China Sleeping

It's raining here, and just as lazy as that makes me sometimes, it has the same effect on our dogs lol. I was just able to get a seriously cute picture of our lil' China while she's asleep. You've gotta love the tongue. I just couldn't help myself, I had to share this real quick!
Enjoy :)

Nailene French Manicure Kits

Before I forget to mention, which I'm sure is near to impossible lol, this past Saturday I received several products from Nailene! With everything going on this weekend, I just didn't get time to post about it yet lol.
Here is what I received:

• Acrylic Strong Topcoat
• French Tip Pen Kit
• White French tip Pen
• Black French tip Pen
• and Perfect Tip Guides.

So far the only thing I've been able to try out is the Acrylic Strong Topcoat. I put it on Sunday night and have to say, it definitely does what it promises. My nails feel a lot stronger than they do without having that top coat on! And best of all, so far it hasn't chipped or peeled off, which I find is what usually happens with most top coats. Of course I've only worn it for around 3 days now lol, but I believe it'll stay like that. As soon as I get a chance I'll be trying out the French Tip Pen Kit, although instead of using the white tip that comes with the kit, I was thinking about using the black French tip pen that they sent as well. Have to be honest, I can't think of a single time that I've seen someone with black french tips, but that's ok, because the black is just a lot more like me lol.
Also don't forget, Nailene is currently running a sweepstakes for a really great prize!!
That's it for my post this evening, I think Sunday when Billy and I added the canopy to the deck, while cutting off some tree limbs, we must've gotten into something. Well either that or we're both coming down with a nasty regular ol' summer cold. I'd prefer the allergy thing lol, hoping it'll just disappear as quickly as it came ;)
But don't forget to check back, as soon as I'll try all of these products out, I'll be posting pictures ;)

Making sure your email is on your Blogger account

If you already have a blogger account and want to make sure, that other people have a way of contacting you, here's how you can find out how to do so.

First things first. Go to your blogger account and sign into your account. This should bring you straight to your personal dashboard. On the left hand towards the top you should see three options, view profile, edit profile (you can click on edit profile to get there as well) and edit picture. The one you need to click on is edit profile. And now all you have to do, is make sure there's a check-mark next to where it says "show my email address".
Now this isn't just going to add your email to your account, for everyone, including spammers to see. What it does do, is add a click-able link to your account which will have your email in it.
I hope this helps someone, and as always if you have any questions, feel free to comment on here and I'll try my best at answering them!

The Deck

It is back to being daylight out, and just a minute ago, I was able to take a couple of better pictures of the new deck.


Although now I feel like it was too bright out there to get a very good picture. I don't think I can deny it any longer, I need to get a real camera and stop using my cell for all the pictures that I take lol. Anyway, I love the new deck and I guess until the rails go up, I'm gonna call it a deck lol, after that happens it'll be a porch. That's just how my mind works this morning ;)
It was so nice this morning to sit up there while I was letting the dogs out.

If you look real close in this picture, of to the left right there, thats China, though she seemed to blend right in with the sunlight, and you can hardly make her out lol. Now all that's left for me to do, is to replant all of my giant elephant ears, that Billy had to pull up yesterday.
Promise again, to update and show some more pic's once the deck becomes a porch ;) lol

For our anniversary

Yesterday was our 11th wedding anniversary! Eleven long, agonizing, excruciating ......yeah, yeah just kidding lol. So now, guess what Billy bought me for our anni?
Nothing, he didn't buy anything!
But now, don't go to boo'ing him yet lol. He didn't buy me anything, but what he did do is build me something ;) For years now, I've whined and complained about not having a porch.
So yes, you guessed right lol, he recruited a couple of his friends, and they all came together today and build me a deck/porch. Well, I guess it's for us, but I'm still gonna continue to call it mine lol. It took Billy, his friends Scott and Hal around 3 hours to almost have it completely finished! They had to go back to Lowe's and get another board, because they were one short lol. That's what they're doing right now, is adding that last piece of wood to it. While they were gone, I went ahead and took a picture for you all to see real quick. I promise to try and get a better picture of it, once it's finished and it's back to being daylight outside lol.

