Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of Jin Wicked*

*Picture courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

"You need anything from the store besides yogies or cake because all of those are mine."

Apartment Life #14

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 years that we'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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

So these pictures were taken back in 2013 and back then I didn't have the better camera that I have now so the pictures didn't come out as clear as I would have liked but you can still see what I'm talking about. 

The police were at the end of my street talking to about 15 people in the apartment complex across from mine.

There was a lady outside walking her dog when I was snapping pictures of the cop cars and she almost got me arrested *maybe*. She started loudly saying that, "As soon as cops get a badge they think they can do what the F*ck ever they want. They should go find an all night donut shop and I have an authority problem." Yeah no kidding, I couldn't tell at all.  

I said have a good night and got the hell away from this psycho before the cops came over to shut her up and maybe thought I was with her.

But in the end, no one was arrested and after they were done with all the people the police stood around talking to each other for about 30 minutes. As you'll see over the next few weeks, the police are in my neighborhood all the time. People always seem to have disagreements with their neighbors in apartment complexes. Maybe because we're all so close to one another and it gets on each others nerves when the neighbors are loud, annoying or disrespectful. We've lived in this apartment for 20 years and we've never had the police called on us. 

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

Favorite Video of the Week

If you've never seen Teddy the Porcupine, then you're in for a treat. He has a bunch of videos on youtube but this is one of my favorites. He always makes little happy sounds when he's eating.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, 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 a $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap.

It was a slow freebie week this week. Hopefully next week I'll have a bunch of them to show you.

Did you receive any free samples this week?

Review: Wolf's promise by Ambrielle Kirk

Book Description

Selene is thrust into the aftermath of Caedmon pack rivalry when determination to help her friend, Tamara, leads her to the foothills of the Virginia mountains. Her kindheartedness gets her into deep trouble when she finds herself kidnapped and held against her will. She’s thrown behind bars with Nick, who has also been captured. Her fellow cellmate saves her from a sentence worse than death but now she is at his mercy…and Nick is no ordinary man. Under the façade of his commitment to protect her from evil hides a secret that shatters her faith in him.

Wolf shifter Nick knew his life would be forever changed when Alpha Devin Caedmon honors him by inducting him onto the Caedmon Council. With this responsibility, he’s introduced to a web of pack politics and subject to threats. In the midst of being captured by a Pack enemy, he meets a tempting brazen beauty. Selene is not just any woman, and the wolf inside reminds Nick of this fact every time she’s in his presence. She awakens raging passion within him, and he desires her like no other. But he’s had the misfortune of being burned before. He must learn to forget how cunning a woman can be and decide if he can trust Selene with his heart. True love awaits in the path of danger, but will Selene and Nick let the chaos destroy their bond?

Wolf's Promise is Book Two of the Caedmon Wolves series. Books One through Six are also available now.

My Review

Selene and Nick meet after they're both captured and held by a wolf shifter. The man who is holding them wants something nefarious from Selene in exchange for saving her after she crashed her car. Nick saves her from that terrible fate but she fears he's not the savior she first thought him to be. 

Once they make it away from the wolves that captured them they find themselves unable to go their separate ways like they think they should. Selene still wants to find the woman that she set out to find and make sure she's safe and Nick has to let his leader know what has happened and who did it. 

It was interesting to find out where the missing woman was and who she was. It was also really interesting to watch Nick and Selene get to know one another. Selene was really scared when she found out that Nick was a wolf shifter but she gets over it pretty quickly when he saves her life. 

When the pack of bad shifters comes to cause drama they have no choice to take it up a notch because of the things their leader has done. I like the way it ended because I'm a sucker for fated mates or lust at first sight type of stories especially when it involves shifters who can usually tell right away who their true mates are. My only problem with this story is that it felt a little rushed but I did enjoy the story quite a bit. 

I give this  3 out of 5 stars. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

My grandson turned 5 recently and Falcor really wanted that stuffed animal. The look on Falcor's face says it all.

Review: Coercion by Chloe Cole: A BBW Dragon Shifter Novel (Montana Dragons Book 1)

Book description

Forced to wed a dragon who wants her but will never love her...

