I am back.....

So its been ageeeeeesssssss since I have even longed on to the site, between school and work I haven't had much time to write.

School: is going OK, is getting rough to manage everything that we have to do, especially my broadcast writing class where I have to create commercials for TV and Radio. Also my school got a brand new TV studio where I will be working on several projects, but I am scared to break anything in there..
Media Ethics is kicking my ass too, since my teacher has quizzes every class and they are fill in the blank types, so you have to memorise the books.. I mean the 3 books that we have for that one class.. retarded.
On my other classes are I am doing good, especially on my marketing classes.
I am also searching for internships, two look promising.. keep fingers crossed.

I am looking forward to next semester at school here is what I will be taking:

Media Law (yuck)

Public Relations

Desktop Publishing

Race, Gender and Society

La Sociedad, a Hispanic marketing class.

Life:
Jeremy and I have been lucky to be going to almost all home games of the San Antonio Spurs..GO SPURS GO!! that's been one of the highlights. We are also 12 days from celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary. I looked at our marriage certificate and I couldn't find an expiration date so i guess I am stuck, just kidding. I really can't believe how fast the time has gone by.
Halloween was different this year, we went out bar hopping with our new friends, JD and Amanda. It was nice to have a mess to clean up at the house with our usual party. The next day we had a bar-b-q and watch the Texas v. Tech game and dranked a lot of beer to drown the sorrow of losing.


Upcoming events: Jeremy and I are leaving for Chile on December 26, until January 12, I am so excited to see my family and spend new years in my country. We are also going to spend the last days in the south of Chile being "tourist-y".

Well that is all I can think for right now, I will start posting more often. I just wish I knew if people are actually reading this or not... humm??

Just peachy..oh peary?

Between school, work and house chores I really haven't had the time to really write, so lets recap.
My classes are O.K some are better than others and I am still procrastinating on homework, actually I have this one essay due tomorrow and instead of working on that I am writing on my blog...anyhow, I am really liking working as the ads manager for the Lake Front but is sure does keep me busy.
Life at home is good, this Sunday we had this cold front come in and it was just the perfect day to garden. This is where the picture of the pear comes in, I went out to the tree to prune it a little and to my delightful surprise we got our very first pear!!! We have waited for 3 years now to get fruit we had even given up hope that I was not a fruiting tree. I also finish painting the front porch rails and re-planting and cleaning the flower bed, which left me with this annoying back pain =(

Another cool happening is that we are getting a hot tub this week and the best part of it is that is FREE! we just have to go get it from Jeremy's co-worker's house that apparently has this hill-like driveway so it should be a fun little Sunday, we are actually recruiting workers to move this tub, so any takers?

We got this awesome cold front today and it feels like fall already, it is so nice to be able to open the windows shut of the A.C and wear sweatshirts.
So, here I am sitting at the Lake Front office, windows open and all (let hope no bird fly in here that would chaotic), listening to No Doubt and not doing my homework.

Las Vegas is calling

30 days until Las Vegas!!

Back to school

Wow! talk about a busy week, school started on Monday and I haven's stop moving since.

I am proud to say that I am taking a full load this time around, a whopping 16 hours!! but I am taking classes that are focused on my degree and the classes are (insert drum roll here) Marketing, TV Production, Media Ethics, Broadcast Witting, Marketing for the Media and Tennis. I am also back on staff at The Lake Front Student News, and I am now an editor (not to thrilled, but...) I am also helping out with ads and promotions for the paper and that is what I am really excited about since is what I am passionate about. I know that my classes are going to be tough, but they will definitely prepare me for the "real world" and for that I can't wait!

As far as news from the home front, nothing really exciting. This past weekend we went to see Tropic Thunder and we were terribly disappointed =( we were expecting more comedy that random non sense and mumble words, but I guess it was still entertaining to watch. I am thinking this Sunday we should give Pineapple Express a shot, that one looks really funny, but so did Tropic Thunder.

Tomorrow I don't have to go anywhere expect to go fill up with gas before the prices really go up, (Gustav is making its way over here) I should of gone today but I was running a little bit late, well not really late but I wanted to stop at Starbucks for coffee, and didn't stop to fill up oops! so anyhow tomorrow will be nice to get time to clean the house and relax..

So, that's it!! you can go now.... lol.. =)

Sunset on my way home.

