My Story

So,

As an introduction to my blog, I figure it might be a good idea to share a little about me and who I am and what makes me tick.

I grew up in a small farming town of about 3500 in Southwestern Ontario. I am the youngest of 5 children, I have 3 older brothers and 1 older sister, and am an Aunt 7 time over. I had a pretty normal childhood and teen years. I loved to hang out with friends, go to youth group and sing.

I attended College for Office Administration and then obtained my Ministerial Diploma from Bible College. During and after school I worked at my home church for 5 years starting out as a Summer Student and then doing book keeping and then moving to more administrative work and then working as the Administrative Pastor. I loved my church family and my co-workers and my job there was a very fulfilling experience for me.

Andrew and I met online through eHarmony while I was living at home and working at the church. Living three hours away from each other was difficult but we made it work by one of us traveling almost every weekend to visit the other. We both put a ton of kilometres on our cars during that time.

In the spring of last year I had the opportunity to apply and interview for a job at Compassion Canada and was lucky enough to be chosen to work for such an amazing organization. Taking this job required me to move 2 hours away from home, which also brought me 2 hours closer to Andrew. After much prayer and thinking I took the job and in May of 2010, I embarked on my very own grown up adventure in life. I got my first apartment, started my new job and found a new home church.

Thanksgiving of 2010 Andrew and I got engaged (our love story with be in a future post... stay tuned) and Andrew moved into his own apartment here in London in November.

I am loving having my fiance in the same city as me, I am loving working for an organization that changes so many lives (more about Compassion in another future post) and I am loving planning our wedding set for this coming summer.

Life is great and I am taking life as it comes. I always tease Andrew that unexpected surprises are just another adventure, and he always rolls his eyes at me. But I know that life is all about what you make it to be and I am determined to enjoy every stage of it!

That's me!

- C

P.S. Did you all have a good weekend? What is your way of handling unexpected surprises in your own life?

Cold and My Love/Hate Relationship With My Car!

Just a quick blog post to share my not so enjoyable morning with you all.

I have recently started going to the gym in the mornings 3 days a week. I find it really sets my day off on the right track and that I am not dragging my butt to the gym after work and doing a half hearted work out.

So this morning I slept through my alarm after a sporadic nights sleep but decided to get up and get going to the gym even though it would be a shortened work out this morning. So I got myself out the door by around 7, which was a miracle and I lock my door and head out to my car (who I have lovingly named Beatrice) to heat it out and scrape the ice off my car windows. It went down to -20 over night, so my Beatrice was really cold and complained quite loudly this morning. So I start the car and scrape of the windows and as soon as I grab the handle to open my door and get back in, all the car doors lock in protest of being forced to work in the frigid temps.

This was NOT what I needed this morning. I was locked out of my car and my house key was on my ring locked in my car. So this morning I spent 40 minutes waiting out in the cold for Andrew (bless his soul he jumped out of bed and drove over to rescue me from the cold) and the tow truck to come open my car door.

Man, the things that you think about when you are cold and trying not to focus on your toes becoming numb one by one. All I could think about were big fuzzy socks, bulky warm sweaters and how thankful I was for roadside assistance and a WONDERFUL fiance!

I also was thanking God that I do not live on the streets and that I don't work outdoors. I don't know how those people do it in this type of weather, I felt like I was going to turn into a popsicle.

All complaining aside, this morning reminded me of another simple thing to be thankful for: HEAT! Especially with 10-29cm of snow on it's way, I couldn't be more thankful.

Stay warm out there, and remember to be thankful for the little things that we take for granted every day.

As for me, I will remember to roll my window down when heating up my car, so that I won't get locked out.

- C

P.S. Stay tuned for more about me in my next post today or tomorrow. :)

Mmmmargarita Chicken

I am excited to share with you my first food post!

I have been working my way through a cook book called 'Cook This, Not That'. This cook book is quite unique in that it takes high calorie meals that you can order at fast food and chain restaurants and gives you a healthy and still delicious option. I have tried their Ultimate Guacamole, Breakfast Hash with Sweet Potato and Chicken Sausage, Gnocchi with Peas and Prosciutto, Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and their amazing Oatmeal pancakes with Cinnamon Apples. I have to admit EVERYTHING I have tried so far has turned out well and has not lacked in flavor. I find that I have been adding my own tweaks to the recipes based on what I have in the house and it still turns out great.

