BzzAgent: Green Mountain Coffee

This first one I tried was the blueberry coffee. Just one whiff made me think of fresh blueberry muffins and fields of fresh berrys. It tasted pretty good too!

I also tried the Colombian Fair Trade coffee and it was a great strong coffee. I am not a big coffee drinker but when I do drink it I always go for the good stuff. This would be it. :-D

<img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/GMCfairTrade.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=9081228831&Campaign=6979708601&Uid=1323193&token=6203e6b469d8c9379a3d5c021aff050c" alt=""/>

Memes I've created

I had to do a Hotel Transylvania meme for a Crowdtap challenge and got an excellent rating on it! It was really easy to do and I hope to make more in the future. This post will be for my collection.

Hotel Transylvania

Napoleon Dynamite

BzzAgent: Glade Oil Wicks and Sprays - Great Scents But Overpowering

This is my second sample and share opportunity from BzzAgent and I have a mostly favorable review to share with you today.

If you work in a warehouse the oil wicks are perfect for you. :-p I gave a Lavender scented oil wick to my aunt for her office and people in the other room started complaining about the strong odor. She now has it in 2 (!) sealed ziplock bags in a drawer and they can still smell it!

The smells are wonderful they are just very strong. I put mine in the bathroom since air doesn't flow through the house from there.  I am only in there a few minutes out of the day and the times that I am in there I usually need the stronger scent to be a nice one. :-p

The sprays worked much better for me. I spray my house just before company comes over and it helps take care of that "apartment" smell.

<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/gladeExpressions.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=9365102339&Campaign=5855213675&Uid=1323193&token=b739c66aa27a517f61923b7e0e5528d4" alt=""/>

UNREAL Candy, UNREAL taste!

<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/unrealCandy.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=6106959830&Campaign=1567983861&Uid=1323193&token=27d0184efb8aa8365b4bd12f347f9f41" alt=""/>

Recently I had the opportunity to sample a new brand of candy called UNREAL. Their mission is simple, have great tasting candy made with all natural ingredients. Nothing artificial here!

I tried them and shared them with friends and we all agreed they were excellent. My all time favorite was the peanut butter cups. I could eat a case of those. :-p You can really tell the quality and the naturalness of each piece after just one bite. I can't recommend this highly enough.

W. Kamau Bell - Totally Biased cyber premiere party!

---> YouTube clip of my party: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw6zf1_eocU

Thursday I had the opportunity to view some exclusive content in preparation for the premiere of W. Kamau Bell's Totally Biased comedy show. It did not start out as a cyber party, but as I was making the rounds on facebook inviting people, all those that wanted to join were not in my area. In fact all those that wanted to join were part of my online group of friends who I have never actually met but we spend lots of time chatting on Facebook and helping each other out with contests and such.

So my party ended up looking like this:

I started off with an open chat in hopes of more guests but I had a real weirdo start to make rude comments so it ended up just being me and my two lovely guests.

I was really nervous to do this because I had never met these people and I didn't want them to feel like they had wasted their time attending my cyber party when they could've done something else. Fortunately they overwhelmed me with their positive support and we had a blast!

First off we chatted a bit about what we had done so far. One guest had already listened to the album and had rated each clip. I had saved listening to the album for the party as had the other guest. 

Then all three of us synced our players and listened to the Face Full of Flour album straight through. 

I made some cookies for the party and fortunately only made two because I ate them all. :-p It was so great being able to do this with other people. It made laughing easier and the experience a whole lot more fun. When I am by myself I can watch a clip of Craig Ferguson's show and not even crack a smile. I can then watch the same clip with my sister and laugh so hard my chest hurts. Comedy needs people! :-)

Afterwards we discussed our opinions and found that all of us were very biased against his incessant swearing. We felt it was rude to be constantly slapped in the face like that. Also I found that we were very biased against certain topics he brought up. For me it was every time he made rude comments about God and Jesus. I believe that God is . . . God. And you DO NOT make fun of Him.