Its been raining a lot lately

Nothing new

Only five more days until I return to class and I can't believe how fast the summer went by but I am ready to go back to classes.

I really haven't been posting anything because nothing new or exciting has happen, we have been going over to visit friends, going tubing and some weekend we went out dancing. So, as you can see nothing new but I am sure that will change once schools starts, especially working at the Lake Front will keep me very busy and will give me new stuff to write about.

Right now, is raining again and we are loving it since we finally get a break from the heat and the plants get water, plus is the perfect weather to stay inside make muffins and watch movies (all of which I did today).

With nothing else new to report, I am out!!

back to working out

I have made up my mind to start working out again, I seem to have gained 2lbs since I got back and I am not going back to that. So yesterday I went for walk at the local park and it seems that everyone likes to walk at the same time, I felt a little lonely to be walking alone plus I am not a big fan of the "hamster-walking" meaning walking around without getting anywhere, I rather walk with a purpose but either way I walked and felt good after worth.

Today I started the Slim in Six program, and man those 28.16 minutes sure kick my butt!! and since my goal is to lose another 5 lbs before going back to school I have to just suffer and get to it!
.
Another good news, yesterday after my walk I drove by the tennis courts and I saw the same man teaching tennis, so this time I stopped and asked him if he gave personal lessons and he does! So I should start my private lessons in a week or so, I am so excited, maybe I can get better by the time I finish the year, now if I could only find someone to play with during the day that would be great.

Other than that, nothing else is going on. Tomorrow I will be volunteering at San Japan, San Antonio's Japanese Culture and Anime Convention, all in the name of OLLU let me make that clear.. lol..

that's all folks.

Rainy day

Another normal Tuesday at home only this time is raining and thundering, a nice break from this infernal heat.

I really have nothing new going on this week, just the normal "boring" day to day stuff...maybe I will cook something sweet later today.

Helping out my friend

This post is not about me or anything going on in my life, imagine that! actually I want to help out my friend Jess who is raising money for a turtle sanctuary called, El Tortugario located in Cuyutlan, Mexico. Jess spent part of her summer down there helping out and she is now raising money to help them by selling this fantastic photographs she took of the place and the animals. I am going to copy some of the information that she posted on her blog for anyone interested in helping out this wonderful place.

"El Tortugario in Cuyutlan, Mexico is where I spent a small portion of my time in this summer. In part, they provide environmental education to visitors, care for turtles, iguanas, and crocs, and protect turtle eggs from poachers. Basically, they all work their asses off to do something really important for our planet. I was really impressed with the center and am very grateful to everyone there for their kindness and hospitality.I want to raise a little dinero for the center so they can continue to do this work.My goal: $1,000.Applicable talents to accomplish this goal: throwing a parties, selling my photographs, and talking to everyone about it!"

"Right now, I have 3*5" cards available to sell. They are super cool and can be bought individually for $3.00 or in a set of 15 for $30.00 (the photos on the cards are the ones with a * after the title).Any photo can be made into a 5*7 card for $5.50. In the next few weeks I will have framed art...ranging from 4*6 to 8*10 and prints in any standard size can be ordered too!All the photo cards are packaged in environmentally friendly plastic & (of course) the packaging is decorated in ribbon!! The card sets will make great gifts for the holidays!!"

Here is the link to the photos available for sale and Jess's blog if you wish to contact her directly. I really think this is an inexpensive, easy and great way to help out and take care of our planet.

Jess's Blog and how to help

Wanna see?? Click here NOW!!

A new month is here

A new month has began, which means school will be start soon and I am really excited to all the new classes, and the new organizations I am part of, specially being president of Sigma Delta Pi (National Spanish Honor Society), and I am actually missing writing for The Lake Front I have tons of new ideas for the paper =)

Yesterday it was the 10th annual SAAHJ banquet, and even though I was not one of the scholarship recipient I was great to meet some very influential people, and in a way is reassured me that I am in the right place. Dinner was exquisite we all felt all fancy and the funniest part of all was trying to figure our this little trinket that we each got, so we all started to guess, it is a lent brush?, is an eyebrow grooming tool?, a camera? A business card holder? After an hour or guessing it was announced that is a screen cleaning tool!, and it actually works pretty good.
the mistery trinket
our dinner

