Sorry it has been so long since the last post. I was overzealous in the three-posts-a-week precedent I set when I started this blog, and now it is finals time, and I am sick, and life has sped up all around me and it is going very fast, but somehow not quite fast enough!

This is my second-to-last finals week of my college career, and I am feeling the heat. I have been privileged with some great classes this past quarter, but right now if you asked me if I enjoyed them the answer would be a loud NO so you should ask me next week! From the warm beaches of Mexico, drink in hand and friends by my side, I will look back fondly on this quarter and sigh, "ahh, time passes so quickly. I really loved all my classes and learned so incredibly much." But then if you ask me in two or maybe three weeks, when I am sucked in to the new swing of things of the early weeks of my last quarter of college and have just recently been jolted to reality by the appearance of my winter grades online, I will answer with a positive or negative but definitely passionate statement that should give you a pretty good idea of how those grades will be affecting my GPA come graduation time.

But right now, in the thick of it, running on 10 hours of sleep total in the last two nights and slammed with the sniffles, it is hard to believe that the end is near. So near, in fact, that it is my birthday tomorrow. When my birthday rolls around each year, I know it is close to the end of a quarter.

In light of my 22nd birthday tomorrow, I have been reflecting lately on what the previous year has held for me. It turns out, actually, that my 21st year on this earth has been the very best of my entire life. It began in true 21st celebration style, with a month long festival of skiing, lime-green boas, mojitos and margaritas, cake, presents, and crowns and led into the magical Denver spring I have fallen in love with. From long, sunny days barbequing in the backyard of my friends house, to Cinco de Mayo celebrations, to walks around Washington Park, to skiing on June 5th, spring quarter was not my most academically focused quarter of college (though I did manage to walk away with a 4.0, it's the miracle of spring). Summer began with a road trip home on the Loneliest Highway in America, 50, that was not so lonely for me - thank you mom, and once home I started the guide school at ARTA and thus my life was changed. A summer on the river taught me inner strength, calm, responsibility, failure, triumph, and true, spontaneous, unencumbered joy. Despite some falls (there are photos) and some unintentional dunks in the river, the summer proved successful and I will be eagerly back for more in the summer of 2010.

Just because my magical river summer was over, however, did not mean that my adventures were done. I escaped the tedious life of an on-campus academic for a program called Field Quarter and was whisked away by four travel courses to such exotic places as Grand Mesa, Colorado, and Rodeo, New Mexico before I was truly whisked out of the country and to Guatemala and Mexico. Over the course of three and a half months I drove throughout the entire Sonoran desert and up Baja California, camped at 12,000 feet for eight days, crammed into a 13-person van for two breathtaking weeks in rural Guatemala, explored sky islands in Arizona and spent every single moment of every single day with 12 fantastic, beautiful soul-mates whom I had never met before. Of course, all those tuition dollars were put to very good use because I did come away with an extensive education in the ecology, biodiversity, and environmental science of the Sonoran Desert, the American Southwest, and the Colorado eco-zones.

Winter break came too fast and I was planted back onto sedentary California soil, but sedentary has never been my style and so I was off again to Tijuana with my mom and Hillside Church for some quality time at Casa de la Esperanza, an orphanage in the heart of Tijuana struggling with budget cuts, difficult and expensive safety standards, and an overwhelming number of children without able parents. I had the honor of translating for everyone and I loved it. My spanish has never been better and the connections I got to make with the kids, and the information I was able to get about their lives was invaluable. What an incredible experience with an incredible organization. Hillside goes twice a year to this orphanage and has been going for many years. The relationship between these two organizations is very, very, special.

After a wonderful Christmas and some much needed ARTA time in Tahoe, it was back to Denver via a hilarious road trip with my dear neighbor Marla and Field Quarter buddy Cally. New Year's in Denver provided a much needed reunion with my DU loves and the quarter was off with a bang. It has been a quarter full of trips, from Vail ski weekends with Lindsay to San Francisco for my mom's 50th to New York to visit Sami, life has taken me on quite a ride this year.

I will be sad to see 21 head back into the past, but it definitely is not going quietly. The end of finals and my birthday are a potent mix for the college-age friend of mine, and spring break in Puerta Vallarta will be one of our greatest adventures yet. Stay tuned for more from the "survivor" of SB10 and my 22nd birthday spent sharing many laughs with my DU family here in my home away from home-turned-HOME.