Hey everyone!
It's been a long time since I updated y'all, and there has happened a lot since my last post. There was Prom; a night full of dressing up, many pose pictures, delicious dinner, and just a great time! My date was also an exchange student, and he was from Denmark. So we were like the 'foreign couple'! :D Before Prom, we took pictures with a really big group of couples, and we had dinner at Shapleys; they are known for their really good steaks. The food was indeed really good, and the group we were with before was so big that we only knew two couples, but eventually I ended up meeting awesome new people! At prom, there were deserts to eat, but I didn't eat any of those because I was already full! :) After prom, we hung out with another group at Stephenie's house. She is a good friend of mine, and I know her since Shrek the musical. At her house, we had breakfast food. Yes, at 1 o'clock in the morning :). Over all, I was really thankful for the evening and all the people who made it a night to remember! Some other updates I want to write down are: my last track race, my play, LOL, and the Easter break. I've only been in two races, but it's amazing how much better my time was in my second and last race. My first race was at Madison Central, so it was at my school. I ran the 3200 meter, which is the 2 mile. I did it in 15min 35sec. At the other race, which was in Pearl, I also ran the 2 mile event, and this time it took me 14min 26sec. Even though I was ranked pretty low in place, I was still proud of myself because this is my first year I've ever done track. With my Theatre II class we worked on a play since February, and we would eventually perform it at Dramafest, alongside the plays of other classes. We chose the play: "I Was A Teenage Prom Queen". It's a very stereotypical high school play, but it was definitely cute and funny. The play was april, 10th, the day right before my race in Pearl. Besides some minor mistakes, it went really good, and the audience enjoyed it. I played a cheerleader with another girl, which was really fun because we had to act really stupid, self-centered, and almost disdainful. Even though Jane Bradley had a softball game at 7:30pm, Lacey still took her just to see my play, which was at 6:40, and leave soon afterwards. So thoughtful!! :) You might think LOL means 'Laugh Out Loud'. Well, it was 'Live Out Loud', a junior high retreat at our church that the senior high helped out with. LOL stands for evangelism and living out your belief. Haley, Anna, Grace and I were on the service team, so basically we had to take pictures, make sandwiches, and serve :). After my track race on friday, I went straight to church with Megan. At 6:30pm we had our first session of the weekend, and Megan gave her Christian testimony, which was really emotional but really good. After that we saw a funny video that some guys put together. We also heard a preacher talk, whom everybody loved! He is Brazilian and married a Dutch(!) woman, from whom he learned dutch. I actually got to talk to him in dutch for a little, which was just great! His preaching was really animated and dynamic! He didn't just preach things out of the Bible, but he also told stories about how he applies the Bible in real life. The stories he told were so funny, and it just shows how bold he is around unbelievers. His faith inspired us all and makes us really yearn for that same intimacy with God, so that we are not ashamed of the gospel. That night, we spend the night at Grace's house. We had S'mores, which if I haven't explained yet are gram crackers with chocolate and roasted marshmallows. It's so good! The next day we went to buy things for redecorating the 'U', our youth group building at church. We bought paint and canvasses to paint verses on, which we did afterwards in the 'U'. In the afternoon, we just hung out at Grace's house until we had to go back and fix dinner. After that, we had another session with the same preacher as the night before. But before that, I gave my Christian testimony! I was nervous because it's really personal, but once I started my sentences started flowing easier than I expected. While I was writing my testimony before, I decided to get baptized but I wasn't sure yet about wether I would do it in the USA or in Belgium. However, the moment I said I would get baptized, I added that it will happen in Belgium. I believe the Holy Spirit just worked right in that moment, so that I knew what I had to do. It's easier to believe here, especially in the South. That's why it's called the 'Bible Belt' because church is a really big part of life here. I decided to get baptized in Belgium because my faith will be tested more and my baptism will be a greater step for me. My mom is really excited, and I am too, it's definitely something to look forward to in my return to Belgium. The 16th through the 21st, we went to Perdido Key, the same place as 7 months ago. I can't believe it has been that long. When we went there for Labor day weekend, my year had just started. Now for Easter, my year is almost over! How the time flies! Wednesday, 7:30pm, we left for the beach. We watched Frozen, listened to music,... The kids surely stayed up later than normal! We got there around midnight, although it went by pretty fast. The first two days were mostly swimming in the indoor swimming pool because outside it was too windy. We also went out to eat a lot because that's what the Maddens do when they go on a trip. :) The food is here really good because there's a lot of seafood, so I had a lot of shrimp and tuna that weekend, which was really good. Thursday night, Janie, Lacey's sister, arrived at the condo too. Lacey's parents came too. It was a fun group to spend Easter with! Saturday and sunday were warmer, so I went to swim in the ocean. We also went to some fun dinner places. One of them was 'the Hangout', where we had lunch with a family whom Brad and Lacey knew. They have 3 kids and also an exchange student. The Hangout is a place for kids to play, bands to play, festivals, or just people who want to eat and buy a T-shirt. Likewise is Lulu's, where we also went last time. This time, I did the climbing course with Jane Bradley because last year she was not tall enough! On sunday morning, there were presents from the Easter bunny awaiting us in the living room. The presents I got were so pretty! In addition, we had breakfast at Waffle House, a place where you can have all kinds of waffles for breakfast, except for a Belgian waffle :). That morning, we also went to a local Baptist church. It was the first time for me to go to a Baptist church because we go to a Presbyterian church. I really liked it, even though it was so different. They sang much more, and their sermon has a lot of videos and illustrations in it! I also felt like it was all more dramatic, and Jane Bradley really enjoyed it too. After church we had our Easter lunch at an Italian place, where we had really good pizza! It was such a fun and relaxing weekend full of good food! I'm so thankful for my host family, that could never have been replaced by any better one! I'm just so happy for everything I experienced. I just love my parents who gave me the best opportunity in the world, and who supported me from the beginning. I thank God for the path he had planned out for me now and in the future. xoxo Suzanna Ephesians 2:8-9
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