Dec
31
2009
7

The 2009 summary

Well 2009 has been a year of excitement and suprises, as well as a few sad bits along the way.

P1010256Of course the biggest change for me is that The Mister and I lasted this year too and rather happily he proposed in August. It is all very exciting and I am so happy that I have finally found someone who I can share life with. My family all seem to think he is quite a brave man and he is taking on quite a lot. In many ways he is, but he is brave and strong so I think he will manage just fine!!! I have realised now that waiting for the right man to come along has absolutely been the best thing and I am very happy.

P1020664The other major change this year is that in July my sister had a gorgeous baby called Barnabas. He is absolutely gorgeous and smiley and yet it is still quite a difficult one for me to deal with. I love him to pieces, and spending time with him this year has been a surprising pleasure, and yet there is always the thought in the back of my head of ‘I wonder if it will ever happen to me?’. I know it is impossible to know but it is still hard at times. Having said that, I wouldn’t be without him, and largely because of him my relationship with my sister has improved. I know that I have been out of order with her over the past couple of years, mainly because of my sadness at her happiness, but I hope that we will now be able to move forward. Barnabas is gorgeous and I look forward to getting to know him even better and leading him astray when he is older!!!

22The saddest bit of the year was that my lovely Grandpadied in October. I missed him especially at Christmas when he was no longer there telling terribly jokes and giving his glorious and honest smile at his family. His love and prayers for his children and grandchildren will be missed, but the pleasure of knowing that he is safe in the arms of Jesus is a treasure I wouldn’t change to have his frail, old and sick body back.

2010 looks like it is going to bring even more major changes to my life, as well as The Mister’s life. At the end of January I will be leaving the job I have been in since 2001. I have to admit that I am thoroughly looking forward to leaving as the bureacracy and paperwork has started to really get me down. On the other hand, I have worked hard in this job and I have, to a certain extent, been able to shape the role around my interests. It is daunting to be leaving a job which has given me so much security and yet it is definitely the right time to leave. In February I will be moving up to Leeds into a little rented house that we managed to find yesterday. It is a huge move, both in terms of distance, but also emotionally. I have been very happy in my little flat and moving somewhere where I don’t know many people is both scary and exciting. Of course this is all leading up to the major event of our wedding in Guernsey on 3 April 2010. I am so excited (plus a little bit overwhelmed) that we will be getting married on Easter Saturday. Who would have thought this time last year that we would be planning our wedding? Plans are going well and it would seem that everything is vaguely under control. I just have to get the house move out of the way before I can really start enjoying all the planning around it.

So, to anyone and everyone who takes the time to read and comment on this blog, a big thankyou. I hope that you will stay with me through 2010 and I promise to try and blog more regularly. I have been a bit rubbish this year, largely because life has been so busy but I will try better (sounds a bit like my school reports really!!)

So, a Happy New Year to everyone and I hope 2010 brings more joy and excitement to us all.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: , , ,
Dec
31
2009
0

December Books

51XwTxcA3xL._SL500_AA240_Hidden in Time by Michael Phillips is one of those generally terrible creations… the Christian novel. This books is about an archaeologist called Adam who has already managed to track down the original Garden of Eden and in this sequel novel he manages to excavate both Noah’s Ark and the Ark of the Covenant. Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t particularly have a problem with the story, but it does annoy me that in every other chapter there is someone having a miraculous conversion experience. A terribly improbably storyline, but a million times better written than the Left Behind novels (not that that would be difficult though!!!)

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511Th4SEZAL._SL500_AA240_I listened to The Complaints by Ian Rankin on audio CD. It is the most recent offering from the popular author, and an introduction to a new character. I have always really liked the John Rebus novels, so I was curious as to how this one would pan out. Starring Inspector Malcolm Fox, an Edinburgh copper working in the complaints department of the police force. As expected he is a man who doesn’t like corruption of personal favours so when he appears to be being set up he sets out to investigate in his own time. Teaming up with a Detective Jamie Breck, who has also been set up and been accused of paedophilia, the pair of them work out what is going on. A great book and I really hope that this is the start of a new series of novels featuring this character.

