Birthday Surprise!!!!!

So. Today is my birthday.

The AMAZING people in my program surprised me by rewording this song:



to stuff about our week and me!!!!  It was amazing and beautiful!!!! Clarissa, a co-grad, posted that video on my Facebook wall a week ago and mentioned how she wanted to make my birthday like it and I LOVED the video.  I watched it (maybe more than once...) and didn't really think of it again.

This week was our final teaching week of the quarter and things were pretty busy so I didn't even notice when they practiced the dance and wrote the words out.  At the end of our Debrief Lunch (which is a time for us to all share our experiences, triumphs and challenges of the week), Clarissa got up and....just watch the video.

I was SO surprised and SO overwhelmed!  This program is full of AMAZING people. I am walking on air right now.

The words they wrote are:

Stand up out of your chairs chairs...and hear this beat
Our feet are still sore, we rocked it this week
It's someone's special day, she's turning twenty five
We're gonna celebrate
We're gonna celebrate

Break's right around the corner, dance party's at the Great Hall
We're singing karaoke, we're gonna have a ball
The week is all over and we're all skipping town
Celebrating holidays, celebrating all we've done

Oh Anderson...
Oh Anderson...

Did you know we changed this song for you?
If we could bring desert sun, we'd do it for you
We got not cacti, but we got he-he-a-a-art
You're smart as Her-mi-on-e
You are a trivia queen

Add that AMAZING experience to the messages, phone calls, cards and well wishes from my friends and family and this has been an incredible birthday.

Tonight we are going to head out to my favorite Bainbridge Island spot and then head back to campus for a Karaoke and Dance Party (as referenced in the lyrics).

I am so happy I am here. It is amazing to be a part of such a supportive, loving and FUN community.

Thank you to my fellow grads for blowing me away!  You are all incredible and it really is a privilege to know you all. You COMPLETELY rule.

End of quarter!

Hey there!

Our classes are officially over for the quarter* after tomorrow.  Next Wednesday, I will submit my last assignment.  It seems impossible for time to travel as quickly as it has.  Really.

At the same time, those first days when I moved into my cabin and began the lengthy orientation process seem like so long ago. The forest is no longer just a wall of green but a community of plants that I can IDENTIFY!

Honestly, I have a lot of work to do and updating this is just a form of procrastination for me right now but I just wanted to drop a line.

Also- if you want to read my cheesy bio that I wrote about myself and learn more about my classmates- check out this link: http://islandwood.org/graduate_program/class-of-2011.

I head back to AZ on December 18th and plan to update at least once more before then.  Maybe a post about how I had tons of fun on my Birthday!  (December 16th- All I really want is long underwear.  Maybe some warm boots...and scarves. Gloves would be nice. Notice a theme?)

Until then- stay warm friends!

Bonnie

*University of Washington isn't on the Semester system and it's weird.