POST#104: SECOND ANNIVERSARY!!!!

Hey guys! Today's post marks the second anniversary of the blog! Thanks to all my readers and supporters who pass on the blog to their friends and family members. As a result, my blog has been read in several countries, including the US, Russia, Latvia, Germany, Malaysia, the UK, France, Indonesia, Japan, Poland, Mexico, and of course, Puerto Rico. 

For the past 104 consecutive weeks, you've read all about my adventures, thoughts, and the occasional review. And the thing is, I am extremely surprised that people from other countries are actually interested in a girl from a little island who happens to have a blog. I mean, I don't know how the heck it gets into countries where neither me or my family know anybody. 

I started this as an experiment, expecting that I would get tired of it really fast, but soon I realized that I liked doing it, and proposed myself a goal of blogging every Friday night, at least until I reached two years, and here I am ;) At first it was easy, because the blog was new and I had lots of ideas, but for the past few months it has been a little more difficult because trying to keep my readers interested, finding something to write about AND dealing with some problems (won't reveal them) hasn't been that easy. I still get overwhelmed when I see the blog's stats every week. 

Thank you to all my readers and supporters! I will be taking a break to focus a bit more on school and just chill out a little more, but I'll be back with new ideas and surprises :) Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you get notified whenever I publish a post! If you have any questions about any of my posts, how I come up with them or have some ideas on what I should write, feel free to comment, I will be checking and replying to the comments :)



Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#103: W RETREAT AND SPA - VIEQUES :)

The beach at the hotel...

Hey guys! Today I'm writing from the W Hotel in Vieques Island! I've been staying here since Monday and I check out tomorrow (Saturday). And now you're probably asking yourself how I got in this REALLY EXPENSIVE hotel, right? Well, Dad travels a lot (business travel) and always tries to stay in Starwood Hotels. The Starwood Hotel Line includes different hotels like the Sheraton and the W, and the more Dad stays in those hotels, the more points he gets as a reward. Eventually you can redeem them for stuff, including hotel stays. So, Dad had a crazy amount of points on his account and he redeemed them for this hotel stay, that means we're basically staying here for free ;) . Our room is an ocean view with two Queen size beds, flat screen TV, DVD player, mini fridge, and a balcony. The hotel has a fire pit, two pools (one is an infinity pool), a private beach, a spa, a fully stocked bar, a restaurant, etc. We rented a car and went around the island (it's tiny, about 21 miles long and 4 miles wide) beach-hopping. We went to Media Luna, Caracas Beach (Red Beach), Sun Bay, and La Chiva Beach (Blue Beach). We also went kayaking at the Bioluminiscent Bay (Mosquito Bay or Puerto Mosquito). Oh, and we went exploring through the middle of the island and found a couple of the old bunkers the US military built when they occupied most of the island from 1941-2003. If you're in Vieques, go to the Bio Bay. It's AWESOME, one of only 5 Bio Bays left in the world (Puerto Rico hosts three of them), and the only one left that's completely pristine. Vieques in general is awesome :)



Happy weekend!



Maria.

POST#102: TINY DEATH STAR!

Hey guys! Today we're discussing Tiny Death Star! Tiny Death Star is a Star Wars themed game in which you help Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine reconstruct their Death Star by building civilian levels on top of Imperial levels so the revenue earned by civilians funds the evil plans of the Sith. There are 5 types of different civilian levels: Residential, Food, Retail, Recreation, and Service, and then obviously there are the Imperial levels. When you first download the app, you are assigned missions to start your Death Star, and then you set off on your own. You use the Coins (or Imperial Credits) to buy levels and stock inventory, and you use the Imperial Bux to accelerate construction or stocking times, summon supply officers to the Imperial levels, or convert them to Credits. Then the VIP's start to appear. A VIP is a special person helps you complete a task, for example, the Recruiting Officer fills up a Residential level and a Supply Officer helps an Imperial level produce its inventory of Rebel Secrets, for example. You can also unlock special characters like Luke Skywalker, Leia, Han Solo, Boba Fett, Yoda, Darth Vader, etc. I think Tiny Death Star is AWESOME! I already have 50 levels! The game is free and available on iOS, Android, the Amazon Appstore, and Windows Phone. My Dad and I are hooked on it :) 


For more info on Tiny Death Star, visit this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Tiny_Death_Star


Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#101: CHRISTMAS!!!

My Christmas tree and presents :)

Hey guys! Happy Holidays! Today we're discussing Christmas :) . I almost couldn't sleep that night, and then I woke up at 11:00 a.m :P ... So, my presents were:

1. the Guinness Book of World Records
2. Pink Beats headphones :D         
3. an iTunes giftcard
4. 2 Amazon giftcards                      
5. Just Dance 2014
6. The Shade of The Moon (book) 
7. Despicable Me 2 
                                                     8. a spin-art making kit                     
                                                     9. Our Moment by One Direction <3
                                                   10. a gingerbread house making kit 


Santa was pretty awesome this year ;)  The night before (Christmas Eve), Mom made a delicious dinner spread of traditional foods (arroz con gandules, chuletas, and garlic bread) and before supper we had some finger food, like a mini party, but with my Mom, Dad, and myself only. I also went to visit my Grandma and washed the car for the first time, and I had fun :) Oh, and tomorrow I'm going to a wedding! And since this is the last post of the year, Happy New Year!



Happy weekend!



Maria.



                                                   

POST#100: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!

Hey guys! My last day of school was on Wednesday, and since it was a half day, me and my friends went out. First we ate pizza at Papa John's, and we were so loud, the clerk told us to shut up because she didn't hear the customers on the phone! After we ate, we went to the movies to see the new Thor movie (it was my second time seeing it but I fell asleep the first time :P), and since we got pretty early to the theater, we just pretty much monkeyed around the concession stand and the arcade. We bought our movie snacks, and we settled into our seat. Since almost everybody has seen it, and everyone wants to see the new Hobbit movie, we had the theater to ourselves. The movie was REALLY GOOD, and featured Loki a little bit more actually. 



Happy weekend!



Maria.                                                                                                                  

POST#99: DRAWING!!!

One of the many drawings ;)

Hey guys! Today we'll be talking about a drawing week long seminar that I'm taking. So the seminar is in a local comic book store called Mondo Bizarro, and is being taught by an animator who has worked with Pocahontas and Space Jam, Ivan Camilli. Cool, I know ;) So the seminar is three hours a day, Monday thru Friday (today) and also next Monday, for a total of 18 HOURS. He's teaching us how to develop characters from scratch and draw them like really rough, then adding the details and refining it. BTW, I'm the only kid in the class, the others are in their early 20s, late teens I think :P It's really awesome! 

Happy weekend!


Maria.

POST#98: MATH BOWL!

Hey guys! Today I won 3rd place (along with a friend) at the school Math Bowl! And I'm not even that good at math! And also today I went to see The Book Thief at the movies today and it was really good :)



Happy weekend!



Maria.