*Our Contest is Closed*

The winner is comment #1. Congratulations, Erin!!!

You’ve heard of probiotics, right? I thought they were only found in dairy products. Boy was I wrong! Thanks to Tomoson.com, I had the opportunity to use 3 natural household cleaning products by Natural House. Each one contains probiotics, which continue to scour, clean, consume odors, grime, grease, and germs until you use them again in a week.

First we have Flushy. These are little packets you drop in the toilet, let the fizz and bit, then scrub. The water turns blue…why is that the color of toilet cleaner? Who decided that? Anyhow, this keeps your toilet clean for a full week! I am thrilled!

Next up is Trashy. This is a tiny spray bottle you squirt into your trash cans to keep them smelling fresh. Did I mention probiotics digest odors? Yeah! I sprayed this into our 7 year old, 2 child Diaper Champ. It is so stinky, we keep it in the garage. Now? F.A. Daisy! That stands for Fresh As a Daisy. Feel free to use that.

Sinky is a cool little packet you drop down your drain. You run hot water for a few seconds, then run your disposal, if you have one. Simple Simon! Those little probiotics eat up grease, fats, oils and solid waste to keep your drain clear. It’s even healthy for septic systems! Try to find THAT on your drain cleaner!

Check out his video to learn more:

These products by Natural House are really one-of-a-kind. Here’s some info directly from Natural House:

Natural House probiotic natural household cleaning products brings you a revolutionary, new method of cleaning the most dirty areas of your home. Utilizing non-toxic, probiotic cleaning agents, Natural House products are strong enough for commercial clean-up, yet safe and gentle for all of the members of your Natural House.

The surfaces in your house are like a garden. If you don’t seed with good plants, weeds will grow. You have the same choice with your household surfaces: sanitize for a moment with harsh chemicals leaving your surface open to recontamination or seed with probiotics to continuously weed out the bad micro-organisms.

Traditional cleaners “clean” a surface for a moment in time; the second the rag is finished wiping the surface, that surface is almost instantly polluted once again with ambient dust, dirt, and micro-organisms.

Natural House probiotics creates mini-ecosystem on a microbial level that produces enzymes which break down odors, dirt, fats, oil, grease, food scraps, waste and toilet paper products on a continuous basis between applications. This creates a natural, clean, balanced environment that is safe for even the most sensitive members of your natural house.

The action is in the foam! When using your Natural House products be sure and let it foam first to release the cleaning agents before going to the next step on the package directions.

The short and skinny of it is this… our natural probiotic cleaners keep on cleaning long after you’ve stopped!

**GIVEAWAY**

So, would you like to win a one month supply of Flushy, Trashy, and Sinky? All you have to do is leave one comment on this post sharing your most hated household chore. The contest will close on Sunday, April 8 at 8 pm Pacific Time. I’ll use Random.org to select a winner. Then Natural House will send you your very own supply of probiotic natural household cleaning supplies! This contest is open to US Residents only.

To earn extra entries:

Like Miss Mouthy on Facebook

Like Miss Mouthy on Twitter

Follow Natural House on Twitter

Like Natural House on Facebook

If you do these, just add a new comment and say “I like/follow….” and add your Facebook or Twitter user name so I can make sure you aren’t a liar, liar, pants on fire.

To purchase Flushy, Trashy, Sinky, or any other probiotic household cleaning products, you can go directly to Natural House or even Natural House’s Amazon Store, where you can get perks like Free Super Saver Shipping.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

ExplainThisImage has funny pictures. It just does. I’m so curious…why does this hamster have a fillet knife taped to his back?

As a site visitor, you can rate each image on a 1-5 scale and you can sort them by most popular.

What’s up with this dog? The funniest part is the user-generated captions. You can vote on those, too.   Each of the images has some of the suggested captions below.

Because water balloon fights are just that intense.

I’m telling you, Officers, a guy with a tux and a sewing machine told me it was all right to park here.

Never try to sew on your corsage while driving.

Frogman has no need for public transportation.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Last week, I featured Pinstrosity, which highlights items people attempted from Pinterest, but that didn’t go so well. Those are submitted by the actual people who tried and failed and some crafty craft. Regretsy is similar, except the editors select items from Etsy. The items are hideous. The downside is the “artists” are usually pretty upset their items are featured here. But seriously? $150 for a peach pit that looks like pooh? Check it out and see what you think:

Admit it. At first glance, this looks like pooh. Who would sell pooh for $145? Read closer. It’s a jewel encrusted peach pit! Again I ask, who would sell a peach pit for $145?

This headband, or “floral fascinator” looks simply fetching. But why is the model sitting on the toilet? It appears to be a lovely bathroom with a 4 inch sink, but really?

