Wow.

This has truly been the most amazing birthday of my life. For starters, my wonderful boyfriend woke me up with a miniature chocolate cake at 1 in the morning (I guess that was the official birthday time?!!?!?!?!?!?). He had adorned it with 3 candles and a precious note. Then this morning, I arrived at schoool this morning where my students greeted me at the entrance with a vase of flowers. They then assigned me my "bodyguards" who were in charge of distracting me with random scientific facts/explanations and other nonsense until the party coordinators finished decorating the room. When I entered, every student was under his or her desk...and they popped up and yelled "happy birthday!" The "dj" of the group struck up the music that they had pre-planned for the celebration. Then my eyes caught the beautiful posters that they had made....and the cake, refreshments, and munchies that covered my desk. They had cleared an area for a "dance floor" and taught me to dance a "traditional birthday song" in Mexico. It was truly the hugest surprise and a wonderful start to my day.

I was so proud of them. They organized (by themselves) every last detail. I was amazed. It took my breath away to watch them serve one another...and me. I loved seeing them form teams of people to do certain jobs...and execute them with such grace. I`ve had the most enormous smile on my face the entire day. It was fabulous!

I`m pretty sure there`s something in the works this evening from my boyfriend`s family, as well. They`ve been super "hush-hush-uh-oh-here-she-comes" for the last week or so. And someone accidentally asked in front of me yesterday if the oldest sister was coming in from Guadalajara this afternoon. So I`m pretty sure there will be something happening in the evening. Yay! :) I`ve had a delightful day. Thanks for all of the sweet notes/emails/etc that have flooded in. It`s been a day to cherish! :)