August Joy Project

I know I say this almost every month, but August absolutely flew by. Maybe it was trying to fit in all of the end of summer activities, or a conscious awareness of how quickly time actually passes by! If you’re new to what the joy project is, you can read about it here.

Enjoy!

My morning started off with a run! Always one of my favorite ways to start the day!

Long talks with good friends.

A gal from my church and I have started meeting every Sunday for coffee before church. We memorize scripture together, and I’m currently memorizing Psalm 63. It’s such an encouragement to have a sister in Christ who’s going to encourage and edify me every Sunday morning.

Coffee and sunsets in D.C.

I moved cubicals in the office and my new view is gorgeous! The constant companion of sunshine is something I’m really enjoying!

I did a photo shoot with a friend and finally got the pictures back. Check them all out here.

The perfect evening in D.C. After a gourmet dinner at my house of pb&j, I grabbed my journal and headed to my favorite bench outside the Capitol. I saw a brilliant sunset, and watched the moon rise. Then I met up with a friend and we went to an outdoor army concert. Afterwards I get a little ambitious and decided to jump in fountains 😉 Hee hee

One of my favorite houses on the Hill. I pass by it on my walk to and from work, and I always love passing by. It just looks and feels like a home!

One of my roommates had a few ladies from the church over for a tea. It was a wonderful time getting to know other ladies, and who doesn’t love tea parties?! 🙂10.

Coffee and chatting about one of my all-time favorite topics – adoption!

11.

Dinner with a sweet friend!

12.

My morning view from the office!

13.

A few of my close friends in D.C. and I have started having a mid-week breakfast time together – we’ve cleverly entitled it, “The Breakfast Club”

14.

One of my dear friends got engaged to the love of her life a few months ago, and we had the privilege of celebrating her upcoming wedding. A group of us headed to a local concert venue in Northern Virginia to do dinner and see Emily Hearn perform.

15.

Friends that act out emojis with you. (We’re the three little monkeys!)

16.

One of my dear friends Amanda got married today! Her wedding was on the lawn of the Jefferson Memorial. Definitely the coolest wedding venues I’ve been to. I arrived at the hotel where she’d spent the night and watched her get ready, put on the dress and shared in laughs and tears. The wedding was simple and beautiful. I’m so thankful that I was able to be there and help celebrate their wedding.

17.

A few of my friends are starting law school, so we had a “Law School Send Off” party for them. We grabbed dinner to go, and headed down to the Capitol for a picnic and to hang out and enjoy one another’s company.

18.

Went on a run to see my man Lincoln. From my house to the Lincoln Memorial it’s 6 miles, so it’s a perfect distance to clear my head and get in a good workout!

19.

I crossed something off of my bucket list – Seeing Josh Groban in concert.

A couple gals and I headed out to Northern Virginia after work, grabbed dinner and spread out blankets to hear from one of my favorite singers. I’m a huge fan of opera, although I consider Josh Groban to be “pop opera”. His voice was like honey! The show was absolutely wonderful, except for the fact that he cussed and was a bit crude. But the music and singing were lovely!

20.

There’s a little French cafe on Capitol Hill that has the best French toast! If you come visit me in D.C., it will definitely be on our food tour of the city!

21.

Houses with red doors!

22.

Espresso at the White House

23.

A friend from church asked if I’d like to go sailing. I jumped at the chance and immediately said yes! A small group of friends met up at the dock. We all pitched in and helped get the boat ready to sail. Once we were on the water, our Skipper taught us how to sail the boat. We were on the Potomac River, close to the airport, so as we sailed there were airplanes landing! After we made a brief landing to go get ice cream, we hopped back into the boat to head back to the dock. Unfortunately it started pouring rain and got pretty windy. At this point, it was all hands on deck! There were a few times that the boat was rocking so much that I was convinced that we were going in the water. Thankfully we made it back in one piece. I fell pretty hard as we were docking and still have some nice bruises to show for it. All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful day and I had a blast! Already looking forward to going again!

24.

The following quote has been one that I’ve been meditating on for weeks and weeks!

“May Christ so dwell in our hearts with his indestructible joy that day by day we are conformed more and more to his glad image. And may we be a place of refuge and eternal refreshment for a hopeless, joy-seeking world of people who do not know they are starved for the glory of the gladness of God in Jesus Christ.” – Piper

25.

Bought myself these beauties, because every girl should have flowers in her life!

26.

Evening walks around my city never get old!

27.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission published an article of mine entitled, “The Disguised War on Women”. Click here to read it. I was pleased with how this article turned out, and received some incredibly kind e-mails from folks around the country that read it and the article resonated with them.

Click here to read previous articles I’ve published!

28.

Someone e-mailed my church list serve and offered an extra ticket to the Shakespeare Theater’s production of “A Winter’s Tale” I was the lucky one to receive the ticket. Oh my goodness, the theater was absolutely gorgeous! The show started at 8:00, and my friend and I arrived about twenty minutes before the show began. Somehow we managed to get seats six rows from the front. I’d never seen a Shakespeare play before (I’ve read his work, but never seen a live performance). To be honest, my brain hurt at intermission because I was listening so intently and trying to understand what the actors were communicating. Even though the were speaking English, I had to be alert to try to comprehend it. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to go, and look forward to hopefully seeing many more live Shakespeare shows in the future!

29.

My Friday afternoon/evening was spent in the most wonderful way – a long walk and dinner with a friend, volunteering and then a church party later in the evening. It was the perfect combination of one-on-one time with people and getting in my “big group” time!

30.

I headed up a group of people from my church to combine forces with some professional painters to pain the local crisis pregnancy center. Painting and working outside is relaxing to me, so it hardly felt like work as we scraped the building and painted it a beautiful cream color. I was thankful to have volunteers to come and give up part of their Saturday to serve!

31.

I can’t get enough of flowers, and these pink beauties made my heart happy today!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for next month’s joy project!