I’m speechless. Seriously. This is hand edited by the artist. Wow. I can see where this could be legitimate art. But the price of $150 is what puts me over the edge on this one. A picture of a stranger with a golden, glittery horse is not worth $150.

A couple of the features I love on Regresty are:

Compare and Save-They say it’s handmade, but it’s totally not!

Let’s Play a Game-Etsy or Regretsy-Items are featured and you guess if they are actual items on Etsy or if they are hoax items on Regretsy. You will be surprised, I guarantee it!

What do you think? Is Regretsy too harsh on the artists? Or is it fair fun-making considering the price and quality of these items?

Before you read another word, you’ve GOT to check out this video about our new Swagger Wagon!

I’m not saying this is the only reason we bought our Toyota Sienna, but it may have play a role…a large role.

Safety

First off, the Toyota Sienna has an excellent safety record. That’s huge for the Mouthy Family. It has an airbag sensor to determine if the passenger airbag should be off or on. It has side curtain airbags and knee airbags for the driver and probably lots of other airbags we don’t even know about. The doors cannot be opened unless the car is in park. The main reason we picked the Toyota Sienna was that it can tow our little tent trailer. As far as I could tell, it’s the ONLY minivan on the market that has any decent towing capacity.

Features

I am all about the bells and whistles, and the XLE is loaded. I’ve got headed leather seats, a back up camera, and blue tooth connectivity, so I can make phone calls from my steering wheel, or listen to music from my iPod. Did I mention the sunroof? The configuration is really easy to alter. The two front seats can be adjusted electronically. The next row can be two captain chairs or you can quickly put in the handy little jump seat to make it a bench. That third seat quite nice. I wouldn’t want to sit in it for a huge road trip, but for a couple of hours, it’s awesome. It’s has a handy little location in the back, so it’s easy to access. The last row is a 3 row bench seats. The seats easily fold down. When I say easily, I mean it. Even I can do it! I also love that both sliding doors and the back hatch can be opened with the key fob. And the door handle. And a button next to the sunroof button.

Gas mileage

I typically get between 20-22 miles per gallon. Not super awesome, but considering our last car got 12-14 mpg, we’re pretty darn thrilled. Also, it doesn’t need any special gas. Unlike my husband’s car. Do you hear me, Mr. Mouthy?

Reliability

Since we are planning to drive this car until the end of time at least 10 years, this is a huge factor for us. Consumer Reports gave it really good marks.

Resale Value

This isn’t a big to us, but in case it is to you, the Toyota Sienna has great resale value. Historically, nearly all Toyota vehicles have good resale value.

Style

A coworker of mine actually called this a “sexy minivan.” I’ve never heard such a thing, but thought I would pass it on to you. And just in case anyone searches for “sexy minivans” I want to make sure this post is on top of the results. There you have it folks, the Toyota Sienna is a sexy minivan.

Other Stuff

Our minivan came with 24 months of all necessary upkeep, including oil changes. We also have 24 hour road side assistance for the first 2 years. Pretty cool.

Just so you know, we purchased our Toyota Sienna through the Costco Car Program.

*Disclaimer-We bought this minivan all by ourselves. No one gave us a free minivan to test drive for 10 years. In case there’s any interest, I’d be happy to do that for almost any car. I’ll even do it for free. Yeah, I’m super nice like that.

Just bake your bacon in the shape of a heart…

and share your love of bacon with those you love. Right?

Uh, WRONG! (I call this picture “bacon bits“)

Introducing Pinstrosity! This brand new website highlights some of the disastrous outcomes created from Pinterest ideas. (If you don’t know what Pinterest is, hold on for an upcoming review…let me just say it is addicting). Users submit photos of the original idea and their personal outcome. It’s hilarious!

I like that Pinstrosity is user generated, unlike the ever snarky Regretsy, which I adore.  I also like the part of each post explaining what didn’t work or how the poster would do it differently next time. That could actually help someone to eventually get it right.

Just in case you’re having trouble with this concept, here are a few more examples:

What an adorable owl cake! Are those pretzels? Just so precious.

Eeek! That is a foul owl…haha. I know, I’m so funny. Please feel free to write your congressman about this.

A crocheted dish scrubber. So cute and practical.

Dish scrubbers gone wild! maybe this is the industrial strength scrubber…or maybe it’s a platter scrubber. Either way, something didn’t go right.

This website is brand new and they would love your submission! Spread the word!

Reluctantly, we started looking into the process of buying a car. We checked out Consumer Reports ratings and determined the Toyota Sienna was our best bet. **look for an upcoming review**

Then we looked into the mysterious world that is car pricing. After lots of research, because that’s how I roll, we found we could get a used van with 50,000 miles for about $8,000 less than new. Huh! When we sketched out the numbers, including our intent to keep the car for at least ten years, we couldn’t avoid the fact that buying new was really our best choice. We typically make fun of people who buy new cars. Don’t they know you lose half the value when you drive it off the lot? Those losers. Well, here we sat with our judgmental selves.

