dc - yep, washington!

i got to meet my mom and sister-in-law, rachel, in washington dc!

we went for a covenant women's conference. triennial is held in a different city every three years.

we chose the "dc at night" excursion. a bus took us around the city for a few hours. it's a beautiful, very busy city.

it's gorgeous. with so much to see and do.

the white house (complete with security on the roof) with the washington monument back left.

lincoln memorial

lincoln looks ready to go.

i think he needs to come kick some americans back in shape!

washington monument

vietnam war memorial

"three servicemen"

there are 58,267 names on the wall.

below is the directory. such a shame.

iwo jima memorial

u.s. capitol

the next morning we started with lattes (that come with animal crackers!)...

and then hopped on the metro...

to ford's theatre where lincoln was assassinated.

running across the street!

i think we counted 18 pigeons that were still there after i took the picture. many hopped away as i walked up.

i love that it's an old city. with so much history. it was so cool on the tour to hear how it was a marshland and then to see what it looks like today. i was thinking that even though it is a bustling, beautiful city, i wouldn't like to live in such a touristy (or political)place. tour buses and crowds of people - all day, every day. but then a friend from virginia made the comment that because of the visitors, the city is kept clean and business is good!

the building in the back is the archives of the usa.

the navy memorial is in the foreground. "the granite sea" (the dark part covering the ground) the granite map shows the expanse of the earth's oceans.

next stop: georgetown

darling town but mostly chain stores. that was disappointing.

georgetown cupcake - they have their own show on TLC

oysters and a philly cheesesteak at j.paul's

back on the metro

at rush hour!

two sets of escalators back up to street level

there was a guy in georgetown wearing a t-shirt that said "go heart your own city." i laughed out loud! i guess not everyone loves all the tourists.

back at the hotel

we got our sightseeing in the first day and a half and now back to the whole reason we were there!

the speakers, seminars and worship.

the speakers were all excellent. very powerful, moving and relevant. one of our speakers was kirsten haglund, miss america 2008! she's only 21 and an outstanding speaker.

of the two seminars i chose, one was called "grace in the trenches." it was about motherhood (and life!) and how it's going to be stressful and trying and that God tells us we're going to have trials so just count on them rather than being surprised when they happen. but that i can NEVER FORGET what Jesus did for me. He can handle anything! we also sang the worship song "mighty to save" which was really good for me to hear right now:

Savior

He can move the mountains

My God is mighty to save

He is mighty to save

Forever

Author of Salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

so for me personally, i was really stressing about some house problems we are having in kc

but if God can move the  mountains, He can move my foundation too!

i also attended kirsten's seminar on body image. she spoke about overcoming anorexia and has started a foundation to help others. talking about having a healthy relationship with food and cutting ourselves some slack about our dress size is always relevant too, right?! how can we give ourselves to God and use our bodies for His purpose when we're constantly displeased with how we look? He made us! let's be happy with who He made us to be!

and the last night was a concert by natalie grant!

she was fantastic and hilarious! the song i linked her to is one of my favorite songs ever.

 it was a really great four days. so nice to be filled back up spiritually. wonderful to see some of my family. and thanks to nana for watching natalie so i could go!