When things don’t go to plan

Recently I shared about how COVID-19 disrupted our second attempt at a honeymoon, exactly one year after it disrupted both our first attempt at a honeymoon and our wedding. We got a lot of sympathy. I think people really empathised with our experience of things not going to plan. Sure, it sucks big time and there were moments where the setbacks have felt devastating. There’s … Continue reading When things don’t go to plan

Whatever happened to Alternative Ann?

Compliant me, defiant me I have a friend who used to call me “Alternative Ann” back when we were in high school. I’m actually not sure why, because I’ve always seen myself as a compliant, wallflower sorta gal. Yet I’ve become aware over the last year or so that I actually possess a (frustrating and often ridiculous) contrary streak. I hate hype, celebrities and the … Continue reading Whatever happened to Alternative Ann?

Hula hoops, goannas and the games we play

Here’s a confession: I can’t make eye contact with good-looking strangers. Once we’re in a conversation I’m totally fine, but once I’ve assessed that you’re a hottie I will try pretty hard not to look at you at all.

Just because you’re handsome doesn’t mean I want you, okay?

Dating and attraction is such a game – and a messy one at that. Valentine’s Day and what you do or don’t do is just an annual component of this game. Continue reading Hula hoops, goannas and the games we play

2016: Resolving me

I’m an anti-resolutionist. I’ve always been sceptical about the value of New Year’s resolutions. Occasionally I’d humour my sister when she wanted to be accountability buddies – I’d scribble down some random objectives and then conveniently lose that piece of paper. After all, New Year’s resolutions are something I don’t need. Why should I buy into this lame tradition? (I don’t get why this is a thing) … Continue reading 2016: Resolving me

Still twentynothing

Almost-no-longer-twentysomething. That’s how I described myself a month ago. Since then, I’ve done some soul searching, some job searching and some Google searching. All of which suggests I’m more of a twentynothing. Linked In shows me former classmates with fancy jobs at top law firms. Selection criteria for jobs I’d like don’t align with my skills and experience. Career blogs tell me that to get said skills … Continue reading Still twentynothing

Almost-no-longer-twentysomething

“You’re not 25 anymore, y’know,” my sister says. She’s being gracious. After another year abroad, I re-enter my bedroom where the posters, postcards and photos plastered against the back wall are peeling off, the Blu-Tack tired of supporting them. This is interior decoration befitting a 16-year-old, and I am now (sigh) an almost-no-longer-twentysomething. But what does the bedroom of an almost-no-longer-twentysomething look like? Probably a … Continue reading Almost-no-longer-twentysomething

Meeting Moscow

Moscow was hot and muggy when we landed. She was temperamental – at times overcast, at times sunny. She was vast, immense like Russia itself. She was full of metro stations, Italian restaurants, kebab outlets. She was completely Cyrillic and very little English. All in all she was quite pretty, really. We dragged our broken suitcase and four backpacks to Lux Apartments (a euphemism if ever I came across … Continue reading Meeting Moscow

A good place

One of the things I’ve noted is that we don’t pray all that much together, neither us four SIM missionaries between ourselves, or with the Semilla church. Somehow, before starting as a missionary I’d wanted to be ten times more “spiritual” in coming here – and precisely in that stereotypical sense. Like it’d be a cross between a convent and a mission field or something … Continue reading A good place