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51MaNCP6b8L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU02_Dreams From my Father by Barack Obama was a surprising book. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was a beautifully written reflection on race, culture and identity. Growing up Barack Obama didn’t really know who his father who he only met once when he was 10 years old. This biography follows his story back to Kenya to meet his family and I found it very moving to see his growing understanding of how his feelings of ‘fitting in’ and ‘not fitting in’ helped to develop his sense of identity. I think it is unusual to real such a beautifully written account of a life, especially from someone who is such a prominent politician, even though he was not President when this was published. I have to admit that it has given me a great deal more respect for the current President of the USA.

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51M2fx17tkL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU02_The Beach House by Jane Green is a rather mediocre book. It is about a 65 year old woman called Nan who lives in Nantucket. In order to make some money from her rambling house she starts renting rooms out and she tries to fix her tenants lives. A surprise reappearance of her husband who has been dead for 25 years adds to the confusion. This was an OK book but there were so many characters it was hard to keep hold of what was going on and it had the most implausible twists and turns which kind of negated the nice bits of the story!!!

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514AGA9KG4L._SL500_AA240_Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson is fairly typical of his novels. A kidnapper is abducting rich white women to order, Alex Cross has to find out who he is and rescue as many of the women as possible. Combine that with a bit of personal drama and you have a James Patterson novel.

I have to admit that I quite like his books… they have short chapters which make them easy to read. They also make them very fast-paced which means I read them far too quickly!!!

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4109D304Z3L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU02_Diary of a Mad-Mother-To-Be by Laura Wolf is a truly awful book. It about a vile creature called Amy who has been happily married to Stephen for a couple of years when she suddenly decides she wants a baby. She is a shallow character, more worried about how she looks that her baby and I found her most annoying. One of the things that irritated me the most about this book though was the unnecessary footnotes. They added nothing to the story and just served to piss me off. Poorly written and not worth wasting a tree on!

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5133V5JZJZL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU02_The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder is a truly lovely book. It is composed of 24 chapters and you are meant to read one each day of Advent, but as I forgot to start it at the beginning of the month, and I wanted to find out what happened I didn’t stick to this!

The story is about a little boy called Joachim who buys an advent calender in a shop. The difference is that this calender is home-made and each time he opens a door a piece of paper drops out with an additional part of the story. The sub-story is about a little girl called Elizabet who goes missing 40 years before Joachim buys his advent calender. She goes on a journey back through time and along the way she meets characters in the Christmas story, until she finally reaches the stable where Jesus was born.

An utterly charming book which makes Christmas all the more magical.

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41jhISatl2L._SL500_AA240_Out of My Depth by Emily Barr was an OK book with a really disappointing ending. Old school friends all meet up when they are in their thirties. Since school they have followed different paths, some got married and had children, some went to Australia after the death of her mother. But they have a dark secret which unites them. Really good up until about the fifth chapter before then end when it all fizzles out and there was no real ending. Disappointing!

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512yUWgu1SL._SL500_AA240_The Tent, The Bucket & Me by Emma Kennedy was the book I bought my Mum for Christmas. Admittedly one of the reasons I bought it for her was that I wanted to read it. So, before she has even started it, I have finished it (my excuse is that I had to read it before I went back to the mainland!). The book had me giggling all the way through. I guess the author is a couple of years older than me, but I so recognised the stories of camping in the 1970’s and 1980’s. When we were kids we often went camping to France, and whilst we weren’t poor poor we also weren’t rich, so much of our food was taken with us and our spending was very sensible. We never had as many disasters as she did on holiday, but the story of her getting incredibly sunburnt did remind me of my sister and her “tanning” habits. A brilliant book, both if you love, or hate camping. Also the author was brought up in Stevenage and Hitchin which is where I work so I recognise some of the places she talks about. Well worth a read!!!