After the banquet was over, Melissa, Tessa, Pricilla and I headed towards Howl at the Moon. It was suppose to be college night but there was definitely an older crowd that night, we it must of been college night of 1970. The music was still good and the "entertainment" was good to; let me explain that, there was this one woman who had obviously had a few and she REALLY, wanted to dance, so every song she would be out there, not the funny thing is that she danced exactly the same for every single song, and her "dancing" resemble what a chicken does when you feed them, you really had to be there even thinking about it now makes me laugh.

at the moon


Today I stayed home and took care of laundry and the yard; also I officially started my recycling efforts. I cleaned our pantry and got this two bins that will have cans/alumni and paper.


Now I am waiting for Jeremy to come home and start our weekend!!

A total Betty Crocker..

What a better way to kill time than to cook. I was going to run to the store and get stuff for the week but its so dang hot outside and I got lazy so that will have to be tomorrow's adventure. Anyways, I decided to make panqueques de manjar (caramel pancakes) and they turned out delicious. Cooking deserts makes me think about home and how my nona (my grandmother) used to teach me how to make stuff and we would spent the afternoons cooking, some of the best memories of my life were spent in the kitchen.

panqueques con majar.

Jeremy is home early today and was happy to see that I had made something yummy, and now I am making chicken and rise.. yeah I know I am being little house wife today, but thats what having nothing to do will do. Now time to go, gotta go check on dinner.

A good start

A new week begins and it started pretty good. I got a call this morning from Best-Buy saying that they were going to replace my camera with a new one and that got me out of the house really fast. So I got a new camera, actually I upgraded to a better Sony W-170 Cyber Shot =), and like Jeremy says "Mari is happy".

This past weekend was awesome to. On Friday Jeremy found out that he had the the weekend off and we wasted no time and making plans to go see the new Batman movie and it was AWESOME!! its the best Batman movie by far, so if you haven't seen it stop reading this blog and go, go NOW.


On Saturday we invited Gabe and Megan (Jeremy's cousins) to come over and eat, and then Josh (bother-in-law) and Ronnie (friend) came over too. We spent all day playing pool, horse shoes and eating good food. After people headed back to their prospective homes, it was time for me and Jeremy to go out. We got dressed and ready to go dancing. We headed to our favorite club, Club Rio and stayed until they closed. I enjoyed our Saturday and than spent all Sunday just relaxing and enjoying our time off.


Today, after getting my new camera, I headed towards school and took care of a lot of stuff for the fall semester, even got a scholarship reinstated!! yay! So it was a good day, tomorrow I have cleaning and planting new plants.. and of curse taking pictures..
oh since I can't take a picture of my camera with my camera, here is a picture from the web.

And there goes my hopes.... =(

Business day is over, and I didn't get a call back from Univision, so I guess it was not chosen for the internship and that's O.K it was not meant to be. I know what I am capable of doing and I know I will find something else, besides I have a really busy fall semester.

Nothing else is really going on this week, I am still trying to get cough up with everything around the house and I am getting closer. Jeremy still at work so is just me and the laundry today.

So, with not much to say I will go watch some "First 48" episodes while I clean.... Oh and I think rain is coming.. =)

One dream came true!!!

our new game room!

This weekend was fantastic!! I have been looking forward in spending time with Jeremy all week and it was great that was got home relatively early on Saturday. I spent mostly all day with my mom, we went shopping and just really spent time together that was really nice.

On Sat. night Jeremy and I headed to Josh's house and even Gabe (Jeremy's cousin) showed up, and we all headed to a party. The party was so much fun, it seemed that no one had ever meet anyone from Chile before so they were all fascinated about me being from so far away, it was kind of cool =) It was during this party that we heard that one of Josh's friend was selling his pool able and needless to say we were all ears and we got this awesome deal on this 8 ft' table with cues and sticks. Getting our own pool table and turning our garage into a game room has been a dream of ours since we got the house and this weekend that dream came true.
my man and his new toy
he beat me =(

We picked up the table this morning and spent all day cleaning and setting up our new game room. Jeremy finally got a place to put his dart board up, and just have a place to relax and have fun together. I am really happy to because I will get a chance to get good at pool, so watch out!! =)
first break on new table

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for me, I have my interview with Univision for an internship, so please wish me luck. After the interview I have to go to OLLU to get some stuff taken care of, then back home to get this endless pile of laundry.