Billy also said that if everything works out alright, next weekend he'll be working on adding rails. I'm completely in love with "my" new deck/porch! In case you're wondering the deck is 10ft X 10ft. Truly he couldn't have given me a better gift! A big "You Rock!!" for Billy, Scott and Hal, as well as Scott's dad who came over to help out as well ;)

We have our OWN domain!!

As some of you might have noticed by looking up into the address bar of your browser, we're no longer crazywithpets.blogspot.com! We are now simply crazywithpets.com! Also some of the contact emails and such have changed on here.
Either way, I just wanted to let everyone know, so that you can change your bookmarks/favorites accordingly :) For a while, even if you still leave the .blogspot added on the url, it's going to forward you to this site, but I just want to make sure you all realized it's changed in case it stops forwarding you one of these days :)

PaperBackSwap

While mailing out, one of my books this morning, I realized something. I haven't told you all about PaperBackSwap yet! I've been a member on PaperBackSwap for going on eight months now, and have to honestly admit, although I was a bit weary at first, this is a truly great website!
If you're like me, I'm sure you have a couple of books laying around, that maybe at some point you've already read, and don't feel the need to reread, or that you might have been given, and will never read. You're just not quite sure of what to do with those books, and as it stands right now, they're collecting dust!
First of to be clear, even though it's called PaperBackSwap, they don't just handle Paperbacks. There are also hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette and Large Print books available. The idea of PaperBackSwap works like this. You sign up with them, and you list all of the books that you don't want anymore, or well that you want to trade with other people in the USA. After listing your first 10 books you get two "start up" book credits good toward any other club member's books.
Choosing a hardcover or paperback book from a PaperBackSwap Member will cost you one book credit, Audio books are two credits.
Once someone chooses one of your books and asks you to send it to them, you will receive another book credit, once that member receives that book. Or if you do it like me and pay for the S&H via PaperBackSwap you'll get your credit right away.
All in all this is a really great system. They have guidelines on the conditions that a book can/ must be in. So far I've asked for and received 15 books and I have yet to be disappointed about the quality of the books!
If you don't have enough books or are lacking enough books to make enough credits for books that you want, you can always buy credits on their site. It would cost you $3.45 to buy one credit. Now keep in mind, that means that you would be paying $3.45 for a book that you really want to read. All of my Anne Rice collection has come from PaperBackSwap members, they're all in great condition and are hardcover books. Granted I didn't have to actually buy credits because I had right around 100 books that I posted lol, but even if I had, there's no place else I could have gotten them cheaper lol.
For any avid readers, or anyone that just really wants a certain book but doesn't want to pay full price, this site is definitely worth a second, third and fourth look lol. BTW for some of you college students, you'll have a pretty good chance finding Textbooks/workbooks as well.
What you'll need to sign up on PaperBackSwap:

• A working email address, so they can notify you about swaps, wish list offers (the wishlist feature gets another big thumbs up from me!) and any other critical notifications.
• A physical Mailing address where you want to receive your books.
• You must be 18 and older
• You must be within the United States
• And you cannot be incarcerated *institutional memerships are not permitted.

You can sign up for PaperBackSwap by clicking here.
And if you really love me, where it says Referred by you can let them know that I, "prplrush" referred you lol. You can also click on the button which should have my username/or email already on the form, once you click on signup.
This by no means is necessary, you can sign up without having a referrer! They do however have a referral program, and if someone does say they were referred by you, once they post 10 books you will get one book credit for that! If nothing else, just check out their site, you have absolutely nothing to loose if you love to read! If you do sign up, look me up, as I said before my username there is prplrush, and right now I have around 90 books on my trade list lol and I would love to make some PaperBackSwap Buddies!! And as always, if you have any questions about PaperBackSwap just comment and ask me, I'll be happy to answer your questions!