Tonight is another example. I made Margarita Chicken and it was SO yummy. I had to wait for Andrew to get here with the cheese, so I started cooking a bit early and had to wait around before I could finish and plate the food. By that time I was starving. Even my food-critical, hard to please Fiance loved the meal, he even told me I should be a chef in a nice restaurant. I laughed at that, and told him I am simply able to follow a recipe well.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 can of black beans, drained

1/4 tsp cumin

Juice of 1 Lime

Salt & Black Pepper to taste

Cooking spray

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup prepared salsa, preferably salsa verde

1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

Chopped fresh cilantro

1. Sear the chicken in the pan, 3 to 4 minutes per side so that a cajun crust forms. Add salt and pepper and any seasonings.

2. Turn the heat down to medium low, pour salsa verde over the chicken and cover for 10 or so minutes.

3. In the meantime, add the beans and the cumin to a saucepan and heat on low.

4. Once the chicken is mostly cooked, uncover and add cheese. Continue to cook until cheese is completely melted. (I added tomato under the cheese just to add some extra flavor)

5. Add lime juice to beans.

6. Plate beans with chicken on top.

7. Enjoy a healthy, easy and amazing meal.

I served my chicken with some baked sweet potato fries and some home made spicy mayo. Andrew and I both loved the meal and I am excited to try out some of my new recipes on family and friends. If I had family and friends who lived in the same city as me, it might be a little bit easier.

On a lighter note, Andrew and I went to the mall after dinner last night and looked at Sears and got info on their wedding registry. That is one of the next things on our to-do list. I am excited to begin picking out home items together.

More on the wedding planning in future posts. In the meantime I hope you enjoy your weekend!

- C

The story of Felicitous

Why Did I Start a Blog?

Over the last few weeks I have really gotten into following blogs. I have a few that I read daily and others that I check every so often to see what is new. As I would read the stories found on the webpages, I would get enamored with the great ideas and the journeys that the bloggers are on and in turn get excited and inspired in my life and what is happening in it.

So the thought occurred to me the other day that if I love to read blogs so much, why not start to write my own?

That is where I find myself today, typing my first blog post.

I have to admit that I have tried to start a blog a few years ago, but I got discouraged when I wouldn't have very many visitors or when I couldn't think of anything to write.

I think this blog is going to be different. I want to use this blog to write down inspired (or not so inspired) thoughts about life, share some of the amazing recipes that I am discovering in my new found love for cooking, share some of my discoveries when it comes to healthy living and even share a bit about this exciting time in my life called ENGAGEMENT. I hope that this blog inspires my readers to look at their life through a lens of contentment and inspiration.

Why is your blog called Felicitous?

When trying to decide what to call this ever exciting new endeavor called a blog, I did some research and was told that you blog title should be something that describes what your blog is about and that will draw people in to your blog.

I was at a complete loss when it came to a name for my blog. I am not a creative person at all (which is funny when you hear about all the things I plan to do MYSELF for our wedding in July) but I love to do research. So, naturally I researched a name for my blog. In my research I discovered that my name, Carrie, means a song of joy. This I thought was quite interesting because I want my life to reflect contentment and joy in all I do, so I thought some sort of play on the word joy would be a great name for my blog.

Once I consulted my handy dandy online thesaurus (which I did not have to do research to find, I know the address for the online thesaurus off by heart), I found the word felicitous and fell in love with the meaning.

For me this word means two things:

a) well fitting, happening at the right time - I want my blog to show how I am contented with life no matter where it takes me and that I know there is Someone out there ordering my days.

b) marked by happiness - I want to reflect joy

This might sound cheesy to some, but for me, this was the perfect word, the perfect theme for my life, the perfect motto to live by, and the perfect title for my new blog.

So Now What?

Stay tuned for my ramblings as I try out new recipes, strive to live a healthy life, work to plan a budget friendly and beautiful wedding, and endeavor to record some of my thoughts on life.

I feel like I am right on the precipice of something great!

- C

P.S. Stay tuned to my next couple of posts that will share more about me and my life! :)