Now I didn't think he was all bad. He made some valid points and was not afraid to stand up for what he believed. But if he can then so can I. :-)

My favorite comment from the album was the ones he made about Henry Louis Gates and what he had to go through. It caused me to google the story because I was unfamiliar with it. Who says TV can't be educational? :-p

We tried to watch the 3 minute preview together but it was not available yet. So we finally said our goodbyes and even swapped phone numbers so we could keep in contact later. I made some very good friends that day, and I have Crowdtap and W. Kamau Bell to thank for that. :-D

I watched the actually show on my own and was pleasantly surprised. He didn't swear too much and made some very nice comments about dear Gabby Douglas. I am a big gymnastics fan so that was awesome!

I'm not sure if I will continue watching the show, but I am not wholly set against it so we'll see.

My McCormick Party from Crowdtap!

This was the most fun I've had in ages! I got the party at the perfect time, which was right when I was going home to see my family that I had not seen since Thanksgiving. It became a wonderful Welcome Back party with great food and to-die-for flavors!

You can find all of the photos and maybe even a video on the event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/184976788296028/ I will also be posting them to my Twitter feed @RuthieAnneC

The menu included:

London Broil with Zesty Red Wine and Herb Marinade: http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Main-Dish/Zesty-Red-Wine-and-Herb-Steak.aspx We had no wine so we used Minute Maid Grape juice Punch and it was fabulous!

Molasses Bacon Burgers: http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Main-Dish/Molasses-Bacon-Burgers.aspx The burgers were good but the red mix made them look underdone even when cooked through.

Spiced Brandy and Herb Salmon and Chicken wings: http://www.mccormick.com/Products/GrillMates/Marinades/Grill-Mates-Spiced-Brandy--Herb-Marinade.aspx The Salmon was perfect and the herbs perfectly complimented the flavor!

Slow & Low Memphis Pit BBQ Ribs: http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Main-Dish/Slow-and-Low-Memphis-Pit-BBQ-Ribs.aspx So good! The dry rub made a perfect crust on the meat and was the best part of the ribs!

Chicken Legs and Wings with Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ Sauce: http://www.mccormick.com/Products/GrillMates/Sauces/Grill-Mates-Brown-Sugar-Bourbon-BBQ-Sauce.aspx The sauce is sweet and tangy and has notes to it you cannot get in regular BBQ sauce.

My mom made her famous Potato Salad and used the Molasses Bacon seasoning on it and it gave it a whole new life! I even sprinkled more on the top when I got my serving and the crunch from the topping added a lovely texture combination to the creamy salad.  http://www.mccormick.com/Products/GrillMates/Seasoning-Blends/Grill-Mates-Molasses-Bacon-Seasoning.aspx

Speaking of new twists on old recipes my sister was making a taco salad with leftover ground beef for a quick lunch before the BBQ and she threw some of the Molasses Bacon seasoning in the meat. It really did wonders for the salad and everyone enjoyed it.

We had a great time cooking and I made everyone who helped prepare food try on the fabulous apron McCormick put in the box.

I tweeted a few times while preparing and you can find the link here: https://twitter.com/#!/RuthieAnneC/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2FLZbP0yqC

Challenges:

I found it very hard with the 5 different seasonings to be able to sample all of them comfortably. I ended up with a plate of just meat and even with one small piece of each flavor it was hard to fit it all in.

It was also hard finding the balance between annoying in-your-face advertizing and tasteful promotion. I think the low key atmosphere of the party and just answering flavor questions when asked worked well but there was always the fear of alienating people.

Best Part:

Spending time with family and friends I hadn't seen in almost a year! Also the new recipes were fun to try out and tweaking the recipes to suit out tastes and having it work was very rewarding! 

Legally Free Music

Ok, so we all know where to find free music, but here I would like to post the ones that are actually legal. :-) I've divided it into two categories, the first are sites where you get to pick from a large database of songs, some with limits some without. The second are sites that offer a download or 2 a week and they pick the songs.

"You Get To Pick" Sites:

Amazon.com: Free to sign up. They give away free song and movie credits all the time. Most importantly they have a massive database of free music. No limits on downloads and you get to pick what you want. I will be doing some posts highlighting some of the best music in the near future. :-)

Guvera.com: Free to sign up. It is a streaming website with the option to buy songs as well. To see if you have any free credits go to My Channels. You should get a few right away as a new user. In my experience the free credits come few and far between, so save this link and check it about once a month. But you do get to pick your music. I just got some Chris Tomlin music.  :-)

NoiseTrade.com: Free to sign up. This one seems to be one for up and coming artists as well as better known ones. It gives you the option to donate to the artist but the music is free. Check it out! There are no limits to downloads and you get to pick the music.