HP Touchsmart Review

As some of my faithful readers already know, my one love, aside from of course my dear hubby and the hoard of dogs and our cat lol, is electronics! No matter how small or big the electronics are, I absolutely love them, and have to try them out ;)

A few months ago, Billy got me my most loved new toy lol. The HP Touchsmart PC IQ 504!
Wow, what a wonderful invention! I've always loved playing Mahjong on those little touchscreens that you find in some places, so of course that was one of the very first things I tried on the Touchsmart. Luckily it's one of the many games that comes pre-installed on it!
Here are the well not so formal specs of my HP Touchsmart:

The next-generation touch-enabled PC combines a 22" hi-def widescreen display with a powerful, energy-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 processor in a single, integrated design. Includes HP Touchsmart software, wireless keyboard & mouse, 4096MB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive, HP ambient light feature, slot-loading SuperMulti DVD Burner, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN & Integrated Bluetooth, Integrated Webcam & Mic, Media card reader, Premium stereo speakers, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit OS

One of the first things I also noticed, which somehow completely had bypassed me, and I never did see in any of the reviews lol is the ambient light feature. This I absolutely love, sitting in the living room with Billy, whom loves to keep the room completely in the dark, save the Tv, this is an absolute must! And so much better than a desk lamp. On the left side of my screen there's a button that you push, and as soon as you do, there's a light under the screen that turns on, and if you have your keyboard right there, it completely illuminates it! It has three settings, dim, medium and bright. Once you have something like that, you will never want to give it up again lol.
Another feature that i truly love, is that you can connect the touchsmart to the internet wireless like you would do a laptop. This of course, comes in really handy, if your modem or router is on the opposite side of the room, which is the case here ;)
The programs that come pre-installed on the Touchsmart, like the Touchsmart home, are an absolute must! Of course it has a great media center, and you're able to use a remote with it, if it came with yours, or if you choose to buy one.
Another great feature which I use quite often is that you can link the HP Touchsmart, with your XBox 360! This enables you to watch pictures, videos, listen to music and so much more, on your TV. BTW, you can also get a connection cable that connects your PC straight to your TV, something you should definitely give a try, especially if you have a flat screen hdtv.

All in all, the only cons, that I have come across over these few months, with this particular model of the Touchsmart has been, for one the fact that it runs Windows Vista (I am dying for Windows 7 to come out, and the features that it will seriously embellish on this particular PC. And the only other con I could find would be that at times the touchscreen is a bit sensitive. This isn't really a bad thing most of the times, as it truly makes for a great response time, but, should you get a fly or anything like that on your screen while you have it turned on, it can become quite irritating lol. There's nothing like shooing a fly off your screen, while it steadily opens program after program, deletes a couple of things and such lol.
Truly though, if you're looking into buying a new PC, definitely give the HP Touchsmart series a try. At this point if you were to buy one, at the very least they now offer free upgrades to Windows 7 once it comes on the market!
I'm sure I haven't "touched" on all the great features this computer has, so if you have any questions about it, feel free to comment and ask me!
You can buy your own, right here:

Algebra Challenge

Harajuku Lovers G

For starters today, just wanted to let everyone know, that as of this morning, Diago is back to his usual rambunctious self! It's like nothing ever happened. Other then the fact that he's a bit mad at Billy and I, because we wont kick his ball outside right now, and he doesn't get to chase it. Of course, he's oblivious as to the reasoning of us not letting him chase a ball wildly across the yard. Who would've thought lol.



On with what I wanted to tell everyone about!
Today I got a nice little package through Fed-Ex and within it was this little, tiny but very cute bottle of Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers G that I had ordered.
Let me just tell you it smells absolutely fabulous, I think the best description I could give it is, truly yummy! Of course I tried it out the second that I received it, and made Billy smell it as well lol (he better be glad I didn't actually spray him with it as well) he loved it! On me anyways, I don't think he would've liked it as much on him ;)
I actually went online to check on their site, just what all exactly is in this eau de toilette spray, because all that kept coming to my mind was Pina Colada lol. Not quite as sweet as one, but really really close! Hmmm so yummy!!
This is what I did find about this particular scent:
Harajuku Lovers ‘G’ perfume is a food lover’s fragrance with mandarin, coconut, apple, freesia and sandalwood
I think that description is right on, I must be more of a food lover than I thought!
So now, even hours later I constantly find myself smelling my wrists lol, which is the first place on me that I tried the spray out earlier. I guess as long as I don't start chewing on myself due to the yummy smell, I'll be ok!
If you're looking for a new, unique and absolutely yummy scent, than I would definitely recommend you give one of the Gwen Stefani Lover collection perfumes a try!



