What I Learned From [Almost] Running a Retreat

For the last several years, I've had this big idea to start a Christian young adults retreat in the Pacific Northwest. Last August, I finally made the jump from being a talker to a doer and started planning out the event. Over the past 6 months, I lined up speakers, figured out the meal situation, made a list of activities, brief sermon outlines to help give the pastors an idea of what the theme would be, and even reserved a campground. All was in place but one thing: people. Turns out folks between the ages of 18 and 28 are all either too busy or too tight on funds to be able to spend $255 on a four-day retreat. Thus, Camp Center Lane met it's demise.

People said they were sorry I wasted so much time creating a camp only to have it fall through in the end. I am not. This is why...

12 Things I learned:

1.) Never be too scared to talk about your ideas.

I was surprised how supportive people were! Despite my fears, it turns out nobody thought I was too inept to do what I had in mind. They offered lots of help and great suggestions.


2.) The importance of prioritizing.

Planning is important, but so is knowing what order to plan things. Tackle the most immediate issues first (in my case, find willing pastors, then reserve a location, then go to planning the daily retreat schedule of events, ect.).

3.) People get busy; don't be afraid of giving the occasional reminder.

As long as you're nice about it and don't ask too frequently, it gives you peace of mind and usually the other person appreciates it and understands.

4.) Listen to people's questions and comments.


A different perspective can prove useful, whether you think you need help or not.

5.) The power of networking.


A friend I made in an online group was my most helpful ally on this project. Always be branching out your ring of acquaintances.

6.) The importance of time management.


Setting realistic goals for completing tasks helps things get done in a good time frame and often with less stress.

7.) Break big goals down into little goals.


What steps are necessary for your idea to happen? What order must they be done in?

8.) People appreciate when you reach out to them personally.

Whether it furthers your idea or not, make an effort to initiate and keep contact with your friends and cohorts. You never know what benefits can happen for either of you as a result of your effort.


9.) Be passionate about your idea.

If you really love and support what you're working on, all that work doesn't feel like work.

10.) Do not fear failure.


One of the main reasons it was hard for me to share my idea at first was "What if I get rejected?", followed by, "What if my idea fails and I look lame?" Well, it's worse to never try than to never know.



11.) If your idea fails, learn from it anyway!

Analyze why it failed. Should you try again? Scale it down? Remodel the idea? And what new knowledge can you take from the experience to use in your life?

12.) Nothing is a waste.

Trust God- whatever situation He has placed you in, He is using it to bring about His ultimate glory.

Shut Up & Google It.

Lately I've been considering the impact technology has had on the social aspect of our lives.

In the library, I have seen our modern tech be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it enables people to easily search out what books exist on their chosen topic and figure out roughly where to find them at. It also tells them if it is in their current library, or if another nearby library possesses their desired literature. On the other hand, it turns otherwise polite and quiet patrons into almost-shouting cell phone users and can often hamper people's study time with unnecessary distractions.

Over all, modern technology can be a great advantage, allowing us to contact our friends at a moment's notice and arrange meet ups. It can let people from small, isolated towns get to know a wide array of other people, and it allows friends to keep in touch despite being miles apart.

But one thing I have noticed at times: social learning seems to be declining. At one point in time, you would find a friend or relative who knew a lot about a particular thing, and you would ask them about it. They might give you a verbal description or teach you in a hands-on style. It could be a fantastic way to get a conversation started and strengthen a friendship (or maybe forge a new one!).

Nowadays? I've had a good number of times when I try to ask someone about a topic they are proficient in and in return I am told "Why are you asking me? Just Google it."

Internet searches are always around. Technology will always be advancing. Your friends and acquaintances, however, are likely to move on at some point. Is it a waste of time to have a conversation with someone who is genuinely interested in the things you do or know? I think not. You might be just the help and encouragement they need- and you know what? There is always a chance that they could be the same to you too, if you just take the time.

Paged: Back Online!

