Best Moments of 2023

 

In January we had a lot of days of rain, clouds and overcast skies. I loved all the cloudy days.

In February for my birthday my daughter gave me this really pretty tree light. I love all the different colors it changes to.

In March my daughter made a small garden and even put a little fence around it with lights. We were told to take it down but we didn't and funny enough they left it alone. Didn't hear anything else about it from management. 

In April, My grandson liked his Easter basket.

But Falcor was not thrilled with his bunny ears. lol 

In May for Mother's Day my daughter made this salad platter. There was a large bed of raw spinach under all the other ingredients for the salad. 

My daughter also made Jello shots and we had a couple of alcoholic drinks. She did all the decorations. The table looked so cute. 

In June my grandson was out of school for Summer vacation and Falcor liked to crawl up with Logan to wake him up. 

My daughter ended up in the hospital for 2 days in June because her gallbladder is full of stones and was giving her pain. She thought she was going to have to have surgery to have her gallbladder removed but after a bunch of tests they found that her gallbladder was still working so she didn't have to have surgery (Best moment) but she did have to change her diet to a low fat diet so it doesn't make her gallbladder contract as much and give her pain. 

In July I rescued this pigeon who was having trouble flying. I had him sitting in a little box on my desk and waited for Animal Control to come and get him. He drank some water from me and even ate some oats from my hand while we waited. Hopefully he was just dehydrated and over heated and they were able to release him later. 

In August we were expecting a lot of rain from Hurricane Hilary but we only got a bit of rain where I live while other parts of Vegas got a lot more. But I was able to get some great cloud pictures. 

The about a week later at the end of August, a thunderstorm blew threw and we got rain for several days. Enough rain that my courtyard flooded but it didn't get in my apartment so it was all good. We had cooler temps, cloud cover and rain in my neighborhood. It flooded in other parts of Vegas but we were fine where we were so I call that a win. 

In September I had to take Falcor to the vet for an infected anal gland. After 3 different medications, a cream and 10 days of wearing a cone, he was all better. 

I tried to get a one piece pajama that he could wear instead of the cone but he figured out how to get his head in the foot hole and get at his wound. So that didn't work for long but he sure looked cute in it. 

In October my daughter decorated the apartment and put Halloween lights in the window.

Some of the Halloween decoration in October.

I made Thanksgiving for us in November. My daughter had to work that day so we ate dinner after she came home. My grandson was here as well. 

In December We decorated the tree for Christmas. 

And we decorated the apartment.

And the year wouldn't be complete without Falcor the Elf.

I hope you had some good moments this year as well.

Books I read in 2023

 

This year I set my goal at 100 books to be read by the end of the year. But I didn't quite reach my goal this year. I had a couple of reading slumps where I just didn't feel like reading so that probably had something to do with it. But I did read quite a few books this year, 94 in all which is still not too bad.  Did you set a goal? How many books did you read this year?

