Camp Life

If your expecting one of those cutesy posts with lot's of adorable vintage camping decor and such this is not it!  This the first of what I hope to be many more travel adventures in our camper under the Carolina moon.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked up on our last night of camping.  The Palmetto tree and the crescent moon are the symbols on our South Carolina state flag.  What a wonderful feeling to look up and see it in person!

I so wish I had gone back inside and gotten out my other lens to get a better close up picture.  

But as you can see I was a bit preoccupied earlier with cocktail hour.  LOL!

Here's my sweet and adorable better half!  We had such a great first trip in this new to us camper.

We certainly did make a few new memories of us.  It was such fun getting back into the swing of things after being out of camping for over 10 years now.

I didn't take to many pictures of our camper but did want to share this one glimpse of our camp life.  Were kinda messy here tonight huh?

What I really wanted to show you though was...camp life in general in the campground.  These photos were all taken while we were riding around in the golf cart so I hope you'll understand why they are not the clearest. Golf cart travel is a big thing with most campers and is fun too.  We actually have a golf cart at home but didn't bring ours because we only brought one car.  We tow with my husbands Expedition and would need to bring my car and a trailer to bring ours.  We opted just to rent a golf cart instead and we were glad we did because they were brand new 2013 models.  We stayed at Ocean Lakes Family Campground in Surfside Beach, SC.  It's one of our favorite places to go because of the location, amenity's and atmosphere.  We do not come here for peace and quiet though.  That's what other campgrounds are for!  Don't get me wrong, they have their own security police and are very strict about enforcing the rules, which is a very good thing.  What I mean is, that this is a very popular place with a good bit of activity.  I didn't photograph the amenity's and will have to do that on the next trip.  This trip I focused on just showing you a glimpse of what the actual camping life looks like.  Hold on tight while we whiz around now, okay?

Notice anything yet?

Check out the little arrangement of flowers here by the golf cart.  The sign beside it held their familys name and such.  There was another group of flowers on the backside that held a sign that simply said "garden".

Now this big rig tow was quite the extreme, but I couldn't help but notice how many large RV's there were on this trip.  Usually the large Motor homes are few and the tow-alongs are everywhere.  Well, at least that was how it was 10 yrs ago.

I was simply amazed at how many motor homes and brand new campers in general there were.  

Make no mistake about it BIG is in!  

Many campers want every possible extra they can get now too.  I certainly don't blame them.  These large campers are not the only ones that are now building TV's on the side.  We saw lot's of them!

I love seeing all the toys everyone brings with them!

I also love when you come across matchy-matchy campers.  Heehee!

And of course I love to see how people decorate and accessorize.

Of course vintage is definitely in too!  There will always be something very unique about an Airstream.

I was especially amazed at the vintage awnings on these.

Love the very vintage looking and colorful bike here!

Speaking of colorful, this is one of my most favorite shots.  Have you ever seen a better combination of machines?  LOL!  This was located right outside of one of the bathhouses.

  I was also thrilled to see that OL has updated their bathhouses as well.  I generally prefer my camper but our shower is a tight fit with little headroom.  If the bathhouses are nice I will use them in order to get more room while showering.  I must be getting older and more mature now because I used to not want to step foot in one at all.  L My motto was to get in and get out as quickly as possible.  This trip I just didn't mind.

Camping people are generally very sociable and like to have fun.

Do you see what I mean?  How cute is this?

Speaking of cute...

There are several ponds located throughout this campground.  This was only one of them.  The ducks seemed to be very people friendly this year and were everywhere.  I guess they have been fed too many times.  We had one walk right up to our campsite the first day we arrived looking for food.  I wasn't too crazy about that. They shoo away easily enough though.

I hope you enjoyed our little round about the campground.

Here's the Mr. outside of our camper enjoying the Carolina moon. He's patiently waiting on me to stop taking pictures so we can be off and enjoy our last night cruising through the campground, and that's the real reason I didn't go back in to get the other lens.  

 Our first trip really was a lot of fun! This will not be our only way to vacation but it will be a great addition to help us get away more.  I'll be sure and try to take more pics of the fun stuff people have set up around camp and amenity's in future posts.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to one of America's most famous campgrounds.

Thanks for visiting with me too!

I'm joining;

Inspire Me Tuesday

Cinco de Mayo Tablescape 2013

Sunday the Mr. and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo right here at home.  We love to eat Mexican food!  In fact we actually eat out at a local Mexican restaurant quite regularly and had just done so within a few days of Sunday.  Since we had already eaten out and because I love to cook this particular dish we decided to eat in.  So what is it that we stayed in for?

Chicken Fajita's and refried beans!  I've included my very easy cooking tutorial on this meal at the end of this post, for those of you who are like me who usually cook out of necessity.  LOL!

Of course I also wanted to take advantage of setting a very colorful table.

These napkins were purchased last year from Stein Mart.

The dishes also came from Stein Mart last year and are from Gibson.  I actually bought them for my son to take to college.  He is coming home today but brought home a few things last weekend. Just in the nick of time right?  They are perfect for Cinco de Mayo!

My flatware also came from Stein Mart as did my placemats.  The flatware I believe to also be from Gibson.

My Margarita glasses were a yard sale purchase several years ago.  I do believe they originally came from Pier 1 though, maybe.  

We dined on the small table I moved in the den a few months ago.  It was quite cozy!

The votive candle holders came from Ole Time Pottery.

Of course no Mexican meal is complete without chips and salsa.  The red plastic dish is one of a set of four that I got last year from either Walmart or Dollar tree.  I can't remember!  Sorry!

Well, now if your interested let's see how I made this meal.

Because I am a lazy cook I take the easy way out and buy frozen chicken fajita strips from Tyson.  They come in a bag and are already seasoned.  Then I add frozen peppers and onion strips from Birds eye.  I put everything in a large frying wok and heat them up together.  I don't add water because the moisture from the frozen foods is enough as it melts.

Then in a separate pan I spray it with olive oil cooking spray and add my tortilla.  I use the wheat ones.  You simply spread your meat and veggie mix down the middle and top off with cheese. 

I then use a spatula and flip it over and heat a bit more on each side.  I then set this one aside and spray the pan again and I'm ready to make the next one.  I have found it's very important to keep spraying the pan in between each fajita to keep from sticking and the olive oil actually adds a nice flavor to the fajitas. 

Serve it all up and enjoy!

Thanks so much for joining me today!

I am joining the following parties;

Let's Dish 

and

Tablescape Thursday

Have a great day everybody!

Yes, I"m "AT HOME" now too!

Hey all!  Here's just a little quickie post to let you all know that while I am quite literally not working outside of the home right now I have decided to work a little business called;

 "Ah! At home".

Why?

Quite simply because of deals like this! 

On Sale now for only $3.99

On sale now for only $21.99

On Sale now for $9.99

On Sale now for only $11.49

On Sale now for only $24.99

On Sale now for only $6.99

On Sale now for only $11.49

Every week we offer Flash sales that are loaded with fantastic discounts on home decor. Additionally, we have a huge selection of beautiful home decor that is available to be shipped directly to you from our warehouse.

Here's my story;

I have been watching this company through a pinner on Pinterest for some time now.  Click here to see her link.  Meg runs her business primarily through Facebook and Pinterest.  I first noticed her on Pinterest and then friended her page on Facebook too.  I have never purchased from her because as a manager of a home decor dept in a major retail store my temptations had to be limited.  LOL!  After finding myself at home again and no longer working I could'nt help but take a closer look at her offers.  I decided to click the link on her website to find out a little more on this company.  Imagine my surprise that I could sign up to sell these products myself without having to invest anything at all up front.  I was thrilled and signed up immediately! 

If you've followed my blog for awhile now, you know I have been in the direct sales business before and am very familiar with it.  I stopped that particular business after going back to work because it required home party sales which I did not have time for and quite simply renewal fees as well.  

Ah! At home, does not require home party sales and actually started out as an online internet sales company only.  It has just recently begun to offer catalog sales through home parties as well.  The option to sell either way is currently totally up to you the consultant.  That is what sold me! I want to pursue the online sales only at this time and am so excited to get things started.   If you like what you see here and want to see more please consider joining one of the following pages links.  I created a Facebook page and a Pinterest page specifically for updates on sales from my website which you can join here;

https://www.facebook.com/AtHomeWithMaryKeels

or

http://pinterest.com/mlkeels/at-home-with-mary/

Please be sure and join as a FRIEND as I'm not sure if you will still get the updates if you only LIKE the page.  I've so much to learn about operating on Facebook.  LOL! Any help on that would be greatly appreciated.

My website to order these great bargains is here;

http://marykeels.athome.com/home.html

This is where you can place your orders in my shopping cart and order securely with all items being directly shipped to you.  Please take a minute to browse around as often as you like.  There are so many additional sales you will want to check it out often to get more items like these.

This pic was created by my mentor, Meg, to show what you could buy from us at Ah, at home, to match the inspiration picture in the center.  Pretty cool idea huh?  I thought so too!

If you would also like to sell home decor with Ah, at home please consider going to the link at the bottom of my site listed as Join at Home and become part of our team.  I would love to build a team with you as well.  If you know you like this idea immediately here's a quick link now;

http://marykeels.athome.com/join-at-home.html

I know I've seen several other bloggers who sell Ah, at home too.  I can certainly see why because the products and the bargains are amazing!  I'm pretty excited about this new adventure and hope it's one I can continue should I go back to work part time somewhere when I choose too.

Well, thanks for stopping by, it's always so nice to hear from those who do.

Be sure and friend my FB page now too okay?

Have a great day everyone!