Well, it has been quite a hiatus here on Paged! No worries, I am still happily employed in my local library. It has just been a crazy few months what with balancing both part and full time employments, friends, family, and suchnot. But beyond that note, I hope to return to more regular blogging now.

What to expect:

* A new series! I will be making weekly "Reading List" posts. This will be a lot like my Book of The Week posts, only with the disclaimer of me not having actually read them. I see TONS of books every day that look extremely fascinating, but I just do not always have time to bring them all home. This segment will allow you to discover new books right along side me, and will also give me a convenient place to keep my future reading list.

*Book of The Week will probably not be weekly, simply because I do not have time these days to read enough books to keep up with posting reviews that frequently. I will however still call it "Book of The Week"-- hey, I will still be posting them at times within the normal Sunday-Saturday weekdays, am I not? ;)  (plus, trying to name/tag posts with honest time frames would wind up sounding strange).

*Occasional cat photos. Ok, I know, I failed to get all of the kitten photos uploaded as they grew up (I do however have the photos, if you so desire for me to still post them). However, we still have Carmen and one of her now-grown kittens, Mikey. I will henceforth post random updates on Mikey, because he has turned out to be quite the character; I hope he will be as entertaining to you as he is to us and our patrons!

*Other fun! I have some ideas for other media that I may post up throughout the year. Be on the watch. Photos and videos will pop up around here sooner or later.

I hope after such a long break that some of you are still with me. If you are, thank you for being a loyal friend and continuing to follow my library adventures! If you've come to enjoy my posts, please feel free to share them with your friends (conversely, if you really hate them, feel free to share them with your enemies).

Take care, all!

PS: If I begin to fail on posting regular updates, send along some comments to whip me back into shape ;)

Frozen Fridays #11

I thought making popsicles out of soda would be a good idea, so I poured my can of Dr.Pepper into the mold to give it a shot. The flavor was great, the texture I enjoyed, but I learned the hard way that soda expands much more than any other substance I've used so far:

Ingredients:

Dr. Pepper

Frozen Fridays #10

It's classic, and it had to be done. Orange creamsickles!
I was given the interesting idea of using orange creamsicle soda pop mixed with half and half for these. The orange soda was cheaper than buying oranges or orange juice, although probably not as healthy. Sure tasted yummy, though!

 

Ingredients: 

Half & Half

Orange cream soda

Frozen Fridays #9

Out of all my popsicles, I've been the happiest with the texture of this one. A deliciously soft combination of blueberries, greek yogurt, and vanilla, inspired by a bowl of leftover blueberries that I found sitting out on the counter.

 

Ingredients:

1 personal sized container of greek yogurt

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Milk

Vanilla creamer

Throw everything together in the blender, add enough milk to make it a smoothie consistency, and put in four vanilla flavored coffee creamers. Yum!

Frozen Fridays #8

Odd as it sounds, this week's popsicle was inspired by a candle. Yes, a candle.

My boyfriend bought me a watermelon-lemonade Bath & Body Works candle a little ways back. It smells FANASTIC. So, I got to thinking, how would this taste in a popsicle? Well, to answer my own question, it tastes quite nice. It's a delicious and refreshing blend! Interestingly, you get more of the flavor when you suck on it than when you bite it. I guess it's sort of like how Otter Pops work.

Anyhow, this one is certainly worth a try in this hot July weather!

Ingedients:
Water

Lemon Juice

Sugar

Watermelon

First make the lemonade. I squirted lemon juice into a cup of water and kept taste testing (with a spoon) until it seemed lemon-y enough, then added sugar. After this I cut up several good sized chunks of watermelon (no rind) and put it in the blender with the lemonade. Then it went into the popsicle mold and into the freezer!

For those of you who may be too impatient to wait for the popsicles to freeze, I suggest making some cups of this just for drinking. It's really quite delicious :)

Frozen Fridays #7

Oddly, the ingredients seemed slightly more flavorful before I froze them. Not sure what's up with that. At any rate, while not being extremely outstanding compared to some of my other experiments, this was nevertheless good: Strawberry Iced Tea.