Well is almost 1 a.m. and I need to get to bed, I am exhausted from this awesome weekend. I should be updating tomorrow about the interview.

New day, new blog

So I was thinking on the easiest way to continue writing a blog, and the choices were to start a new one (a pain in the butt may I say) or just stay with this one and just change the address, so I decided to just change the web address and keep on writing.

Being back at home it’s been nice but boring as hell!! There is nothing to do here. I can't really go walk unless you like to walk around in a circle like a hamster, there are no coffee shops to go relax and people watch and worst of all I have no one to really do things with since all my friends either work, are out of San Antonio, or have kids. I am really regretting coming back home so soon, if I would of planned it better I could of had stayed in Queretaro for the rest of the summer and continue to study at the TEC, but oh well I just need to make the best of the rest of my summer here.

One exciting new is that on Monday I have an interview with Univision for an internship. I am super excited about that, I mean is UNIVISION!!! So please cross all your fingers for me. I am a bit worry about the course load I have this fall since I am taking 15 hrs including Tennis, plus the Lake Front and a possible internship, talk about being busy.

Ok, changing the subject this past weekend we went to South Padre and it was the first time I visited the island. I can see why people would go there for spring break or vacations it is beautiful! The beaches are clean and the water is clear nothing like Corpus. We got this great deal at a condo we found on the internet. When we saw the pictures of the condo we though "it's OK" it was still better than a cheaply hotel, but one we got there we were pleasantly surprise to see that the condo was newly remodel, it had bamboo flooring, a flat screen TV, and a new king since bed, also we were really close to the beach and our balcony faced Schlitterbahn.

our condo.

We spent our days hanging out with Allie, Josh, Aaron, Ronny and Zack, we even got a change to go fishing with Ronny’s dad on his boat, and I think that was the highlight of the trip especially since I got to drive it. I really wanted to stay there longer, 3 days is not enough but Jeremy had to go back to the "sweat shop" on Monday. =(

driving the boat

I think tomorrow I am going to spend the day with my mom, since she is alone too because John, my stepdad, is in Korea for a year teaching English. I believe we are going to work on our scrapbooks and make dinner, should be fun!

I guess that is all for now, I maybe going for a “hamster” walk later just to something, especially since I managed to loses 12 pounds in Mexico and I am not about to gain it back!

Oh, I almost forgot, sorry for the lack of new photos, my camera is at the "camera hospital" I should be getting it back in a week or so.. =(

55 minutes

So here we are, only 55 minutes left in Mexico. I am sitting here at the Mexico City Airport waiting to find out what my gate will be.



I haven't been writting this past week because I really didn't have time or desired to really get on the computer but it was very evenfull week. We meet this really nice guys, well really the one we meet was Josue and his friends, but he was just great, he really looked out for us and took Misty, Steph and I out to see the city the only bad things is that we meet him so late into our trip. Still we made the best our of the little time we had. so Thanks Josue for being such a great host of your beautiful city.

i am really looking forward in seeing Jeremy and my doggies. I have to say that I have really enjoyed writting a blog, I maybe writting one on a regular basis about my daily life.

Thanks to all of those who read my blog and posted comments it motivatived to keep sharing.
now lets go catch that plane.

A day to stay inside

Today was the first time I missed class since I been here because I had this really bad headache. I felt really bad because we were going to analyse our last story but I really felt sick.

I took the opportunity to rest, work on my final project. I was planning to go out dancing tonight with Steph and Misty but around 6 p.m. it started to rain and has not stopped yet, which is really enhancing my laziness and desired to stay home.

Tomorrow is our last day of class and I really can't believe how fast the six weeks went by and there were still a lot of things I would of like to see or do by now but, oh well another excuse to come back to Queretaro.

Now some cool news John, my step dad, left for Korea this morning to go teach English. I am so happy for him I know he's always wanted to teach and this is an opportunity of a lifetime. I think my mom is actually going to Korea this Christmas. but I think Jeremy and I are going to Chile.

I guess that is all for now, I am going to watch some TV, let home there is something good on and that those loud commercials don't loop 8 times like last night! which is not to bad if you have a remote and can change it from the bed... =)

Rain, rain go away!

