Today (Thursday) was the first day of the leadership fair, and tomorrow will be the second.
Basically, the leadership fair is during lunch when all of the different leadership program supervisors sit at tables in the cafeteria and promote their leadership positions. Students can get information about applying to whatever job they would like to have next year.
There are 8 leadership programs, each with a varying number of positions open: admissions ambassadors, community multicultural awareness program, intercultural programs, residence life (RAs), spiritual life, sports and recreation, student orientation staff (sos), and study abroad interns.
I have coordinated the whole event (as leadership coordinator), and I've also set up shop at a table to hire for sos leaders for next year (orientation coordinator). Steve and his team are hiring RAs. It's going to be a busy next few weeks.
Applications are due next Friday the 6th, and then the following week is spring break. Then after spring break will be two weeks of interviews. Steve will be especially busy, as the RA interviews are more intense (a LOT of people apply, and only 17 will be hired...so lots of group interviews and whatnot). I need to hire 15 people, but probably not as many people will apply for this position (not as prestigious as RA).
In the beginning of April, we will have a meeting to talk about final hiring decisions...and then everyone who applied will get a letter. There are 3 possible letters: acceptance, waiting list, non-acceptance.
Then mid-April, after Easter, will be new student leader orientation.
To change the subject:
We're escaping to Sweden for a few days over the spring break....visiting with a friend of Steve's, and then exploring Stockholm and Uppsala! We are excited! We're still working on our itinerary, and will post more about it when we know more about it.
Hope everyone is well!
PS...the prayers and praises are updated....thank you so much for your prayers!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
North Park
I have sent my application for seminary in the mail. I'm applying to go to North Park -- MA in Christian Formation. Click here to read about that if you would like. Pray about that if you think of it.
!!!
!!!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Bowling and Dessert
Today we went bowling with a group of people from our church, and then went to one family's place and everybody brought a dessert to share.
Steve is wondering how many times we can blog about bowling, so I will only post one picture from that (and really, there's only so many pictures you can take of bowling), and share the recipe of the dessert we brought.
Steve coaching Levi in the art of bowling. Precious.
And the recipe.
Gooey Mocha Pudding Cake
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
7 tbsp powdered cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup hot coffee
Heat oven to 350 F
In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tbsp cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Blend in milk, butter, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Pour the batter into a 9 inch square pan (we only have a rectangle one, and it worked ok).
In small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 4 tbsp cocoa, and brown sugar.
Sprinkle over the top of the batter.
Pour hot coffee over the top. DO NOT STIR.
Bake 35-40 minutes, or until center is set (so about 20 minutes in our oven).
Let cool.
Enjoy with the rest of the coffee and some ice cream!
Hope everyone is doing well.
Steve is wondering how many times we can blog about bowling, so I will only post one picture from that (and really, there's only so many pictures you can take of bowling), and share the recipe of the dessert we brought.
Steve coaching Levi in the art of bowling. Precious.
And the recipe.
Gooey Mocha Pudding Cake
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
7 tbsp powdered cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup hot coffee
Heat oven to 350 F
In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tbsp cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
Blend in milk, butter, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Pour the batter into a 9 inch square pan (we only have a rectangle one, and it worked ok).
In small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 4 tbsp cocoa, and brown sugar.
Sprinkle over the top of the batter.
Pour hot coffee over the top. DO NOT STIR.
Bake 35-40 minutes, or until center is set (so about 20 minutes in our oven).
Let cool.
Enjoy with the rest of the coffee and some ice cream!
Hope everyone is doing well.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Last Week
Last week was a busy one for me. We had Bible study with our students on Monday evening, and I had my other Bible study on Tuesday night. These are usual occurrences, but still contributed to the busyness nonetheless. On Wednesday and Thursday evening were Leadership Challenges. I decided to offer two this semester, to make sure that everyone would have a chance to attend one. Last semester there was only one, and you can reminisce about it here.
Anyway, both evenings had the same activities as the fall semester, so I won't describe those again. But here are some pictures that I liked from those events.
I love candid shots. They are some of my favorites.
There are a lot of great students that have been attending these leadership events. I hope that a lot of them will apply to be in leadership positions next year.
On Thursday evening after the last leadership challenge was over, I went over to Neumann dorm to catch the last hour of a residence life event that Steve and the other RDs and their RAs were putting on. They were doing a "blind date" game (which had elements of the old game show The Dating Game and some other fun games and improv), and there was a big turnout. A good amount of students participated in some way in the game, and a lot more showed up to watch and cheer them on.
