I'm 26, eek!

My birthday was kick ass this year, completely unexpected, completely fantastic. It started with eggs, corn tortillas and avocado. So very delicious. Close to follow was a Pap smear, not really my idea of a bday treat but I like to live on the edge. Work was swell - I walked in to a hot cup of starbucks coffee sitting on my desk and immediately jumped for joy. My bosses also got me a box of yoga supplies and made me feel really appreciated. My co-worker, Anne, took me out to lunch at Baja Fresh for some superb fish tacos.

I kept trying to work but it seemed set up for impossibility, and everyone was in on it! Around 2pm my co-worker and friend, Miguel, tried to get me out of my office, but I wouldn't have it. So he came in to mess with me, pushing me into a corner, beating me up as any big army guy could do with out actually inflicting pain and as I looked up from my attack, Annie is standing there. My sweet, wonderful, lying roommate. She had told me her flight wasn't getting in until the evening, but all the while she was coming to kidnap me! And everyone was in on it! My coworkers, my bosses, it was some weird make sure Abby has an awesome bday conspiracy! And it just happened to be 70 degrees and sunny, haha! So we went for ice cream and a walk in the park, my first American summer bday!

After working a little more I went to yoga, and the birthday gods were on my side. i did my very first successful yoga handstand, my head stand was better, and so was my shoulder stand. It was a fantastic, successful, encouraging practice , and it felt great. After practice Margaret told me to go home, and knowing her as I do I knew not to question her, I simply said yes ma'am. We had talked about going out for dinner, maybe with my roommates, so I figured I'd arrive home to maybe 4-5 people max.

As I pulled up, my roommate Dan came out to give me a hug and help me carry some stuff in and he wouldn't stop talking about these new seeds he had bought and how excited he was to show them to me. he even dropped my bags in the living room, which is very unlike his "organized" (sometimes anal) way of living. It was also mysteriously quiet, so I followed him into the Den saying, "so, is this where everyone jumps out and yells surprise." And that's exactly what happened! Only, I didn't expect so many people! So I screamed like a little girl, jumped up, and ran. It was awesome.

I've always been huge into birthdays. maybe it was always wearing a tiara, or the date being around friedenswald, or my parents treating me like a princess. But this year i just didn't have the energy to plan it, plus I thought last years bday of being on the ocean in Nicaragua, with a family more generous and loving one could ever imagine, eating fried chicken, plantains, rice and beans, and ice cream...I didn't think celebration was necessary for a few more years. But I had a terrific Bday.

We went out to a delicious restaurant, ate pizza and drank Sangria and it felt so great to know that I had friends, that I had touched lives and even more so that I had been touched. That people cared about me enough to make it happen. The last year started in Nicaragua, it was amazing, and as it moved it involved my constant transition into Boise, ID - the people I have met, the job I've had, the kids lives i have impacted. It wasn't always easy, and it wasn't always fun, but where I am now, with the people in my life and the community we share, well, it's pretty fuckin awesome.

As I sit on the train to Michigan, I feel very privileged and excited to share more memories with my family here, and to feel even more love and to share love. And I am excited at the endless possibilities this next year will bring.