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Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: ,
Dec
27
2009
1

Christmas 2009

Well we have had a really nice couple of days. Yesterday was spent with my sister, brother-in-law, my nephew Barnabas and my parents. It was really nice to have a relatively chilled out Christmas days. For many years Christmas days were a triumph of stamina over sanity. We would eat lunch and then head up to Gran’s where we would open many more presents and eat a ridiculous amount of food. Times have changed but things are still good. I have to say that one of the most amusing things was seeing how delighted my Dad was with the present The Mister and I bought for him. He received a garden gnome in Tottenham Hotspur kit… Barnabas also seemed to like it!!!

Boxing Day morning was spent by a quick visit to the beach to watch the insane people (including The Mister) going in for a charity swim. This year’s theme was Dicken’s, so there were many Victorian style swimming costumes. As always the atmosphere was great fun and it was nice to catch up with a lot of people we know. This evening we met up with Dad’s side of the family. We ate food and played rubbish board games with vast amounts of cheating. Somehow we all seem unable to play these games without trying to cheat, and we are all terribly competitive. I always think it must be quite a shock for new members to the family, such as The Mister and my cousin’s girlfriend. Inevitably they cope fine, and sometimes they even come back for the next Christmas!

So, a good Christmas all round. Much happiness, and yet for me there was still moments of sadness when I see my sister with my nephew. It is hard not to wish that for myself, and yet she is a good Mum and I think she is doing a brilliant job. I hope one day I get to have those experiences, but you just never know. So happiness, tempered with a little envy, but all in all a fab couple of days.

Here are pictures for you…. (yeah alright I know there are quite a few of Barnabas but he is so very very cute!!!)

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Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: ,
Dec
25
2009
2

Happy Christmas

Just a quick post to say a big Happy Christmas to everyone.

I hope that your day is stress-free and wonderful and that you get the chance to spend it with the people you love most. If that isn’t possible then kick back and enjoy Dr Who!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags:
Dec
22
2009
0

Back on The Rock

IMG_0016Well The Mister and I finally arrived back in Guernsey. We were delayed by a couple of hours, but all in all it wasn’t too bad.

Just one photo to share with you because it amused me so much.

The Mister is a bugger for bookshops and I happened to catch sight of him reading a very useful book in one of the shops through departures. Made all the more amusing as he is actually holding my wedding dress!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags:
Dec
21
2009
2

A Winter Wonderland

P1010265On Saturday I managed to drive safely up North to the Mister’s parents. I was really worried about it because it had been quite snowy, but the main roads were absolutely fine. Yesterday however, it has snowed on and off all day which was been lovely. The Mister and I took advantage of the beautiful Narnia-like landscape and we went out to play. We walked along an old railway track, throwing snowballs at each other and taking photos of this beautiful snow-topped teasels. It has been such a lovely day but I am feeling pretty shattered. Today we fly to Guernsey, well hopefully we fly there depending on the weather I guess although the day has dawned sunny and bright! I hope we get home as we have loads of appointments regarding wedding plans and The Mister and we have to go to the Ecclesiastical Court on Wednesday to get our wedding licence. Here are a couple of pics for you to enjoy.

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Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags:
Dec
14
2009
5

Blog searches

These are some of the recent searches that brought people to my blog.

Newfrontiers women in leadership
Newfrontiers church gender role
Best fat girl wedding dress
History of the Guernsey tomato
Todd Bentley NFI
Newfrontiers views on gays
Happy Christmas Guernsey patois
Peterson Toscano no to the notion of transgender
Barclay brothers castle
Why women cannot preach in a Newfrontiers church
Dominatrix Guernsey
Hate church on the rock Guernsey
Retreats for Christian gay men
Guernsey cows on Youtube
Newfrontiers women in leadership
Where can I watch Dog the Bounty Hunter when he go visit his auntie

Fascinating what people are looking for.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags:
Dec
14
2009
0

Hell at the gym

As I was walking passed the window on my way home I witnessed the most hideous sight. A spinning class with ‘So Here it is Merry Christmas’ playing full blast.

