When I was only seventeen my mom remarried an AMAZING man after my dad was taken from us by a drunk driver. He was Mexican and my mom and us well we are Puerto Rican and so that makes for an unusual combination.

After my step dad retired from working in the steel mills he decided he wanted to move back home to Mexico... my mom followed.

She has been a Puerto Rican living in Mexico for about 12 years now (though they have been married for 25). My mom absolutely loves Mexico and I can see why!!!

For years I have wanted to travel but for many reason I never went to visit them. A few of the reasons have been because the kids were to little or we just financially could not afford to, or the media here frankly scared us with how dangerous it is.

My dream came true! I got to visit for three amazing weeks and I got to take my daughter Isabella with me. It was such an amazing experience and debunked many, many ideologies that just are not true.

For one: It is very affordable! Our American $1 is worth almost 5 times its worth there so I was able to really stretch our money. For instance if a clothing item there is $380 pesos I am really only paying about $21 American dollars. But the cost of living is way cheaper so that combined makes it absolutely a gr4eat place to live.

I never at any time was worried or scared like I thought I would be. On the contrary I saw plenty of Police presence in my parents home town and felt very safe. Matter of fact one our favorite things to do was walk to the Plaza every night where we would get fresh Ice cream for Isabella, all the town folks would come out to walk and socialize, music would fill the air and the young teens could be seen walking around with their dates. I wish some how here in America we could incorporate this cultural family time.

Three weeks went by so fast and we visited so many places that were simply breathtaking...

My heart stayed in Mexico and I can't wait to go back !!!

• Use a tripod and a slow shutter speed when it's snowing to cause a "streaking" effect in the image. This can look very creative!
• If the snow is blowing around in strong winds, though, you'll need to use a much faster shutter speed.
• If there's no wind at all, you'll probably need a slow shutter speed of around 1/15th of a second.
• Use a slower shutter speed to capture variants in the light, particularly at sunrise or sunset.

I have also learned that you should avoid using flash, as it can bounce off the snow and cause overexposure. If it's actually snowing while you're shooting, the flash likely will turn snowflakes into distracting balls of overexposed light.