Apartment Life #429

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

Fire department showed up to clear and make sure the fire hydrants were working. I didn't get a video of that because he barely turned this one on. Just wanted to make sure it worked I guess. 

It was a quiet week. 

The high this week was 109F/42C

The low this week was 84F/28C

We had 42% humidity one day this week. Bring back the dry heat! 🤣🤣

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Saturday Vittles

 

Layered Chicken Zucchini Enchiladas

You will need: 

No Calorie cooking spray

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

½ cup corn

½ cup black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 large chicken breast chopped (about 2 cups)

1 cup enchilada sauce

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided

2 medium zucchini 

salt and fresh black pepper

1/2 cup black olives- sliced

1/4 cup diced cilantro

a 10x10 baking pan

Spray a large pan with cooking spray. Cook the chicken, onion, olives, corn, black beans and spices until chicken is cooked through. 

Slice the zucchini into very thin slices. I used a vegetable peeler to do this. Layer the bottom of the baking pan with cooking spray and then zucchini slices and some of the chicken mixture and a little shredded cheese. Add a little of the enchilada sauce and keep layering. 

Keep layering until you used everything. 

Add the other half of the cheese on top, top with cilantro. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. 

Makes 4 servings. Each serving is 350 calories.

Book Review: Claimed By The Mountain Man Orc by Pippa Rae Brook

 

Book Description

One broody orc. One stubborn human. And a bond neither of them can deny.

Varn

I’ve spent years alone on this mountain, carving tokens for a mate I never truly believed would come.

Then she crashes into my territory—loud, fearless, impossible to ignore.

She doesn’t belong here.

But the moment I catch her scent, I know she belongs to me.

Mazie

I came to Orc Mountain chasing answers, not fairy tales.

The locals whisper about monsters in the trees. But when I stumble straight into the arms of one… I realize the stories don’t come close to the truth.

Because this orc isn’t just a monster.

He’s my destiny.

Claimed by the Mountain Man Orc is a short and steamy monster-lite romance featuring a broody orc hero, a fearless human heroine, and a fated-mates bond carved in stone. Expect growly possessiveness, size difference heat, and over-the-top instalove. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily-ever-after—with tusks.

My Review

Mazie swears she saw an Orc when she was a kid but no one believed her. Now she has a podcast about myths and monsters. She's come to Orc Mountains to see if maybe she can track something that shouldn't exist. 

Varn is an Orc, he and his people stay hidden away from humans. It's the middle of Winter and the snow would make it very hard for a human to track where he's at right now, or so he thought until he spots Mazie watching him. When she plunges into the icy water, he can't let her die, so he saves her and brings her back to his house to warm up. 

When she finally wakes up, she's got questions and he's doing everything he can to keep his hands off her since he knows right away that she's his mate. He doesn't think she'll ever believe him or want an Orc for a mate. So, when she wakes up and isn't scared of him, he's surprised. 

This is an insta-love novella. I didn't mind that they fell for each other so fast, it was a quick, cute story. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Sunset on Monday night. It's been hot, humid and cloudy the past few days. 

Book Review: Claimed By The Deep by Luna Wren

 

Book Description

She finds sunken treasure to make a living. He thinks she is the most precious thing of all...

MERI

I've spent my life salvaging treasures from the deep, fighting to prove I belong in waters that have claimed stronger divers than me. But when my equipment fails sixty feet down, something else claims me instead—something with tentacles that move like liquid midnight and eyes that hold a century of loneliness.

He should terrify me. Instead, when his inhuman form wraps around me in the dark waters, I feel more alive than I've ever been on land. As researchers close in, hunting the mysterious creature disturbing these waters, I'm faced with an impossible choice: the independence I've sacrificed everything to maintain, or the alien touch I can no longer live without.

CYREUS

For nearly a century, I've watched humans from the shadows of Earth's oceans, the sole survivor of a crashed mission, resigned to isolation on this water-covered world. Until her—the fierce salvage diver who calls me beautiful instead of monster.

