I'm halfway through Clinical Pastoral Education. On Friday I observed an open heart surgery and saw a human heart beating. It was incredible! I was amazed and awed by the experience. It's given me a new appreciation for the way the human body is put together. We are incredible creations and our creator must be incredible as well! CPE is challenging, but I'm learning a great deal. Mostly I'm learning a lot about myself. All in all things are good, I would like CPE a lot more if I wasn't so far from Mike. Seeing each other once a week is not great fun. I'll be much happier when the summer is over and we're under one roof again!

TTFN

Happy Birthday to me!!!

I love birthdays in general... what's not to celebrate when you've had another year of life! Today is a big deal though... today I am 30. Somehow 30 feels very adult. I feel very old in a good way. So happy birthday to me.

I am in the midst of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) so I was at the hospital all day. I was home in Dubuque for the weekend though and celebrated with some Wartburg friends and Mike. We had cake and game night up at the castle Saturday. Then we had lunch at Applebee's with more friends on Sunday and more cake. Another great part of birthdays is cake.

Tonight some of my classmates from CPE and I are going to dinner.

All in all a nice birthday.