Trailer Trash

This semester has been all go, go, go! I now have 3 jobs. I tutor a group of kids through the local tennis organization and I teach English online to kids in China. On top of that, Hubs and I have quite a few new projects happening. We have: the never-ending master bathroom remodel, the new 15 acre property we want to build on (and I mean WE build, more on that later), and lastly the 25 foot 2008 Pioneer camper.

This camper. Hubs found it on Facebook marketplace and texted me about it. I replied, “Cute!” He replied, “I’m going to buy it,” about 45 minutes later. He didn't mean eventually, he might he was on his way. It was for sale for $2,500 and looked to be a good shape. The owner said it had previous water damage but they fixed it. When I first walked inside it smelled a little musty, but everything has a fresh new coat of paint and was pretty clean. Hubs showed me in the bedroom where the water had leaked in causing the ceiling to bow a bit. That’s easy enough to replace. 

A few days later Hubs decides to tear out the warped piece of ceiling. Previous damage my butt! The insulation was soaked from the prior day’s rain. He ripped down more, soaked, Ripped down the wall to find rotted wood frame and dripping insulation. Following the dripping water we found water pooled under the flooring. Great. We rip it all out and find the source of the leak. It’s where it had been “fixed” along the front roof edge. 

Finding out it was not old damage

Water pooled under the floor

Over the course of the past few weeks Hubs has, with very little help from me or anyone else, reframed the floor, wall, and ceiling, replaced the front roof piece, insulated most of the flooring, and stripped the old, deteriorated sealant off the roof. I’m sure there has been a lot more work gone into this project, but i’m not really a detail person. My dad has been kind enough to allow us to park and renovate this trailer outside his barn.

Two roofers hard at work

Why even buy a camper? Well, we wanted something to travel in and take the dogs. The van trip from 2017 was a little cramped with all four of us. Our puppers are getting older and we want to explore places with them while we can. The main reason was to park on our new property so we had somewhere comfortable to stay for the weekend while we prepped the land for building and farming. It’s not a far drive, but we’d get a lot more accomplished by staying there. And a camper would be much easier than a tent with the dogs. 

Hello!

Our little piece of paradise

I'll keep you all updated on the camper's progress. In the meantime I'll see if Hubs and I can come up with a name for it (her?).  Until then!

-Sarah-

Real Connections

I think about this concept of "real connections" often. That thought process eventually leads me to some questions. Should I delete my social media? Should I focus on my life right here, and right now? Why am I on social media? Is it just for the attention? Is it to share the experiences I've having and to relate to those around me?

I see a lot on the news about people not having real connections. About this generation of Millennials and younger having trouble carrying on conversations talking on the phone talking to people face-to-face whatever it is. I used to be really good at that kind of stuff. Now, I avoid eye-contact and can't spell for anything without spellcheck. I have "friends" on these sites, but are they friends? I never feel the need to call or talk to friends because I know what they're up to thanks to social media. Is that considered friendship skills these days or just stalking?

It makes me think, what are real connections? Could I continue living the life I have now without my phone? Without Facebook? Without Instagram? Without this blog? If I got rid of those, how the people around me treat me? Does it matter? Is it bad that I worry about people's judgement over me on if I have those sites or not?

It's so expected for everyone to have social media. You hear all the time phrases like, "Didn't you see that on Facebook?" or, "Can you see that on Instagram?" "Didn't you read that on Twitter?" And sometimes I really want my answer to be no. I want to know what's going on because that person talks to me, not because I saw it on their page.

Then other times I think, "This picture is really great.  I want everyone to see it! I want everyone to know that I've been here, that I've done this thing!" But then my husband asked me, why? And that's really hard to answer. Is it just show off all that I'm doing? Is it to make those around me jealous? Is it just show that I can compete in this world were all these people are doing these great things? I have to constantly check myself and remember that people really don't want to know every thought in my head or see every picture I take of my dogs. I started this blog to focus on my travels.Those are the memories worth sharing. Not that I went out to dinner with Hubs.

