Treintañera es la Nueva Quinceañera.

Well, if you have to turn 30, this is the way to do it! Move to a new place, find a friend with a birthday the same week as yours (my dear amiga Heather pictured below showing off some of our treats), invite everyone you know, and let them invite still more guests you've never met, bring in other friends from your last city, all to break in your new house, your new decade and try to break the piñata (we got a dud this time.)

I think I'm supposed to be upset about this milestone birthday but with all these festivities and the great cloud of witnesses surrounding me it's pretty much impossible to be anything but completely content.

The thing I've been abusing about 30 is that it sounds so old to those young 20-something whippersnappers I'm friends with. For instance, I was never interested in a lot of the normal things everybody else my age was even when I was 20, like dancing at clubs, listening to "The Thong Song" or "Who Let the Dogs Out", or watching The Real World. But now at 30 I have a legitimate believable defense for not knowing Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift songs, not wanting to go see any of the Twilight series, and abstaining from such fun as foam parties, karaoke and ridiculous practical jokes. Thanks 30, I've been needing an excuse!

Even beyond the festivities, this week has been fruitful. Classes are going well, our Bible studies growing, and six students from our vet school Bible study and six people from our professional veterinarians group came to the birthday party. I'm really enjoying investing in these relationships! This weekend with four guests in town from Cochabamba we're running a little bed and breakfast and doing a little missionary care. Life is so good...

"Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry..." Luke 3:23