Kentucky Holiday

It is that time of year again of fireworks and festivities. When schools and businesses take a three day weekend. The time for parties and good times. Of course I am talking about the Kentucky Derby. It truly is a Kentucky holiday.

Emma's homemade derby hat

This year Meric and I had two parties to attend for the derby. We watched a few of the early races with the regulars at the campground. Next we headed up to one of Meric's coworkers parties for the actual derby. We bet on horses by drawing their name out of a $1, $2 or $5 pot. Our horses didn't win but it was still fun to watch.

 

Before living in Kentucky I never thought much of the Kentucky Derby. Now I love derby weekend. It is so much fun to have a party, watch the races and pick your horses. I can't help but hope we are still here for the next derby.

The Zombie Run

On Saturday, Meric and I ran a 5K.

A ZOMBIE themed 5K.

 

 It was a nice sunny day with a slight chill in the breeze. The 5K was held in Louisville KY at Iroquois Park. Meric and I had never been to this particular park before and didn't know what to expect. It was huge and quite beautiful especially with the new spring bloom.

We were each given belts and 3 red balloons. The balloons symbolized our life. Lose all 3 balloons and you are dead.

We started the course with the rest of our group but things quickly turned to chaos. Zombies and "apocalyptic" debris littered the path. I have run a 5K before but it was nothing compared to this one.

 The course was very hilly which made it a little challenging but the zombies were a whole other story. We had to sprint through all the zombie zones trying to avoid getting our balloons popped or running into anyone else. Meric and I both kept our balloons through the first couple of zombie zones. Meric lost his first balloon to a clever zombie who acted like another runner until she turned quickly and "attacked". The first zombie to try and pop my balloon ended up breaking my belt and it was all over for me at that point. We finished the course in 34 minutes.

I now know that sprinting and jumping obstacles need to be a part of my training for the next zombie run. It was crazy but definitely a ton of fun. After the race we did what any good athlete would do... we got pizza and vegged out for the rest of the day.

Meric enjoying his Christmas present.

 

Time Flies...

... when you're trailering!

April 1st marked our 2 year anniversary living in the trailer. It has become so normal I didn't even think about it.

Honestly moving into the trailer is still one of the best decisions we have ever made. I love it!

There have been ups and downs but it is home. I love our house and our lifestyle.

Here's to more trailering!

Tweaking the Trailer: Kitchen Edition

With Meric home from deployment and spring underway, we are starting to "tweak" the trailer again. Here are a few things we have done to the kitchen.

I actually did this one a while ago. With limited drawer space there isn't a lot of room to store hot pads. Also hot pads need to be within reaching distance of the oven. The answer was simple.

I placed a couple of hooks on the side of the cabinet next to the oven. Now the hot pads are stored out of the way but are also easily accessible.

Another thing we did was add a backsplash. The area around the oven always had an unfinished look to me. It needed a backsplash.

There are many options for lovely tile backsplashes but tile is heavy. In a trailer weight is very important and tile is not a justifiable reason to add extra weight. One day while Meric and I were at Lowes we ran across a product call Fasade. It is a very light weight sheet that you can use as a backsplash.

 It is very easy to apply and we accomplished the job in under an hour. I love the look of it. The oven space feels more finished now.

One thing I love about our trailer is the kitchen cabinet space. We have fairly deep tall cabinet. Lots of storage space especially for a trailer. The problem with the tall cabinets is the shelves aren't well spaced. They are too tall and that leads to wasted space. Wasted space is something you definitely don't want to have in a trailer.

Adding shelves was the answer, we just needed to figure out how we wanted to do it. We looked into several options but hadn't decided on the best way to do it. Then one day we were walking through Costco and we saw a wire shelving rack.

The dimensions of the shelves were exactly the dimensions of our cabinets. With a little creative cutting we were able to easily place the shelves at the height we wanted and maximize our kitchen storage.

We have several more "tweaks" we are working on. We will keep you updated.

Happy Birthday Meric!

What do you do when you turn 31? Go go-karting! Meric took Friday off so that we could enjoy an extra long weekend for his birthday. We went go-karting at Kart Kounrty in Shepardsville. They have the longest go-kart track in the world at 1.5 miles long. They also have mini golf and bumper boat and a huge arcade. We just went go-karting though because it was spring break and a beautiful day so the place was absolutely packed. We figure we will have to make another trip there later this summer... after school starts again.

On Meric's actual birthday he went to breakfast with some of the guys at the campground. On weekends during the season a group of guys likes to go to breakfast on Saturday. Meric has quickly become part of that group. When he got back from breakfast, Meric had a big heavy wrapped gift waiting for him. I got him a Lodge cast iron BBQ and some seasonings. It is a great little BBQ that should work well for just the two of us.

In the afternoon we went shooting. We did a little skeet shooting (300 rounds) and then broke out the hand guns for some target practice. It was a lot of fun and I even hit a couple things I was aiming at. 

 

All in all I think Meric enjoyed his birthday.

Our Weekend Away

Last weekend Meric and I went to Nashville for a mini vacation. 

  

 We left Friday night and headed to the Gaylord Opryland Resort.

Nice place for lunch

 It is an unbelievable hotel!

It is like 3 hotels with a giant convention center attached.

 

 There are 3 pools, a gym and a spa.

 

It also has several restaurants and shops inside.

Great steak restaurant!

 

It was so nice to have a weekend away.

 

It was also nice is have our room and food expenses covered by someone else. Our vacation was part of the Strong Bonds program. The military chaplains have a program designed to help strengthen marriages.

One of the indoor waterfalls

View from behind the waterfall

For a few hours everyday we sat in a class that gave us tips and advice on how to communicate better and resolve issues we might have. It was a great class and only lasted a short time everyday so we were able to enjoy the rest of our time in Nashville.

 It was a great weekend!

It is days like this...

When Meric and I first decided to move into a 5th wheel trailer, I was excited but really didn't know what to expect. It has been almost 2 years and I can honestly say I love it!

 

This past weekend I REALLY loved living at a campground. With winter in full swing the days have been dark and the air cold. But this last weekend for once the sun came out.

 

Meric and I decided to roast hot dogs over a campfire for lunch and just sit outside and enjoy the day. It was about as close to perfect as you could get.