Favorite Picture of the Week

 

This sunset was so much pinker than this picture shows. Still pretty though. 

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #303

 

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 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

Remember last week when I said I would have to look out for the homeless breaking into the 5 vacant apartments? Well they broke in, broke the back window and were staying in the apartment right across from me that has been getting remodeled after the fire 2 years ago.

Glass all over the ground. 

The maintenance guy pulled out a bunch of trash, blankets, a chair, beer cans and other stuff the homeless had left in the apartment.

Maintenance boarded up the bedroom window and later that night the police came banging on the door. They checked the apartment and then left. I don't know if management had them drop by unexpectedly to make sure they weren't in there again or what. The police were walking away in this picture. 

---

On Monday night around 8pm my daughter and I heard 2 gunshots really close by. Sounded like it was right across the street. I got up to look out my bedroom window to see if I saw anyone and right as I was looking 3 police cars pulled up really fast. They must have been in the area and heard the gunshots too because they were here in seconds. They got out of their cars, guns drawn and searched the apartments across the street, their alley, my alley and my courtyard. When they didn't find anything, they left. My daughter went outside to get this picture while the police were across the street. 

---

Here's some extras not from my apartment complex but from where my daughter works. There was a huge crash while my daughter was at work and this car on the back of the tow truck had crashed head on into a palm tree. Part of the palm tree broke off. 

 The car was totaled. 

Later that week there was a car accident near where she works.

She only works a few streets away and drug dealer moved into the apartments right across the street from where she works so she sees him and the whole entourage all the time at the store she works. But she also sees a lot of car crashes on the busy street in front of her store.

And since it's not a great neighborhood, she sees a lot of police and police helicopter's flying around the neighborhood where she works just like we do where we live. I figured I would show you it's not just my neighborhood that's bad. The bad neighborhood vibe extends for many streets surroundings where we live too. You can't get away from it unless you live in the more rich neighborhoods. 

The high this week was 66F/18C

The low this week was 42F/5C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

SHINee - Body Rhythm

I've said before that I like KPOP and this is yet another KPOP song that I am really enjoying. I had to look up their ages because I felt bad for thinking how good looking they were but they are all in their 30's so I don't feel so bad for watching them dance now. lol  I hope you all like it too. 

Recipe: Bean and Corn Spoon Salad

 

I'm liking these spoon salad recipes so much that I made another one this week. I've been using these as a side dish for dinners and even my daughter is liking them. 

You will need: 

1 can of Black Beans, rinsed

1 can of Corn, rinsed

2 Bell Peppers, diced small

1 Cucumber, diced small

1 Avocado, diced small

2 TBSP of Cilantro, diced well

2 Small Tomatoes, diced small

What To Do: 

Dice all the vegetables small. They should be small enough to eat with a spoon, hence the name spoon salad. Rinse the corn and beans and add them to the vegetables. Mix well. Add your favorite dressing. 

You can add anything or substitute any vegetables for ones you don't like. I served this along side some broiled chicken but you can serve it with whatever you like. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

Falcor was holding his paw up like that because he got a small piece of wet leaf stuck in the pad of his paw and was telling me he needed help getting something out. lol 

I've been taking pictures across the street while the leaves are falling because I liked the backdrop. lol 

Book Review: His Virgin Mate by Grace Goodwin

 

Book Description

One look, one touch, and there is no denying the heat…

Twenty-one and single, Alexis Lopez hopes her lackluster response to men is a problem she’s eager to solve by volunteering for the Interstellar Brides Program. One look at the large, dominant alien who claims she belongs to him sets her body on fire. When he tells her, in explicit detail, how he’ll claim her in every way, she is eager to give her mate everything, body and soul.

Von of Everis is a ruthless and high ranking Hunter who’s spent years fighting in the Hive wars. But his bed, and his life, are empty until Alexis arrives. One look at his innocent little bride and he knows she belongs to him.

Simple, right? Nope. The match is challenged by one of the most feared warriors on the planet and stolen kisses and mind-numbing pleasure won’t save Von from a deadly duel. But Von is a Hunter, a warrior, a protector, and someone is trying to take what belongs to him. Only him. He will do whatever it takes to protect, save and claim his virgin mate.

My Review

Alexis (Lexi) has never had feelings for a human male so when she gets the chance to sign up for the Interstellar Brides Program she does it. Maybe an alien will be more to her liking. After being tested Lexi is matched with the alien world, Everis. She and the other potential brides are transported to the alien world to meet their potential mates. 80 Hunters are in a room and the 12 brides are in the center. The women have the choice to pick a male or wait for a male to come to her and ask if she would like to get to know him for the next 30 days. If after the 30 days are up and she doesn't want to stay with him, she can go back to the meeting room and pick another male to see if they click. 