1. Fated Mate by Jessica Aspen

2. Forgiveness by Celeste Raye

3. Forked Tongues Are Fun by Holly Ryan

4. Holiday Rescue by Rebecca Zanetti

 5. Kingdom of Blood by Callie Rose

6. The Last Blackstone Dragon by Alicia Montgomery

7. Let Us prey by Vivienne Savage

8. Lion Hearts Tiger by V. Vaughn

9. Lost To The Alien Lord by Ella Blake

10. Matched With a Jaguar by Eva Pierce

11. The Monster Alien by Ashlyn Hawkes

12. Munro by Kresley Cole

13. Outfoxing My Mates by Skye Alder

14. Recovery Road by Christine Feehan

15. Owl Be Bear For You by DJ Jennings 

16. The Pact by Delta James

17. Possessed By The Alien King by Krista Luna

18. Hunter Avenged by N.J. Walters

19. Project Adapt: Found by Jade Waltz

20. Slammer by Candice Gilmer

21. Submitted by Leann Ryans

22. Taken By The Dragon King by Amelia Shaw

23. Taken By The Tiger King by Kenzie Skye

24. Between The Dragon King and his Wrath by Barbara Russell

25. Alien Most Wanted by Honey Phillips

26. Anax by Kate Stevens

27. Wingman by Cara Bristol

28. Wild Danger by TJ Finn

29. For What It's Worth by Josephine Light

30. The Dragon's Fake Mate by Harlow Blaze

31. Smolder by Laurell K Hamilton

32. Dragon Lover by Donna Grant

33. Crave Me Roughly by Kira James

34. A New Orleans Threesome by Louisa Bacio

35. The Binding by Victoria Clapton

36. The Billionaire Shifter's Secret Baby by Diana Seere

37. Wickedly Tainted by A E Nalle

38. Auctioned Virginity by Raven Woodward

39. Blood Inferno by H B Jacks. 

40. Ghostly Game by Christine Feehan

41. Captured By The Alien Warrior by Presley Hall

42. Charley's Christmas Wolf by C.D. Gorri

43. Clone Sweet Clone by Harlyn Moxie

44. Wings Once Cursed & Bound by Piper J. Drake

45. The Loner by Diana Palmer

46. Carnelian Dragons: Syenite by Starla Night

47. The Alien's Allegiance by Calla Zae

48. The Alien's Sacrifice by Ella Maven

49. Ancient Warrior by Katie Reus 

50. Bear In A Bakery by Liz Paffel

51. Bewitched In Blood by Jen Katemi

52. The Billionaire Shifter's Curvy Match by Diana Seere

52. Bodyguard Wolf Shifter by Keira Blackwood

53. Bound By Her Blood by Mara Leigh 

54. He's My Cowboy by Diana Palmer, Rebecca Zanetti and Delores Fossen

 55. Shadow Dance by Christine Feehan

56. Slay by Laurel K. Hamilton

57. Ancient Guardian by Katie Reus

58. Broken Mate by Jen L. Grey

59. Steele by Margo Bond Collins

60. Caleb by Summer Stanton

61. Bait by Jade West

62. Taming The White Wolf by N.J. Walters

63. Your One And Only by Emilie Laforet

64. Bad Luck Vampire by Lynsay Sands

65. Dark Memory by Christine Feehan

66. Warriors Hope by Rebecca Zanetti

67. Beyond The Veil by Stephanie Summers

 68. Claiming Emma by Leeah Taylor

69. Cloudy with a Chance of Witchcraft by Mandy m Roth

70. Craze by Sedona Venez

71. Captivity by Brenda Trim and Tami Julka 

72. Cruel Shadows by Harper A. Brooks

73. Crux by Kate Rudolph

74. Dark Prince by Callie Rose 

75. Wyoming Proud by Diana Palmer

76. Hell Hath No Fury by Skye Jordan

77. Death is Easy by Letty Frame

78. Defiant Mate by Delta James

79. Deliciously Mated by P. Jameson

80. Jagged by Elle Wright

81. Demon Bound by Eve Newton

82. Demon King by Elizabeth Briggs

83. Dragon Fever by Elsa Jade

84. The Dragon King by T.B. Wiese

85. A Demon's Touch by Ella Jade

86. Dragon's Masquerade by Dawn McGraw

87. Dragon's Oath by Sophie Stern

88. Feral by Trish Heinrich

89. Finders Keepers by P G Forte

90. Finding Her Minotaur by Evangeline Priest

91. Flight by Pepper Paris

92. Forbidden Wolf by CR Robertson

93. Forgiven by L. Shannon

94. A Good Demon Is Hard To Find by Kate Moseman

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

My daughter made this centerpiece from stuff she found at Dollar Tree. It came out so pretty.

Falcor was just chillin' here with my grandson, Logan when Logan placed one of his beanies on Falcor's head. 

Happy Raturday!/ Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Santa rat wishes you all a Merry Christmas as well. 

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

Apartment Life #298

 

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. 

So this one is 3 weeks old because with getting ready for Christmas, going to the ER for my foot and so many other things happening this month I forgot to post this one when it happened. So back on Sunday the 3rd of December I heard 2 gunshots really close. 

A woman came outside screaming something about someone or something being killed. I couldn't make out exactly what she was saying but she was really upset and so I called 911. I have a feeling others called too because they got here within 7 minutes. 

