He's Alive!

Backstage view at the Merrill Auditorium this morning.

He's Alive! Forever Amen!!!   Those are the lyrics we closed out the Easter service with today.  It was a great service from what I can tell.  I got to sing up front as part of the "praise team" and had my own little solo in a song called "You Reign."  I also sang background during the offering song and got to join the choir for the last song.  Being a part of the service I had to sit in a seat backstage during the sermon, but I was actually able to hear Scott (our minister) speaking the whole time, and I don't remember that happening last year when I sat backstage...He had a great sermon today that wasn't the usual Jesus-died-and-rose-again-isn't-it-great sermon that you normally would hear on Easter.  He actually spoke about King David, the good things he did, the sins he committed, his repentance of those sins, and the forgiveness that God lavished on him afterwards.  He said that forgiveness is the second greatest miracle of Easter, next to the resurrection.  I think he's probably right.

I was very happy that three people I invited to the service (who are not Christians) actually came and seemed to have enjoyed it.  I'm looking forward to talking to them some more about it, to see if they got anything out of it.

Well now it is the end of March, which was a long month indeed.  Heading into April, me and William will be figuring out the fine details of our upcoming move.  Right now it's looking like we'll be going to Boston.  I know, I mentioned California before, but hey, things change.  I should have more deets next week.

Happy Easter!
Justene

Twist Scarf

Twist Scarf in Cobalt

I received an American Apparel twist scarf in the mail this week and I am in love with it.  I had bought one a few years back for my little sister as a birthday gift, and could never get over how cool it was, so I finally got one for myself.  What makes it so cool is the fact that you can twist it to look however you want.  There is some special kind of wire inside of it that is easy to bend and form into different shapes. My favorite thing to do with it is twist the ends around each other into a tight spiral that looks like a little flower or rose on top of my head, or form a bow similar to the one in the picture above.  You can also just tie the ends behind your head for a regular headband look, tie it around your neck like a scarf, or on your wrist like a bracelet.  It is so diverse!  It is also very comfortable.  I usually don't wear accessories in my hair because I can feel them on my head and it bugs me, but somehow I managed to wear my twist scarf for a whole day without feeling an urge to remove it.  I told my sister that I got one of these and she said that she still wears hers all the time!  I guess it was a pretty good gift :)

Birthday

So Tuesday was my 24th birthday.  Happy birthday to me!  It was a pretty good day for the most part.  I was hoping to get a tattoo that day, but when we got to the shop, my artist was super busy and I didn't have time to wait around for him.  So I went home and watched an episode of LA Ink to make up for it.  I painted my nails emerald green while I watched in preparation for Saint Patty's day.  Apparently emerald green is the "it" color right now, but I'll be curious to see if that's still true when Saint Patrick's day is over with.

So back to my birthday...I avoided working that afternoon because I shouldn't have to work too hard on my birthday, right?  I opened presents when William got home.  I got a Fossil purse from my in-laws and William got me a few Alex and Ani bracelets.  These were both really great presents.  We went out for a special dinner at Davids 388 in South Portland and I ordered Duck breast, which came with this really yummy sauce.  Then I went to bible study and all the girls had gotten me little gifts of nail polish and other beauty items.  There were also gluten free/vegan cupcakes that were delish.  I love gluten by the way; there is just one girl in the bible study who can't eat it and bakes the most delicious gluten free things.  Who would have known that was even possible?  But it was really cute and everything was decked out in purple because it's my favorite color.

I ended up getting my tattoo done on Thursday instead.  It KILLED getting the inside of my bicep poked at for an hour and a half.  But the design turned out really awesome and now I'm just waiting for it to heal all the way.  Am I the only person who thinks that the healing process of a tattoo can be really gnarly?  It's annoying.  Anyway...Maybe I'll post a picture when its all healed.  Well that's all for now.  I'm super tired.  Was at church literally allll morning (7 am to 12:30 pm, eck!) singing with the team.    

Moving

Another week has passed.  Honestly, I'm kind of happy that the days are going by quickly.  I have this thing where I get excited about big changes that are coming in the future and it makes it really hard for me to enjoy the "now."  It kind of sucks actually...but anyway, we are most likely going to be moving away from Maine come this May.

I'm sad and happy about it at the same time.  After living here for a year and a half, I have really come to love this place.  I've made a surprising number of friends (making friends is usually difficult for me because I'm so shy), I've gotten involved at a church that I love, and there are so many great restaurants to eat at and sites to see.  The fall is of course beautiful here with the changing leaves.  And we have an awesome large apartment that we get to live in.

However, I always kind of enjoy moving (not the actual packing and moving part, but you know what I mean) and getting to start over in a new environment.  There is a good chance that we will end up in California.  My husband is from Long Beach and still has lots of friends and family there.  He unwillingly had to move to Tennessee when he was 18, but if he hadn't he wouldn't have met me!  It's funny how God makes things work like that...I'm pretty excited about moving to Cali because the environment there is TOTALLY different from anywhere else I have ever lived.  The weather is always amazing, and Disneyland is close by.  And there is a lot of tattooed people there, so I think I would fit in alright.

I don't think California is the place where I would like to settle and raise kids, because it is so far away from my family in the Midwest.  But for now, I think it will be a pretty cool adventure.  We should be figuring things out soon as far as the move goes, so I will definitely keep y'all posted.

Love,
Justene

Happy March

I love the month of March.  Mostly because of my birthday, and secondly because its when spring officially starts.

This March is going to be pretty crazy as far as I can tell.  Easter is on the 31st and I'm going to be involved with the service that morning for church.  That means rehearsals every Wednesday night as well as rehearsals for our regular church services.  We're having the Easter service at the Merrill Auditorium again, here in Portland.  It was really great singing there last year, so I'm looking forward to doing it again.  I also began a bible study on Tuesday nights with a few other girls from church.  That's a lot of church this month!  But hey, there's nothing better than spending time growing strong in the Word and in my relationship with Christ!

I'm also supposed to begin teaching voice lessons to a sweet 12 year-old girl sometime soon.  I'm a bit nervous because I've never taught voice before and I have no idea if I'll be good at it.  Hopefully the lessons will come to me when I'm "in the moment."

I get to see my Daddy tomorrow night, which is very exciting!  He'll be stopping by on his way to a business meeting in New Hampshire and will be taking me and Will out for dinner.  I know he wants to go to Duckfat, which is this small but great place that has the most amazing french fries that are fried in duck fat, hence the name of the restaurant.

Lots of things to look forward too!

Until next week,
Justene