Review: Daily Goodie Box- October

The Daily Goodie Box has been around since about July of 2016. I signed up for an account right after I heard about them. They are 100% free, you don't even have to pay for shipping. And for a free box it's a nice sampler box of products.

What was in the box?

Britenz whitening pen- I tried the whitening pen on my teeth and I think it might have whitened my teeth a little bit. I will keep using it and see if it whitens my teeth anymore. 

Incredible Eats chocolate spoon-  This chocolate spoon would be great for ice cream. My daughter tried it and says it's really good chocolate. 

BLNCN CBD Beverage- My daughter and I both tried this and neither one of us liked it. But neither one of us like sparkling water. It was not great tasting and neither one of us felt anything from the CBD that was in it. 

 Chiki Buttah’s Organic Sample Pack.- It included their Cannabliss Balm, Organic CBD Oil and Healing Hemp Face Serum. The Cannabliss balm has CBD and Arnica oil in it. I tried the little sample on my feet when I had neuropathy from diabetes. I thought because it had Arnica in it that it would help with the pain and I was actually pleasantly surprised that it did help with the neuropathy pain in my feet. I didn't have pain for the rest of the night after rubbing this balm into my feet. The other two products really didn't do anything for me though. 

Coba Coffee Chocolate Bars-  I took one bite and couldn't eat the rest. Now I like coffee and I like chocolate but this was so bitter and the texture was grainy. I just didn't like it. 

Goodlight Apricot Olive Leaf Candle-  I loved this candle. It has a unique scent to it but it lasted a long time and since I like candles, this was a big hit with me. And on their website this candle tin is only $4.99 which is a good price. 

 

All they ask you to do is try the products and leave reviews for the products you got in order to be eligible for more Free Goodie Boxes. As you guys already know, I'm a fan of all these types of boxes. I love all the different subscription boxes and it's really nice to be able to try new to me products for free. This is a great box to try for.

Oh and one more thing, if you visit their FB Page, they give away Goodie Boxes to people who interact with their posts. So if you've tried before and weren't able to get a Goodie Box, there's even more ways to get one now.

Daily Goodie Box. It's more than just Free Samples!

Have you signed up? Have you received one of these boxes?

I'm a fan of subscription boxes and love trying new products for free so this was a huge hit with me. New products+free box = Fabulous!

Disclosure: I was given and free box in exchange for a review but all opinions are my own.

Low Carb Recipe: Zoodles and A Frozen Fruit Treat

I have a Julienne vegetable peeler that I used for this but you can use one of those slicers that makes zoodles from zucchini. Or if you're really good at chopping and have great knife skills you can make these thin julienne slices yourself. 

What to do. 

Using a julienne vegetable peeler, slice up one zucchini, one cucumber and one small carrot. Toss with a tablespoon of lemon juice and whatever seasoning you like. I used the McCormick Roasted Herb and Garlic. You can eat it as  side as is or toss with a little salad dressing of your choice. 

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I also have a sweet dessert recipe for you. 

Blend together 1 can of Coconut Cream and 3 cups of any frozen fruit of your choosing. I used blueberries and a few strawberries. I kept a few blueberries whole to stir in and place on top. It made enough for me, my daughter and grandson. It was so good. Almost like a fruit ice cream. 

Would you try either of these?

Book Review: Dark Whisper by Christine Feehan

 

Book Description

Vasilisa Sidkorolyavolkva is a Lycan of royal blood. She knows what is expected of her, but all she wants is to be out from under her family’s watchful eyes. There is a fire inside her that is building. A restlessness coupled with a sense of growing dread. Every day she feels the weight of the legacy passed down through generations. The prophecy that says a man will come to claim her as his mate, and that she will guard his soul. She knows nothing about him except that he is hers. But nothing seems real until the night she meets him in the flesh....

 

Afanasiv Belan is a Carpathian, an ancient one. In all the centuries of his existence, no one has ever affected him like Vasilisa. He can see into her mind and feel what is in her heart. They are so alike, warriors bound by honor and plagued by secrets. They both know they must reveal the darkest parts of their souls if they hope to survive and protect the ones they love.

 

But if they claim each other as lifemates, it will change them down to the bone. They will become something more—something feared by both of their kinds....

My Review

Vasilisa Sidkorolyavolkva is being pushed by her family and people to take a mate soon. She is one of the royal lycans and she knows her duty but she also knows that she cannot mate just yet. She holds a secret inside her that even her family doesn't know. She holds the other half of a Carpathian male's soul. She knows she is destined to be his mate but she also knows that because of her friendship with a female Carpathian, she is different from her family and no longer fully Lycan. If her family were to find out, there might be big trouble for her because her family and her people already don't trust the Carpathians. 