The two officers went into the apartment complex across the street and one came out holding a white trash bag. You can see it on the hood of the car in front. That officer got an evidence bag from her trunk and put the trash bag in it. I just guessed that someone across the street shot and killed an animal and that's why the woman was so upset. 

The other officer came out of one of the apartments with a handcuffed man and they put him in the back car. They arrested him and took him to jail I'm assuming he was the shooter. I found out a few days later that the guy is the neighbor of the woman who was screaming and it was her small dog that he shot and killed because they both had their doors open and her dog walked inside his apartment. He got mad and shot it. It was a small dog so not a big vicious dog or anything. He's still in jail from what I've been told and I think she's planning on moving out next month. 

What a horrid man. 

---

Oh and I finally got my lease signed. At least that got fixed. 

The high this week was 60F/15C

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

 

PALAYE ROYALE - Stripped

This is the first song from this band that I've heard but I liked it so I hope you do too. 

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.

What did I receive this week?

I entered a few contests on FB and won this swag bag prize from an author. There was a nice Christmas card, bookmarks, pens, sticker, earrings and small wooden heart. 

I love the book earrings and little wooden wall hanging heart. It says, "Just a girl in love with her books."

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Sky Watch/ Favorite Picture of the Week

 

It's finally cooler and with the cooler temperatures comes clouds. Even these small clouds make the sky more interesting.

They just looked fun to me.

It's a Falcor Fashion Show

 

I wanted to show off Falcor's outfits now that it's cooler and he's wearing some of his shirts and jackets again. This is a warm jacket for cooler weather. 

His hoodie that says, "Mister steal your girl."

With the hood down.

His thicker sweater.

He has Pajamas. But he won't sleep in them. They are just for hanging out before bed. He sleeps in my bed now, under the covers with me so there's no chance he'll be cold at night. Ever since he got the cone off, he hasn't wanted to sleep alone. He's half Chihuahua and I've read that they like to burrow into blankets and be covered when they sleep and he certainly does.

His T-shirt. It says, "looking good."

A neighbor bought some shirts for her dog but they were too small so she gave them to me for Falcor. We were trying them on and he was annoyed. lol  The T-shirt says, "Security."

Can you tell he's annoyed? lol He wouldn't even open his eyes. So we stopped so he could take a nap. lol

Book Review: A Good Demon IS hard To Find by Kate Moseman

 

Book Description

Sometimes, a date from hell is just what you need...

When Erin thoughtlessly lays a curse on Mark, her cheating ex-husband, she doesn’t expect a well-dressed Great Earl of Hell to show up in her kitchen to fulfill the curse (and make damn good coffee while he’s at it).

Andromalius specializes in wickedness and revenge. He’s ready, willing, and able to rain down hell on Erin’s ex—but when Mark announces a hasty new marriage, Erin needs more than just revenge.

She needs a date to the wedding.

My Review

Erin is upset that her ex-husband is still bothering her about stupid little things like changing to a different church so his fiance feels more comfortable going there and now he's getting remarried. Erin accidentally summons a demon. Andromalius (Andy) tells her he can help her get some revenge on her ex. Andy isn't an evil type demon, he's more of a prankster but I just found him annoying. This is listed as a paranormal romance but there was no naughty times in the first half of the book at all. It didn't even seem like a slow burn romance, there was just no chemistry between these two at all. Andy is a demon and I guess I expected a little more evil from him but his personality just fell flat for me. I DNF'd (did not finish) this one. I just didn't want to waste anymore time on it. It just wasn't for me but that doesn't mean someone else won't like it. 

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

"Getting in the Christmas spirit"

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

Apartment Life #297

 

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.  

The police parked across the street from the apartment complex across from me. They have been getting a lot of police calls lately. No one was arrested so that's good maybe. lol 

----

My apartment complex upgraded their resident portal a month ago and I haven't been able to log in since the upgrade. I called the office so many times over the past month and was finally able to get logged into the portal 2 days ago. I agreed to renew my lease this month but the only way to do that is to log into the resident portal and renew on their site. So I find my lease and nothing is clickable for me to E-sign it. So Once again I had to call the office and she tells me there's nothing she can do because it's not their website so she has to send in another maintenance ticket to the tech company that runs it. I hope they get it fixed because this is ridiculous. 