So here we are, exactly one week from being home, I am really looking forward in seeing Jeremy, my mom, and family (including my doggies) but I can't say that I won't miss Queretaro.

One thing I won’t miss is this non-stopping rain we have right now and it kind of ruins our shopping plans. Today Jess, Sara, Erin and I had planned to go downtown and do some shopping but as soon as we walked out the door it started to sprinkle and by the time we got across the street to take the bus it was starting to come down hard, luckily the bus didn't take too long to arrive. We arrive at el Templo de la Cruz which is very close to downtown but it was raining so hard that we wanted to wait for it stop a little. Lucky we found refuge on this little coffee shop where we enjoyed a hot cup java and watched as the rain didn't let up

Hiding in the coffee shop.

After a while the rain stopped long enough for us to make it haft way down the street when it started to pour again. The usually crowed streets were empty with just a few shops open; it was really disappointing since we were all in the mood for spending money. Since there was nothing to do we gave up, we tried to call for a safe cab but the lines were busy and not wanting to wait forever we braved the rain for 3 blocks to our bus stop. There we were like four little ducks, soaking wet but having fun splashing water on each other while we waited for bus number 80.

walking in the rain

Empty streets

Sitting duck waiting for the bus

When we arrived at the Tec we had to cross the flooded street that got my shoes soaked. The funny part was when we got to the Residencias, Lulu (the boss) said "No pueden entrar mojadas" (you can go in wet) we all just stood there thinking if she was for real but it didn't take long for her to start smiling and for us to feel like dorks.

All in all it was a fun afternoon, I will never forget the day we were the only "gringas" trying to shop in a storm... ahh fun times!!

*Thank Sara for taking this great pictures!!

Bernal and Tequisquiapan

This past weekend we had our first day trip, and we visited Bernal and Tequisquiapan. Both are very closed to Queretaro, only an hour bus ride but even if it was a longer drive, the shopping you can do in both Bearnal and Tequisquiapan is oh so worth it!!

We arrived in Bernal around 9 a.m. and most places were still closed but I was able to see one of the biggest rock in the world, La Peña of Bernal and it is said that the people of Bernal enjoy extraordinary longevity. I don't know if that is true or not but I did see several older people, maybe because I was told that and now I am on the lookout. Although there were not many shops open we did find a few and took advantaged that there were not many people there, the only bad thing was having to rush to make it back to our bus on time and to make matters worse we waited on this hot bus for 45 minutes while we waited for those who decided to climb La Peña, and it wouldn't been so bad if they (meaning the primos) would of lets us go back to shop some more. After "patiently" waiting for what seemed an eternity, we finally got on our way to Tequisquiapan.

La Peña of Bernal

The drive was short, which was nice because we were starving. Misty, Steph, Tish and I searched for a good place to have lunch. We sat on the main plaza overlooking the church and had a quick bite; we were all ready to shop.

If I could find a few words to describe Tequisquiapan it would be "Shopper's dream", here you can find just about anything, from hand waved baskets, blankets, pottery and jewelry. I was able to find a lot of neat stuff to take back and a few little things for me too, unfortunately times flies when you are spending money and before we knew it was time to leave.




Overall it was a really fun weekend and I hope it will be just as great this next one when we visit San Miguel de Allende.

Mexico City Weekend

I have returned from a fun and educational weekend in Mexico City. We left Queretaro on Saturday at 5:30 a.m. and headed towards the Piramides de Teotihuacán. We had this cute boxed breakfast in the bus and we were not even done eating when we arrived at the pyramids.
The morning was perfect, and it seemed that we were the first group to arrive because the little shops were not open yet =( We got separated into two group and our tour guide was Tonatiuh Vasquez. First stop El Templo de Quetzalcóatl, This temple is decorated with several serpent head that represented fertility and Quetzalcoatl means "el gemelo divino".

Temple Of Quetzalcoatl

We made our way to the museum of Teotihuacán. This was the first time I got to visit the museum so I was very excited. The Museum was great; it showed all types of artifacts from the Aztecs. There was so much to see and learn, there were findings of recent digs, including several tombs, with skeletons wearing necklaces of human and simulated jawbones, but with any large tour group there is never enough time to see everything.