When Vasilisa comes across a Carpathian male that needs her help, she knows that he's her mate and so does he. She doesn't think that she's ready to be a mate to someone yet but the pull between them is strong. Afanasiv Belan is an ancient Carpathian who had been staying at the monastery with some of the other ancient Carpathian males. They are very old, and very dangerous because they have lived so long without their mates. Some of them are close to turning vampire or meeting the sun so they don't turn into vampires. Vampires are Carpathians that have lived too long and chosen to turn into evil vampires. Carpathian males hunt these evil creatures and kill them. Afanasiv has killed too many to count and with each new kill they are pushed to the edge without their mates. 

I liked Afanasiv because he knew right away that Vasilisa was a warrior, an equal to himself and he didn't try to stop her from being what she is. If you've been reading this series you know how dominant and alpha some of these Carpathian males can be, always telling their mates what is best for them. It gets old, at least to me so it was nice to see this male being proud of the warrior Vasilisa was. The action scenes were great. The romance between Afanasiv and Vasilisa took a backseat to the story of how the evil has infiltrated her family, how it got there and who was behind it though. I was really kind of hoping for more romance between these two but we don't really get that until towards the end of the book because there was so many other things going on getting in the way of that.

This book for me was a little slow though with all the rehashing of some of the backstory of some of villains that we already know. I also think some of the names of these characters are starting to get ridiculous. Yes, they are unique but in my head while reading I know I'm not pronouncing them right and just shorten them for myself. 

The twists and turns this story took made it interesting though. There were so many times I thought I knew where this story was going or who was behind the curtain pulling the strings, only to find out I was wrong. If you've been reading this series from the beginning like I have, you'll like this installment but this series is really best to be read in order because of all of the characters who have a habit of showing up unexpectedly in some books throughout the series. Not that I'm complaining about this, I like seeing old couples and finding out how they are. But because there are so many couples, so many characters and more characters popping up in each new book, it's best to read in order to get the full effect. The ancients from the monastery and their mates are really adding new facets to this series which I like and there are still many ancients who haven't found their mates yet so it'll be interesting to see finds their mate next.  

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received an e-cook copy via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

Today I'm bringing you baby rats. Just look at those sweet faces. 

*All pictures today are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #335

 

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 go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post.

I saw an ambulance and the fire chief's truck in front of my building on Monday. They brought someone from my courtyard out to the ambulance but I didn't see who it was. The fire chief didn't stay long and then they both left. 

This is a better picture of the back of the ambulance after the fire chief's truck moved. I never found out who went to the hospital but I hope they recovered and made it back home. 

On Monday I also saw smoke from a fire just down the street. Not sure what was on fire since I didn't have line of sight for where the fire was. But I got a quick video of the smoke coming off it. The fire dept. must have showed up fast because the smoke was put out within a few minutes. 

I started filming because I saw the kids throwing rocks, toys and pinecones across the courtyard and up in the tree and then the mom came out with a large broom handle and started throwing that up in the tree trying to get one of the toys down that was stuck up in the tree. But the tree is right in front of my window so I wanted video proof just in case my window got shattered so that I wouldn't be blamed and have to pay for a new window. Lol She got the toy down though. 😆

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Yesterday morning when I went to take Falcor out, there was this big dog in my courtyard. Falcor does not get a long with big dogs so my daughter went outside and held the dog by the collar so I could take Falcor out. When I got back I called animal control to come get him since he had a collar and a tag on, they would have been able to contact the owner. But our shelters are so full that they could not send anyone out to get him and told me to instead to go to petdata.com and search out his tag number and see if the owner added a phone number that we could call. So I did that and no one answered so my daughter texted the number and sent a picture and she texted back and had to ride her bike here to get her dog. 

The entire thing took about two hours. My daughter and a neighbor sat outside with the dog while we waited for the owner. We gave him water, snacks and my neighbor brought out a toy for him to play with. But the dog is now reunited with his owner.

He happily sat by my daughter and the neighbor while he waited for his owner to come get him. I found out from the petdata.com website that his name is Scrappy. 

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The high this week was 92F/33C

The low this week was 67F/19C

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

 

I came across this song completely by accident but as soon as the frontman started singing I looked at the video and realized it was Adam Gontier from Three Days Grace. He doesn't sing with that band any more but I love his voice so I'll definitely be listening to more of Saint Asonia now. 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.