The high this week was 65F/15C

The low this week was 40F/4C

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 Word Alive - One Of Us (feat. Bad Omens)

I love Bad Omens so when I saw that they were singing with The Word Alive, I listened to it and loved this song. I hope you enjoy it too. 

Christmas Decorations

 

Since I didn't receive any freebies this week, I thought I would share some of our Christmas decorations with you. Here's the Christmas tree. 

One of my bookshelves. 

The corner shelf.

The shelf above my desk. Santa and an Angel with a small Christmas village. 

The living room shelf. 

More of the living room shelf.

One of the snowmen I made. 

On one of the walls.

The door.

The stockings about the couch. The middle bottom one is for Falcor. 

Merry almost Christmas. 

Book Review: Forgiven by L. Shannon

 

Book Description

Kelly Greene has spent her adult life using her psychic abilities to protect the weak and defenseless, but this time she rescues a brainwashed, amnesiac, werewolf assassin. Can Kelly trust him to be the good man that her heart desires and her body craves, or will putting her faith in him risk all that she holds dear? Saxxon exists in a world of hate, but he dreams of another life, where he can be free of the cruel men, who use his magical powers to commit atrocities against humanity. A generous woman offers him the chance to make his dreams reality, if only he’s strong enough to overcome fear, addiction, and an enemy that will stop at nothing to reclaim their favorite assassin. How can he ask for love and acceptance, when he has been the tool for evil for so long? Will Kelly’s love become a source of great strength, or his most devastating weakness?

My Review

Saxxon is on a mission to hunt down his brother and bring him back, the only thing that matters to him is the mission. He doesn't remember much except that if he doesn't complete the mission there will be pain and he doesn't want pain. 

Kelly has psychic abilities and helps the police find missing kids but when she can't seem to find the most recent kidnapped child she has to resort to doing something she hates doing, getting inside the mind of the kidnapper to get some clue as to where the child is. But this kidnapper is different, he's in pain and his mind is all jumbled up. Once she locates the child, she finds herself in danger from not only the kidnapper but from Saxxon too. She tells Saxxon that she can help him and he wants to believe her but the mission comes before anything. When the kidnapper calls Saxxon, brother it seems to dislodge something in his mind and stuns him long enough for the kidnapper to shoot him so he can get away. 

Saxxon finds himself in danger not only from being shot but also from those who sent him on the mission and he needs to find a place to hide for a while so he hides in Kelly's car since he almost felt safe with her for some reason. Kelly helps him to a motel room, where he starts to tell her a little about his life. It becomes quite apparent that someone or some group has been holding him hostage, experimenting on him and has him addicted to the drug he has with him. He knows he's dangerous so he tells her how to stop him if he loses his mind and attacks her but she doesn't believe it will come to that. 

As more of the drug leaves his body and he starts to remember who and what he is, he knows others will be sent after him to bring him back. Kelly is determined not to let that happen to she calls a friend that helps them. The rest of the book was an action packed ride where they are on the run for their lives as very dangerous people are after them and will do anything to get Saxxon back. 

The romance between Saxxon and Kelly was a slow burn as they are on the run but it was definitely great between them. She really saved his life and takes the news that he's a shifter pretty well considering everything they are going through. 

This was such a fun book to read. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: Forbidden Wolf by CR. Robertson

 

Book Description

When two immortal enemies give into their forbidden desires, their passion puts both of their lives on the line.

One a lycan, the other a vampire, Levi and Tasha’s very survival hinges on remaining sworn enemies. But one night changes everything, resulting in a relationship between the two. A relationship punishable by execution should either be caught.

Fueled by hate and inflamed by boundary disputes, their warring species will never accept their love. But just as Levi and Tasha plan their escape, a new danger emerges that threatens both of their worlds.

As the pair discover why their species have really been kept apart all these years, they soon realize their own secret may be the key to unlock the survival of their species. But if their passion is discovered by the wrong people, they might find themselves dead before they get the chance to save anyone.