I would rather be fat than go through that!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: ,
Dec
11
2009
4

On Being an Ally

Once again Peterson has written a particularly thoughtful blog post about being an ally to trans-folk. He mailed me and asked me to post a comment answering these two questions…

What have you learned from knowing transgender folks?
How has your life been enriched?

This was my response…

I am a straight woman.

I am an ally.

For me being an ally to trans-folk is no different to being an ally to gay men and women. Being an ally is a personal learning experience; one filled with pain and tears, but ultimately an experience that not to be missed. Being an ally has helped me change. My opinions and presumptions have shifted. My willingness to question what I believe to be true has increased and my belief in the goodness and the God in each person has become more and more important. A chance meeting with a gay man when I was 19 started this lifelong change, and more encounters with people who are different to me has continued this exciting journey. However, standing alongside those who are broken and weeping is hard, and standing as a shield to them when they are in the line of fire is even harder.

So, to answer the question, ‘What have you learned from knowing transgender folks?’ I probably need to change the question to ‘What have you learned from being ally?’ as it is more inclusive. The answer is simple. I have learnt to be myself. Their struggles have helped me find out who I am. Being an ally isn’t a selfish thing, but it has helped me to grow into the woman I believe God intended me to be.

To answer the second question ‘How has your life been enriched?’ – well that is easy! My life has been changed beyond recognition. Without meeting those people to whom I became an ally I would probably have married when I was 21 and be happily ensconced in a charismatic evangelical church with a quiver-full of children. My life has been enriched by the most wonderful people. Those who challenge my perception of what is right, or what justice looks like and ultimately what God looks like. Oh, and not to mention these wonderful people have the best parties and the most outrageous fun. Life would be distinctly duller without them!!!!

Being an ally is painful, but more than that it is a pleasure and privilege.

I wouldn’t change it.

I am not sure that being an ally is something you choose to do… it is much more organic than that. You meet gay/lesbian/bi/trans people and you defend them, support them and love them. It seems to me that being ally just means loving people enough to want to protect them, even if they don’t think they need protecting.

In my humble opinion being an ally means showing that you can love.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,
Dec
05
2009
8

Wedding plans

Well this weekend has been rather chilled out. It seems to me that the weekends The Mister and I spend Up North we spend so much time running around, and when we are Down South we spend our time sitting on the sofa, browsing the internet and sorting our wedding plans form a distance.

So, this weekend we are at my house and it has been rather nice. Today we went to Hertford for a wander around the charity shops and lunch and whilst we were there we popped into the Oxfam Bookshop and picked up a book called Wedding Readings and Musical Ideas. I have been pondering what sort of readings we should have at our wedding ceremony as neither of us really want the usual 1 Corinthians 13 type stuff. Some of the examples in this book are absolutely hilarious. Cheesy and generally quite nasty, but there are a couple we are taken with. Paul thinks we should have Proverbs 31… I think not!!!!

The other thing that has happened is that the vicar who is meant to be taking our wedding has left and I really don’t want the Rector to do it because I think he is a miserable unchristian man! So, we now have to try and find an alternative. Quite frankly it is one stress we could do without!!!!

Other than that plans are going well. The church and venue are sorted (although the church might have to change!), the bridesmaids picked and their dresses and mine sorted. The food is organised, as is the wedding cake thanks to my lovely Auntie Jen and Auntie Josie. I have made all the wedding invitations and order of services and the honeymoon is booked. So we have done loads… just have to buy our wedding rings, organise The Mister’s suit, wedding cars, the flowers, somewhere to live, a job for me, the wedding service, selling my flat, moving all my stuff Up North and quite a few other bits and pieces.

It all seems a little more daunting when you look at it like that!

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