Then on Friday, I led a leadership seminar all about Leadership as I learned it while working at Starbucks. I called it, "Leadership as Learned From the Coffee Shop." I think it went pretty well. It was a fun topic for me. Steve came and sat in the front row -- it's great to have such a supportive husband! At the beginning of the year I said I would probably schedule myself to lead a leadership seminar on one of the days wherever I needed. It just so happened that the only date I wasn't able to find a speaker was the date at the end of a really busy week for me. Oh well. I'm glad I was able to do it, and also a little relieved that it's over with.
Steve took me out to dinner on Friday evening, and then on Saturday he gave me (among other things) some flowers. In Lithuania, they only give even numbers of flowers for funerals. So flowers for loved ones are given in odd numbers. Interesting!
This weekend has been pretty relaxing, and we have a day off tomorrow because it is one of Lithuania's independence days. I don't know if there are any parades or fireworks or picnics planned, but we are definitely going to enjoy the extra day of rest.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and is doing well.
Anyway, both evenings had the same activities as the fall semester, so I won't describe those again. But here are some pictures that I liked from those events.
I love candid shots. They are some of my favorites.
There are a lot of great students that have been attending these leadership events. I hope that a lot of them will apply to be in leadership positions next year.
On Thursday evening after the last leadership challenge was over, I went over to Neumann dorm to catch the last hour of a residence life event that Steve and the other RDs and their RAs were putting on. They were doing a "blind date" game (which had elements of the old game show The Dating Game and some other fun games and improv), and there was a big turnout. A good amount of students participated in some way in the game, and a lot more showed up to watch and cheer them on.
Then on Friday, I led a leadership seminar all about Leadership as I learned it while working at Starbucks. I called it, "Leadership as Learned From the Coffee Shop." I think it went pretty well. It was a fun topic for me. Steve came and sat in the front row -- it's great to have such a supportive husband! At the beginning of the year I said I would probably schedule myself to lead a leadership seminar on one of the days wherever I needed. It just so happened that the only date I wasn't able to find a speaker was the date at the end of a really busy week for me. Oh well. I'm glad I was able to do it, and also a little relieved that it's over with.
Steve took me out to dinner on Friday evening, and then on Saturday he gave me (among other things) some flowers. In Lithuania, they only give even numbers of flowers for funerals. So flowers for loved ones are given in odd numbers. Interesting!
This weekend has been pretty relaxing, and we have a day off tomorrow because it is one of Lithuania's independence days. I don't know if there are any parades or fireworks or picnics planned, but we are definitely going to enjoy the extra day of rest.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and is doing well.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Laba Diena!
"Laba Diena" is a phrase that we hear every day. It means "Good Day" or "Hello." It may be the first Lithuanian words most people ever learn.
We hear "Laba Diena" a lot around LCC or when we go in to a store or restaurant. But one place you hardly ever hear it is when you are walking down the street. One way of informing everyone you are an American is to walk down the street smiling and looking people in the eye and saying "Hi" or "Laba Diena." Most people in Klaipeda, especially the older generation, walk down the street with stoic faces and hardly ever acknowledge another person or even look up when someone walks past. It was a weird feeling at first, but now we have grown accustomed to it and keep to ourselves when walking here and there.
But there are exceptions to every rule...even this one. All year when walking from our dorm (near the center of the city) to LCC (on the north side of the city) I have looked for a man that I have come to call "the Laba Diena Man." I have encountered this man quiet a few time and it makes my day every time I get to see him.
"Laba Diena Man" is an older Lithuanian man who is often on the same sidewalk that we take to walk to school. And it seems that no matter the time of day that I walk to school I always encounter him near the same spot: near the foot bridge over the railroad tracks. Why do I call him "Laba Diena Man?" Because he break the norm of being reserved and stoic and never saying anything. "Laba Diena Man" always says "Laba Diena" to everyone he meets on the walk.
It did not take us long to fall into the reservedness of walking on the streets here, because the first time we encountered on "Laba Diena" friend it caught Laura and me by surprise. I asked Laura if she heard him say "Laba Diena" and she said yes, but by the time we realized that he had acknowledged us we were too far past him to respond. But since then I always look for him and have had the great opportunity to return the greeting and share in the genuine moment of a smile and two simple words.
I got to see "Laba Diena Man" twice this week. In the midst of busyness and slushy snow, my friend made me smile and feel good about walking to school and good about being here.
I don't know anything else about this man. I don't know his story. I don't know what he does for a living. I only know that he is trying to cheer up the people of Klaipeda on Kretingos gatve. And even if they think he is weird, I find him fascinating and refreshing and I can't wait to meet him again on the street. He is a blessing...especially when he is wearing his vividly purple pants.
