And I’m kicking it off right here on ye old blog.

Check. Out. The. New. Header.

Isn’t it the cutest little thing you have ever seen? And the bird? I can’t quit loving that little bird. Shall we name him?

And ohhh… the blue. I love the blue. It feels old and French or something ridiculous like that.

Sigh….. let’s just stare, shall we?

[By the way, I'm not paid to say this stuff. I'm just SUPER happy with the folks who keep this blog-train on it's tracks. So know that as you continue to read.... cause it gets fun right down here.]

I could not be more thrilled with Vanessa at ButterflySparks Designs.

And GET THIS. The girl is giving you a discount.

You get 15% off any blog designs or invitations you order from her anytime in January!!

All you have to do is email her at vanessa [at] butterflysparks [dot] com and say, “I’m an AnnieBlogs reader!” and you will get 15% off.

Cool, right?

It doesn’t stop there, y’all.

The real conductor of AnnieBlogs.com is Lauren from WebExHosting.com. Seriously. She speaks a blog language that I do not know and every time I break this place [I do it more than you would believe], she fixes it. She’s the blog-hostess with the mostest.

So, if you are looking for a host for your blog, Lauren is offering 10% off the hosting fee for any payment term. Just use the discount code: AnnieBlogs

[It feels special to have my own name as a discount code. Just don't try it at Amazon or Gap or anything. YET.]

I think I’m going to have to go buy a new dress or something to keep up with the fine looks of AnnieBlogs.

Hope you love the discounts! Yay!

(Anyone got a good bird name for us?)

I just can’t do it.

I recapped in 2007. I recapped in 2008.

But there is just something different about 2009.

I’m not going to say I’ve peaked. [Cause good gracious I hope that it's not all downhill from here.] But without reservation, I will tell you that 2009 so overshot all my expectations, that there really is no way of doing it justice.

These two things are still true: I have no book on a shelf anywhere for you to buy. And I’m still deeply single.

And I tell you those two things to tell you this one thing: I wouldn’t trade my life for anything. Not for a New York Times #1 best seller. Not for the house and the husband and the 2.5 kids.

I want those things. But I want you to know that in my deepest core, down in my “knower,” all I can do is thank God for the good that He so freely gave in 2009. It’s not about what I don’t have, it’s about what I do have.

I saw the world this year- road trip to Waco, Texas, a month in Orange County, California, two weeks in Cape Town, South Africa, a day in London, two weekend trips to Chicago, Macy’s Parade in NYC, girls’ weekend at the beach in Florida, conferences in Mt. Hermon, CA and Charlotte, NC.

I’ve had a gazillion part time jobs and honestly, I have loved them all. Yes, even The Local Taco. It’s been a crazy freelance year. I walked into Anne’s house one day in July to help her paint after having just lost THREE jobs in the 30 minute car ride to her home. We prayed over our Subway sandwiches that God would work it out. And then I watched as He provided.

I’ve been on the roller coaster of this writing career thing. It’s taken me to some amazing highs and some ice-cream-necessary lows. It’s been nothing that I expected, yet nothing I would change. I’m loving writing for (in)courage, SheSeeks, Susie Magazine, and some top secret things I can’t tell you until 2010. But the roller coaster has turned into a slow moving locomotive. And I dig that.

And my friends? My Nash-family? My Marietta family? Don’t even get me started. I’ll be bawling like a baby up in here.

It wasn’t all fun, by any means. I lost my grandmother this year. I crushed on boys that didn’t like me back. I cried tears of frustration and worry and brokenness. I bounced a check. And I sinned. Ugh. That’s for sure.

But it was my 2009. My story.

If I wrote poetry [that I let you see], that would be an appropriate recap for this year. Or a song. Or a painting. Something with creative energy and flow and beauty.

Instead, I direct you to scripture. Because God is a great recapper.

Lamentations 3

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

Amen. No matter what 2010 brings, these words remain true. He is loving. He is my great reward. He is enough.

And for that, I am grateful.

What did you love about your 2009?

As many of you know, I got to go to Cape Town, South Africa in May with the Mocha Club. It was an awesome trip. When I got home, I would have told you that I am glad I went but it didn’t really change me.

Here’s the funny thing. It seems that about once a month something will fall into my heart and it will take me back to Cape Town. And in that moment, I realize that Cape Town was completely life-changing.

This was the case when I saw Invictus last week. Invictus is a movie about the first year that Nelson Mandela was the President of South Africa. It’s about how he worked to bring unity to the people, black and white, and how the country responded to that.

Oh, and Matt Damon is in the movie. Amen.