I bought this product on my own, it was not send for a review, this is simply my own honest opinion about it!

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 13 August 2009


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. We always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

For giveaway entrants:
Your information will not be sold, distributed, or used for any purpose, other then to ship a prize.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

* "Samples/Products" sent in exchange for a review will not be returned unless prior arrangements have been agreed upon between both parties, before the items are sent for a review.


To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Vet visit

Out of all the things I did have on my agenda today, a vet visit wasn't one of them. This afternoon, our Dobe Diago was chasing after his basketball outside and then, came back to me with a limp! Of course I right away figured he had done found the one single piece of glass in my yard, that I'm 99% certain doesn't exist lol, but no, what he did was rip one of his lil' toenails "almost" completely down to the quick :(
He was not a happy camper, neither was I of course. I brought him right back inside and checked to see if I could do anything for him. Since he didn't rip the nail off all the way, it stuck straight out to the side and I knew it needed to be clipped off. So I called for Billy whom was outside "gossiping" with the neighbors lol, I told him in a complete frenzy that Diago got hurt outside, there's bloody paw-prints all over the house and he has to fix it all NOW! Of course, he comes right to our rescue, gets the clippers that we have for doggy nails, I grab a leash in hopes of attempting to muzzle Diago (believe me we know this is going to hurt, and any dog is going to be a bit unhappy and unfriendly when they're in pain) and we get started. All Billy did, was touch Diagos nail and that was that lol, he yanked loose from me, growled at the both of us, and than continued to sit on the couch pouting.
Do you know what the stink eye is? It's an expression my friend and I use, when our dogs, give us that funny look. The one that says, "oh yeah, come closer and mess with me again and see what will happen".
Either way, Diago gave Billy and me both a serious stink eye lol. He tilted his head back and just let those lil slants of a doberman eyes do all the talking for him!
Needless to say, we both decided at that point that we're completely out of our league here!
I called our vet, told the receptionist that I had one of my dogs break his nail off partially, that it was bleeding a lot and that it needed to have the rest clipped off. The receptionist told me, they didn't have any appointments open, but of course we're more then welcome to come up there and see if they can squeeze us in.
When we got there our vet and her tech, which by the way love Diago lol, made sure they got us in within about 10 minutes of us being there. It was absolutely horrible :( First of they had to muzzle him with not just one, but two muzzles. Let me tell you something it's not very easy to muzzle a doberman, not because he wouldn't let us, its just simply due to the shape of their heads. The muzzles tend to just slip straight over. Anyway, They put something resembling a tourniquet around Diagos leg, and then went straight for the clippers. At this point Diago was still fine, but once they went to codorize the wound, Diago completely went off his hinges! He started wriggling around, almost bucking I guess. It took Billy, me, the tech and the vet to hold him. He definitely used every bit of his 125lbs! The amazing thing of course is, that as soon as the muzzles came off, Diago was best friends with the tech, whom done all this to him, again. Everything got finished off with a shot of anti inflammatory a big bandage and we got send on our way.
As I type this now, Diago is piled up in the bedroom with Billy, soaking up all the extra attention he can get out of this lol.
It truly just amazes me though, just how forgiving dogs can be. I mean even though this had to be done and there was no way around it, they sure don't know how to hold a grudge. Maybe he really does know, that in the long run it was all to help him, and make him feel better. Poor baby though, there's nothing worse than seeing one of our dogs in pain, for any reason!
All I can say is, always check your dogs nails, and make sure they don't get too long. How we missed this one is beyond me, all of his other nails were normal length, but this one was at least twice the length it should have been. I know, shame on me, but we really did miss it somehow. Guaranteed that wont be happening again!
Now that all that's said and done I'm gonna get back to some of the things I did have planned for today lol.
You all have a good night :)

Knowing (2009) DVD Giveaway! OVER!!