We hear "Laba Diena" a lot around LCC or when we go in to a store or restaurant. But one place you hardly ever hear it is when you are walking down the street. One way of informing everyone you are an American is to walk down the street smiling and looking people in the eye and saying "Hi" or "Laba Diena." Most people in Klaipeda, especially the older generation, walk down the street with stoic faces and hardly ever acknowledge another person or even look up when someone walks past. It was a weird feeling at first, but now we have grown accustomed to it and keep to ourselves when walking here and there.
But there are exceptions to every rule...even this one. All year when walking from our dorm (near the center of the city) to LCC (on the north side of the city) I have looked for a man that I have come to call "the Laba Diena Man." I have encountered this man quiet a few time and it makes my day every time I get to see him.
"Laba Diena Man" is an older Lithuanian man who is often on the same sidewalk that we take to walk to school. And it seems that no matter the time of day that I walk to school I always encounter him near the same spot: near the foot bridge over the railroad tracks. Why do I call him "Laba Diena Man?" Because he break the norm of being reserved and stoic and never saying anything. "Laba Diena Man" always says "Laba Diena" to everyone he meets on the walk.
It did not take us long to fall into the reservedness of walking on the streets here, because the first time we encountered on "Laba Diena" friend it caught Laura and me by surprise. I asked Laura if she heard him say "Laba Diena" and she said yes, but by the time we realized that he had acknowledged us we were too far past him to respond. But since then I always look for him and have had the great opportunity to return the greeting and share in the genuine moment of a smile and two simple words.
I got to see "Laba Diena Man" twice this week. In the midst of busyness and slushy snow, my friend made me smile and feel good about walking to school and good about being here.
I don't know anything else about this man. I don't know his story. I don't know what he does for a living. I only know that he is trying to cheer up the people of Klaipeda on Kretingos gatve. And even if they think he is weird, I find him fascinating and refreshing and I can't wait to meet him again on the street. He is a blessing...especially when he is wearing his vividly purple pants.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
busy in general
Sorry we haven't been updating as frequently as we have in the past. We're doing well, keeping busy (Steve is as busy as last semester (but in different ways), and I am less busy than last semester (praise God)).
The main things that I am concerned with this semester are:
Steve is keeping busy with planning for hiring RAs for next year, programming for the dorm, mentoring his current RAs (RA=Resident Assistant), conversations with students, etc
We've had the conversations we've needed to have about next year, and what that will look like. We've confirmed that we will indeed stay a second year (as we had planned), but that I will no longer be the leadership coordinator. It was a difficult conversation to have, but we both feel that it isn't a right fit for me, and that the students deserve someone who is passionate about it. It wasn't the job that I applied for, but I was also open to fill spots that they needed to fill. I feel like I've done a good job considering it's not my passion, but it's also been very draining to try to be excellent and to pour time and energy into something that feels like a stretch for me. That said, I feel like I've grown a lot as a person, and learned A LOT. It's also a relief and a huge weight off my shoulders to know that I won't do it next year.
So what will I do?
I will still do orientation, which is really busy at the beginning of the year, and then steadies out. I will still supervise 15 student orientation staff leaders -- and I'm excited that I will actually have time to be more of a mentor to them (I felt like with all of my leadership coordinator duties, my SOS leaders sometimes got the backburner). I will still teach a first year seminar class (I have caught the teaching bug!). I may take on some of the housing coordinator duties. Currently the housing coordinator duties are tacked on to an RD's job description, but I mentioned that I would be willing to do that. I don't know yet what that will look like (or if I will do it), but it might be more up my alley (less event planning, more organizing). And, as you might remember from a couple of paragraphs ago, I am working on applying for seminary. If accepted (and can score some decent financial aid), I may be taking some classes long distance next year (I hope it works out...I've been dreaming about seminary for years).
Steve will still be an RD. It is so fun to see him in a job that he loves and is really good at. As of right now, he is the only one on his community life staff that will be returning next year...so while this year he is the new RD, next year he will be the experienced one. We also don't know if he will still be the RD in Karklu (where we are now), or if we will move over to the new dorm Neumann Hall.
Together, we have continued to lead a bible study here in the dorm. It is fun to have some of the same students as last semester continue with us, and it is also good to see some new faces in our group as well. This semester we are studying the parables.
Also this semester, I have been blessed to be a part of a Bible study outside of LCC (even though all of us that attend are somehow affiliated with LCC, it is not an LCC sponsered thing). When we lived in Pennsylvania I got to go to Community Bible Study, which is just a great Bible study to be a part of. I would highly recommend it. Anyway, the Bible study we are doing here is a mulitcultural one with materials from Community Bible Study (CBS). It is great to be a part of it again! And, CBS International is currently working on translating Bible studies into Lithuanian, so that Lithuanians can have a great Bible study in their own language soon! Pray for that if you think of it. I have gotten to know the lady who is organizing all of this (she lives a whole one-minute walk away from us), and will be helping her as much as I can...with the little time I will have (but it's so much easier to pour time and energy into something you're passionate about!). Pray for whatever capacity I will be involved in this. Exciting times ahead, I'm sure.