Interestingly, the ingredients decided to separate themselves as they sat, so the strawberry flavor is more noticeable once you reach the bottom of this.

 

Ingredients:

Lipton iced tea

Water

Milk

Sugar

Pureed strawberries.

Blend all ingredients together, skim the foam off the top (eat it! it's yummy!), and pour into your molds and freeze it until hard.

Enjoy, and have a happy Independence Day!

Fozen Fridays #6

One word: REFRESHING.

My friends and I enjoyed these (yep, this batch got shared!). Best part of it is that it gets yummier as you eat it, because the fruits are arranged from tartest to sweetest.

Top layer: kiwi

Middle layer: strawberry

Bottom layer: peach

Puree your fruits in the blender with your desired amount of sweetener and a little bit of water. Freeze each layer before adding the next fruit to it.

Tag- You're It.

I came in to work today to discover we've all been given spiffy new name tags.
Wow, I feel so official! I thought to myself.

What would it be like, being tagged? I'd never been tagged in the library before. The librarians all had name tags, but never the pages.
Goodbye, anonymous existence. I stuck the magnet-held tag to my shrug (or, basically, a short sleeved sweater, for those who do not know what a shrug is).

I figured I would instantly get along with my new tag. Why wouldn't I?

As it turns out, the tag had other ideas.

It behaved for the first few minutes. Then as I reached to put some books to the top shelf, it decided it would play hide and seek in my armpit. After that it decided it would be fun to poke me on numerous occasions.

Enough with this! I thought to myself, and inched my tag closer to the edge of my shrug. It helped, for a little while, until the tag came up with a counter move to my little solution. I picked up a big stack of books and it jumped off of my clothes and sprawled out on the floor.

You aren't getting away that easy, tag! After putting away the stack of books, I picked the tag back up from the floor. What am I to do with you, little tag? I wondered, trying it out in different locations.

Putting it at the bottom of my shirt or on my jeans would not be acceptable, I was pretty sure. It didn't want to ride on my shrug, for sure. Finally, I decided to try pinning it on the upper left-hand portion of my shirt. Low enough that my hair wouldn't cover it, high enough to look professional, and on a stable enough piece of clothing that it wouldn't try hiding or poking me in the armpits again. Perfect.

Perhaps the tag was just uncomfortable. We got along well after it's little move. I am happy, the tag is happy, and we both can do our jobs as we should. At last, we came to an agreement.

I think we will get along.

Frozen Fridays #5

Oops... I just learned that Nesquik syrup does not freeze. At all. After I discovered what a mess this was, I let the entire batch melt, mixed all the ingredients together, then refroze it. Didn't have a cool looking ring around the center like I had initially planned, however for some strange reason all the Nesquick migrated to the outside of each popsicle, so I ended up with a soft chocolate coating over a batch of strawberry popsicles. I failed to get a photograph of the second version of these, but I can assure you they tasted rather nice. In the future, I should probably find some sort of chocolate that I know will harden when froze.

Ingredients: Nesquik syrup, pureed strawberries, water, sugar, and milk.

Frozen Fridays #4

With last week's tea popsicle being a bit of a flop, I am coming back armed with more tea to try and redeem myself this week! I know, we can never quite redeem ourselves, but if nothing else, we can come back next time just a little better than before- which is precisely what I have done this week!

This time around, I combined Celestial Seasonings' "Sweet Coconut Thai" tea with vanilla creamer and came out with brilliant results. I am pleased!

Recipe:

1. Brew 1 cup of Celestial Seasonings' "Sweet Coconut Thai" tea. Let sit overnight in the fridge, or cool with ice cubes to obtain faster results.

2. Fill each popsicle mold with half vanilla creamer and half tea; mix contents.

3. Freeze until solid and enjoy!

Book Making!

So, just in case the fact that I have been doing work in the library for almost 10 years doesn't clue you in enough, I happen to love books. So much so that I recently decided to MAKE a book. Read a few tutorials online, mashed all the parts of the instructions that I liked all into one design and spent my weekend bookbinding. Fun!