This week I received a birthday card and envelope and digital alarm clock. Both from Walmart Spark Reviewer in exchange for an honest review. 

I really like the clock. I can always use a backup for he one I have in case it breaks. it's always nice to have some birthday cards around for when a birthday pops up. 

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Review: Walmart Beauty Box- September

 

The Walmart Beauty box is a subscription box that comes out 4 times a year. You sign up for it and it comes automatically every 3 months. They did increase the price of the box a little bit. So instead of $5 it's just a couple of dollars more. These boxes are free and you just pay for tax for shipping, mine came to $7.48.

What was in the box?

Liquid IV hydration powder

Hair tie

Cerave lotion

Cetaphil cleanser

NYX liquid lipstick

Thayer's toner

I really liked all the products but the Thayer's toner was on a pad and it was a one use item. I really wish they would stop sending the Liquid IV hydration powder because I just toss it now. It does not taste good. Everything else I liked though.

Low Carb Recipe: Eggplant Mozzarella

 

I know it's supposed to be called Eggplant Parmesan but I don't like parmesan cheese so I made this with only mozzarella. 

Recipe: 

1 eggplant sliced into 1/2 inch slices

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 jar of Rao's marinara sauce

7 basil leaves- chopped small

2 TBSP salt

Oil for frying eggplant

What to do:

Place sliced eggplant on a cookie sheet lined with two layers of paper towels. Rub a small amount of salt on both sides of eggplant and let sit on the paper towels in a room temperatures area for 3 hours. This will let some of the moisture drain away from the eggplant and it won't be so mushy. Remove eggplant from paper towels and use paper towels to flick away most of the salt,  and pat dry if needed.

Next, place about 1/2 an inch of oil into a frying pan and fry eggplant over medium heat until it's soft and set aside. 

Assembling the dish. In a 9x13 baking dish, add a little marinara sauce to the bottom of the dish and add a layer of eggplant, cheese, basil and more marinara sauce. Make more layers until all ingredients have been used. You can use a small baking dish if you have a small eggplant and want more layers. 

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 

Serve while warm. 

This came out so good and it makes a great side dish for dinners. 

Would you try this?

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

This week we have more cloud pictures. 

No rain, just big, puffy clouds.

I couldn't get the entirety of the clouds in one picture because they were so big. So I took multiple pictures.

It was nice to have the cloud cover since it was warm that day and the clouds blocked the sun from beating down on my head.

Happy Raturday!

 

"It's ok, I know I'm adorable."

"It's almost candy corm time."

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

Apartment Life #334

 

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 go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 25 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 25 years here in a weekly blog post.

Monday afternoon I saw the police parked outside my building. They came into my courtyard and went to the apartment across from me. They didn't stay long and no one was arrested so I don't know what they were there for. 

I heard my elderly neighbor yelling at somebody outside on Monday so I took Falcor outside so I would be nosy. After she was done yelling at drug dealer, she came over to me and told me that somebody that goes to drug dealer's apartment slashed four of her tires. She believes it was Beverly, a homeless woman that she had staying with her for a while but had to kick out because of all the problems and drugs that she was doing. But Beverly still goes down to drug dealer's apartment and she saw her earlier that day so she thinks that it was her that slashed all four of her tires. I only took pictures of two of the tires but all four have been slashed.

Her tires got slashed in a way that they can't be repaired so she's going to have to buy four new tires or used tires and she can't afford it because she's elderly and honest fixed income. So she's spitting mad, and was yelling at drug dealer telling him that she's going to start calling the cops every time she sees the druggies down at his apartment or anytime she sees Beverly down at his apartment she's going to call the police because she wants Beverly arrested even though she has no proof that she did it, she's the only one who's mad at her right now. I don't know if she'll actually call the police but I have my camera ready just in case.

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Last month an elderly, deaf lady was mugged in the alley of my apartment complex by one of the druggies. She and her husband were so shook up that they moved out soon after and I don't blame them one bit. Apartments have been broken into, cars have been broken into and vandalized and people have been mugged. All so the addicts can get money or something to trade for more drugs. I have no doubt that things wouldn't be this bad if drug dealer was evicted or he and his wife spent more than a couple of months in jail for it. 

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This is what residents here have to deal with when they step outside their doors. This woman was sleeping near drug dealers door waiting for him to open for business. Sometimes there are several druggies sleeping on the sidewalk that you have to walk past in order to walk your dog out front.