[Marisa did a beautiful job writing about the movie as well, so you can check that out here.]

I left the movie with a few questions rolling around in my mind. And I don’t know the answers yet.

I am officially shaken up.

Because I’m white. And I was the same age as a lot of the dudes in the movie. And in Cape Town.

So what if I would have been born in Cape Town?

I would have told you all the things that I can tell you about my life now: I’m a Christian, raised by Godly parents, on a path to a normal adult life.

And I would have THOUGHT like the other white people did.

And I would have THOUGHT segregation was good for my country.

And I would have THOUGHT I was RIGHT.

Do you see what I’m saying?

For many of you, racism is still very real where you live. I know that is true here in the South in some ways. But segregation like is shown in this movie, like was real in the 90s in Cape Town, like was real in the 50s in the USA- that isn’t real for me.

It was real in May 2009, when I stood in a campground kitchen, trying to help out the mamas who were cooking lunch for 70+ kids from the slums of Cape Town. There was always a wall there, always something that kept them from really allowing us to help. I thought it was mostly the language barrier, with just a hint of the leftovers of apartheid.

I am so ignorant.

Invictus showed me reality.

Reality says that when those mamas look at me, I look like a white girl born in Cape Town.

And though I don’t think like that girl, I look like her.

And dumb ole me just kept thinking, “if I only I could speak Xhosa cause surely they would hug me and love me if I spoke their language.”  Nevermind the years and years when people, who looked JUST LIKE ME, were horribly unkind and unfair and treated them terribly.

So yeah, I’m a little shaken up. And yeah, Cape Town changed my life. Again last week. I just don’t know how yet. I don’t have the answers.

But Invictus is a great movie. Go see it, and I dare you ask some questions when it’s done.

Dear Colorado,

Let me start by saying what I big fan I am. You really are a great state. I mean, we haven’t hung out since 1996, but it was really nice to meet you and I hope I get to see you again soon.

But here’s the thing. I’m disappointed in some of your recent behavior.

You are a thief, Colorado. And I can prove it.

See the girl on the left? That’s Annie Parsons. You stole her from me [I'm the girl on the right, Colorado. Last time you saw me, I was in 10th grade. A wee bit different]. And in case you couldn’t tell by my face, me no likey.

I know what you’re going to say. Annie’s family is there, this is a good time for her to be there with the family, yadda yadda. I hear ya, CO [can I call you CO?], I hear ya. And I love Annie’s family. But I just feel like the best way for me to express my hurt and sadness is to lash out at you.

Sue me, CO. Sue me.

Because, as you know all too well, it doesn’t end there. It’s not like you’ve just taken Annie from me. You also nabbed Betsy.

BETSY, Colorado. BETSY.

That is so not right. Sure, there isn’t any “ski” opportunities in Nashville. Sure, we don’t have “snow” or “ski slopes” or “a job at the ski lodge”, but that doesn’t mean you had to take her.

I got back to Nashville yesterday, CO, and I realized they aren’t here. I mean, I knew you had them, don’t get me wrong. But all the sudden I felt it. And I don’t like it.

So I just had to write you. Cause I’m sad. I’m not going to get all sappy and sentimental and tell you how much I love Annie and Betsy and how I’m going to miss them every day. I’m just going to say that if at any point, you find yourself frustrated with them, or you think that they are in the way, or you aren’t sure that they are making your state any better,

just know that Tennessee will take them back in a heart.beat.

Handle with care, Colorado. Your real estate just went up 200%.

Sincerely, Annie

In my holiday greetings.

Merry Christmas, y’all. The only birthday I like more than my own? The birthday of Jesus.

See you next week.

Much love.

That’s not disrespectful to the baby Jesus.

I just have some links for you, and thinking you might enjoy a little play on words, I went for it.

Forgive me if you are offended.

First of all, today is my day to post over at (in)courage. And, because I tackle the deep and moving topics, I’m talking about footy-pajamas. [photos included, you are welcome] I hope my cousin is still speaking to me after he sees this.

Also, yesterday, I had the privilege [a word that I CAN NOT SPELL correctly for the life of me] of making a video for Christmas Change.

Here is a link to the post I wrote.

And here’s the video. But do check out the post so you have some sort of mental scaffolding to work with.

And because, seriously, this may be as famous as I ever get, I have to link you to our CBS station here in Nashville.

Because, y’all.

I. WAS. ON. TELEVISION.

Was it my lifelong dream to have my own cooking show?

Almost.

And by “almost,” I mean “not at all.”

Regardless, read the article and watch the video clip to the right- it’s all about Help-Portrait.

And did I mention that I was on TV? Because I was. At 6pm and 10pm, but who’s counting.

