Girl's night

On Saturday evening, I had a "girl's night" with two of my RAs. We talked, watched a movie, ate popcorn and chocolate peanut butter milkshakes and had facemasks. It was very fun and relaxing! Unfortunately, we didn't take hardly any pictures until we were almost ready to go to bed, but here's some of us brushing our teeth... :)

first try...

second try...

Mug 'n' Muffin

Yesterday we organized an all-ladies event called Mug 'n' Muffin, where we serve coffee with fancy toppings, tea and homemade muffins of all kinds. We also ask certain LCC faculty/staff to share something from their life on a certain topic. This semester's theme: "amazing love: finding your heart amidst the confusion". The speakers talked about identity in relationships, and did a brilliant job! The students asked lots of questions afterwards, and really seemed to engage with the topic, which might be unusual for a typical Saturday morning!

fancy toppings included cinnamon sugar, cocoa, vanilla sugar, caramel sauce and hand-whipped whipped cream!

girls choosing from all the different muffins, which are donated by LCC faculty/staff ladies

getting ready to start... there were 80 students and 16 faculty/staff there!

the speakers afterwards

L-R: Ilona, Susie and Elena

thanks to Kristine Trocjuka and Elena for the pictures!

RA retreat

This past weekend, I took a retreat with my RA team. We went to a place called Radailiai, which was about 10-15 minutes away - just enough to feel like we were off campus and detached from responsibility for the night! We ate a delicious supper, which I prepared: marinated meat grilled over the fire, roasted potatoes and salad. We also played "Ticket to Ride" and watched a movie. In the morning, we went to a sauna right across the yard, and ate brunch and talked together. I only wish we could have spent more time together!

Natallia, Ira and I got the food ready while the guys built a fire outside.

And yes, we cut the potatoes on top of the toilet! don't worry, we put a towel and a cutting board down first!!!

Playing with fire/lighter fluid

Kirill and I in a contest to see who could fan the flames the longest (I lost...)

Natallia and Ausrius watching the movie... can you tell who's sleeping in the background?
HA! He has NO idea that we have these pictures!!!

Natallia and Ausrius after the morning sauna!

Student Life Sauna

Yesterday we had a Student Life outing to the sauna on the Curonian Spit. We took a short ferry ride across to the Spit, and then walked about 20 minutes to get to the beach. We changed into swimming suits and hit the sauna right away... The catch is that after heating up in the sauna, you run straight into the Baltic Sea! The first time I ran in only partway, but the last few times, I sat down - BRRRRRR!!!!!

the whole gang on the ferry

(thanks for the picture, Alisha!)

running towards the water... I am the third person from the left

(thanks for the picture, Margarita!)

Cupid visits LCC!

We have had drop boxes for Valentines out in the dorms the past week or so, and yesterday evening, we collected and sorted all the Valentines, and my two guy RAs (Kirill and Ausrius) dressed up as Cupids to go and deliver them! I think they enjoyed being the messengers just as much as we did watching them!

getting ready...

going to spread the LOVE!

weekend activities

This was a busy weekend - but lots of fun as well! On Saturday, I helped out with the "Leadership Challenge", which is a fun competition between students as a part of the Leadership Development Program at LCC. Another student and I were in charge of the "Egg Relay Station" and we had students balance an egg on a spoon and go through an obstacle course - quite funny to watch!

waiting for another group to arrive

one student racing through our obstacle course

Later on Saturday evening, I went to a pod event that one of my RAs hosted, which was fun as well! They did a "Retro Night" and went all out - decorations, lots of food, games, karaoke, and even a photo booth! Here are some photos of me with a few students:

Leadership Fair

The past two days we have had a Leadership Fair in the main building at LCC. There are booths set up for the different student leadership positions available, and we are there to recruit people to apply for next year and answer any questions they might have.

Here is our RA booth. We decorated it with props from all the events we have done so far this year: Ugly Duckling Cup (boat in the background), Art Week (banner on the front of the table), and "Minute to Win It" (black boxes on top of the table).

We also promoted the event with this "reverse psychology" video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r4OdhixExF4

Happy birthday, Kirill!

So many birthdays in the last month! Today is Kirill's birthday, and we celebrated during our team meeting with his special request of Chinese food - "Kung Pao" (spicy) chicken! I also made mudslides (chocolate chip cookie with ice cream) as a surprise! We also gave him a t-shirt with our picture on it, and a word we say together as an inside joke. He was really excited about the food, and said that "whenever I have a bad day, I'll think of this moment!" :)

getting ready to enjoy the food

an "artsy" birthday surprise

i just like this picture, because he looks so happy!

he's closing his eyes while i put the t-shirt on him

ta-da!!!

In January, we also gave Ausrius an apron with our team picture on it. He loves to cook, so we thought this would be a perfect present. We surprised him with it a couple nights after we celebrated during our team meeting.

showing off for the camera while Ausrius' eyes are still closed :)

what could it be?!?!

happy! :)

Happy birthday, Gretchen!

A friend and colleague, Gretchen, had a birthday this weekend, so we threw her a proper British tea party! She loves Jane Austen movies and books, so we had tea, scones, finger sandwiches, brownies, lace, fancy hats, tea service, dramatic readings, and even a card game that people played back then! It was a fun evening to celebrate together!

the birthday girl all decked out in fancy hats and lace

the spread...

being silly (the party was in my apartment)

the whole gang