Yes. I had one of the best birthdays ever.

I had the opportunity to turn 21 in paradise. I know, I know in Mexico the drinking age is 18 so it's not like I was not able to drink before. But you know what? That did not discourage me from having a blast-even though I was a hot mess the first night we partied. If you heard in the episode I said, "I do not have birthdays, I have birth-weekends." When I am home in the states, I usually have birth-weeks, but I figured since we would be starting work soon, I could not do that. Anywho, I knew my birthday was going to be great. Not only because I would finally be of age, but because I had the most amazing 7 people and they would be there with me AND my brother was coming. Not to mention, it was pretty cool knowing that my birthday would be broadcasted in front of millions of people.

We started the day before my actually b-day at the pool. That is where all my drama with "he who shall remain nameless" happened. But this is not the place for that. Back to MY STORY. The hotel had a huge pool party for me and everyone came. We had the time of our lives and drank a whole lot. So next is the night of my power hour. For those of you who do not know what that is, it is when the clock strikes midnight of your bday, and you get wasted with shots for your first hour of being 21. So my friends obviously knew that I had to be plastered within the time. So shot after shot after shot after shot...you get the idea, kept coming. It was 12:30 and I still was standing. I challenged the bar and my roomies to bring it on. Wrong thing to say buddy. LOL. That is when the owner of Dady'O's brought out the worst shot ever-I say that because it is what made me go over board. Idk what it was even called. All I know is it was flaming and tasted really good. All in all I got trashed and it was a good thing we had not actually started working or the little "No public intoxication" rule might have come back to bite me in the behind.

I woke up the next day and saw that Joey had fun drawing on me. I was not upset about what he drew on me, but of how bad the pictures were! HAHA. I thought you were an artist or something Joe?? The actual day of my birthday was awesome. My roomies and I went to Xel-Ha, which was a mini-paradise in paradise. We got to go snorkeling and cliff diving. We had so much fun and guess what else I did? Shot after shot after shot. Go figure. That night my roomies and brother took me out for a great dinner and desert. This was by far the best birthday anyone could ask for. Did I mention I got a present from my mommy that rocked? It was a photo album of all my friends and family back home that showed them holding HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEREK. WE LOVE YOU!! signs. It made me cry because before flying out to Cancun, it had almost been a year since I had seen any of them. If I could do my 21st b-day over again, I do not think I would. Things happen for a reason and the drama that happened to me and the friends I got to spend my b-day with helped me grow and get over people that I do not need in my life and know that the people who matter will always be there for you. I had a blast and I am glad you guys got to see the good and bad side of turning 21 in Mexico. As they say south of the border, Hasta Luego!! Adios Amigos!