This giveaway is over, the winner has been notified!

So I figured I would go ahead and run my very first and very own giveaway!
Why not right l0l, I mean what could it hurt lol.
I truly loved the movie Knowing, thought that it had a great story-line and well quite simply, I just can't get enough of Nicolas Cage. I don't think there has been a single movie of his that I haven't gotten to see at some point or another lol.
Anyway, I have a brand new, still wrapped DVD of the movie Knowing for one of my readers! This is going to be a very simple, (well I'm trying to keep it that way lol) very easy to enter giveaway.
You do not have to be a blogger to enter this giveaway. When commenting on this post simply click on Name/URL and leave your email in the URL space, in this format "yourusername.yourprovider.com/net", this is to keep from spammers picking up your email. Or leave your email in the post if you're comfortable with it. Which ever makes it easier for you.

Entry period ends on August 31st, 2009 at 11:59pm CT (just make sure you're entries are in before Sep. 1st!) Open to residents of the U.S.


To Enter:

Simply tell me your favorite movie with Nicolas Cage. (If you haven't seen one yet, let me know why you want to win this DVD) You can only do this once. This first entry is mandatory.
Make sure I have a way of contacting you! Check your profiles, make sure you have an email on it. If you're not sure how to do this, please click here.
Please also check and make sure your profile is not set to private, or I wont be able to email you!


For Additional Entries do one, two or all of the following:

• Follow me on blogger (leave one extra comment)
• Add my button to your blog and leave a link to your blog. (leave two extra comments)
• Follow me on twitter (on the right sidebar) and tweet about this giveaway. (you can do this once per day, for one extra entry each day, leave me the link for your tweets!) Feel free to copy and tweet this: RT @prplrush One lucky reader will receive the DVD Knowing (2009)http://bit.ly/XUb06
  
• Blog about this giveaway on your own blog(make sure to link back to CrazyWithPets) and leave me the link to your blog. (Leave three extra comments)

The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here on Tuesday, September the 1st, 2009
I will contact the winner via email as well, so make sure you either leave your email, or that there's a way for me to contact you via your blog. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email (or the winning post, whichever he/she sees first), if there's no response, a new winner will be chosen!

If you have any questions about this giveaway, you can contact me via the contact button on my blog.
I also want to assure everyone that enters, that your info will not be used for anything other than to enter this giveaway!

Disclaimer: This giveaway is hosted by me personally and has absolutely nothing to do with Universal Home Video!

Argh Migraines!

I have a blasting Migraine today. No clue where it came from, or why or anything lol. I can't even think straight today lol.
Don't worry though i'll be back stronger and better soon ;)
And I'm getting ready to host my very first and very own, Giveaway!! All i will say about it for now, is that it's going to be a DVD, a brand new, newly released DVD ;)
So you all stay tuned!

Win NAILENE™ French Manicure kits

Have you ever wanted your nails to look like you've had a professional manicure done, but without the big costs?
See, you're not alone, I love having my nails done. I just don't have the budget these days to get them done lol.
This is where Nailene comes in! I absolutely love their products. They look great, actually Nailene looks professional and best of all, Nailene lasts! They're extremely simple to use, they're quick and they also have truly beautiful designs. They're French Manicure Products truly do give professional salon results! Even for me lol, and believe me, I'm not all that skilled at doing anything with my nails lol. I actually also love their little nail art stickers!
The ones with the little rhinestones in them truly give your finger nails, as well as your toenails that "I didn't do this myself" look!

Anyway, yesterday I received my French Manicure e-mail blast from Nailene, in which they talked about their new Sweepstakes! So hurry up, check out this link and

Enter for a chance to win
NAILENE products!

Enter for your chance to win WIN NAILENE™ French Manicure kits and other fantastic NAILENE® products and a $50.00
Wal-Mart gift card – a prize package
worth $250.00.