When Willa Stone is cast aside by the alpha-wolf she’s been promised to since birth, she’s humiliated and angry, but also secretly relieved. Now, maybe she’ll have the chance to mate for love. If her power-crazed parents will just give her a little time, she’s sure to find the man of her dreams… 

Dragon-shifter, Drake Blackbourne, has an itch to scratch and precious few options for an outlet. When the Stone family offers up their daughter’s hand in exchange for protection and political favors, he agrees to wed her, sight unseen. Drastic times call for drastic measures and, so long as she does her part and keeps out of his way the rest of the time, surely he can manage to bed her, no matter how plain she might be. 

What he doesn’t expect is that captivating, defiant Willa will ignite a fire in him that will burn everything in its path, and turn both of their worlds upside down… 

This is a Montana Wolves crossover romance, and can be read as stand-alone.

My Review

Willa and her parents are wolf shifters. She'd been promised to the leader of their pack but when he found his true  mate, Willa and her parents leave their pack. Theirs was an arranged mating and they didn't love one another but Willa is still hurt. So her parents decide to leave the pack and Willa comes with them.

Willa figures she'll be free to make her own choices now but her parents made arrangements for her to marry a dragon shifter so they could have safety with a new pack. Her parents were pretty awful in how they arranged for Willa to meet her husband to be and how they didn't give her a choice or even talk it over with her. 

By the time Willa realizes what her parents have done, they're gone and Drake is there to let her know that she is his. With no other option but to stay with Drake in his home, Willa slowly comes around to seeing that maybe being his mate isn't all that bad. Only one problem and his name is Etienne, who is another dragon shifter that seems to live somewhere really close. Dragons are solitary and males of their species are very territorial so Drake really doesn't like it when Etienne is sniffing around Willa. 

Drake is so completely an alpha male and when he gets mad he's stubborn and doesn't want to listen to reason. But I really liked him and I think Willa is just what he needed. The story is really all about Drake trying to let Willa get to know him while she makes up her mind to stay with him.

Just when they seem to be getting along and getting closer, there's a misunderstanding that breaks them apart for a little while but I really like how this is resolved and how this book ended. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Happy Raturday!

*Picture courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

"Dinner? Why yes, I do want dinner."

*Picture courtesy of Poppy's Mischief*

"That's not a nose. That's a treat indicator."

*Picture courtesy of Cindy Rogers*

"Yes, the entire cookie is mine."

Apartment Life #13

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 years that we'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 20 years here in a weekly blog post.

This week I'm sharing something about a neighbor I had 3 years ago. He moved out soon after this picture was taken. 

This is one of my a$$hole neighbors who lived right across from me. He kept his pitbull puppy in a crate (metal cage) most of the time and once a day he would bring the liner pan outside to 'rinse off'. But he rinsed the poo and urine off right there in front of the tree or bush that is in the middle of our courtyard so the entire courtyard smelled. The manager had been informed and even saw the mess and decided to do nothing about it. The smell was so bad that we kept our door closed even on nice days. Thankfully the grounds keeping/cleaning service that got hired soon after this cleaned up the mess that was left behind and after it rained really hard one day the smell also went away.

Thankfully he ended up selling this dog to one of the other neighbors right before he moved out and that neighbor didn't keep the dog in a crate. The new owner must have also taken the time to train the dog because he did what he was told and was very well behaved the times I saw him out before they too moved out. 

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

Favorite Video of the Week

This one is a little older but right now it's my favorite from this band. The lead singer's voice is so different and so raspy, and he always seems to sing songs that are just right for his voice. So here's another little look into what I listen to. Hope you enjoy.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, 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.

It was a slow freebie week but I did snag some Poise Pads and a Salonpas lidocaine patch.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Craft: Bleeding Avocado Seeds

If you've been on FB for a while then you might have seen a meme that showed carving a face into an avocado pit and a few minutes later you have scary, bleeding faces. Well, I've seen it a few times and I just had to try it for my self. 

What to do: 

Remove seed from avocado

Wash seed

Carefully peel away brown part from seed

Carve a face into seed

Wait 10 minutes and watch as face starts to 'bleed'. 