I would however like to clarify something. I post pictures like this of the homeless and addicts around my apartment complex only to show people what we residents have to put up with, for documentation of what is happening, not to make fun of them or make a spectacle of them. I bring this up because someone on Twitter told me that's what I was doing by posting pictures of the addicts. We are no longer friends because of it, which is fine. She has her views and I have mine. I'm the one having to deal with this everyday, she isn't. But I don't want anyone else getting the wrong idea about why I take pictures and post them.

This isn't something new for me. Both of my parents were drug addicts. My mom spent 6 months in prison for child endangerment and child neglect and my brother and I ended up in foster care for months because they chose drugs over us. So I know how they act, how they treat their families and what it's like to live with them. I will not apologize for posting pictures of what I'm seeing where I live. 

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The high this week was 99F/37C

The low this week was 71F/23C

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

 

I've posted Slipknot before but they are hard and not everyone likes them. I like this song. I have liked them since I first saw them in those crazy-weird masks. lol Do I have a mask fetish...maybe? But that's a discussion for another day. 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.

This week I received a big, blue salad bowl from Walmart Spark Reviewer. 

I love it. It's made of a hard plastic and washes easily. I like it because it's bigger than my other bowls and since I've started eating a lot more salads it's really come in handy.

Did you receive any freebies this week?

Book Review: The Dragon Soldier's Mate by Harlow Blaze

Book Description

Blackmailer threatening to murder you? Bad. 

Accidentally sleeping with your boss—the dragon shifter doctor who’s way too old for you? Somehow worse.

Nadine

Nadine is a simple girl with a simple plan. Kick ass in her new job and find a man who can make her scream. After a wild encounter in a shifter nightclub, she’s got part B locked down. But becoming a nurse for the Seattle dragons attracts dangerous attention. With her family’s safety under threat, Nadine has one choice—selling out her boss. 

There’s a teeny problem.

When she shows up for her first day, Doctor Axel looks very familiar. It’s hard to concentrate on spying while crammed into an office with a certified silver fox. Especially when the stern dragon shifter ordering her around did bad things to her last night. And she’s in more trouble than she thought. 

She forgot to take her pill.

Axel

Axel is never going to a nightclub again. One night off from being a grumpy old man, and a pretty young thing ruins his damn life. He should have known better. Despite her firecracker nature, Nadine is human. Small. Delicate. Fragile. He needs her out of his infirmary before she gets hurt in a way that even a doctor can’t fix. But trouble brews among the cold-blooded dragon shifters. And his nurse has a target on her back.  

Her innocence calls to his need to protect. Her delicious scent and fertile body call to something much darker. His inner beast doesn’t care that Axel won’t let Nadine into his life. It craves her in a way that threatens to bring about a repeat of his worst nightmare. Axel will die before he lets his filthy instincts knock her up. Getting a human pregnant will only end in tragedy. Again. 

My Review

Nadine lands a new job at a doctor's office. Things seem to be looking up for her until an unruly dragon decides to blackmail her into telling him about her new dragon boss's clan. If she doesn't cooperate he's threatened to hurt her disabled mother. Nadine visits a shifter club and finds herself flirting with a handsome dragon shifter. They end up getting together and they both think that's the end of it, no big deal they had a one night stand. But when she walks into work the next morning, her boss is the guy she met in the club the night before and he doesn't want her there. 

Axel doesn't want to get into a relationship with a human because he doesn't want to lose another family. So when he recognizes the woman from the night before, he just wants to get rid of her. When she pleads her case and just asks for a little time because she needs the job and lets him know they can forget about what happened between them, he agrees. But the pull he feels towards her is too strong and neither one of them can stop the sparks that fly between them. 

When she puts herself in danger, Axel will stop at nothing to make sure she is safe. 

I loved this story and this series. I am hoping to see some of the secondary characters get their books as well because they are intriguing and I want to get to know them better. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I received an e-ARC from Booksprout but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Low Carb Recipe: Baked Chicken and Broccoli casserole

INGREDIENTS FOR BROCCOLI CHICKEN CASSEROLE RECIPE:

2 large chicken breasts cut into bit size pieces.- seasoned and fried

2 broccoli heads, cut into small florets

1 tsp McCormick Roasted garlic and Herb seasoning

1tsp. McCormick Montreal Chicken seasoning

1/4 cup chicken stock

4 oz cream cheese

 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese

4 ounces of baby spinach

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

8 ounces white mushrooms- sliced

1 small yellow onion- sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

How to make: 

Season chicken breasts with the seasonings above and fry in a little oil until almost cooked through. Set aside for 10 minutes and then cut into small bite size pieces.

