Entertainment upgrades: DIRECTV and WiFi

  After months of researching all our options for TV, I was able to figure out how to get DIRECTV without having to pay an arm and a leg with the mobile RV antennas.  It's actually very simple...we are a home :). Instead of explaining to the DIRECTV customer service that we move from place to place, and them always transferring me to the RV department, I decided to tell them that we are stationary only and don't move at all. I was finally able to sign up and get a technician to install the system. The specialist they sent had worked in other RVs before, and he was able to teach me exactly what to do after we move locations, so we can avoid having a technician come out to set it up every time. 

    Hope this helps: 

1. Turn on the TV at your new location and after it gives you the code 711(which means that the satellite isn't getting a signal) press the menu button.

2. Select signal meter displayed on the screen.
3. Select change setup.
4. Change the zip code to the new location you are at, and then the new coordinates for the satellite will appear on the screen.
5. Set the Satellite to the exact Azim., Elev., and tilt based on your zip code.
6. Go back inside and press continue. The system will verify the new configuration and Voila! All your channels should appear right away. Please keep in mind that if you have anything obstructing the view of the satellite, it just won't work.

Also, the actual bolts that are on the satellite are extremely sensitive, and if you break anything on it, then the satellite will never get a signal ( we learned this the hard way! ). If anything breaks you can just call DIRECTV, and they will send out a technician to replace the part. Make sure you are signed up for the equipment insurance, so that way you won't get billed later. The best way to avoid breaking anything is loosening all the bolts, adjust it to where the new coordinates should be, and then tighten them all at once. The first time the technician comes out to set up your service, have him show you exactly how this works, so that way you can follow how he set it up the first time.

      The second thing we purchased is a wifi extender. IT'S AMAZING! When an RV park provides wifi the signal is usually so bad that you won't even be able to load an email. The wifi extender plugs into the wall and boosts the signal from the RV park. You can rename the wifi and add a password so no one else can use your strong signal. Since we have plugged this in, I've been able to use my laptop all the time, stream anything I want through the gaming consoles, hookup the DIRECTV WiFi connection to enjoy the on demand features, and Rich has been able to play his Xbox games online. The device itself was $43 at Walmart, and it's extremely easy to set up. 

      Hope this helps! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to do so. Happy Rving :)

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Chicken breast stuffed with artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, and cheddar cheese.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Servings: 2
Best served with: brown rice, salad, roasted potatoes.

Ingredients:
2- boneless chicken breasts.
1/4 cup-sun dried tomatoes.
1 cup- artichoke hearts, quartered.
1 oz- Cabot cheddar cheese, grated.
Olive oil
Weber savory herbs w/ roasted garlic seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat the bottom of the baking dish with olive oil. 
2. Take away any excess fat from the chicken. Slice the chicken in half and add 2 tbsp of sun dried tomatoes, 1/2 cup of artichoke hearts, and .5oz of the grated cheese to each chicken breast. 
3. Fold the other half of the chicken breast over and sprinkle the seasoning on top. Add more seasoning to taste. 
4. Place both stuffed chicken breasts in the baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. 
5. Enjoy!

Recipe credit: Paula Suplicy

Using the RV as our fitness playground

   When we first moved into the RV, one of my goals was to continue promoting fitness and staying fit and healthy myself. As I have mentioned in other posts, I do have a set of the BowFlex weights, and being a personal trainer has helped me be extremely creative with my workouts. I've began looking at the RV and what it has to offer to expand my workouts. The ladder in the back are great for using the TRX, or if you don't have one, you can just do rows by holding onto either side of the ladder. Most campsites have picnic tables, so I've been using that for step ups, Bulgarian split squats, or "box" jumps, just to name a few. The best part is having all the space outside to do burpies, walking lunges, cardio drills, or anything your heart desires!

       Any time we live near a gym, we will take advantage of using that until we move again. I've noticed that I have never lost muscle or strength when I do have the chance to use the gym, and I do measure my body fat percentage every month to make sure I'm staying on track. I focus on doing 20 minutes/day with high intensity, whether it is cardio or weight lifting, and I will usually take a day off to enjoy a nice long walk with the pups and Rich. 

       Now don't get me wrong here, it is not like I just do 20 minutes of exercise and the rest of the time I'm just sitting on the couch. I am constantly moving, taking the pups out for their many walks, organizing, and cleaning. Just being with them outside while they are tied up is quite the task! It requires me to constantly untangle them, play with them, make sure they aren't digging or eating grass. I must look like the crazy dog lady to my neighbors;). Dogs are just like kids!!

