Farewell 2011!

WARNING: This is kind of long... Feel free to skip to the bits that interest you most :)

It's early afternoon on New Year's Eve, and as I'm having a break from household chores to eat my lunch I thought I would take some time to reflect on 2011 before getting things ready for the evening's celebrations.

In many ways 2011 has been much like any year, plenty of ups and downs punctuated by significant events. I have plenty to be thankful for though, and I wanted to share some of those things with you:

Accommodation - In March we moved from a large flat in the centre of town where we had no end of problems to a Victorian mid-terrace cottage that is more tucked away but still very close to everything. Our landlord is a good friend from church which means we've been able to get away from greedy letting agents. The house and our landlord have been such a blessing to us. The house is very comfortable and we both feel much more at home here.

Jobs - I left my job at the council at the end of September. This job had been draining me of all motivation and energy, and was making me very depressed. Some mornings I would cry for ages before I could bring myself to leave home and drag my protesting feet and heart up the long hill to the concrete block of doom. The public sector in the UK is going through a lot of problems at the moment, and this showed at the council, with restructure after restructure. But some of the people I had to work for made a bad situation so much worse.
My current admin role is still with the public sector, but for one of the emergency services, and I am much happier. There is a lot of banter but good camaraderie. I may not always like what my colleagues say but they are open and honest. Real life happens there and I get the sense that my new colleagues have a much better understanding of the things that really matter in life.

Writing - My unhappiness at the council aside, the main reason I resigned from my job there was to pursue my true dream of becoming an author. I believe that this is what God wants me to do. So far it's been a challenge settling into the routine of working from home two days a week and staying disciplined enough to write. However, NaNoWriMo really helped me by giving me a deadline and one piece of work to focus on. Whilst I will probably always have multiple projects on the go the experience of NaNoWriMo has really encouraged me in my writing.

Youth Work - Last year my husband and I started helping out with youth work at our church on Friday evenings. It was scary and we weren't sure if we would ever fit into it well. Then in February we volunteered on a weekend away for the older youth (14+). It was three days packed with worship, Bible study, games, sports, arts & crafts, and lots of chatting and drinking tea. During that weekend we got to know a number of the youth better, and we both felt a lot more confident afterwards. We began to help on Sunday evenings too, and as a result we've both grown in our roles as youth leaders. In October two of the girls from my small group got baptised. It's been so exciting to be part of their journey of faith, and they really inspire me in my own relationship with God.
We've also been part of a big change with the old youth minister moving onto a different role in the church, and a completely new youth minister joining. Things were rocky at times with the changes, and especially when we didn't know if we would be getting a new youth minister or not, but God has been so faithful to our church's mission and we are very, very blessed.

Old Friends - My best friends are those from my sixth-form days, and I have many more close friends from university, childhood and my first job. We have great friends at our church who we see at least once a week, if not more, but I do miss my old friends a lot. We all live all over the country now so meeting up takes a lot of planning. It's always worth it though, and I've been able to catch up with many of them, especially over Christmas. There are still a couple that I didn't get to see this year that I am hoping I will be able to see in 2012!

Us - We celebrated our first anniversary in June with a lovely holiday in Shropshire. We couldn't believe we'd been married for a whole year. It's been great and we're looking forward to a number of exciting adventures in 2012!

Food - We've really enjoyed growing some of our own things, trying out new recipes, baking, brewing, and creating! My husband has always been a good cook but I feel that I have learnt a lot this year so I can be a bit more handy around the kitchen!

Blogging - From July onwards I started to blog a lot more regularly. Although I started this blog for fun, back in 2009, I struggled to keep it updated and only wrote when I felt like it, which was not often as my job was sucking all enjoyment of anything from me. Therefore I've really enjoyed giving my blog a lot more attention.
This year I've gained 8 new followers! That may not be much in the blogger world, but it is for me. I've really enjoyed becoming part of the blogging community more and slowly getting to know people from across the Atlantic and all the way Down Under through their blogs - hello there! Thank you to all of you who follow, or who read anonymously, or to those of you who may sometimes pop by! No thanks to you though spambots *grrr*  My blog means more to me now I know there are people who read and enjoy what I write.

Clockwise from top left - family tea party, me on holiday doing one of my obligatory silly poses, jars of freshly made chutney and piccalilli, table set up for our wedding anniversary dinner at the holiday cottage in Shropshire, my goodbye balloon from the council, veggies newly planted in the spring, replica Roman villa and store at Wroxeter Roman City.

So, as we look ahead to the New Year, what do I expect to see dominating?

Babies - Not ours (well you never know, there's still time for 2012, but not likely for us), but a crazy number of our friends are expecting! One friend is due to give birth any day now, the others are all expecting in late spring and on into summer. It's very exciting but also a little scary - every time another pregnancy is announced I get reminded that we're all grown up and it freaks me out!

Graduations - My brother who got a distinction for his MSc in Environmental Management with GIS is graduating in February, and (providing they both pass, which of course they will), my youngest brother can expect to graduate from his BA in Creative Writing with English Literature in the later half of the year, as can my husband with his MSc in Clinical Biochemistry. I'm related to a smart bunch of people :D

Frugality - Money is tight but that's ok. We've never been particularly extravagant but there are certainly changes we can make. A lesson in leaner living is no bad thing, and both my husband and I are putting our heads together to figure out the best ways to do that.

Photography - My husband and I bought a good camera last year as our wedding present to each other. However, my husband often hogs the camera because he loves practising arty shots and taking lots of close-ups of wildlife and flowers. His parents gave him a new camera for Christmas that has changeable lenses and can do way more fancy things. Therefore the other camera is now all mine and I am looking to be a little more adventurous with the pictures I take, yey!

Writing - Because I can and I must and I will!

There are lots of other things I hope for 2012, like spending more quality time with friends and family, going on more historical adventures, social justice campaigns at church, trying out more recipes to cook or bake. Also, I wouldn't mind if we could have a general election this year, but alas! it shall not be so. Anyway, I don't wish to end this on a bad note, so:

May you all have a very happy and blessed 2012!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!