Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Teardrop trailers and dropping weight

My dad is super-talented, and that may be an understatement. You know how little kids always think that their daddy is Superman and can do anything? Well, I'm 30 years old and I know that my dad can do anything. When he gets an idea into his head, watch out--it is going to happen.

Over a year ago, he decided he wanted to build a teardrop trailer...from scratch. This required teaching himself how to weld, which he did. He's already a carpentry master (he built the house I grew up in, where my parents still live). In addition to working 60+ hours a week as the head of technology for Craven County Schools, he built this teardrop trailer in his "spare time" (AKA every waking moment after work on weekdays, and all day on most Saturdays and after church on Sundays).

How cool is this?! Inside is a queen-size bed,
cabinets for storage, an AC unit, and a little
television. It hooks up to my dad's truck.

The back opens up to reveal the galley/kitchen.
There is a stainless steel cooler, microwave, and
range top, along with more storage.

Dad's got a little more work to do on it, but it was
road-worthy for the first trip last week!
Mom and Dad spent their anniversary weekend
using the trailer up in Cherokee.
They stayed at a great campground right next
to a creek--Mom said it was perfect. They are
already making plans for another trip soon--so fun!

And as for the second part of this post's title...After getting over the Baby Blues Round #2 and through the holidays, reality hit me in the face in January and, sleep deprived though I was, I started tracking what I was eating online (Sparkpeople.com is AWESOME!) and exercising during the kids' afternoon naps. Over the course of 7 1/2 months, I lost 70 pounds--woo hoo! I'm now getting up early in the morning (Oh, hello there 5:00am--so nice to see you again) so that I can workout before the kids get up, giving me back my afternoons so that I can read (my mental health is just as important as my physical health, and Mommy needs some "me" time while the kiddos sleep!) It feels great to have my energy and strength back--all the hard work has been SO worth it! I'm planning to run a half-marathon in the spring with a friend, so we'll start training for that in a few months...as crazy as it sounds, I love starting my mornings with a long, quiet run outside by myself. My mom took this picture of David and I before we headed out to celebrate our 6th anniversary...who would have guessed that I'd be in the best shape of my life at age 30 with an almost 3 year old and an almost 1 year old? Just goes to show you that you can do anything you set your mind to doing :)

3 comments:

Ellett Family said...

Love your dad's traler and YOU look awesome! Way to go!

Brittanie Lockard said...

You and your dad are EQUALLY amazing! I didn't know so much stuff stored inside one of those tear-drop trailers, that is so cool. And I am super, super proud of you and I know you've inspired many other mommas! Way to go :)

Becky said...

Erin, you look AMAZING! You energy, enthusiasm and just plain old love of life is inspiring.