     I will be posting some workouts and healthy tips on the fitness page now that I'm starting to figure out how to create new pages on my blog (this can be quite complicated, and it is not my forte haha). If you have any questions about the workouts feel free to leave a comment, and I will be happy to help out. 

We made it through our first winter in the RV!

    After making it through our first winter, I have to say that it was a lot easier than we both expected. Don't get me wrong, it was VERY challenging at times, but working as a team we did it!! Our RV was more equipped for the winter than we gave it credit for. The biggest issues we had were more with the campground we were staying at, The Wilds (not impressed to say the least), and one or two weeks where the temperatures were well below 0, which just required extra care on our part.
    Lets first talk about the Wilds. The RV park itself had lots of space and each lot had plenty of grassy area, which was great for the dogs and to have privacy. They did have a bar and grill on site, and lots of outdoor games, but that would have been nice during the summer months. The RV park being so open just invited the intense winds to ravish the entire area on a daily basis. There was no coverage whatsoever do help reduce the intensity of the wind. When I say it was windy, let me just make this clear...it was 40+ mph winds that you could feel the RV shake even with extra stabilizers that we added to the bottom of the RV.
    As the temperature started to drop we did what was asked of all the RV residents at the Wilds, which was make sure that the water spout was covered in heat tape. We had noticed that other lots actually had a tube over their faucet, but we thought maybe that was something extra they were required to put on. The first day that the temperature dropped to the teens our water froze. The panic that occurred when we woke up to that was no fun. We rushed to Home Depot, bought all sorts of things to make sure we could defrost the lines, and after getting home and further assessing the situation we realized that everything on our end was working great, but their faucet outside had frozen. We laughed it off, and used a blow dryer at the faucet and the water was flowing again. We were hoping that after putting more insulation on their faucet that this would not happen again, but wishful thinking did not work for us in this situation. This not only happened once or twice more it happened so often that we ended up leaving our faucet in the kitchen on so that way if there was continued water flow, their faucet wouldn't freeze. However, some nights we forgot and having to deal with this in the middle of the night during a work week, when Rich works long hours, did not make us happy campers at all.
     One day I noticed that their faucet outside was leaking, and over night the temperature dropped to 25 below with wind chill that it created a very nice sculpture around the entire thing, and for the best part, the water froze again. Since Rich was at work and I needed water all day, I went outside with a hammer and started hammering at the ice. We had already complained about the leak, but the owner/maintenance guy never got back to us, so when I saw him that morning I walked over to him and asked for him to come over. Not only did this guy complain it was so cold out that his hands were hurting (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!! I'm busting my butt out there with a hammer and didn't complain once, and this guy who is from the area and it's HIS faucet that is broken, is complaining), but he informs me that we were supposed to have that insulated tube over the faucet the whole time, and that without that his faucet wouldn't be able to work properly. I couldn't believe he put us in a lot and didn't check to make sure it had everything we needed.
    Either way, he gets the tube and insulation, while I'm still trying to remove the ice from the faucet. I tell him about the leak and that its going to continue to squirt water every where, but he informed me he would fix it on a warmer day. Before I had the chance to finish removing all of the ice that had now covered our sewer pipe support and our electric cable, he jams this tube on everything over and over trying to get it to fit and busts a piece of the sewer support right in front of me and doesn't even care. At this point I had to take a few deep breaths before I did something I would have regretted it later. Needless to say, he came back when it was warmer and "fixed" the faucet and on another cold day it froze again.
      So besides having to constantly be on alert to make sure THEIR faucet didn't freeze, our RV was amazing during the winter!!! One thing that we had to stay on top of was the propane tanks, which isn't that big of a deal since we have two plus the grill tank just in case. During the winter months it seemed like no one ever stepped out of their RV, so it felt like we had the outdoors all to ourselves. Even on the coldest days, we went on many walks and stayed busy! The electric heaters were an amazing addition to the furnace, and we were very cozy inside. Even though it may sound like we had an intense time this winter, we truly enjoyed it and hope to just do better research on the campgrounds we go to. The new RV park that we are at is a bit further from Rich's job, but it is awesome! I will post more about it when we leave the area:)

    Hope everyone had a warm and happy RV winter!