Of course, Jeremy was on CNN, but whatevs.

So yesterday Betsy called me.

Hesitantly, she told me of her afternoon at Frothy Monkey. She sat down at a table and heard two voices behind her talking.

About ME.

She could hear one of them say, “I mean, Annie doesn’t even pay attention to me anymore.”

And then the other one responded, “Well, I used to see her almost every day and I haven’t heard a peep from her in over a week.”

To see who it was, she glanced over her shoulder.

And believe it or not, my blog and my journal were having coffee together.

I think that’s rude.

[Mainly because they used the last $7.43 of my gift card.]

When I moved to Nashville, I had no plans. No idea with what to do with my days.

Except to cry and beg God to let me go home to Atlanta.

[That went well.]

But now I sit here, a writer. A nanny. An employee. A friend. And it’s crazy.

Jeremy, Annie, Kyle :: H-P team

Most recent new title: Help Portrait Events Coordinator.

I know, I went all fancy on you. [Oh, and by the way, I made up that title. I mean, it really is my title, but I just created it and made everyone else deal. with. it.]

Anyways, here’s where things get surreal.

Wednesday, after we left the Fields Museum, I got a voicemail. From Chris at Relevant Magazine. Wanting to interview me about Help-Portrait.

[I died. In a good way.]

So please go with me to that moment.

I’m walking down the streets of Chicago. [I've never been there before 2009.]

In a serious snowstorm. [I grew up in Georgia. This is foreign to me.]

Walking with 2 of my dearest friends. [That I have met within the last 2 years.]

Doing an interview for Help Portrait. [That Jeremy just invented in his mind and I get to play along.]

With Relevant. [A magazine I HIGHLY esteem.]

And at one point, as my black jacket turned white with flakes, and I huffed and puffed down the streets of Chicago telling Chris about this amazing project, I just had to stop.

Because while I would have never planned for my life to look like this, God has again overshot my expectations.

By about 100,000 snowflakes.

And HE WILL DO THE SAME FOR YOU. Just ask. That’s all I did- I asked for God to run my life and I asked Him to show me His love. And what He did for me, He will do for you.

I’m sure of it.

HERE is the article for Relevant.

And OMG HERE is an article I wrote for the ONE Campaign.

Can you believe that dorky macaroni-lovin’ AnnieBlogs got published on the ONE Campaign blog?!?

[I know. I died again. In a good way.]

So I’m in Chicago.

Remember that five of my eight jobs are portable. So I’m working. Don’t worry about that.

And after lunch yesterday, Betsy, Lyndsay, and I went to the Field Museum.

[I like museums. I like them so much that I handed Anita the iPhone over to Betsy and said, "You keep this for a while. I just want to look." Sometimes my friends double as my mother. No biggie.]

First big moment: Sue the T-Rex. She’s huge. But I didn’t say that to her face because honestly, skeleton or not, it’s rude to tell a girl how big she is. But it was super cool.

We walked through for about an hour and ended up in the fine jewelry department. I don’t think they call it that, but I do.

I was born in July. The ruby is my birthstone and I’ve always loved it. Mainly because people tell you to love your birthstone. So as we walked around and looked at the different gems, I kept one eye out for the ruby. Cause she and I have been friends for, give or take, 29 years.

I’ve never researched rubies. I have no idea why. But I smiled when I read the information explaining what makes rubies unique. (This is from the Field Museum website.)

As corundums, ruby and sapphire share the same basic chemical composition and crystal formations. Impurities merely create different colors of varieties of the stone.

Annie = ruby. And it sorta makes sense. Cause a lot of times it seems that all I can see are my impurities, my imperfections, my flaws.

This fact could be depressing: you mean to tell me that the things that are WRONG are what decide its color?!?

Poor Ruby. You deserve better than to be named by your flaws.

Or. Maybe not.

To me, for some reason, this was deeply hopeful. The things in me that I dislike [laundry list to be provided upon request], may actually be the things that make me beautiful.

That’s just like God. To take the ugly and make it beautiful. To take the impure and make it holy.

And I like that they use the word “merely.” Like, “impurities are not that big of a deal- in fact, it just helps us pick the name.”

As I stood there in my Chicago uniform [hat on my head, sweater, coat, two pair of gloves and a scarf], I was reminded that my impurities might merely be part of what makes me unique. Might be part of God’s lovely redeeming plans in my life. Might be what eventually makes me whole.

And that gives me hope.

___________

Could you use a little more hope? Head to BlogNosh Magazine and see what others are saying.

Or 8 minutes of Christmas hilarity.

You decide.