Worth writing home about

Just taking a moment to let you know that this weekend we "sprung forward." Daylight saving in Europe. I am glad to sacrifice an hour of sleep if it means that the sun is still out after 8pm. Spring is slowly coming!

Thank You!

It has been a while since Laura or I have posted any new news about our life here in Lithuania, so I thought I would do just that right now.

First of all I need to say "Thank You!" to everyone who has been supporting us financially, prayerfully, and by sending us emails, letters, packages, and talked to us on skype. We just received our most recent support raising update and we only have $5,300 to raise for this academic year. We are amazed by the generosity of so many. Thank you for putting your trust in us and for loving us.

As you have seen in picutres, we went to Sweden for spring break. We had the great opportunity to reconnect with on of my long time friends, Matt Nowachek and his beautiful, Swedish bride, Helena. Matt and I first met as 1st or 2nd graders at Camp Lebanon and have been friends ever since, competing against each other in sports in jr. high and high school, attending Bethel together, and then hanging out in Austria together in May 2004 (I had just finished working in London and Matt was volunteering at a castle in Mittersill, Austria).

After visiting and relaxing at Matt and Helena's we took the train up to Stockholm and spent a day exploring the city. It was great. It snowed the whole time which made it beautiful, but sloppy walking. The next day we took the train from Stockholm to Uppsala to complete Laura's hometown pilgrimage (she is from Upsala, MN if you didn't know). Uppsala was a great little city and is home to the oldest university in Scandinavia (founded in 1477) and the largest church in Scandinavia. We had a flight out of Stockholm the next morning to Riga, Latvia, and then the bus back to Klaipeda. It was a great break and I really felt at home in Sweden. We will have to go back some time.

Now we are in the middle of hiring our student leaders for next year. Laura is doing interviews for her SOS Leaders (Student Orientation Staff) and I am sitting in on interview for next years RAs (Resident Assistants). We both have lots of students to interview (Laura 27 or so for 15 spots and I started with 65 and we narrowed it down to 45 for 17 spots).

Pray for us to have wisdom in the student leaders we choose for next year. These will be the students with whom we will get to mentor and interact with the most next year. Pray also for our students as they seek to finish this semester strong (only about a month left of class). Pray for our continued finacial support for this year and as we look towards next year. Pray also for my the celebration of my Granda Alice Hanson's life as she just turned 90 years young on Saturday. We had the chance to talk to her and sing happy birthday to her over skype that day. It was very special.

Blessings and Love to you all.

For Our Moms (but others are welcome to read):

1. Here are some updated links to our photos from Sweden. I have no idea why they expired (or that it was even possible!).

Uppsala

Växjö and Stockholm

2. You read correctly, no eggs in the Gooey Mocha Pudding Cake. I know, right? Still works out though. Also, I heard somewhere that you can substitute water for coffee in the recipe, but haven't tried it.

Hopefully we'll talk on the phone this weekend. Love you both!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

We made it back home from Sweden safely. It was a wonderful adventure. We love Sweden, it felt like home.

Here are some albums of pictures from our trip.

Album 1
Album 2

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...and ferries...and a bus or two

Here is a brief itinerary and a map (if it will work).

After a busy week, we will leave Klaipeda on Friday night by ferry to Sweden.
We will arrive Saturday morning in Karlshamn, Sweden.
Then we will take a train to Växjö, where Steve's friend and his wife live.
We will stay and visit for a couple of days, and then find a way to get up to the Stockholm/Uppsala area.
Stockholm because it is the capital...and Uppsala because it's UPPSALA!
We have found an amazing deal on plane tickets from Stockholm to Riga for Thursday morning. Early (plane leaves at 7am). Maybe why the tickets were such a deal.
Then we will catch a bus in Riga back to Klaipeda...arriving home sometime Thursday eveningish.

Then we will rest for 3 days before life/school starts again.

If the map works, it should have Klaipeda, Växjö, Stockholm, Uppsala, and Riga all featured on it.


View Larger Map

Opportunities

Here are some of the job openings at LCC for the next school year...if you or someone you know is interested.

Leadership week went well, and already my email inbox is being flooded with applications and recommendations/reference forms (they all get sent to me, and then I forward them on to the appropriate person/people).

Today is the 1st of March, and in honor of that, we decided not to wear our winter coats anymore. We'll see if this lasts. :)

Hope everyone is well. Send us a note or call us on skype. Let us know how you're doing!