arrived

just wanted to let you all know that I arrived safely this afternoon at about 4:00pm Lithuania time. i had a great afternoon and evening w/ Susie, and have just finished unpacking. i'll write more tomorrow!

the packing has begun....

 i went shopping for a new suitcase on Sunday afternoon w/ a friend. we enjoyed comparing prices at different stores. the one i ended up with (from T.J. Maxx) has 360 degree wheels! and it's RED! :)

we also had fun trying on some crazy shoes!

on Monday i spent some time w/ Susie (who's the only person i can say "see you later" to - she'll be my boss at LCC), and babysat Toby in the afternoon. Toby is an adopted boy i helped pick up in Kazakhstan last February w/ a friend from church. i wanted to play with him one last time before i leave as well as give Sandy (aka mommy) a well-needed break.

In the evening we went to eat supper at Steve and Brenda's house - we had a great time laughing, talking and playing with their baby kittens. Here's a picture of the Huston family - Rob (or part of Rob's head), Sandy and Toby. (the little one was a bit tired and ready to go inside and to bed....)

tonight i went to a college friend's house (w/ my housemates) for supper and games. we also laughed a lot - as we always do.... i will miss these friends very much!

on Sunday after suitcase shopping i finally began packing. now i know how much room i have for everything, but it's going to be challenge to stay within the 50 lb weight limit! somehow i'll get it all arranged (in three or less bags) by Saturday.... i don't have any pictures of my messy room - or our messy house - all of us are moving on Saturday, so we're in packing mode this week!

more friends

 

Thursday night I had supper w/ this very fun family (minus one) - they're friends from my growing up days in Kansas. We had supper, played spoons and Qwirkle (is that how you spell it?), made fun of the new Rebecca Black song, and laughed a lot!

Last night I went to the Beck's house for supper - these are some very dear friends from church. Eric (on the left) is one of my youth group "kids" and we DOMINATED in euchre last night!!!!! Kevin has been a great encouragement to me over the past few years in youth group leadership. And Pat, dear Pat, has helped me lead youth group for the past two years. We've gotten to know and appreciate each other and work well together. I will miss praying, talking, laughing, going to the Brew, and just plain ol' hanging out with her.

These beautiful ladies are from church as well, and we went to the Chief this afternoon. It wasn't nearly as hot as Thursday night, and we saw a very big beetle on the ground that really loved following us around. They also volunteered to take me to the airport on Saturday morning - thank you for your generosity, ladies!

Today was my last Saturday at the bakery, so I said goodbye to the awesome farmer's market next door. I will still be working several days next week, but Saturdays have their own unique feel, and I will miss talking with Rachel while washing dishes, conversing and laughing with customers, and even the busy-ness! I also usually go to the market next door to buy fresh produce for my meals over the weekend - today I bought beets, tomatoes and carrots. I will miss Dale's carrots the most - he grows the best ones around!

I had better start packing soon - I'll be in the air one week from today! Are you a last-minute packer like me? :) 

goodbyes

today i said goodbye to four people!

Hannah - a friend that I used to work w/ at Rachel's Bread. We've kept in touch and since we still both live in Goshen, we can see each other too!

Dave and Kim - my pastor and his wife. I'll see them again before I leave, but we wanted to do something fun together one last time!

We walked to the Chief (a local ice cream shop) and sweated up a storm! The heat index was over 100 (and very humid), so needless to say we were very glad when we got to sit down and eat ice cream! This picture is of Kim's sweaty arm. :)

Joanna - another friend from the bakery. She lives in St. Louis now, so we just talked on the phone. But still, we won't talk again till after I'm in a different country!

Leaving is beginning to become reality through having to say goodbye to so many people, but I think it's not truly going to hit me until I get on the plane. I think this plane ride will force an abrupt transition for me - I've been in Goshen for so long that I still can't quite believe yet that anything's changing.

finished fundraiser

it's finally over! yesterday was a very long day....

i got to the church early to finish setting up for the garage sale and car wash. i had some youth and other friends from church help me out around 7:45am and i could not have done it without them! they helped with everything - washing cars, talking to people, holding up signs on the street corners, clean up (b/c i had to leave early) and we even had a lemonade stand! in total we didn't have all that many customers, but the ones who did come were great! 

 there was LOTS of stuff!!!!

 washing a car....


i left the church at 2pm to begin prep for the picnic. i had four others helping me that afternoon - Hannah and Kent from work (they also helped me on Friday night), Amanda (my housemate) and Susie (a good friend - who's also going to be my boss starting in a couple weeks!) from 2-6:30pm, we cut lots of fresh vegetables from the market, made sandwiches and mixed up and cranked ice cream. everything was easily ready by 6:30pm - i had some efficient help! :)

the menu was chilled carrot soup, tabouleh or mixed greens salad, pesto and tomato or goat cheese and balsamic apple sandwiches, bread, and either lime or blueberry homemade ice cream.

i ended up really enjoying the picnic - i was a bit nervous about being the "front woman", talking to people and giving a "speech", but it all turned out great! there was more than enough food, the ice cream was delicious, and all the people who came were great friends and it was a joy to talk to and share the evening with them. i am very thankful!