Also something you could pray for, is, as you may have been able to deduce, there will be a lot of job openings in the student life department for next year. Please pray for those that are doing the hiring...that they would be able to find passionate and capable people to fill the roles they need to fill. As soon as I know more about this, I may put a list of positions here, in case anyone reading is interested (or knows someone who is).
Wow. This update got long. Thank you if you read this far. I hope you are doing well. Send us an email or write a comment. Let us know how you're doing. We love to hear stories from home.
The main things that I am concerned with this semester are:
- Continue running the leadership development program (coordinating seminars, planning and running leadership events, advising student groups as they plan and do service projects)
- Coordinate Student Leadership Hiring for the next school year (we hope to hire just under 70 student leaders)....leadership week is the start of it (feb 23-27)...and interviewing and hiring will start after spring break (March 9-13). New student leadership training will be in April. There will be a student leadership training week at the end of the summer as well, that I would like to have planned by the end of the semester.
- Preliminary planning for next fall's new student orientation.
- End of the semester leadership awards
- Probably something else that I'm not thinking of right now
Steve is keeping busy with planning for hiring RAs for next year, programming for the dorm, mentoring his current RAs (RA=Resident Assistant), conversations with students, etc
We've had the conversations we've needed to have about next year, and what that will look like. We've confirmed that we will indeed stay a second year (as we had planned), but that I will no longer be the leadership coordinator. It was a difficult conversation to have, but we both feel that it isn't a right fit for me, and that the students deserve someone who is passionate about it. It wasn't the job that I applied for, but I was also open to fill spots that they needed to fill. I feel like I've done a good job considering it's not my passion, but it's also been very draining to try to be excellent and to pour time and energy into something that feels like a stretch for me. That said, I feel like I've grown a lot as a person, and learned A LOT. It's also a relief and a huge weight off my shoulders to know that I won't do it next year.
So what will I do?
I will still do orientation, which is really busy at the beginning of the year, and then steadies out. I will still supervise 15 student orientation staff leaders -- and I'm excited that I will actually have time to be more of a mentor to them (I felt like with all of my leadership coordinator duties, my SOS leaders sometimes got the backburner). I will still teach a first year seminar class (I have caught the teaching bug!). I may take on some of the housing coordinator duties. Currently the housing coordinator duties are tacked on to an RD's job description, but I mentioned that I would be willing to do that. I don't know yet what that will look like (or if I will do it), but it might be more up my alley (less event planning, more organizing). And, as you might remember from a couple of paragraphs ago, I am working on applying for seminary. If accepted (and can score some decent financial aid), I may be taking some classes long distance next year (I hope it works out...I've been dreaming about seminary for years).
Steve will still be an RD. It is so fun to see him in a job that he loves and is really good at. As of right now, he is the only one on his community life staff that will be returning next year...so while this year he is the new RD, next year he will be the experienced one. We also don't know if he will still be the RD in Karklu (where we are now), or if we will move over to the new dorm Neumann Hall.
Together, we have continued to lead a bible study here in the dorm. It is fun to have some of the same students as last semester continue with us, and it is also good to see some new faces in our group as well. This semester we are studying the parables.
Also this semester, I have been blessed to be a part of a Bible study outside of LCC (even though all of us that attend are somehow affiliated with LCC, it is not an LCC sponsered thing). When we lived in Pennsylvania I got to go to Community Bible Study, which is just a great Bible study to be a part of. I would highly recommend it. Anyway, the Bible study we are doing here is a mulitcultural one with materials from Community Bible Study (CBS). It is great to be a part of it again! And, CBS International is currently working on translating Bible studies into Lithuanian, so that Lithuanians can have a great Bible study in their own language soon! Pray for that if you think of it. I have gotten to know the lady who is organizing all of this (she lives a whole one-minute walk away from us), and will be helping her as much as I can...with the little time I will have (but it's so much easier to pour time and energy into something you're passionate about!). Pray for whatever capacity I will be involved in this. Exciting times ahead, I'm sure.
Also something you could pray for, is, as you may have been able to deduce, there will be a lot of job openings in the student life department for next year. Please pray for those that are doing the hiring...that they would be able to find passionate and capable people to fill the roles they need to fill. As soon as I know more about this, I may put a list of positions here, in case anyone reading is interested (or knows someone who is).
Wow. This update got long. Thank you if you read this far. I hope you are doing well. Send us an email or write a comment. Let us know how you're doing. We love to hear stories from home.
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