Add broccoli seasoning and broth to a pan, cover with lid and cook for 7 minutes. You want the broccoli to start cooking but to still be firm. Remove the broccoli from pan and add mushrooms, onions and a little oil. Cook uncovered until they start to turn a little brown. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. Add the broccoli and chicken to the pan. 

 Then combine cream cheese, colby jack and heavy cream in another pan and cook over medium heat until melted and combined and pour over chicken. There might be a little liquid in the bottom of the pan but that's ok and will be absorbed when you put the leftovers away or you can just spoon a little over your portion.

Cover pan and put in the oven at 375ºF for 20 minutes.

I know my picture is awful but it was really good. 

Would you eat this?

Book Review: After the Bite by Lynsay Sands

 

Book Description

Immortal Enforcer Valerian just wants to relax. His last assignment had been more grueling than he’d care to admit, and golf has always helped him unwind. If golf course owner Natalie thinks it’s a little odd for him to tee off at sunset every evening, she’s keeping it to herself. The single mom is sexy as hell, and her little daughter Mia only adds to his delight. He knows Natalie is wary of a relationship of any kind…what will she think when she discovers he’s an Immortal? His best course of action is to woo her the old-fashioned way.

But the course of true love never did run smooth—especially for a vampire and a mortal. And when danger stalks Natalie, Valerian realizes he’s playing a game of life and death and if he loses this round, he risks losing her forever.

My Review

Natalie owns a golf course and small restaurant. She's wary of relationships after her husband, son and parents passed away in a car accident. But learning that her husband wasn't who he said he was might have been an even bigger shock for her. For that reason she keeps to herself, doesn't date and raises her young daughter all the while trying to keep her golf course and restaurant going with minimal help so she can save money. 

Valerian is an immortal enforcer that works for the Argeneau family. He golfs at night and even though Natalie thinks it's weird, he's a paying customer so she doesn't say anything. 

Valerian is golfing one night when his golf cart runs out of gas and he ends up saving Natalie after what they all think is just an accident. He's kept to himself all these months he's been playing golf there so he hasn't met Natalie before now but once he reaches her and meets her, he's sure she is his mate. But that can be very tricky with a mortal and even more tricky for her since she doesn't want to get involved with anyone. 

Once Valerian thinks she is in danger though, he calls in the troops and they just kind of take over and let her know she might be in danger. She knows they are all there to keep her and little Mia safe so she puts up a lot less fight when people start taking over her life than I might have in the same situation. Little by little she can see that Valerian is a good guy and she is attracted to him and she thinks he might be attracted to her as well but she still takes things slow...for a while. Once they give into their feelings, there's really no going backwards until she finds out about what he is. She doesn't take it well in the beginning, not that I can really blame her. So while it takes a little time for her to trust him and the others, it's really Valerian's sister that helps her in that regard. 

All the while they are trying to track down the serial killer, The Angel Maker who they think might be behind the dangerous scenarios that have happened to Natalie. This is the 35th book in this series and I really enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed the other books in this series. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

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

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today are courtesy of wwwmartmousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #333

 

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 go on in and around my apartment complex in the past 25 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 24 years here in a weekly blog post.

Last Saturday night around 9:30pm we heard about 5 gunshots. But they weren't really close so I didn't call the police. They sounded like they were at least half a block away. I searched the news but didn't see anything about a shooting around here. 

My daughter took this picture a while back and sent it to me this week. One of the druggies was slumped over passed out in his chair he had sitting in front of my building. 

When I see this kind of thing, I usually check to see if they're still alive. I'm glad I do because I found out from my daughter that a few neighbors told her two different people died of drug overdoses on my street last week. I didn't see the police or coroner here so I had no idea. One guy died in the grass across the street and another guy died in the alley of my apartment complex. Both from drug overdoses. It's sad that happens. 

I saw the police and the homeless shelter van on my street again asking the homeless people if they wanted to go to the shelter. Most don't go because they can't do drugs or drink alcohol in the shelters. No one got in the van this time. 

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Wednesday night at 11:30PM I heard the police siren for just a second and looked out my bedroom window. At first there were only 2 police cars. Then it quickly became 4 police cars.

Within 10 minutes there were 6 police cars all lined up on my street, right in front of my building. One woman was in handcuffs while they searched her truck. She was later arrested and her truck was towed. 

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The high this week was 97F/36C

The low this week was 67F/19C

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