West is Best!

I'm continuing to work at hosting the Community Life student leaders for dinner.  Tonight the West Side gals came over.  We had curry and some fun conversation.  They asked me all sorts of silly questions like, "What 5 things would you do if you were a guy for one day?" and "What was your first kiss like?"  Love these ladies and the fun they bring to my life!  :)

clockwise from me...me, Sasha, Melisa, Alisha, Angelina, and Sarune

the mandatory silly shot!  

Mug n Muffin

On Saturday I was a speaker at our Mug n Muffin event.  This is a Res Life sponsored event where several faculty and staff members are invited to speak on a topic to the female students.  The topic this time was on identity/relationships.  I spoke about my journey with singleness and figuring out how to cultivate a healthy identity while desiring to be married.  It was a great morning!  I enjoyed sharing my story and felt like the girls really connected with me while I was speaking.  They had lots of questions afterwards and were coming up giving me hugs to say thanks for sharing.  What a meaningful way to spend my Saturday morning!  

The speakers - Ilona, me, and Elena

talking with my hands...like usual!

A student took this photo...I wonder what I was talking about at that moment!  :)

A self portrait with my flowers!

Supper Club

Once every three weeks or so I get together with a group of ladies for a little group we call "Supper Club."  It's a time to try out new recipes on each other and to enjoy some fellowship.  This photo was taken at our gathering last night.

Amy, Gretchen, me, and Bethany

Baltic Sea sauna!

The sauna is a popular recreation spot in Lithuania.  I've been several times during my years here, but this past week I made the visit that made me a local.  I went in the winter and ran into the sea!  Yes, I sat in a sweltering hut for 20 minutes and warmed my insides so nice and toasty that I am still a bit warm and then ran out into the below freezing air and jumped into the frigid Baltic Sea!  CRAZY, right?!  Crazy awesome!  I was scared to death to do it, but everyone said it was fun, so I went ahead and did it.  I'm so glad that I did.  It was exhilarating and invigorating!  

Here's the Student Life team riding the ferry over to the Spit.

I seriously work with the BEST people!

The sauna brings out the crazy in us all!

me, Josh, and Mark

Thanks to Alisha and Margarita for the photos! 

Happy Valen.....err Happy Birthday!

On Valentine's Day I hosted a party, not a Valentine's Day party though.  My friend Bethany has a birthday during the summer.  She often makes comments about how nobody at LCC celebrates her birthday since we are all back in the states during the summer, so we decided to throw her a surprise 1/2 birthday party!  She is extremely fond of a chain of convenience stores/gas stations back in Pennsylvania (where she is from) called Sheetz.  So, we had a Sheetz themed party for her.  We created big blown up signs from the store and had coffee & donuts (typical gas station fare.)  Needless to say, she was very surprised and enjoyed her party!  :)

Surprise!

A Sheetz Birthday

Bradford, Jennifer, Ilona, Bethany, Gretchen, Henry, Leona, Mark, Amanda, me and Josh

Homemade yeast donuts with chocolate glace, iced sugar cookies, and applesauce cake donut holes

Amanda making one of the posters

We projected images from the web onto big sheets of paper, outlined them in pencil and then colored them in.  Time intensive, but very cool in the end!  

Cupid!

For Valentine's Day the Res Life team enlisted some Cupids (two of the RAs) to deliver Valentine's around campus one evening.  They brought me a couple!  :)

Kiril and Ausrius aka Cupid!  

Shrove Tuesday = pancakes!

The day before Ash Wednesday or "Shrove Tuesday" as it is called in Lithuania is all about pancakes!  Traditionally children dress up and go door to door asking for pancakes on this day.  It's become a tradition at LCC for the HR department to make pancakes over the lunch hour for the faculty and staff.  It's a fun tradition and a good time of fellowship during the middle of our workday.

Julia and Edvardas at the stove!

Ilona mixes up some batter

A table full of fun!  

Bagels!

There are many foods that I miss from America.  Some I've found substitutes for here, some I've asked for in care packages, and others have been things I do without and then savor when I visit America.  One of the new expats this year was really missing bagels and decided to try her hand at making them.  They turned out tasty, so I asked her to teach me.  We spent a Saturday afternoon working together with her daughter and made some mighty tasty bagels!  :)

Katie stirring the dough

me kneading away

Katie and Amy shaping the bagels

Boil and then bake

Beautiful toasty bagles!

me with a pan fresh from the oven!  

Leadership Panel

As a part of our advertising campaign for Student Leadership we did a panel discussion with current Student Leaders.  The students shared about what the work that they do, what are some things they have learned about themselves and/or leadership, and told funny stories.  I moderated the panel.  Here are a few photos from the event...

The panel

me and Iveta

As part of our advertising push we also did a video with a bit of "reverse psychology"  Check it out... Don't Apply!

Lithuanian Educational Expo

Margarita, Egle, and I went to Vilnius and Kaunas the first week of February to attend the Lithuanian Educational Expo and visit with some Student Life colleagues.  It was an interesting and informative trip.  We spent the bulk of our time travelling to/from/around/between the various locations, but even with all the time spent in the car I felt it was helpful to see what other schools in Lithuania have to offer.

I did not take any photos at the schools that we visited, but I did take some snapshots at the Lithuanian Educational Expo...

The LCC booth!

Check out our fun Open Door Day advertisements!

One of the banks that helps finance education installed a zipline!

Tri S

It's a new semester and that means we have new Study Abroad students at LCC and I have a new Tri S group!  Actually, Marlene and I have a new group, but she was travelling for most of January, so I hosted our first meeting by myself.

Dan, me, & Travis

Justine, Taylor, Caitlyn, and Kristi

Crazy pose!

Silly sweet boys

Trying to pose like Eastern Europeans!  

Making Tinginys!  

Decoupage evening

The Student Life Management Team (SLMT) got together last week to do decoupage at Vaida's place.  We had a great time being creative together.  

Vaida smiles for the camera

Margarita shows her beautiful work

Egle painting her tea box

Painting a coaster

Showing our tea boxes

Timba...Vaida's dog

me playing with the dog!  :)

so STINKIN' cute!!!

Noah is so silly!  One morning I stopped by for coffee and this was his super-hero costume...puddle boots, boxer briefs, winter gloves, an airplane watch, a cape, and fairy princess wings!  LOVE him!  

American Meal!

For our January Student Life gathering we had an "American Meal."  The American expats planned and made dinner for the department.  We had fried chicken, bbq chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, green bean casserole, biscuits, and apple pie with ice cream!  

Bethany, Egle and Elena learning to make homemade biscuits

Egle working the butter into the flour for the biscuits

Alisha and Amanda getting the chicken into the frying pans

Mmmm...fried chicken!

Egle & Vaida

Max & Margarita...he LOVED the bbq chicken!  :)

Elena and Igor

Amanda and Bethany

Vaida and me (like my American flag scarf?!)

The American chefs!

Josh, Alisha, Amanda, Mark, Bethany, and me