Happy Birthday, Courtney!

This is turning out to be a month of Courtney, and I'm so glad because 

I never run out of nice things to say about her!

Happy 28 years!

Currently she and Michael are in Belgium just for fun.

Courtney is presenting at a conference in Paris (!) next week,

so she and Michael took an extended vacation to Europe.

One of the things I love about spending time with Courtney is we have a similar sense of humor

and think the same things are funny. We can really crack ourselves up sometimes.

And we are able to remember funny things that happened a long time ago and still think they're funny.

"Oh! Wow! Ouch!"

"Mom, I'm over here."

I admire her ability to say, "Oh, I disagree!" in the most unconfrontational 

and open-minded way and I'd really like to be like that some day.

She never hesitates to help other people and genuinely loves sharing knowledge -- 

whether its about science or restaurants. And she makes people feel welcome and included.

She was featured on a Columbia student spotlight this week and I loved her quote:

"Courtney's favorite part of her Ph.D. was the constant learning! 

'Whether it was in classes at conferences, during research, making mistakes or collaborating with others, I feel like I learned something new every day, and I absolutely loved that.'"

When asked what advice she has for younger students, Courtney said, 'Often as young students, we feel a pressure to prove how much we already know, but my advice is to instead recognize and accept that there is always something you can learn from someone.'"

She's the best! 
I love you Courtney and am so happy you get to spend your birthday 

exploring a beautiful, new-to-you place with Michael!