The thought of all the bartering and bickering makes me want to throw up. Yuck! Luckily, I found out about the Costco car buying program right about this time. Basically, you enter the information on the vehicle of your choice and Costco connects you up with a local dealer. When you visit the dealer, they have a set price on each car, which I think it’s a dollar over invoice…what the dealer actually paid for the car.

We met with our salesman and he was really helpful, not pushy at all. We took the car for a test drive, then took a look at the pricing. I researched every single charge and everyone was legitimate. And several thousand lower than the best we could find online.

Finally, we decided to pull the trigger. It still took several hours to actually make the purchase, but I was simply THRILLED with the entire process! I can’t recommend it highly enough.

If you are in the market for a new or used car, please check out the Costco Auto Buying program. And tell them Miss Mouthy sent you!

the problem:

I left the syrup on the pancakes for too long and now they’re all soggy.

the problem:

The shape of my fried egg was smaller than my sandwich. I had to endure few bites that was only bread like some carnival orphan.

the problem:

My manly Ron Swanson mustache gets whipped cream in it when I drink my latte.

Does this count as one bite?

How many bites do you eat each day? I have never thought about it before, but I’m pretty sure it’s WAY over 80. However, 80 bites is the ideal range in terms of portion control and healthy eating.

When I first heard about the 80 Bites Diet, it sounded like a simple gimmick. Count my bites? Really? But the simplicity of the program is what I find so appealing. Instead of writing down everything I eat, or counting calories, or finding the perfect ratio of carbs to protein to fat, or even converting what I eat into daily points, I simply count how many bites I take each day.

The team at 80BitesDiet.com have calculated the general portions of many diets, such as Adkins , Weight, Watchers, and The Zone. All of them equal out to about 80 bites. Since portion control is one of my biggest issues, I’m really excited to give it a try.

The 80 Bites program 12 weeks long, divided into 4 sessions that are 3 weeks each. Each of the 4 sessions has a theme: Quantity, Frequency, Quality, and Balance. Each week is locked, so you can’t skip ahead (how did they know?). Week 1 is just about taking data…tracking my daily bites. I’m not yet altering what I eat, just tracking. So far, so good.

My major concern about my success on this program is that I’ll just take HUGE bites, like the competitive eaters. Am I allowed to dip my food in water so I can take more bites? I doubt it. Do liquids count? Can I just make a smoothie out of cheeseburgers and fries? Can I use a giant serving spoon for each bite? I’m sure I’ll find out all the rules as I go. Other than that, it looks easy enough to follow.

Check back soon to see my initial impression of the app and to check my progress.

*Disclaimer-I am utilizing this program free of charge in exchange for my review. All opinions are honest and my own.

I am THRILLED with my newest purchase and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Would you like to win it so you can be cute like me? Enter my GIVEAWAY below! Contest ends Sunday, August 28th at midnight.

My dear friend just launched her new business with Thirty-One. They have the most adorable purses, organizing bags and accessories. My favorite product in the Thirty-One line (so far) is the skirt purse. It is a chic black or brown purse, large enough to fit my iPad and all of my essentials. That’s great, right? Here’s where the magic comes in…the purse comes with a trendy ‘skirt’ that attaches directly to the outside of the base purse! Every time you want a new look, you simply change the skirt and you have a whole new purse without having to fumble with and reorganize all of the contents in your purse. The skirts store flat so you can store 10 skirts in the amount of space an additional purse would take up in your closet. And you can purchase additional skirts for only $15! Plus, you can add accents like the rosettes or scarves for even more stylish options. You can have a complete wardrobe of purses without breaking the bank or ever having to move your wallet and car keys!

For the fall/winter catalog there are 9 patterns to choose from. New skirt patterns and accessories are released with each new season. Plus, most items in the catalog can be embroidered with a phrase, name or initials for only $7.

Wanna win a free Thirty-One Skirt Purse? It’s super easy!

1) REQUIRED-Just comment on this post with the name of the skirt and base purse color you would select. Mine is Parisian Pop on Black, if you care.

2) Post about this giveaway with a link on Facebook or Twitter (2 entries). On your comment, just write “posted on FB” on two comments.

3) Blog about this post (5 entries).

4) For TEN entries, make a purchase from the above link. (If you’re drawn as the winning entry for the skirt purse, we can just deduct it from your order).

Fine Print: The random winner of this drawing will win one skirt purse, which includes one fitted skirt, including shipping, handling, and tax. (Personalization is not included in this giveaway.) Winner will need to respond to notification email with address and phone number by Monday, Aug. 29 at 3pm. If not, a new winner will be selected.

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