Lexi and Von however have been dreaming of each other since she arrived on his planet because she is his true mate. So she waits to find him in the crowd. He was late but as soon as he walks into the building Lexi knows who she wants to pick for the next 30 days. But there was another male who wanted Lexi and he challenged Von for her. She still gets to pick who she wants but the two males fight for her eventually. 

Over the next couple of weeks Lexi and Von know that they are true mates and get closer. I loved Von, good grief he's all alpha male but also so sweet to her. I'm sure anyone reading this alien romance is wondering when the aliens will get here and find their human mates. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

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

Apartment Life #302

 

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 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

I was outside with Falcor and spotted the police across the street. 

So I texted my daughter and asked to to snap a picture from my bedroom window since my phone doesn't take good photos at night. lol She got the pictures right before they left. I have no idea what they were there for. But since I didn't see anyone if handcuffs, I'm guessing it wasn't anything serious. 

----

First thing in the morning on my first walk with Falcor on Monday, I spotted this mattress in our alley on the sidewalk where I would have normally walked. But I didn't want to walk right by the guy laying on the mattress so I walked on the other side of the fence. Several people have moved out of my courtyard recently so I'm guessing the mattress was pulled out of the trash. 

The very next day the homeless people moved the mattress a few feet away to the other side of the wall of my alley. I saw several people sleeping on it for a few days. Then it got moved down the street. I haven't seen a lot of homeless around my neighborhood lately because most of them moved a few streets away with drug dealer when he and his wife moved out. But there are still a few people around. 

---

The apartment right across from me that had the fire 2 years ago is almost remodeled and I'm sure someone will be moving in soon. One other neighbor moved out 2 weeks ago and my elderly neighbor moved out after losing her court case against this place. Her car was towed away last year and she thought she would win some big money. She didn't pay her rent for 5 months thinking she was going to win against them but she lost in court this month and was evicted. She moved on Wednesday and when her family got here to help her move, there was a big argument. You have to turn up the volume.

Another neighbor moved out on Thursday so that's 5 new neighbors that I'll have soon. I can only hope they aren't crazy, trouble makers, drug dealers or loud. Oh the joy of apartment life. There are 5 vacant apartments in my courtyard now so I'll have to keep an eye out for the homeless breaking into the apartments.

The high this week was 63F/17C

The low this week was 39F/3C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

Sleep Theory- Numb

Ever since finding this band I've been finding more and more songs that are just so good! This has been playing on repeat for days. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been. 

Recipe: Spoon Salad

 

I realize this was supposed to be a Freebie Friday post but since I received no freebies this week, how about a low carb salad recipe? 

You will need:

1 Cucumber

1 Bell pepper

2 Stalks of celery

1 Avocado

1 Bunch of red radishes

1 Green onion

2 Small tomatoes

2 TBSP Cilantro

2 TBSP Parsley

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 LB uncooked Shrimp

1tsp. seafood seasoning

1tsp. Old Bay seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 TBSP butter

Dressing of your choice

What to do: 

Peel shrimp, season with seafood seasoning and Old Bay. Add salt and pepper to taste. Melt butter in pan and cook shrimp until they turn pink. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Toss shrimp with lemon juice. 

Dice all of the vegetables and herbs very small. They should be small enough to eat with a spoon, hence the name Spoon Salad. Mix all vegetables and herbs together in a large bowl. Cut the shrimp in half so they are bite sized and add to bowl. Mix well and chill for an hour before serving with your choice of salad dressing. 

The great thing about this salad is you can substitute any vegetables out for ones that you like if you don't like any of the ones I used. You don't have to add meat either if you don't want to. 

Book Review: Her Protector by V. Vaughn

 

Book Description

Chrissy Johnson thinks she is happy. She loves her day job working at the animal shelter and her weekend gig performing on stage with a local band. But when Fred Carter, who claims to be a talent scout for a record label, rolls into town, she dares to dream big. Fred tries to steal more than her heart, though, and Chrissy’s life snowballs out of control.

Ryan Henry is at a crossroads in his life. As a warrior for the Le Roux clan, he has respect and prestige, but the one thing that would make his life complete still eludes him. Ryan wants a true mate. If he stays in Maine where he’s exhausted his possibilities, he fears he is destined to be alone. Luckily, fate intervenes, and when he is sent on a mission to help a North Pole clan with Christmas he discovers his true mate along the way. The only trouble– she’s human.

My Review

Ryan is a shifter and wants to find his true mate but is afraid he might end up alone. So he goes to help another clan for Christmas in the hopes that he might find his mate along the way but what he finds instead is Chrissy, a human. 

Chrissy is a singer in a band and her crush ends up putting her in a lot of danger. She fell for the wrong guy it seems and now she's in a heap of trouble. Ryan comes along and helps her but there are so many things that get in the way along their adventure. Chrissy wants to turn herself in and let the police figure it all out but Ryan isn't so sure that's a good idea and I agree with him. 

