages of chicken (some cost upwards of $12 for the same size package) to find the lowest priced package.  Some people might say that yes I paid less, but I also got less meat.  Duh.  Well, not duh because most recipes call for a number of chicken breasts.  No one will know if your chicken breast was larger or smaller than another package.  By purchasing the smaller breasts I am consuming less meat without even trying.  And lets be honest, the bigger breasts are probably just pumped up with more water anyways.

 
  Tonight for dinner I made spicy Cajun pasta with 2 chicken breasts.  We loved it and will be eating the rest for dinner tomorrow (Hubby will take some to lunch as well).  I plan on making soup later this week and using the celery along with some potatoes we have that are starting to sprout.   

A kitchen update

The finished kitchen!

Covering up the ugly wallpaper.  I just tiled over it.

 The "before" picture- check out the valance and wallpaper...

Hubby and I have been improving the rv.  It is amazing how much some paint can change a space.  The wallpaper in the rv was hideous!  I completely painted the kitchen- cabinets and walls.  I found this awesome thin peely tile at Home Depot and used it for the backsplash.  The kitchen is teeny tiny so a small change makes a huge impact!  What do you all think?

Meet Harley

 

Hubby was down in Houston visiting his family and was called to a rescue.  A lady had 3 kittens stuck in her car engine and couldnt get them out.  Hubby was able to remove the bumper and rescue the kittens!  The lady couldn't keep them all so Hubby offered to take one.  This tiny kitten rode all the way home from Houston (about 3 hours) in the saddlebag on Hubby's Harley.   She is the sweetest kitten and not yet weaned.  We are giving her kitten milk from Tractor Supply and she is loving it!  We named her Harley since she rode on the Harley and she is orange, black and grey (Harley Davidson colors).  She is settling in well and very demanding.  The dogs are not sure what to think of her just yet.  Whiskey ignores her and could really care less.  Jack is intrigued and watches her every move.  I am hoping Harley will be a permanent fixture here in the rv. 

 See how tiny she is compared to the pillow?

I took her to work with my on the first day so the kiddos could meet her. 

A Leaky Roof

(This is the leak on the seam on the roof... no bueno!)

(Not knowing what to do while it was still raining, I put a tarp down with all my pots and pans to collect the water)

When we bought the rv, we knew it was a fixer upper.  We DIDNT know the roof in the bedroom leaks horribly!  I came home from work one day to find the bed soaked from the rain.  We put a tarp over the roof to prevent any further leaks until we could fix the roof.  We dont have the ability or the funds to take the rv into the shop whenever theres an issue, so we set out to learn how to do it ourselves.  The rv store gave us some sealant that will hopefully fix our problems.  I bought enough to do the whole roof and we just had to wait until hubby had time to go up on the roof.  I am not going up.  No way.  No how.  Hubby was amazing and sealed the whole roof in the scorching sun.  We haven't had a leak yet so he did well!

(can you see hubby up there?)

An Impromptu Fidde Concert

I love our local library.  Any chance I get I try and stop by.  One Sunday I stopped in to return a book and was delighted to discover a concert in progress.  Two talented young sisters were giving a guitar/fiddle concert.  They had a unique style and such good singing voices!  I happened to have my knitting in my purse and no other plans for the afternoon so I was able to sit, knit and enjoy the fiddles.  It made me love the library even more!

Just a Grillin

Hubby LOVES to grill. And I mean L.O.V.E.S. to grill! I found a veggie basket on clearance at Target so our standby is grilled peppers with chicken (omg my absolute favorite marinade is Salt Lick's marinade. yum!). I had also found some sausages on clearance at Randalls so we grilled those up too. We try to grill a bunch of meats so that I can use them later in the week in meals. We cooked up a whole package of chicken which can then be shredded, diced or sliced. Grilling this way saves us time later in the week.

Can you see Whiskey in the bottom corner? she is always hoping Hubby drops food

Slowing down

Sometimes its nice to take some time and just slow down.  Grab a book, or knitting, or whatever tickles your fancy.  Even if I can just take 15 minutes, its nice to sit down outside, book and coffee in hand and just breathe.  It is all too easy to get caught up in the go-go-ness of life.  How do you take a breather?

A Birthday Wish

Hubby had to work on his birthday so we did an IOU date.  He really wanted to go to the range and shoot.  It was super hard to find an evening when we could both go, but we managed.  We had so much fun!  (This was before our no spend month)  Hubby is passionate about guns, shooting and gun safety.  It is fun to see him in his element and he enjoys educating me.  For Christmas last year he got me a .22 pistol.  I told him I am not completely comfortable using it so he really took his time to explain the hows and whys.  We had a great extended birthday date and are going to try and go to the range more often. 

Monday Update

Happy Labor Day.  We are celebrating by working...haha.  I worked overnight last night and when I got home Hubby had already left for the day.  Sometimes at work I can cat nap if both the babies are sleeping but I can never count on sleep, which is fine because i am at work.  When I got home this morning while feeding the dogs and letting them have time out of their kennel I worked on the computer and cleaning up a bit.  Around eight I laid down for a nap until one.  I like to listen to Dave Ramsey on the radio from 1-4 when I can.  Since today I dont have my second nanny family, I was free to do so.  While listening to dave, I worked more around the rv and then set off to town to go to the bank.  Ha!  I completely forgot that it was a holiday and the bank was closed.  Bummer!  So I popped in to the grocery store and came directly home.  We are doing a no spend month for September (ill do a whole post about that) so I was only allowed to buy necessities at the store.  No magazines, etc.  I got to listen to Dave on my drive back to the rv.  I find it so inspiring to listen to other people's stories about paying off debt and living frugally.  It doesnt hurt that Dave is hilarious too.  I planned on doing laundry which ended up being tricky.  For the whole rv park, there is one washer and one dryer.  Some of the fancy schmancy rvs have washers and dryers built in, but not ours.  We got the budget version of the rvs.  I had to wait a while to get to use the washer.  When I went to put my clothes in, I found a bullet!  Leave it to Texans to not empty their pockets and have bullets fall out.  It gave me a chuckle.  To save money (unless its raining and we need clothes now) I try and hang dry all our clothes.  With the temperature near 100, the clothes dry super fast outside.  And I save the cost of using the dryer.  So now the clothes are hanging, chicken breasts are thawing in the sink, corn is in the fridge for dinner and I am going to go take a little nap before hubby gets home.  The rest of my week is crazy as I will have both families every day, so I want to stock up on sleep while I can.  Hope you all are enjoying your Labor Day!