pizza!

Tonight I made pizza with my RA's for supper. It turned out really good! I made a huge batch of caramelized onions, which to me is one of the keys to a good pizza, along with fresh garlic! We also had ham, tomatoes, jalapenos, mushroooms, red pepper and spinach. While we were waiting for the pizza to bake, we played Dutch Blitz - they're getting good!

 before putting on cheese and mushrooms

cutting mushrooms

ready to EAT!

normal life

A few interesting things that have happened over the past few days:

1. We invited a staff couple from LCC to come and speak about sex and relationships on Wednesday night, and there were over 100 students that came! The couple shared their story, a Biblical perspective on sex, and answered anonymous questions from students. It was a very interesting and thought-provoking evening.

2. Last night a couple girls came downstairs to get some pop out of the vending machine, and the drawer wouldn't open because there were several cans blocking it. We ended up turning it on its back, shaking the drawer a lot, and cheering loudly when we finally got it open! 

3. The last few days have been very cold here - around zero degrees Fahrenheit. Today I walked over to Enns (the other dorm on campus) to deliver some linens with one of my RA's, and I borrowed her coat. Eastern Europeans coats often have lots of fur - it felt funny, but it was really warm!

Lithuanian 102

I'm taking Lithuanian 102 this semester, and it's much harder than 101! I still like it and want to learn, but there are so many new words and concepts right now that it's hard for me to keep up. I try to study a little bit every day, so hopefully that will help me catch up! We have a quiz every Wednesday just to keep us on our toes, and last week was our first. I did not feel prepared at all, but evidently I knew more than I thought - I already hung it on my refrigerator! (3% is a PERFECT!)

Last semester, I would often bet a candy bar for the highest score on our Wednesday quizzes with Levi and some other Americans who were in my class. I got quite a few candy bars - once even two for one quiz!!! I'm sorry that I didn't bet this time....

more cookies

Today I had help making cookies for a worship team party that I hosted. Two students who are also on the team came to help me - Aliya and Tatjana. We enjoyed baking together, and at our party we ate, played a game and sang some songs. Then we went outside and had a snowball fight because it was snowing a lot! So FUN! A great Sunday afternoon!

 Aliya and Tatjana with their decorated cookies.

 Taking home the extra cookies after the snowball fight. Wet, but happy!

Chapel band Spring 2012

This semester we have three new Study Abroad students from the States that are helping us with Chapel worship band this semester. They're all very good musicians, and we are excited to have them join us! Bethany, my friend and the Spiritual Formations Coordinator, took some pictures of Chapel today, so I get to share them with you! The "graffiti" behind us on the walls is on pieces of transparent fabric, and was used for a conference at LCC over Winter Break. It looks so cool that I guess they're leaving it up for a while!

Zina, Ina and Laura

Alex, me and Erick

almost everyone - you can see Aliya's legs in between Laura and Alex

p.s. If you want to hear us playing, go to the LCC Spiritual Life page on Facebook, and I think soon today's Chapel will be posted!

dinners

Last semester I made muffins for all of my floors, and this semester I have a new goal - to have a different room from the West side of Neumann over every week for dinner. One incentive (besides the community-building): I bought some very interesting fabrics at a fabric store in Lawrence, KS while I was home for Christmas and my mom made me some cloth napkins! Here they are all set out last night, ready for dinner with my RA's.

Tonight is the first night of having students over. I will use the napkins again, and hope they will like what I cook for them! :)

back in LT

Just to let you all know, I made it safe and sound back to Klaipeda on Thursday evening/Friday morning at 1am Lithuania time. The trip was fairly uneventful. It's good to see people again - last night I watched movies and had supper with Susie - it was great to catch up with her, and the movies were very relaxing! Please pray for me as I make the transition back to school and all the busyness it brings. I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post soon!