with joy.: Picture Project Post, December 5-December 19

it's so quiet here in the snow. north capitol street has hardly seen a car today, and people have been lazily wandering around outside, if they even venture out. it's a beautiful wintery world out there, with snow so high that you can run and fall down in the powdery white and not feel a thing. luke and i ran around outside and around fort totten park today and it was glorious. i love snow! i just hope it doesn't delay us going home tomorrow...

anyways, here is the picture post of the night. this might be almost my last picture post! it went so fast...but the last couple of days in the project will be quite eventful, indeed.

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december 5, 2009: this was the first snow of the season! i mentioned it before, but it is worth mentioning it again! there's something so fresh and fun about the first snow of the year. this was a bridge we came across while walking in a near-by maryland park.

december 6, 2009: we went to butler's orchard and explored around in the melting snow and went to lowes and got our christmas tree. this year we actually put decorations on it, not just lights. we also watched the santa clause as our first official christmas movie of the season.

december 7, 2009: it was a coffee and cream horn afternoon. i've been resisting the bakery just around the corner form the nlihc all semester and i finally gave in. i really shouldn't have, it will be hard to stop now...

december 8, 2009: jordan and valerie came over for chicken pot pie (thanks for the recipe, evie!) and scrubs and good conversation. i forgot to take a picture while they were here, but the empty dishes on the table signify a good time had by all.

december 9, 2009: nlihc happy hour at m&s grille. sorry the picture is so dark.

december 10, 2009: this picture was a hard one to choose. i walked down to meet luke at the usda so he could drop off his last homework of the semester. this was a stunning view of the capitol building as i passed it, which the capitol on my left and the white house on my right. it was more stunning in real life (as always).

december 11, 2009: on our way up for a weekend in pennsylvania with some friends who work at wec. we spent the weekend playing disc golf and talking about what God is doing in the world and how luke and i might fit into that work. it was a beautiful weekend. (though getting there the traffic was ridiculous...to say the least).

december 12, 2009: the christmas wreathes on the doors of one of the buildings at wec. the grounds were beautiful (but i, unfortunately, did not take many pictures).

december 13, 2009: my mom has always gotten me and my sisters presents for each sunday of advent, and she has continued the tradition with luke and i, even from a distance. it's been so delightful to see what she's chosen for each week. this particular week we got two christmas tree ornaments, one of which is a pickle. every year (since we moved to north carolina, i think), my parents hide the pickle in the tree and whoever finds the pickle gets to open their gift first. this isn't our idea, apparently it's a tradition that started way, way

back.
december 14, 2009: i was working from home on monday with a nasty cold, and a really disgusting cough. now i'm feeling much better, but robitussin and halls were definitely necessary companions for several days.

december 15, 2009: it was a slow day. but i really like this mountain pine candle that luke periodically lights to make our apartment smell wonderfully holiday-like and outdoorsy. there aren't a whole lot of yankee candle scents that luke and i agree on, but this one is a definite winner.

december 16, 2009: christmas spirit hit me on december 16th and i couldn't get enough holiday music or movies (we watched white christmas for the first time of the season! oh, bing, danny, rosemary and vera...how do you do it year after year? you never get old!). i definitely think my christmas spirit had to do with these holiday decorations in nlihc's lobby where we had a brief meeting in the morning about how ridiculous people in the house and senate do not want to fund low income housing...i needed some happy in my day (as did everyone that day...our president apparently was outside on our balcony wrapping christmas lights around a railing all afternoon in efforts to ease her frustration.)
december 17, 2009

: so we all know how i love everything holiday that is corny and so we were going to go to zoolights on saturday, which is a light display at the national zoo. i was so excited! (in luke's words "it [would have been] just like tanglewood (a light display in winston salem that i LOVE) with furry animals and kids. in other words, its a lot like what you think heaven will be like..." however, then we found out it was going to snow on saturday, so we decided to go thursday instead. but when we got there we found out that it didn't open until friday. and it was a sad, sad day.

december 18, 2009: but have no fear, there are lots of things to do in washington, dc that involve lights and christmas and corny! like the national christmas tree, which luke, melissa (a policy analyst from work) and i went to see on friday night. it was pretty stunning. they have little villages with trains going around the bottom of the tree, a yule log (no lie! on fire in front of the white house!) and 56 additional trees, representing all of the states and territories! (also, elisabeth got married tonight, and i really, really wish i could have been there. though 57 christmas trees did not take the sting out of missing the wedding, it did take my mind off of it briefly. happy wedding day, elisabeth!)

december 19, 2009: snow day! it was so nice to have a day around the house to relax and get things done. and, of course, to frolic outside in the snow! it was really cold out, though, hence the red faces and snow stuck onto beards, etc.

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there were actually several good pictures that i had that did not make the cut into picture of the day. and i wanted to share them with you, because some of them, in my opinion, are fun. so here they are:
december 10 alternate: apparently the nationals were doing a promotional because on my way to work i definitely saw teddy the racing president walking down the street with a santa hat on. i don't know if this says "christmas" in washington dc more, less or as much as spray painting fake snow on christmas trees. maybe more...

december 10 alternate: i know that the treasury is really trying here, but, to me, these decorations just scream "today we forgot our tall ladder, and we could only reach this high..."