You have to remember that people only post the highlights of their life. People don't post the crappy part. People don't post the failures. People don't post the personal revolutions unless it's something profound and life-changing. So, why am I out there? Why am I putting myself out there? Why does so much of my life depend on how many likes I get or how many loves I get or how many comments I get? I don't mind keeping a blog. It's almost like an online diary like Xanga was. Do you remember Xanga? Do you remember Myspace? Everything becomes so dated. Sometimes I find myself only keeping Facebook just because it is one of the only means I have to keep in touch with some people. But does it enhance my life? Does it really make those friendship stronger? I honestly don't think so.

I fully plan, that by the time I'm 30 I will be off of social media (aside from this blog and my Etsy page.) I like writing on here and posting about trips I take to whomever the audience is. It could just be me, my grandma, my mom. Those, to me, are the thoughts worth sharing and remembering. How can I have good friendships, a good marriage, and be a good dog mom if I'm always on my phone? I want to live my life for the moment, not for the question of how many "likes" I can get.

As always,

-Sarah-

Spread Too Thin?

Starting back at work means: new school year, new students, new ideas, new PLUs... It all makes you think, who am I? What am I doing? Where did summer go? I had so much left to accomplish!

I love questionnaires and filling in worksheets, especially about myself. Ha! But seriously... We have to fill out an information sheet about ourselves each year for work. There's the normal name, emergency contact, t-shirt size type questions. And there are questions I hate like, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" Umm, if I put too many strengths do I sound arrogant? If I put weaknesses do I sound incompetent? Or if I skip it am I cocky or can’t follow directions? Ugh! My favorite question is about hobbies. I have a million. Not really, but I do a lot:

• tennis
• kickboxing (when I can, on my own bag, in the garage)
• hiking (c'mon, fall weather!)
• camping
• singing (shower & car. I have stage fright, can you believe it?!)
• ukulele (still have a lot of learning to do)
• crafting (sewing, painting, etc.)
• yoga (need to do this more!)
• traveling (obviously...)
• reading
• horseback riding
• walking my dogs
• this blog
• family time
• friend time
• watching Braves baseball
• watching UGA football
• Bible time

And then there's things I would like to do:

• photography
• rock climbing
• bike riding
• nothing
• volunteer for charities
• be one of those teachers who grades things on time every time and has a cute classroom always
• write more
• archery

I am one of those people who doesn't excel at one thing; I’m mediocre at a lot of things.

Am I spread too thin?

Where's the line? How do you cut down on what you like? How do you balance it all?  I know there’s priorities and time management, but is being overly involved beneficial or detrimental to a person and their growth? Does it work until it’s overwhelming or until you no longer are fulfilling your obligations? It's not like I'm trying to fill a resume or compete or find a career in these pastimes.  I do realize I am very blessed to be capable to do all of these things I enjoy. I do realize not everyone has the same choices, privileges, and opportunities as I do. Please don’t misunderstand; I say all this to grow toward becoming a better person. 

When I was at freshman orientation at UGA my group's leader, Eric, told us to join one or two groups, clubs, organizations, etc. and not fifteen. He said it's better to focus on one or two things and be invested in those and not be half-involved in a bunch of things. I’ve kept that advice with me for a long time. But now I’m thinking that perhaps I didn’t allow myself enough exposure to different types of things and so now I’m into everything. His advice really did help in college, though. Being involved in a handful of things made me a lot more committed and a lot less flaky. Granted, I can still be quite flaky, but I had more meaningful relationships with friends than if I had to be at 50 various places at one time. If I flaked out it was because I was lazy, not because I was busy. But now the only people I hang out with are Hubs and the furbabies, so I find myself looking for new things to do, especially since we don't have kids.

I only want to know, is it better to be well-rounded or to do one thing well?

Feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!

-Sarah