These two are thrown together and it seems that a little Christmas magic is all that they needed to stay together long enough to fall for each other. There's a bit of a snag towards the end when Ryan doesn't tell Chrissy the entire truth and she finds out anyway but I still liked the ending. This was a cute, quick read. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

Falcor enjoying the sun and a walk. 

Book Review: Guarded By The Grizzly by Bella Drake

 

Book Description

He’d do anything for her. She’s trapped in a loveless marriage. When duty and destiny are pitted against each other, will desire lead to disaster?

Bear shifter Nash Barnes is a relentless agent of justice. Sworn to his FBI SWAT team, nothing comes between him and protecting his community. Until he meets Aria. But when he discovers his fated mate is already married to another man, his distress puts his teammates’ lives at risk.

Aria Morgan is desperately unhappy. Trapped in a marriage of convenience to a mean, abusive cartel member, she’s long since given up on love. But when a handsome stranger defends her from her aggressive husband, she can’t quite convince herself to send him away.

When Nash offers to kick her husband out of her house, she’s torn. She longs to finally be free of him and explore the explosive chemistry brewing between her and the sexy agent, but taking her shot at love could cost Aria her life.

With a target on her back, there’s nothing Nash won’t do to protect his true mate.

Guarded by the Grizzly is the seductive second book in the SWAT Shifters paranormal romance series. If you like fated mates, steamy scenes, and strong heroes, then you’ll love Bella Drake’s pulse-pounding new series.

My Review

Nash is a Swat member and also a bear shifter. He spots Aria and knows she's his mate but she's married and that fact messes him up so much so that he puts his team members in danger. So he watches Aria just to make sure she's happy so he can move on somehow but he finds out that she's in a loveless marriage and the husband treats her badly. So he does the only thing he can do, he puts himself out there for her and protect her when bad guys put her in danger. 

Nash and his team are working on a case and they find that their case might involve the same guy that Aria is married to so now Nash has a reason to get into her life and help her get rid of her abusive husband. 

Aria isn't too sure about Nash at first but she really dislikes her husband so she takes Nash's help. I loved Nash, he's such a nice guy unless someone is putting his friends and family in danger then his bear really comes out to take care of business. And Aria was great, she was exactly what Nash needed and she's such a nice person. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #301

 

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 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post.  

My daughter was outside walking over to the store when the police who were out front called her over.

They wanted to know if anyone was ever in the office or when it was open. She told them no one is ever in the office. You have to call the number on the office window to get a hold of a manager. They were here for someone in the office courtyard. 

The high this week was 51F/10C

The low this week was 30F/-1C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

The Boyz- Watch It

You all already know that I like KPOP and while I don't like all of it there are some songs that I just love. This is one of them. I hope you enjoy. 

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. 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: 

Dolce & Cabana perfume and Mascara samples. 

Mutha face serum. 

2 samples of Loreal face serum. 

The face serums made my face feel soft and it didn't irritate my skin at all. 

The Dolce & Cabana perfume smells really good and the mascara works pretty good. Not as good as some of the drug store mascaras though. It's just ok. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: Mating Instinct by Katie Reus

 

Book Description

She left because he couldn’t love her the way she needed…

Human Kat Saburova had her heart broken by the Shifter Council’s ruthless enforcer. So she left and never looked back. A year later, an attack that nearly kills her brings him back into her orbit—but she wants nothing to do with him.

Now he’ll do anything to save her…

Shifter Jayce Kazan has made countless enemies, but for a short time he found peace with a sweet, funny human. Though it tore his heart out, he let her go for her own good. But someone tried to kill her and inadvertently turned her into a shifter. And now that she’s in danger, he’ll cross every line to save her. Even if that means saving her from herself. As he fights for a second chance, the extremists who almost killed her once are looking to finish the job…

My Review

This book takes place right after Primal Possession by Katie Reus, which I reviewed last week. So if you haven't read these books and want to there may be some spoilers ahead in case you don't want to spoil either of these books for yourself. 

Jayce is the enforcer North America which means he goes after rogue shifters or shifters who have broke pack law and brings then to justice and if that means he has to kill them, he will. So he's made a lot of enemies and the last thing he wanted to do was to put Kat in danger by making her his mate or bonding with her even though he has very strong feelings for her. So she left him because she didn't want to feel like just a play thing when she had real feelings for him and he never explained why he was keeping her at arms length.

After the very bad things that happened to Kat in the last book, Jayce feels horrible that he couldn't find her in time to save her from what happened. So once again he's trying to keep her at arms length but it's really hard now that she's a shifter and doesn't understand all the rules to being a shifter. 