 

Quarter folded paper! Ripped to perfection.

 

Getting it a little wet helps. No worries, this book is for me.

 

Paper is thick; So, I got a hammer.

 

Sewing paper!

 

All sewn up! Now to glue the 3 layers together.

 

Glued and holding!

 

All glued and ready! :)

 

The lovely spine of my book.

Now, I just need to get my hands on some leather to make a cover. Excited! Will post a finished photo when I get the remainder of the supplies and complete the project.

Frozen Fridays #3

I learned a valuable lesson this week: never make a completely water-based popsicle. The idea of having a layered tea popsicle sounded lovely- and I will say, it did taste quite nice. That being said, because I did not include anything in it besides the tea, these popsicles were rock hard hunks of ice! Tasty ice, but nevertheless, ice. While refreshing, these took WAY too long to eat, since I could not bite into them. Next time I make a tea popsicle I will be sure I put some milk or cream in with it, so that it will have a softer consistency.

Even though they took an extremely long time to consume, they did look rather pretty:

 

Bottom layer: red tea

Middle layer: black tea

Top layer: green tea

Frozen Fridays #2

One sad thing about summer is that you cannot enjoy your favorite winter beverages as much. Who wants hot coffee or hot chocolate if it is 100 degrees outside? Not me! This popsicle, however, offers a great alternative. The top half is caramel coffee and the bottom half is chocolate!

How I made it:

1.) Put 1 tablespoon of instant coffee into your blender. Add sugar and caramel creamer to your taste. Fill with water until you reach the 1 cup mark on your blender. Blend.

2.) Fill each popsicle slot half full.

3.) Freeze for 2 & 1/2 hours.

4.) Put 1 heaping tablespoon of hot chocolate mix into the blender. Then pour in milk until you reach the 1 cup mark. Blend, then fill the remaining halves of each popsicle slot.

5.) Freeze for 4 hours.

Enjoy this Starbucks-y treat!

Frozen Fridays #1

I stumbled across a book of popsicles in the library and couldn't resist bringing it home with me. Ever since I got it, I've been on a so far fruitless mission to find myself a popsicle mold (June is only a week away- I can't believe most of our stores aren't selling those things yet!). Lucky for me, this book not only gives really great ice pop recipes but it also gave me the solution to my problem: get creative.

One of the ideas it gave me was to use whatever ordinary object I could get my hands on, then put tin foil over the top to hold the popsicle sticks in place until the liquid froze up. My weapons of choice? An ice tray and toothpicks.

Just gave it a shot yesterday, and I am extremely pleased with the results:

My recipe went as such:

1.) Put frozen mangos, milk, and sugar (to your taste) into blender. Ingredients together should total 1 cup. Then blend until smooth.

2.) Fill each ice cube spot half full.

3.) Put tin foil over ice tray.

4.) Poke toothpicks into tin foil in each ice spot.

5.) Freeze for 2 hours.

6.) Put frozen strawberries, water, and sugar into blender. Ingredients together should total 1 cup. Blend until smooth.

7.) Freeze again. This time for 3 to 4 hours.

8.) Wiggle popsicles out of ice tray and enjoy!

This recipe made me two ice trays full of mini popsicles.

This recipe was my own invention, but to get more inspiration and ideas, go check out the book Irresistable Ice Pops, shown below.

 
UPDATE - 5/25/14: I just found a popsicle mold a couple days ago. After expressing my intent of making new popsicles every week this summer, a number of my facebook friends said they wanted to know what all I end up making. So, to quench the curiosity, every Friday this summer will be "Frozen Fridays", on which I will post up my popsicle of the week! I hope you can enjoy them (almost) as much as I do :)

Fifty Shades of Eavesdropping

Honestly, I don't eavesdrop on purpose. When you are in a library and people start chattering loud enough, and you are nearby, it just kind of happens.

There were four teenagers seated around a table in the back of the library; two boys and two girls. They all were giggling and making jokes as teenagers do, and making their best effort to have their fun without getting themselves booted from the premises or asked to tone it down, as they had in the past.