I found that making more shallow cute instead of deeper cuts will make it bleed more and look redder. This would be fun to do for Halloween. Nothing says I love Halloween like a shelf full of bleeding faces. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

Last month my daughter and I played a joke on Ken. 

She brought me the googly eyes and I put them on stuff in the fridge. It took Ken a few seconds to realize what he was seeing. lol

Review: DegustaBox- January

DegustaBox is a monthly subscription box filled with food and drink products. The price for the box is $19.99 a month.  

You do not get to pick any of the products you get, it's a surprise each month. But they say each box contains 10-15 items and each box is worth at least $30. I like trying boxes like this because they usually contain products that I've never tried or haven't seen before. 

What was in the box?

This months box contained...

2 packs of Boom Chicka Pop popcorn

Monini Olive Oli

Maya Kaimal Naan Chips

Loacker white chocolate bar

Celio Whisps Cheddar crisps

Crown Maple maple sugar

Go Organically Fruit Snacks

Wasa Thins Rosemary crackers

Explore Cuisine Edamame spaghetti

Dole Fruit Bowls fruit in coconut water

The only thing I didn't like were the cheddar cheese crisps but Ken liked them so it's still a win. Everything else Ken and I tried together and we actually liked. My favorite thing is a toss up between the Naan crisps and the fruit bowls. The things that I liked a little were the maple sugar and the white chocolate candy bar. But I don't care for maple flavored things and I am not a huge fan of white chocolate. But it was still a really good box and I love that we get to try things that we normally wouldn't have bought, like the Naan chips. Those things were actually really good. I've never had Naan bread either but I would try it.

If you don't live in the US, they now have a Great Britain Website. Now here's a treat for you. If this box looks like something you'd like, you can use code MARYK-ACB and get your first box half off. That's a big box of food for only $10! and you can cancel anytime. So if you're interested, go to the DegustaBox site and sign up and don't forget to use my code to get your first box for just $10.

Have you tried any of these products?

Happy Raturday!

Today I decided to share some of the meme's I made of my own rats over the years. Rats in these pictures were Hades, Lucky, Flower, Fang, Patches, and Scribbles. 

Apartment Life #12

This is a new weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 20 years that we'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 20 years here in a weekly blog post. 

This week I thought I would share this video that I took of my neighbors arguing. But then the cousins who live directly across from them come out and there's more people yelling. This happened last month.

I took this little video when my neighbors started arguing outside a couple of weeks ago. It's only audio because I'm not gonna go outside with these crazy people. But you can hear how loud they are 3 doors down. This actually lasted for well over 3 hours. They would quiet down for a while and then all of the sudden be at it again.

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

Favorite Video of the Week

I like this band but a lot of their music has the lead singer screaming and growling but not with this song. Maybe that's why it's one of my favorites from this band. The lead singer actually sings along with the drummer, who in my opinion has a better voice than the lead singer does but they both sound incredibly good in this song. Hope you enjoy.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, 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:

A box of samples from PinchMe that contained:
Professional Series Hair Mask
Kashi Granola Bar
Berry Blast RX Bar

I also received:

A Good Earth tea sample.
A $5 Amazon gift card from Crowdtap.
2 free bars of Dove Beauty Bar sent to me from Chatterbox by House Party.
And I got a book for review *not shown*.


Did you receive any freebies this week?

Recipe: Crab Salad Topped Avocado

I got the inspiration for this recipe from a video I saw on FB a while back but I couldn't find the video when I went to make this recipe so I changed it and added my own ingredients. 

You'll need: 

2 avocados, cut in half

1 can crab meat

1 tsp. mayo

1 tsp. hot sauce

2 pieces of bacon, diced

3" piece of cucumber, diced

1/2 of a roma tomato, diced

1 tsp. cilantro, diced

1 green onion, diced

What To Do: 

Fry bacon until crispy and dice small. Mix all ingredients except for the avocados into a bowl, mix well. Refrigerate until ready to top the avocados. When ready to serve, cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. Top with a spoonfull of mixture and serve. 

We had it with imitation crab salad and sliced chicken breasts. It made for a really good low carb dinner. 

Favorite Picture of the Week

There was some dry ice in one of the boxes we received and Ken was playing around with it. Falcor just wanted to bark at it.