Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

"I look this cute and you give me treats? That's how it works, right?"

*Picture courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

Rat 1. "They're gone!"
Rat 2. "You're a girl. You never had them to begin with."

Rat 1. "Whew! Good to know."  

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Review: Once Perfect by Cecy Robson

Book Description

Evelyn Preston’s future once looked perfect—until her wealthy father was caught in an embezzlement scandal and took his own life. Alone and struggling to pay her college tuition and bills, Evelyn finds a job as a waitress at the ultra-hip nightclub Excess, where she used to have more in common with the privileged private-school clientele than her fellow staff members. But something attracts her to the sexy six-foot-four bouncer and ex-army MMA fighter Mateo Tres Santos. Although they’ve led different lives, their troubled pasts bonds them in both survival and love.

Mateo wound up in prison for assaulting the man who harmed his sister. Now he’s feeling the same protective impulse for this petite blond waitress. When Evelyn experiences a panic attack at the club, Mateo comes to her rescue. And when Mateo is wounded shielding her from a brawl, Evelyn returns the favor and comes to his aid.

As their attraction intensifies, Mateo is determined to find out what nightmares are lurking in Evelyn’s past—even if that means tackling his own to save her.

My Review

Evelyn grew up privileged and rich but all that came to a crashing halt when her father was caught after embezzling money and killed himself. She lost everything, including her fiance. She has a good friend/roommate and works as a waitress to pay her way through nursing school. 

Mateo is a bouncer at a night club and has been looking at Evelyn ever since she took a waitress job there. She doesn't pay him much attention at all until she has a panic attack and he comes to her aid. Mateo also does MMA fighting for the extra money to help his family out. 

These two both come to the table with emotional baggage and problems. Some of Evelyn's baggage is buried so deep she doesn't even realize she has it but you know that old saying...you can bury a problem but it will come out eventually and her long buried problems come out in a big way. 

Evelyn had a fiance who dropped her after her father killed himself and has been calling her because he wants her back but she wants nothing to do with him. Evelyn is afraid of the dark and when she accidentally gets kinda lost in a dark back room, Mateo comes to her rescue and helps her through a panic attack. That is when a light bulb goes off for her. Mateo might have done prison time, he might be a big guy that scares her but there's a nice side to him as well. 

Mateo has a crazy family. His father is an abusive drunk and because of the way he was brought up, he and his sisters think it's wrong to call the police on their dirt bag father when he hits one of them or causes problems. I just don't understand that kind of thinking. 

While their relationship is rocky at times, it's very relate-able because they have real life problems that a lot of people end up having. I really liked these two and the secondary characters, while it was a bit darker than I was expecting it was done really well and ended up being a great story. 

I give this 4 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Video of the Week

Have you ever wanted to try some of the weird foods that are on Amazon? No? Me either but these guys did and now I'm glad I didn't. LOL

Bugs, Brains and Earthworms...yum...not!

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

Here's what I received this week...

A coupon for a free 12 pack of Coke from My Coke Rewards
A coupon for a free pack of Chips Ahoy Cookies
A sample of Saline Soothers nose wipes
A  $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap
A $25 Starbucks gift card from eRewards

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Great Deal If You've Ever Wanted To Try Degustabox

Here's a couple of pictures of what I've received in my Degustaboxes. You can also search my blog for my DegustaBox posts. 

If you've been reading my blog for a while you've probably seen my posts on the Degusta Boxes I've been getting. They are normally $19.99 a month but if you sign up between now and Valentine's day you can get your first box for just $9.99 when you use my referral code MARYK-ACB or my  referral link. And if I get two friends to sign up using my link or code they will give me my next box for free. 

This is a monthly subscription box but you can cancel at any time. So if you've been thinking about signing up, here's your chance to get your first box half off. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

*Click on picture to enlarge*

While I was walking the dog a little farther down the street I saw that there were more metal tree's and a metal bench in front of one of the metal tree's near the end of the street. I don't know why I find these metal tree's so darn funny.

Happy Raturday!

*Photo Courtesy of @MrRat395*

"I had a cookie"

*Photo Courtesy of @MrRat395*

"Did you really wake me up just to say, Hi?" 