Susie and Hannah making sandwiches

the serving table (Amanda, Susie and Hannah) with our first eater

a beautiful setting! (just outside of the bakery where I work)


now i'm on to saying goodbyes, finishing up last minute details and packing! it's going to be an emotional last two weeks - but i'm going to do my best to enjoy every minute!

cooking, cooking and more cooking!

photos from tonight....

 (notice Hannah's haircut?) :)

CREAM!

yesterday i bought groceries for the picnic on Saturday. 20 cups of whipping cream! yummy!!!!!

today i went blueberry picking (for blueberry ice cream) with Hannah. 

and here's a photo of the garage sale stuff - almost all of it! 

only one more day! tomorrow is cooking day.... soup, salad and meadow tea prep. i'm really looking forward to seeing everything come together by Saturday!

my "kids"

I like to call the youth in the youth group my "kids". I have watched them grow up since the time I've been at LifeSpring (8 years) and have worked with them in youth group for 4 years. I have enjoyed getting to know them as friends and as a youth leader, challenging them, talking to and about God with them, and of course having fun together! I will miss them dearly when I leave!

We went to the Mennonite Youth Convention in Pittsburgh, PA this past week, and here's some of the things we did (a story in pictures):

 Here's us leaving at 7:30a.m. on Monday morning! We traveled on a charter bus with two other youth groups from the area.

 There were lots of activities to do at the convention center. Along with an entire hall dedicated to recreational activities, each Mennonite college had a booth set up in the exhibit hall, where there were lots of free t-shirts and other prizes. This picture with some of the boys is taken with a Goshen college alumni (Krista, one of our sponsors) in order to win a Goshen t-shirt.

Each day we had two worship services - morning and evening. There were about 4,000 youth there, and it was very high-energy! Probably almost all of us enjoyed the Friday night service the best because we got to sit up front - we knew most of the people in the worship band, and they let us in early to get good seats. It was quite a sight when the doors opened and everyone else flooded in!

We frequently had small group time as well to reflect on our experiences from the day, to share about the seminars we had attended, and to spend some quality time together. This is us playing a new game - "People to People". We're crazy! :)

 On Wednesday afternoon, we did a service project in Aliquippa, PA. This trailer park had a creek running through it that had flooded about two years ago. We helped rebuild the creek bank by "mining" for bricks, rocks and dirt to fill big wire baskets that lined the banks to prevent erosion and future flooding. The black thing behind the youth in this picture is one of the baskets we filled, which is now covered with protective cloth to keep the water from washing everything away.

We also went to Pirates baseball game - a fun way to relax for the evening after a day of hard work!

The girls participated in a "Trash Fashion Show" with these dresses that they had made before we came to convention. They both got to walk the runway on the rooftop terrace in the evening show - complete with spotlights and a catwalk, a live DJ, and lots of spectators and cameras! 

And of course we had fun. This is just us being silly, but I really love the picture! :)


I really enjoyed getting to spend a week with these wonderful youth - what a great way for me to end my time at LifeSpring!

fundraising

I've sent out a letter to friends and family to ask for donations for my upcoming year, but I like planning parties and things, so I've finally starting to organize a fundraising EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

So, I'm planning a car wash and garage sale on Saturday, July 16th in the morning. I'm hoping to have my youth group help me wash cars, and have called around to friends in the Goshen area to ask for donations for the garage sale. I don't have a lot of stuff on my own to make a garage sale, and people are definitely excited to contribute! I'm going to go pick everything up next week, and can't wait to see what all comes in!

Also that same day (crazy me!) I'm having an evening picnic. I love fresh food and seasonal produce (in part mainly b/c of my job at Rachel's Bread for the past two years), and so the picnic is going to use lots of summer vegetables, things from the market in Goshen, and also homemade ice cream! I've been looking at different recipes online and have found some interesting flavors I might try - raspberry basil, avocado, or carrot ginger. I guess I can make some regular flavors too....

I'm pretty excited about these fundraisers, and surprisingly not too stressed about having them all on the same day. I will have lots of help, and am hoping the events will have a low-key feeling to them - I want to be able to talk with those that come to support me, and share about what I'm doing, and keep building relationships along the way.

This week I'm heading out with my youth group to the Mennonite convention in Pittsburgh, PA, so I won't be thinking about Lithuania a whole lot. I'm very excited, though, to spend this one last week with them. I'm praying for lots of things for our week together - safety, fun, open hearts to God's voice, a positive experience of the broader church family, and much much more!