Then it happened: one of the girls dared the boys to go find that infamous novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

I mentally shook my head, then continued about my business, pushing along my cart and putting away books (and truth be told, I checked my cart just in case it housed the tale they were after). I overheard a brief bit of bantering from the table behind me, then watched as the boys meandered off on their mission.

It was not long before I heard the boys' hushed voices from a row over,
"Found it yet?"
"Nope"

"You should ask her", one boy said, casting a quick glance in my direction.

"No way!", replied his cohort, "You ask her!"




"Not a chance."

And with that, the boys began searching the shelves once more. 


Interested and rather amused at their plight, I kept a discreet eye on the two. They did indeed manage to find the book themselves. I grinned to myself, partially because of their previous little argument and partially because I was glad that there are still some high school kids out there who can find something in a library without help, even if the book had to be Fifty Shades of Grey.


Then an idea struck me. I should bring them a present. I wide grin spread across my face as I marched purposefully down the aisle toward the cookbook section. Yes, the cookbook section. Good ol' 641.665, for any of you who may speak Dewey Decimal. We had in the last few months acquired a book entitled Fifty Shades of Chicken: a parody in a cookbook. I quickly snatched it from the shelf and took it back to the very back table.

"I happened to overhear you guys," I said, with a sheepish grin, "so, I had to bring you the parody."

In the end, I found them reading more of the cookbook parody than the original. Considering the content of the original, I'm totally okay with that ending. Little did I know, it wasn't the end. Half an hour later I noticed the same foursome standing outside the library using some black goo to dye the hair of one of the guys. Oh the joys of teenage adventures!

Book of The Week: 1,327 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks Off

All I can say about this book is that it is fun. So just go read it. And don't lose your socks.

 

Title: 1,327 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks Off

Authors:  John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, &  James Harkin

 Synopsis:

From the creators of the hugely popular BBC quiz show QI and the best-selling Book of General Ignorance: 1,227 mind-bending facts. Did you know?

• Cows moo in regional accents.
• The international dialing code for Russia is 007.
• The water in the mouth of a blue whale weighs more than its body.
• Pants are responsible for twice as many accidents as chain saws.
• Saddam Hussein's bunker was designed by the grandson of the woman who built Hitler's bunker.
• Heroin was originally sold as cough medicine.
1,227 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks Off is a trove of the strangest, funniest, and most improbable tidbits of knowledge—all painstakingly researched and distilled to a brilliant and shocking clarity.

Help The Tittle Family!

Taking time out of my usual blog posts to make a special announcement and plea to you all:

A girl I know in Arkansas was killed, along with her father and sister, in a tornado this week. Now her mother is left alone to care for the remaining 7 children. Their home was completely destroyed and ripped from it's foundation in the storm, and all of their belongings are now gone.

If you would, please consider donating to the family's relief fund, Here.

If you can do nothing else, please at least share this post and keep the family in your prayers.

Thank you! 

Book of the Week: Horseradish

  A number of years ago I was having a rough day. I was near the end of my rope; then mom came home from the thrift store and handed me this book. It totally made my day, and this has since become one of my favorite books to show people. I absolutely adore Lemony Snicket's witty quotes!

 

 

Title: Horseradish

Author: Lemony Snicket

Synopsis:

Lemony Snicket's work is filled with bitter truths, like: 'It is always cruel to laugh at people, of course, although sometimes if they are wearing an ugly hat it is hard to control yourself.' Or: 'It is very easy to say that the important thing is to try your best, but if you are in real trouble the most important thing is not trying your best, but getting to safety.'

For all of life's ups and downs, its celebrations and its sorrows, here is a book to commemorate it all – especially for those not fully soothed by chicken soup. Witty and irreverent, Horseradish is a book with universal appeal, a delightful vehicle to introduce Snicket's uproariously unhappy observations to a crowd not yet familiar with the Baudelaires' misadventures.