*Photo Courtesy of @MrRat395*

"You had pancakes, didn't you? Don't lie to me, I can taste the syrup!"

*Photo Courtesy of @MrRat395*

"Young man, do you have any idea what time it is? Did you at least bring me a snack?"

Review: January Target Beauty Box

This month's Target Beauty Box was great. These boxes range anywhere from $5 to $10 and this is the $10 box. I tried for the $5 box but it was already sold out by the time I got to it. These boxes go really quickly each month so I always put a link to them on my FB page when I see they are available. 

This month the box contained:

L'Oreal Revitalift Volume Filler Serum and Cream

Nexxus Comb Through Volume Finishing Mist

Chapstick Total Hydration Sugar Scrub

eb5 Facial Cream

Beautiful Nutrition Lemon Clarifying Hair Treatment

Burt's Bee's Intense Hydration Day Lotion

Amlactin Moisturizing Body Lotion

Revlon Kiss Lip Balm *Raspberry*

So far I've tried everything and liked it with the exception of the Revitalift Serum and Cream because they were really oily and I don't like putting oily products on my face. 

The lip scrub is fun and leaves my lips tingly because it's a peppermint scrub. 

All in all, a great box this month. 

Have you tried this box yet?

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received: 

A sample of Lemon Pepper seasoning. 

I ordered a box of Glucose testing strips from CVS and they added the following free samples to my order...

A sample of Secret Deodorant

A sample of Vitamints

A sample of dry mouth lozenges
It was a nice surprise.

I also got a $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap. It used to take 1500 points to get a gift card but they moved the points back down to 1000 points thankfully. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Favorite Picture of the Week

I don't think I've shared a picture of the palm tree's up and down my street. This is right outside my apartment complex. 

That's my street and all of those really tall stick like tree's are Palm tree's. You actually see them all over Las Vegas. The bigger tree's inside the courtyard's of my complex are Pine tree's. 

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of MrRat395*

"I really don't want kisses right now."

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Nom nom nom"

Photo courtesy of rosemarie hiermann*

"I'm pretty sure I stepped in dog poo. *sniff sniff* Yep, it's dog poo."

Favorite Video of the Week

I love watching people try squeeze cheese in can for the first time. It's almost always funny as hell.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples, gift cards and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to a lot of great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.


This week I received:

A box of samples from PinchMe...
A samples of dog food
Sample of Dog Pill Pockets
Sample bag or Popcorners
A Scotch Brite scrubbing dish cloth

A $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap. For those keeping track that makes $230 in Amazon gifts cards for all of 2016 from Crowdtap. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

I took Falcor for a walk and when I called his name, this was the look he gave me. Silly dog. 

Review: Daily Goodie Box

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of last year. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them and did what they said to do in order to get a Daily Goodie Box. I logged in every day for a while and checked out my messages and filled out my profile. I was not offered a Daily Goodie Box until recently and it was offered to me free in exchange for a blog review. So while it's a great box, they aren't easy to get. Hopefully more people will get them in the future. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products. So here's what was in my box.

RawRev - Raw Superfood Bars- While I'm not big on protein or meal bars these weren't too bad. They weren't bad tasting and are just big enough for a snack.

Herr's - Tangy BBQ Popped Chips- These had a really good taste to them. Ken and I both liked them and I like BBQ flavored chips to begin with so win win for me.

Dream Water - Sleep Powder- I've tried this before and while it didn't help me sleep that doesn't mean that it won't work for someone else.

Alsa - Energy Drink Mix- After drinking this I didn't feel like I had more energy but it has a nice flavor to it.

Natralia - Anti Itch Soothing Cream- It says this is good for bug bites, poison ivy and itchy skin. I put a little on my arm and it's not greasy and didn't irritate my skin but it does have an odor similar to Vick's VapoRub. I don't mind that but others might.

Gary Poppins - Simply Sea Salt- I've never been a fan of sea salt but this doesn't have too much on it to make it really salty. There's enough to taste the salt but it's a nice flavor. The popcorn was pretty good.

EM+Pact - Protein & Energy Bars- Ken and I shared this bar as well so we could both see how it was. For an energy bar it's not bad. It was a good taste and we both liked it for what it was. But neither of us felt extra energy.