I am proud to say that I climb the pyramid of the Sun all the way to the top, and the reward was the spectacular view of the ancient city. There is a sense of energy when you are up there knowing that thousands of years people built this magnificence pyramids without the help of our modern technology is so impressive. We also visited the Palacio de los Jaguares were the warriors gathered and some of their original murals still remain, talk about good quality of work!

After spending all morning at the pyramids, it was time for lunch. We eat at the Quinta Del Sol Hotel and the food was so good, so I got a little bit of everything. We also had a dance performance of the traditional Aztec dance. After lunch we headed back to the city to visit the Palacio Nacional.

The Palacio Nacional houses several murals done by Diego Rivera and they tell the story of Mexico is his own way, very political to say the least. Last stop was the Templo Mayor. The Templo Major was the ceremonial center at the heart of the Aztec Capital of Tenochtitlan ( now Mexico City) and it was discover in 1978 during the subway excavations. This Templo was the main site for human sacrifices and there is a museum that shows the history of this place and their culture. Our tour guides continue to be outstanding throughout all the places we visited, they told us the history and importance of all the places.

court yard in the Palacio.

After a very long day we finally go to our hotel, Fiesta Americana and it was a four star hotel which was awesome especially the super comfy beds. We relaxed for a bit and then we went out to dinner to La Opera.

La Opera Restaurante

bullet hole left by Pancho Villa

La Opera is an authentic cantina that even has a bullet hole on the ceiling left by no other than Pancho Villa. They also had a little band that would come and play at your table for a fee of course. We stayed and chatted for a while but it was getting late so we decided to start walking back to the hotel. When we got back some of us were not ready to call it a night just yet, so we made our way to little place to dance and have a few beers. We didn’t stay to long because I think we were all looking forward to those comfy beds back in our rooms and we had an early start the next day.

our hotel room.

Splashy Weekend Part II

Sunday morning we got an early start, we had a great traditional breakfast that included beans, scramble eggs with ham, fresh orange juice, and tortillas. Still a little sleepy we made our way back to the bus and headed towards La Cascada El Meco, which is in El Naranjo, still part of Huasteca Potosina.

La Cascada El Meco was just breathtaking, and to be honest if the first waterfall I have ever seen so it was so amazing to see the force and magnitude
of this waterfall. We had time to sit in the observatory, take pictures and enjoy the site. Back on the bus!!



We drove for a bit to our next waterfall destination, Cascada de Minas Viejas and in this one we could swim. We made our way through the muddy road to get to the water, but it was well worth it. We got on our life-vests on, walked down this rock wall and splash!! Into the water. I was just in awe to be swimming right next to this enormous waterfall, many were jumping off small cliff but I must admit I was to chicken to do it. We must have been there for at least an hour and then guess what? Back on the bus!!


by April Sears


By this time we are all starving from all the swimming and sitting on the bus on our wet swimsuits, so we stopped for a well earned lunch. We stopped at D’ Picón Restaurante, also in El Naranjo, were they had set up our tables in the patio right by the river. We got served once again this very testy food, we had meatloaf, steak, rice, Mac' n cheese, vegetables soup and jamaica juice. I eat everything!





Once again back on the bus towards our final destination, Rio Verde. This drive was a little longer so I had time to read a little bit of my Harry Potter book in Spanish of curse, and take a nap. We arrived at Rio Verde and we made our way down this really steep road and the whole time I was thinking "we have to climb this thing back up." We got our life-vest back on and got to swim in this little natural pool, we all looked like sitting ducks or a harem of seals, all these little blue vest people just floating. One of those people decided to go explorer a cave that was at the end of the swimming hole and was greeted by a snake that was hiding in the cave, I have never seen someone swim so fast in my life.


By April Sears
After a while we started to make our way out of the snake-blue-vested waterhole and had to face the reality of climbing that hill back up. All the girls got in my bus and we decided to change into dry cloth, well the bus driver couldn’t on the bus to turn on the AC so we were like chicken in a pen, all scrambling to get dress and out.


The drive back to Queretaro was not as bad as the way up there; we made it home around 1 a.m. safe and sound. I have little pictures from this day since I had a water proof camera and I have not gotten it developed yet, but soon.

I wanted to thank Ecorioexpediciones for their outstanding job in all the excursions we did over the weekend. They took care of the foods, the hotels and all these places we visited, they went above and beyond to make sure we had a great and safe trip. Please visit their website: