Hey y'all!
My last month in Louisiana just started. I'm so excited to go back home, but also sad to leave all these amazing people behind.

A week ago I went to this thing called "Experience Week". It was basically 3 days of experiencing Masters Commission. Masters Commission is kind of a discipleship school ish..
So we got to experience their life there.
We lived in the student apartments with a first year student as our leader.
Every morning we had an hour of prayer and then a session. So someone always preached / thought us something. We also did ministry. Some people gave food to homeless people. Some spent time with kids, reading story's, playing, praying and stuff. Some helped in pregnancy centers (or what ever you might want to call them). And there was a lot of other things to do.
Well I was a part of the "Exchange team". So basically we did youth ministry. And I went out of my comfort zone and had to do a part of the sermon. It was pretty cool and fun.

We also played volleyball and just chilled and did crazy stuff. What I love the most about XMC is that everybody's so weird and crazy and you can be your self without anyone judging you. They have the most amazing people there. I'm seriously considering to go there after I graduate High School in Finland. I just hope my parents let me go. I want to go there and bring a little peace of what they have, to Finland.
They are so welcoming and good hearted.  I'm going to miss them so much, but I'll be back!

This is my room mates! Double 0 4 swag! lol

My name tag!

At one of the sessions! Best worship band ever on stage! :)

So yea. Keep Calm & Love Jesus. XMC rocks!

NYC & Boston - Best week of my life

Hey y'all! Yo! Hello guys!

So, last week I spent in NYC and Boston, on a trip for exchange students.
To keep my brain in control I'm telling only the main things about the week, since we did a lot and were busy!

Day 1
I woke up at 3 in the morning for my flight and I was excited but nervous. I hate flying by my self.
I was lucky to have 2 Thai girls with me though, whom I met on the airport in Houston.
When we came to New York, we met more exchange students and I was like " OMG THIS IS SO COOL, WIIII :D"  We got to our hotel (in New Jersey) and the leaders showed us where the mall was. And you can probably guess what I did at the mall...and we ate "cajun" and chinese food.
Later when we got back to the hotel, I met a Finnish girl and I was so excited! I love her! :D
Then we ate and introduced ourselves and went back to the mall and then to bed.

Day 2
We woke up at like 7ish am and took the bus to NYC!
We took a boat thing to see the statue of liberty and then went to see the bull. That day we also saw the place where the twin towers used to be and the church by it. We saw wall street and the museum where the movie "night at the museum" was filmed. Then we went to China Town and Little Italy and got Chinese food. It was pretty good! Then some people got lost so we didn't have time to go to central park! Bohoo!
But it's okay, we saw it another day! :D Then we went to eat and then back to the hotel.

Day 3
Okay! This was one of my favorite days, when it comes to tourist things!
We went to the Empire State Building! Buujaaa! It was amazing! The views were so unreal! I could have stayed there forever. Anyway, so after that we walked to Madison Square Garden and then to Starbucks! By the way.. did you know they have 177 Starbuckse's only in Manhattan! Crazy! So after that we walked in to the worlds biggest store, MACY'S! It was enormous, but expensive! Then we saw the train station, whatever it's called again..(sorry my name memory is bad).
Then we went to a little mall kind of thing to eat lunch, shop and have fun. After that we went to Times Square! It was beautiful and so amazing! It was so much better than I could have ever imagined! After that we went back to the hotel.

Day 4
This was our last day in NYC! So sad! We went to this candy shop that basically had everything you could imagine, but as usual, it was expensive.Oh well! Later on we went to 5th avenue! A bunch of expensive brands and fancy stuff. We just walked in there and felt lost because we weren't so fancy dressed! The cool thing about 5th avenue though, was that we went to the Trump Tower and saw Donald Trump. We just walked down the stairs and bebeeem! There he was! I guess we're just lucky! Then we felt like eating something so we got some fruits. Then we went to Times Square again to shop and take some more pictures. After that we saw a play on Broadway! The Phantom of the opera! Just one of my favorite musicals ever! No big deal! I wasn't at all excited! i was only crying  a little.
Dude I LOVED it! It was beautiful! After that...byebye NYC! I love the city and I'm moving there one day!

Day 5
This was the day we rode the bus to Boston. It was sad to leave NY, but at least I had my new friends with me! We watched Pitch Perfect and after that all we sang was "sumsumsumsumsumsum...SINCE YOU"VE BEEN GOOOONE!!!!" Then we ate at a food court and shopped. They even had a One Direction store...
So we got to the hotel and I then went bowling and playing games and we ate. Then we got back to the hotel.

Day 6
The last whole day of the trip!
We saw Harward and shopped! We went to this store with international stuff and I found Finnish chocolate! Then we walked the freedom trail.
Later we went to the place where the Boston bombing took place and we made a card for one of the victims who was an exchange student. So we saw the memorial for it. It was so sad and it made me so angry!
That day we also saw the place with the Boston tea party and the narrowest hose in the world...(random fact).  Later we went to the Boston Hard Rock Cafe! They had the best music and best waitresses ever!
Loved it! :D
Then we went back to the hotel and we went play games again :D

 

Day 7
I had to wake up so early again and it was hard! but the hardest part was to leave my friends.
I made like 50 ish new friends in a week! And I love them to death! I miss them so much you have no idea!
Then i flew home and everything was so weird!


So yeah, that was the best week of my life! the people I met there,  we all have something special. Our friendship is so weird but awesome! I love them all like family and it's just mind blowing! I miss y'all! <3
I don't care I love it ;p

Spring is here!

Hey!

As usual, a lot of things have been going on here.Easter passed by and soon it's time for prom.
So on this "spring break" as they call it here, Carrie and me went to the movies to see "Safe Haven". One of my favorite movies at this point.And the last weekend of spring break, I spent whith the Bergerons (my aunt family). We had a great time having mud war and I got hit in the eye so I got "mad" which wasn't fun for the guys. Later on we rode 4wheelers. The next day we went fishing on a lake that origins from the Mississippi river. It was pretty awesome and I caught the only fish. A catfish. Later we went to church and since I was there the first time, I got colorful, caramel popcorn. Amazing isn't it! The next morning the whole family (including all the sisters and a few more people's families) gathered at grandpa's house. We ate crawfish and made a harlem shake video.And me and Tyler made some "Runebergin torttuja".  So that was my spring breaks highlights (I know I forgot something though).

The very next weekend Lillie,Canaan, Canaan's friend, her daughter and me went shopping for my prom dress. It's light purple and pretty. After that we went to the movies to see Jurassic Park in 3D! I love that movie! The older movies are sometimes just so much better than the new ones. It made me feel so old!
The next day Carrie, Lillie and me watched Les Miserables. They didn't like it too much but I did.
And finally this weekend I went to a woman's conference / retreat. It was awesome! We got some pretty good answer's for some questions. You know how people wonder why God allows war, slavery, hunger and things like that in the world. Well, God could take it from the world just like that if he wanted to.
The thing is that he wants to use us to do it instead. He knows what we are capable of and if we do it with God, then it's possible. So basically he does it, but he does it through us.
I also got a facial and heels for prom. And now I think I have a cold. Great!
Only 6 weeks of school left! Awesome feeling!
Take care people! :)

Birthdays birthdays!

Hey!
Lately there's been many birthdays. People are growing up and people are moving out from their parents. Some people think they have to and some people want to.
I see pregnant girls who are younger than me and people getting engaged.
I hear people crying about being single and others complaining about how they broke up with their boy/girlfriend. People want to be 18 so they can drink legally and be "free".
People change, people learn things the hard way and people don't think.

That bothers me. We should be thankful for what we have and live our young years without all those concerns that should come later in life. It's okay to be single at the age of 20 and even 30. Don't rush!
I'm not saying that we should sit there and wait for mister/missis perfect but I do think that we shouldn't date everybody,anybody and just someone.
Before we date someone, be good friends with that person. Getting engaged after a few months after meeting someone is not going to work.
Don't get me wrong. I think it's wonderful when people find eachother  when they are teenagers but please don't go too far in that age.

I just had to get that out of my system!

Now about the birthdays!

I was on Cami's birthday party last week. We ate at IHOP and she left her birthday card with money in it on the table by mistake. We called back but she never got her money back.
 After IHOP e had a fire at her house. It was pretty cold but the fire felt good. We had fun! I spent the night there and in the morning we went to church.
It was my first time on a Catholic mass.
It was very interesting but not my thing at all. I disagreed with many things the preacher said.
I respect their believes but they should read their bible and see what it says about some things.
After church Cami and I went shopping. Then we ate craw fish! So good!!

Then on Tuesday it was my 18th birthday. I woke up a bit late and was on a bad mood.
That changed when I walked in to the bathroom and Canaan had wrote "happy birthday, love you" on the mirror and had left me a present and heart and lip shaped chocolates on the table. Made me happy! When I went to school I got a present and balloons. :)
After school I got a birthday cake (chocolate) and Carrie came over! Good, very good day!

Well, on the weekend I had my birthday party. Carrie, Jessica, Sariah, Kelsey,Sofia, Aleksandra, Sona and me + Canaan was there. We went to the mall and did some crazy stuff. Canaan and her friend Ashley made up some things we had to do.
We gave a massage to a masseur, dressed up like guys, ordered only water from a coffee shop, bought only one candy from a candy store, took pictures with some cute guys and so on..
When we were done, we ate and then went to the hotel where we spent the night.
So we tried to go to the pool but it was full of kids so we just ate a pie.
We decided to play "never ever have I.." in the lobby and some other games. Then we tried to go to the pool again but ended up in the "work out room". Man that was fun. Y'all should have seen us running at the running machines highest speed haha!
Well then we got tired of it just wanted the pool,but it was still full of people.
Well, guess what. Just ask to get it and you will!
We asked if we could have it for our selves since it was my birthday and this cool dude who worked there said he let us. But we had to wait.
We didn't mind! We went back to "work out" again. Then we got yogurt from yogurt land!! woopwoop!
Then things started to happen!
We got back to the hotel and just chilled, got some coffee and juice and yeah..just chilled..until..we decided to do the Harlem shake in the lobby! Yes we did! And the best part, the same dude who worked there wanted to do it with us and he went crazy. He took hes shirt of and yeah..said enough. I hope he won't get fired for all the things he did haha.
After a while we finally got the pool and stayed there until we got cold. It was awesome!
Then we went to our room and watched American pie and then passed out.

In the morning we slept pretty long so we almost missed the breakfast. When some of us had left we just went walking around outside and went inside another hotel. It was pretty fancy! After a while we went to a soccer game. Later I went to Wallmart with Jessica and Sariah.
So yeah. I had an awesome birthday.

Woopwoop!
Love y'all!

Smartie, smartie on the wall..

Hello!

It was a pretty day here today.
The sun was bright and the weekend in sight.
With my birthday in mind, I can only be kind.
And if that wouldn't be, then all you could see,
would be a tired little teen, that on some problems would lean.
If you ever study, I recomend a buddy.
It will go much faster and might end in laughter.

...so yeah..I've been studying like a crazy librarian this week. That is for real all I've done except church on Wednesday. My dad would be chocked.
Enough with boring school stuff!
Two weeks ago I was on an awesome K-Love concert! So Now I've seen Kutless, Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me and many other crazy and amazing artists! It was awesome until me and Carrie were found in the front near the stage and heard some ..hmm..bad news. Everybody was looking for us for hours ... I'll just end it there..

So! My birthday is coming up and it's going to be super! I'm finally going to be 18! And another cool thing is that me and Carrie are going to pretend that we are homeless for a night and we're sleeping in a box. Yes in a box! Don't worry! It's an event so we're not alone!

Studying can make people smart but also a bit funny. I feel very funny now but I also feel much smarter. So, people, study! BUT! Don't forget to sleep! And if it's cold, get warm! You don't want to get sick!
I don't sound like a parent. I'm just smart!
Love y'all!

Just amazing

Hey folks!
Sometimes there's periods in your life when you just feel like you're dancing on fluffy clouds and eating pink cupcakes and you can see rainbows and glitter everywhere. Other times there's periods in your life when you see only rain, darkness, mud...and just sad things, and you eat burned cupcakes that used to be pink.
Well right now I'm in that pink fluffy period of my life.Many amazing things have happened.

I made a pink/white blanket to my bff Carrie. It had a picture of Finland and Louisiana on it. It was awesome and got people crying. So I'm just glad I made her happy! It doesn't take much to make her smile. She's amazing so I wanted to put some effort in her gift.
Also on her birthday we ate sushi! It was so yummy! It was my first time eating sushi and I loved it!

Now here's the thing...it's Mardi Gras. I heard that Church Point is the second worst (wildest, craziest) place in the world during Mardi Gras. Well I live in Church Point. :)
I was on the Carencro and the Lafayette parade (the ones that kids can go to), but thank God I was on the Hunger Retreat Sunday-Thuesday!
I'm like a new person! I've never been like this before, ever! It's awesome! And I got so many new friends and I even met amazing dancers from Masters. And my mind is like blowing up right now because there's so many amazing people there and I didn't meet one person who would have been fake or negative in any way! To be honest, I've seen that in some churches in Finland. I'm not gonna lie. So I'm so, so happy to be a part of "the exchange"!
And so many awesome things are going to happen this year that I already know about!
 
Okay so I also ate boiled crawfish for the first time in my life today! It was amazing! I love it.

I don't know if I can handle all this right now. It's maybe too much awesomeness! But hey God is good!
I really don't know what to say. I just miss all my new friends already! They are all amazing and yes, my old friends I miss you too and I love you!

My extraordinary days

Hey people!

Louisiana floods very easily I notised. That's because it's flat. Flat like "Osterbotten-Pohjanmaa" in Finland. It flooded so mush that we kind of lived in a middle of a lake. Thank God our house didn't flood like some others. We missed school for two days which was awesome!

Even though I've been babysitting and cleaning like almost every day, I've still had some time to do fun stuff.
I got to go to a real rodeo with bulls, horses and some real cowboys! It was so much more fun than I thought. They even had this "clown" person who was seriously funny! He wasn't a clown but a clown you know..
I just have to point out again that the food here is the best!

I don't really know how I feel about this next thing, but I've been around a lot of kids lately and so thay are kind of making me a kid or at least more childish. It's weird and I don't know how to handle it.

Anyhow..now I feel very good about myself because I was to the gym this morning. Some of ya'll have no idea how hard it is to find the time and a way to get there and all that.
There's no local transport here, so no buses or anything. And yes I could ride a bike or walk/run if they'de let me. But it's dangerous here they say and I can't go alone. It's not like I can tell them "bye I'm going running..I'll be back in an hour or two.."  and..someone needs to babysit all the kids.

There's been a lot of birthdays now. Canaan (my host mum) and Abigail (host sister) just had their birthdays. And soon it's Carries (host cousin), Taylors (host cousin), Benjamins (real brother) and then also my birthday! I'm so exsited! I'm turning 18!  The sad parst..I can't get my drivers lisens yet and I'm graduating BoGy (Borga Gymnasium) when I'm 20..haha! It's so sad it's funny!

So some upcoming things are all the birthdays and in April this girl is going to New York City and Boston! I can't wait! And I also cant wait to eat boiled craw fish and experience Mardi Gras! It's a crazy carneval kind of thing before easter, if I understood it right. People party like crazy before the time of fasting. I think the main idea of it is dumb..to eat like crazy, party (sometimes go a bit too far) and drink before you can't do it no more for a long time. How is that okay in Gods eyes? Oh well! Not everybody does it like that! Some people just watch the carneval things and have a good time. That's the way I've understood it.
Well I'm going to spend that bweekend at my church. I don't know exactly what's going to happen but I'll write about it after the weekend.

Today it's "Martin Luther King junior" day. So we didn't go to school today. And for some awesome reason we don't have schol tomorrow either.

By the way.. The (holy) Bible is an awesome book. I recomend it to anyone.

Enjoy life while it lasts. Don't waste a day. You can never have it back!
So don't worry, be happy!