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

Are you ready to sign up? Here's the link. Daily Goodie Box.

Disclosure: This box was given to me in exchange for a blog review.

Happy Raturday!

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"I would make a great president. Free donuts for everyone."

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"Sometimes I get a little powdered sugar on my chin. Worth it."

*Photo courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Review: Krusteaz Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake Mix

I don't make a lot of cakes from scratch, not when I can buy a cake mix for $1 and only have to add egg, water or oil to it. Unless I already have all the ingredients at home, I usually use a cake mix. This mix was really easy to make. 

It came with the cake mix and the cinnamon mixture. You mix together the cake mix with an egg and water and drop half into your cake pan. The add a little of the cinnamon mixture and top with the rest of the cake batter, then swirl it together and lastly the rest of the cinnamon mixture on top.

Bake for 45 minutes and out comes a cinnamon swirl cake. It was quite good too. When a box of cake mix only costs around a dollar, it's more economical for me to use that than to buy all the ingredients to make it from scratch. Especially when they taste just as good as the from scratch cake. It's damn near impossible to get it to look like the picture on the box but it was good.

Do you make cakes from scratch or use a boxed mix?

Favorite Video of the Week

So the reason I found this one funny is because my mom loved pickled pigs feet and she could get a jar of them at least once a month when we were kids. My brother and I still eat them but I'm not allowed to open the jar in the apartment because the smell makes Ken want to gag. he said it smells like a morgue and someone dumped a jar of embalming fluid on the floor. To me, all I smell is vinegar. As kids we used to eat pickled eggs, which I really didn't care for as well as the spicy pickled vegetables and those are the bomb! I don't eat as much pickled pigs feet anymore but I still love the spicy pickled vegetables. So I can really understand the reaction of these kids since they've never had it before. It is a very strange flavor and it's served cold.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.


This week I received:

A coupon for a free 8lb bag of dog food from Smiley360.

A free full size bottle of Dove Deodorant.

A $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap.

Did you get any freebies this week?

Favorite Picture of the Week

I spent part of the day with my grandson a couple of weeks ago. Falcor loves playing with Logan when he comes over. 

Happy Raturday!

"Does this hat make my butt look big?"

"If you expect more pictures, I expect more yogies." 

"I don't think this hat fits." 

" A present? For me?" 

"Ho ho ho, I'm Santa Rat. I bring yogies for all the kids to give to me." 

All pictures this week were of my rats. Lucky, Bandit and Flower. 

Review: Degustabox

 This is the Degustabox for January. 

Each box is $19.99 and comes with several products. Most of the products are things I've never seen on the grocery store shelves so I'm assuming that they are either new or about to be on store shelves. Each box comes with a card describing the products in the box and how much the products would cost in the store. This month everything in the box was new to me, meaning while I've tried other products from some of the brands, I've never tried any of the actual products that were in the box. 

In this months box was: 

Welch's Fruit and Yogurt snacks

Jolly Time Popcorn

ALO Aloe, cucumber and cantaloupe drink

Cello Parmesan Whisps

McDonnells Curry Sauce

Prince of Peace Ginger Honey Crystals

Go Organically Fruit Snacks

Entenmann's Little Bites Party Cakes

Hungry Jack Pumpkin Spice Pancake Mix

Live Smart Berry Bar

Orchard Valley Cashew Halves

Orchard Valley Cranberry Almond Cashew Trail Mix

Ken and I ate the Entenmann's Little bites cakes right away. We both like anything Entenmann's and these were really good. Next we tried the Parmesan Whisps and both of us spit it out as soon as we started chewing. It was so disgusting! It was like eating crunchy vomit. Omg the taste was not something I ever want to experience again. He likes parmesan cheese and even he didn't like these things. We saved the bag and got several others to try them just to see the look on their faces. LOL No one liked them. 

So far the only thing I haven't tried is the Curry Sauce and the Pumpkin Spice pancake batter. Everything else we tried was good though, even that aloe, cucumber, cantaloupe drink which surprised me. 

Does this look like a monthly box that you would subscribe to?