My Review

Lycan's and vampires are at war. When vampires turn 18 they are required to fight in the war against the Lycan's for 20 years. They also get assigned into the breeding program so they can have as many vampire children to fight when they also turn 18 years old. Tasha is a vampire and is about to turn 18 years old and have to join the fight. She goes out at night to get some fresh air and runs into a Lycan who is still out after dark. Tasha bites him and in turn he bites her, each believing that the other's bite will kill them, they make an uneasy truce and decide to die together. Neither one was strong enough to make it back to their camps so they sit and talk as they get sicker and sicker, thinking they are going to die soon. 

But they make it through the night, not understanding what happened or how they could have been lied to their entire lives about how lethal the other's bite would be. After making it through the night, they find they are deeply attracted to each other and make plans to see each other for the few weeks they have free before they have to fight in the war. As they go off to war, they make a pact to end up together in 20 years after they have done their duty in the fight and they tell each other to do what they have to in order to make it back alive. I thought this was so sweet and sad at the same time. 

As the war rages on between their two species, Tasha and Levi realize something more sinister is going on and they find a new enemy to them both to fight. Somehow they will have to bring their two warring species together in order to fight the real enemy but the war between their people has been going on for so many years, it will take a miracle to get them to fight together in order to beat this new villain. 

Oh my goodness, this was such a good read. As I was reading the fight between their two species and how things were really going and how the people in charge on both sides were not being truthful about all the facts and using certain things to their own advantage, I got so mad for all of them. To fall for what is supposed to be your enemy and know that it would mean death if you're caught was just so sad. But this ended up being an action packed book and a great paranormal romance as well. I can't say enough great things about this and plan on reading the next book soon. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Book Review: Flight by Pepper Paris

 

Book Description

A routine police call turns violent and causes her to shift for the first time. With a a target on her back, she is unexpected thrown into a world of owl shifters and Otherworlders that she never could have imagined.

When sassy, street smart, cop London goes back to college for her continuing education classes, she never expected to fall for the T.A. Rhett.

Chased by an evil corporation, she meets Bass, Haven and Jeremy while on the run with help from Rhett. London must fight her way to freedom and discover love can come in multiples of four. Will it be enough to save them?

Can they accept her for who she has become? 

My Review

This is the second book in the feathered protectors series and even though I didn't read the first book before reading this one, I didn't lost at all. London is a cop and decides to go back to school but she doesn't expect to be attracted to T.A. Rhett. Someone poisoned her and after meeting Jeremy he checks on her that night because something isn't right. When London unexpectedly shifts into an owl, he knows that she's the person he thought she was. After helping her through her first shift and treating her for the poisoning, she has a million questions. But after learning about other shifters that have gone missing and using her police skills to start helping search for the missing shifters, she catches the eye of one of the kidnappers and is put in grave danger herself. 

After escaping from her captors and with the help of friends, she plans to bring down the people who are capturing other shifters. The romance between London and the 4 guys was super sweet and sexy. Each guy is so different but they all seemed to match really well because each one brought something different to the relationship. 

This was a different kind of shifter romance but I enjoyed it. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon 

Happy Raturday!

 

"Time to decorate the Christmas tree."

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

Apartment Life #296

 

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. 

This week was a little different. I hurt my foot really bad on Monday morning and thought it was broken. I could barely walk on it. So I called an ambulance. I didn't even have a chance to do my makeup. lol 

My daughter started snapping pictures. lol 
They took me to the ER and after some X-rays I was told it's just a bad sprain. I didn't even twist my ankle or anything. I was just walking when it happened. I felt something snap in my foot.

I got crutches and an air cast. The air cast sure makes it easier to walk and so do the crutches. 

By the 4th day the air cast was really starting to get on my nerves but it does help. lol It keeps your foot from moving which really helps with the pain. Those blue plastic pieces on either side are filled with air and fit right up on your ankle. Velcro straps keep it all in place. The ER doctor prescribed me 600 mg Ibuprofen to take for the pain. I can't take opioid pain meds because they make me really sick so this is fine with me. 

It's going to be a painful few weeks before this heals. 

The high this week was 70F/21C

The low this week was 38F/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

 

Atreyu - Come Down

I've shared Atreyu before because I love them. I listen to them all the time. So when I noticed a new song that I ended up really liking, I knew this would be the song this week. 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: 

Two $10 Amazon gift cards from FB giveaways. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?