Freegal: This is a library program and offers a few free downloads a week through Sony music. Check your library to see if yours has it. If anyone knows of a database of every library that has this please let me know! I will list them below:

Arkansas, Faulkner County

"They Get To Pick" Sites:

iTunes: To get an iTunes account you need to buy something through them, but you can get around that by picking up one of the free song cards at Starbucks or downloading the song of the week from KLove (below). Go to iTunes Store and click on Free on iTunes. There is never very much in there, so I list it under "they pick", but it is worth a look!

iTickets.com: Usually 2 free Christian songs a week. They pick, but so far they've been good! :-)

WorshipTogether.com: This site has free songs and sheet music. Free to sign up and they seem to change their selection frequently.

KLove.com: Usually 1 free song every two weeks. They pick and you need an iTunes account to download.

Air1.com: Same as KLove, a radio website that features a free song of their choice every two weeks or so.

-----------------------------------

I know I haven't even scratched the surface so please let me know of your favorite site for legally downloading free music and I will add it to the database. Thanks! Until then here is a blog that I get most of my links from, check her out and get your free music! thefrugalgirls.com

P.S. If you want to get free Amazon Gift Cards and get even more free music with them sign up for Crowdtap! It is a community that rewards you just for discussing and communicating with others about brands. We all do it anyway, so why not get paid for it?

Troll Song written by J.R.R. Tolkien

I'm "reading" through The Lord of the Rings on audiobook and I'm constantly amazed at the amount of verse and poetry Tolkien wrote for the trilogy. Here is one of my current favorites from the Fellowship of the Ring. It is a song written and performed by Sam Gamgee at the place of the stone trolls after Frodo was stabbed by the ringwraiths. I thought it was funny and Rob Inglis sings it wonderfully in the audiobook.

Troll Song

Troll sat alone on his seat of stone,
And munched and mumbled a bare old bone;
For many a year he had gnawed it near,
For meat was hard to come by.
Done by! Gum by!
In a cave in the hills he dwelt alone,
And meat was hard to come by.

Up came Tom with his big boots on.
Said he to Troll: 'Pray, what is yon?
For it looks like the shin o' my nuncle Tim,
As should be a-lyin' in graveyard.
Caveyard! Paveyard!
This many a year has Tim been gone,
And I thought he were lying' in graveyard.'

'My lad,' said Troll, 'this bone I stole.
But what be bones that lie in a hole?
Thy nuncle was dead as a lump o' lead,
Afore I found his shinbone.
Tinbone! Thinbone!
He can spare a share for a poor old troll,
For he don't need his shinbone.'

Said Tom: 'I don't see why the likes o' thee
Without axin' leave should go makin' free
With the shank or the shin o' my father's kin;
So hand the old bone over!
Rover! Trover!
Though dead he be, it belongs to he;
So hand the old bone over!'

'For a couple o' pins,' says Troll, and grins,
'I'll eat thee too, and gnaw thy shins.
A bit o' fresh meat will go down sweet!
I'll try my teeth on thee now.
Hee now! See now!
I'm tired o' gnawing old bones and skins;
I've a mind to dine on thee now.'

But just as he thought his dinner was caught,
He found his hands had hold of naught.
Before he could mind, Tom slipped behind
And gave him the boot to larn him.
Warn him! Darn him!
A bump o' the boot on the seat, Tom thought,
Would be the way to larn him.

But harder than stone is the flesh and bone
Of a troll that sits in the hills alone.
As well set your boot to the mountain's root,
For the seat of a troll don't feel it.
Peel it! Heal it!
Old Troll laughed, when he heard Tom groan,
And he knew his toes could feel it.

Tom's leg is game, since home he came,
And his bootless foot is lasting lame;
But Troll don't care, and he's still there
With the bone he boned from it's owner.
Doner! Boner!
Troll's old seat is still the same,
And the bone he boned from it's owner!

Edit: Lookie what I just found! The Troll Song sung by none other than Tolkien himself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9WmxwgW2J0