Sweepstakes begins August 1st
and ends October 31st, 2009 at 5:00pm PST.

Let's get some beautiful nails girls!

Tousle Me Softly Instant Win & Sweeps

Tex-Mex Meatballs

It's dinner time yet again! Ok, well maybe it was dinner time a few hours ago lol, but I'm just now getting around to posting it ;)
Since my friend pointed out I should also add the recipe to my dinners here you go lol. Tonight there will also be a recipe :)

What you'll need:

1lb Ground Beef
1 Egg
1 (7oz) package of Spanish rice (you can also use Mexican, which is all i had on hand tonight)
1/2 cup of water
2 (15oz) cans of stewed Tomatoes
1 onion, sliced (you can leave it out if you choose, like me lol)
1 large Green Bell Pepper, sliced
2 tsp chili powder
1 bag of tortilla chips ( you can also use flour tortillas or pita bread, or like my hubby po-boy buns)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapenos (all i had was sharp cheddar, works fine, although i did cut up a couple of jalapenos and mixed it into the cheese lol.)

What you're gonna do:

First combine ground beef, egg, rice mix and water in a bowl, mix it all up. Now shape into 1 to 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Put them into the fridge for a few minutes to let them chill so they will firm. If you're strapped for time, cover them up, and set them in your freezer, it'll firm them much faster.

Once they are firm, brown the meatballs in a large skillet over med-high heat. Pour off all the grease. (you probably wont have as many meatballs lol. i always make extra, cause i know Billy will be having Tex-Mex Poboys the next day :)

Now add the tomatoes, onion if you choose so lol and the bell pepper slices. Sprinkle the Chili powder over the top.

Now cover your skillet, and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. (Might take longer if you made bigger meatballs like me lol. )
Make sure your meatballs are cooked through and that the rice is tender.


Lastly arrange tortilla chips in a serving dish and spoon the meatballs and sauce over them. Sprinkle with the cheese.
Unless of course you are using the flour tortillas or the pita bread, in which case you know what to do :)
Voila! You've just made Tex-Mex Meatballs!


This is my finished serving platter lol. There aren't many chips on there, that's simply because we don't like it once the chips get soggy, so i prefer to either keep most of the chips in a bag or put them into little bowls next to the main dish. All up to you!

My Coke Rewards - Papa Johns Instant Win Sweepstakes

I'm so thrilled lol. I didn't have to cook today, nor did I have to spend a penny on dinner :) This afternoon I played the Papa Johns Instant Win sweepstakes and guess what?! Yep, I won lol. My prize was a Medium pizza with two toppings and two large bottles of Coke Zero. Although i opted for sprite lol, not a big fan of actual coke.
I tried to get a perfect picture of it all, but as you can see, I didn't get to the pizza before Billy did, haha!
You know, whoever said, you can't get something for nothing, obviously never heard of sweeps lol. The only thing you can say to that, is you can't win it if you aint in it :D
Well, i only have a couple more days left to get my Pogo badges done, so I think for now I'm gonna go off to pogo land and try to get those done. Might be back in a lil' bit though lol.

True Blood - Release Me

Oh man, I can hardly wait! Tomorrow night it'll be time for True Blood again :)
Just brings a big smile to my face lol. Is everyone keeping up with the second season? I know I am, all I do all week is wait for Sunday.
Can ya'll believe Daphne? I do wonder what exactly is going on with Maryann and what she wants with Sam!
Than again, who didn't see that coming with Sookie and Hugo?? Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that was gonna happen. Although i have to say having Lorena (Bill's Maker) come into the picture should make for an interesting story. Sure am dying to see if Bill makes it out of her clutches to save Sookie!
Anyways lol, enough babble about one of my many TV obsessions for right now, Ya'll have a good night now :)

J. Leigh Designz: Cuisinart - Mix It In™ Ice Cream Maker - Giveaway!

J. Leigh Designz is hosting a giveaway for a

Cuisinart - Mix It In™ Ice Cream Maker!

The giveaway will end on Wednesday, August 12, 2009, so make sure to go check out their site, comment on their post and get you an entry!