Jayce wants to go after the people in the APL (Anti Paranormal League) who put her in danger and are putting other shifters in danger. These humans are making it harder and harder for shifters to live in peace and if they kidnap or kill a few shifters in the process, they don't care. 

After Jayce and Kat have been fighting their feelings for each other so long I really thought I would see more romance between them but when they do give in to their feelings, it just felt like more lust than love which annoyed me a bit. The romance and their relationship took a back seat to bringing the APL members to justice. This book wasn't as good as the previous book, Primal Possession was for me. It was still a good book and got better towards the end when the action and drama really got going, so it was worth the read.

This book comes right after Primal Possession which I reviewed last week and you can find that review here. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

On Wednesday this massive dark cloud descended on my neighborhood. So I told Falcor we should go for a walk before the skies open and drench us. 

While out there I started getting pelted with hail. It only lasted about 3 minutes and then it rained for a couple of minutes and the cloud moved on really fast. Sure looked like the further away it got the more rain was coming out of it though. With the look of that dark cloud I really expected it to pour and it didn't. lol 

Grave Stakes by Grave Grahme

 

Book Description

BRITT

I thought I’d seen everything.

A decade as a cop tends to make anyone cynical. Even a cop with great instincts.

Until I follow those instincts one night, and get my throat torn out.

That's a new one.

Odder still, I wake up in the ER with no trace of the lethal injury. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled to be alive, but my memory is blank.

I’m going to find out what happened.

I followed a man that night. I have a feeling he has answers.

Finding him might kill me.

ETIENNE

I was the king of the city. Untouchable.

Until a hired assassin tried to kill me.

My saving grace? A police officer caused a distraction allowing me to dispatch the assassin.

My mistake? Saving that police office. A woman who haunts me with the sweetness of her taste.

Someone is power-hungry enough to try to make me permanently dead. I need an expert to help uncover the source of the threat.

And I know just where to find a detective.

Whether she wants to help or not.

NOTE TO READERS: No ifs, ands, or buts, this story has triggers. It’s dark romance with mafia and vampires and things that go bump in the night and think of humans as snacks or worse. If you have issues with violence, sexual assault, murder, blood, dubcon, graphic sex, and why choose scenes this may not be your read. And while this book is complete, it does have a cliff at the end. Consider yourself warned.

My Review

Britt is a human cop who helps to stop a vampire from being killed but she gets hurt and the vampire saves her life. Etienne is a vampire who is the big boss in a mafia type enterprise. He's not normally a nice guy but he likes Britt and wants her to come work for him so when she is under investigation at work and has some problems, she comes to work for him. 

Etienne wants to find out who is out to kill him permanently and Britt is there to help him find the person responsible. But Britt puts herself in danger a few times in order to find out who is behind the death threats. She's a seasoned police officer so this doesn't really surprise me. The romance between Etienne and Britt was kind of surprising though because she knows he's a mafia boss and a vampire and she's a cop so you wouldn't think that a relationship between the two would work but it sure did. 

These two are so hot together, boy they were burning up the pages. 

I knew from the blurb that this would end on a cliffhanger so I knew it going in and read this one anyway. If I know beforehand and can make up my mind to read it anyway then I feel better about a cliffhanger. I got this for free so I thought I would take a chance on it and I'm glad I did because it really was a good book. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today courtesy of www.martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #300

 

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 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post. 

New Year's Eve was fairly quiet. I did hear a few gunshots and saw one guy on the sidewalk shooting into the air at midnight but other than a lot of fireworks that was it. So fairly quiet. 

---

Tuesday the Water District was across the street drilling, smashing, pounding and installing new water meters. They had to break up the concrete that was there and bring in a cement mixer to pour new cement once they installed the new water meters. 

They were there from 6am until around 3pm. So darn early to be starting though. They put in new meters in front of several of the apartments across the street over the course of a few weeks so one day I asked a guy why the new meters. One guy told me it was so each individual apartment could be billed for their own water usage. Unlike my apartment complex where the management company pays the water bill but each of us residents are charged a monthly $50 fee for water and trash. 

The very next day the apartment building had roofers redoing part of the roof. They started yelling, pounding and banging at 5am and were finally finished around 4pm. It was a loud couple of days. 

I don't know how these guys were up there walking around on this roof with no safety ropes like it was no big deal. 

Can you believe this is my 300th Apartment Life post? It's crazy to me that I have that much to talk about around here. 

The high this week was 61F/16C

The low this week was 36F/2C

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

Favorite Song of the Week

 

ARCHERS - Smiling Out Of Habit Video

I love Archers so when I heard this song I knew I wanted to share it. I'm pretty sure that I've shared this band before. I hope you enjoy this song. 

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. 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.

I received:

A Sample of CeraVe lotion. 

I now have received 3 of these samples and I really like this lotion especially in the colder months when my hands dry out. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?