The first touch of her skin against my tentacles awakens biological responses I thought dead, her body responding to mine as though evolution prepared us for each other across galaxies. But as scientific expeditions track my movements, our stolen moments in hidden coves become increasingly dangerous. After decades alone, I've finally found something worth risking exposure for—if only I can keep her without destroying her life above the waves.

Claimed by the Deep is a sizzling paranormal romance featuring midnight encounters in hidden coves, a stubborn salvage diver who finds freedom in surrender, and an alien who discovers that crossing galaxies was just the beginning of his journey home. Dual-POV with high heat and a happily-ever-after that bridges both their worlds.

My Review

Meri is a salvage diver who's looking for something that she'll be able to sell so that she can pay the bills that are all hitting her at the same time. She needs a miracle right now. She thinks she has enough oxygen on her latest dive but when she stays down for too long and her air runs out, she's saved by Cyreus. Meri wakes up in a cave and isn't sure how she got there. Cyreus looks human enough but there's something about him that's just a little bit off. 

Cyreus crashed on Earth after a failed attempt to come to Earth and make first contact. His ship crashed and he was the lone survivor. He's a kind of cephalopod shifter. On Earth he looks much like a giant squid but only from the torso down, his upper half is human-like. When he spreads out his tentacles, he's about 30 feet across. He's been watching humans in the 100 years he's been here. He's tried to save some that have had accidents in the ocean but he hasn't been able to save everyone. He's been watching Meri and thinks she's different. Meri has been having dreams about a sea creature but her dreams are anything but a nightmare. 

Release the Kraken!

I wasn't sure I was going to like this story since a lot of the sexy time between these two have him in his natural/tentacle form. It was interesting to say the least. 

Meri has other fishermen and then a research team asking her more questions since she's been salvaging more interesting items that she shouldn't have been able to find since they seem to be from farther depths than she should be able to get to without more specialized equipment. And it's not like she can tell anyone that her new partner is a giant sea monster who can swim in even deeper waters than she can imagine. I felt so bad for Cyreus, he's been alone for 100 years. He was such a good guy.

When a research vessel drops anchor near where Meri lives and works, they start asking around about her and wanting to interview her about anomalies they've been picking up with their equipment. They're tracking Cyreus and now he's in danger of being found and they both know they can't let that happen. Now they have to find a way to save him and still be together. 

I really liked this one. I love a good monster romance and this was that and more. The ending was well thought out and made sense. If you've never read a monster/alien romance and want to, this is a great one to start with. It was a lot of fun. 

I give this a 5 out of 5 stars.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures this week are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #428

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

 

This week was pretty quiet. So I figured I would show you what happened the night of the 4th of July since I didn't post the videos in time for last weeks post. After some of the fireworks had been used a couple of teens were being nice and throwing them in the dumpster but they forgot to dunk them in a bucket of water first to make sure they weren't still hot, and it caught the dumpster on fire. Thankfully there wasn't much in the dumpster and the adults out there were able to put it out as you'll see in the next video.

Neighbors putting water on the dumpster fire. 

And then a short clip of the fireworks going off in my neighborhood on the 4th. There were so many illegal fireworks in my neighborhood. Anything that flies into the sky or spins is illegal but people still had them. 

Falcor was fine during the fireworks. He sat next to me on the couch and had his blanket to hide in. He slept most of the night except when the roman candles made their loud booms.

---

The wall right next to my apartment building there was a shot bottle and a used syringe sticking out. 

This is the wall, all covered in graffiti. 

---

Wednesday night I heard a bunch of yelling from outside my bedroom window. I looked out and there were 2 guys screaming at each other and an older man holding a cloth on his head. The red headed man was mad at the dark haired guy for hitting the older man in the head. The redhead was ready to fist fight the dark haired guy but several women were holding the dark haired man back. The redhead's wife was on the phone with police and they showed up fast. 

There were 4 police cars that showed up and then the ambulance showed up for the man who got hit in the head. 

