i'm back in the saddle again...

...and by saddle i mean classroom.  yes, school started a few weeks ago and i am there!  it is great. this quarter i am only taking two classes.  i see the light at the end of the tunnel, so close! just 15 credits after this quarter! and i will graduate this spring unless something crazy happens.  but, i have been working on my undergrad for years now (ahem7cough) because i basically have been going part time for most of it.  for the first 3.5 years i worked during the day and went to school at night, then went to UW full time for a year, then for most of the following next year and took some time off when i had z.  so, time to finish up.  hubby has been so supportive and i can't even properly express how much his encouragement and support has meant so much to me and been such a motivating factor.  i know that he understands how important it is for me to do this, mainly for myself.  i'm the first in my immediate family to go to a university and will be the first to get a degree.  i hope that from now forward we can continue on with the subsequent generations going to college.  so, because i'm in my senior year and done with all the math, chemistry and physics-y stuff, all of my classes will be biology (my degree is in general biology), which makes sense to me, and i loooove!  it's my bread and butter, the chocolate ganache frosting to my cake, the crispy breading on my fried chicken.  this quarter i am taking advanced animal physiology and evolutionary medicine, both of which are super interesting and so i will probably post some about the cool stuff i learn...just a warning.  i love this campus here at UW, with its mix of old and new buildings, plentiful coffee stands, soul food truck in red square, cherry blossoms and waterfront view, in addition to the ave which is home to so many delicious noodle places and more coffee shops.  mmmm. oh, and the world class education, too.  anyway, all the bio and health science classes are located in south campus next to the water but my evolutionary medicine class is in north campus.  i was initially annoyed at this because it is kind of a long (and wet) walk that i have had almost every quarter.  but i decided to change my attitude about it, especially because the weather has held up and been so beautiful here lately.  so, as i make my way down to south campus, hot tea in hand, earbuds in playing my favorite music, i pass through maple tree lined paths, which will continue to change color as the quarter goes on, the fountain in the middle of campus which is flanked on two sides by beautiful rose gardens, the view of mt. rainier (when the mountain is out), the medicinal herb garden and the greenhouses with all their really cool and really mature plants, and lots of people watching.  then at my destination is the beautiful waterfront of lake washington with its sail boats and kayakers and house boats.  i'm trying to savor these moments on this campus, here in my last year, before graduating from the school that i have wanted to attend ever since childhood. at least, that's how i feel now.  i'm sure by midterms of spring quarter i will have a major case of senioritis and want to be donerightnow!