There were so many people outside screaming at each other that it took all the police that showed up to break them up and settle things down. The hurt man got in the ambulance but I didn't see anyone get arrested.

The high this week was 112F/44C

The low this week was 83F/28C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

Saturday Vittles

 

Sauteed Purple Cabbage and Bacon

You will need: 

2 cups chopped purple cabbage

4 bacon slices

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

What to do: 

Chop bacon into bite sized pieces. Sauté bacon over medium heat until crispy. Add cabbage and all spices. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until your desired doneness. 

The entire dish has 300 calories which makes this a good side dish.

Do you like cooked cabbage?

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, 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.  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 Healthy Snack Box, which included...

Nature Valley crunchy granola bar

Special K blueberry bar

Mott's gummi candy

Pop Chips BBQ chips

Pirate's Booty white cheddar popcorn

Salmas chia and flax seed baked corn chips

Pure Organic pineapple and passionfruit bar

Brookside blueberry and acai chocolate covered blueberries

Earth Chimp chocolate shake mix

My daughter, I and my grandson tried everything except the shake mix and we all liked pretty much all of it. We've tried almost everything in the box before and all of it was pretty good. 

Healthy Snack Box gives away 100 boxes with each post they make on FB and Twitter. All you have to do is comment on their posts for a chance to win one.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Claimed By Chaos by Jesi Donovan

 

Book Description

They were sent to kill her. Claim her. Use her. None of them expected to want her.

Tierney has always felt wrong. Like something dark and dangerous hides beneath her skin. When that darkness finally erupts, she discovers the truth: she's the last survivor of a bloodline destroyed centuries ago.

Now she's been thrown into a deadly competition with no training, no allies, and four lethal men circling her like wolves.

An assassin. A prince. A beast. A schemer.

They should be her enemies. But in a world where everyone wants her dead, these monsters might be the only ones willing to keep her alive.

The question is: what will they demand in return?

A Court of Monsters is a scorching paranormal why choose romance with a fierce heroine, four morally grey men, deadly trials, and a cliffhanger.

My Review

I knew going into this book that it would end in a cliffhanger but as long as I know that beforehand, I will give a book a chance and see if it grabs me. And boy, did this grab me. This is book 1 in the A Court Of Monsters Trilogy.

Right off the bat, Tierney has been running all her life. Her mother disappeared years ago and told her that she needed to keep moving and keep herself hidden as much as possible. She's working at a bar when she spots a man in a booth that is strange and gives her the creeps. She's cornered soon after by 3 assassins who almost kill her but instead, a power she had no idea she had comes to the surface and she kills, then absorbs the 3 monsters powers. Now she knows more monsters will be coming after her, she can feel them coming but now she knows that she can protect herself, even if she's not sure how she did it the first time. She's done hiding, let them come. 

Claimed by Chaos has different courts that are vying for power. The Shadow Court, Ice Court, Beast Court, Shadow Court and the Chaos Court. The crucible is about to begin and anyone can compete in it so the courts have sent assassins to kill her and stop her from getting to The Crucible in time to compete. If she can make it to the Crucible and get through it then somebody in one of the courts can claim her and use her as a weapon. 

All the other courts got together 400 years ago and thought that they eliminated the Chaos Court by killing all of them because they were entirely too powerful. Tierney might be the most powerful Chaos person they've ever encountered. 

The Citadel has also sent an assassin to kill her but he's feeling things that he shouldn't be ever since her saw a picture of her. He has seen her face in his dreams and doesn't know what that means. And then Rhydian whose brother killed their father and took over their court has been running from his brother for several years now waiting until he can prove that he had nothing to do with his father's death so he can take back his rightful place. He plans on going to find her and help her get through The Crucible but he has no plans on claiming her against her will and is hoping that if he protects her during The Crucible she will willingly help him.

The assassins that are sent to kill her, end up having feelings for her. Now they have to fight together to save her and keep her safe. There are a lot of players in this book and a lot going on. It was kind of hard to keep track of everyone, but the story is really good so I plan on reading the other two books at some point. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Amazon