faith, freedom, food
Looking back, it was one of those mornings in which I debated my outfit. Dress up or dress down? Was the work I had to do today conducive to feeling put together and stylish, or did comfort trump all? Yes, for some reason, I think […]
Happy Wednesday my friends! A couple weekends ago, one of the last weekends of August, marked big changes in my life: it was the last weekend before Johnny moves to Winnipeg for the last time EVER, timed perfectly with our engagement party, hosted by one […]
…I have learned that I struggle.
I know that God knows that I love a good story. A self-titled (and, now, professionally titled) writer since I was eight years old, I see everything in life in stories. A good storyline complete with metaphors and compelling arch is what I appreciate most about movies and books. My love of stories is probably why I adore spontaneity and thrilling music and consider myself a hopeless romantic. It’s why I don’t summarize the beautiful way my fiance proposed in a matter of minutes, but have written it out in detail and still tell it with glassy eyes and a voice of wonder.
So, when something happens IRL that is utterly story-like, practically telling itself through its serendipity and ability to tell itself, and then comes to an end that makes it all NOT very worth telling… I struggle.
But it’s good that I struggle, because it’s brought me to an awareness of the fact that I easily see God in “the story” and assume it’s Him and assume His will before praying, actively seeking His will, and discerning.
And, what this really is, then, is me “playing God,” and taking His righteousness into my own hands.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4
It is very easy for us to make this mistake and jump to conclusions as Christians who live in harmony with Jesus, and live for His will to be done in our lives. It is very easy to assume that, because something good and cool and happenstance has happened, the odds for the outcome of that happening are directly in my favour.
But really, rather than writing the rest of the story, I’m called to sit in His presence and rest.
He taught me this very tangibly when I first met Johnny. Boy meets girl that I didn’t force or forge and that took months of contentment in the Holy Spirit before anything happened. In those months leading up to Johnny and I actually talking, I might have presumed, through our classroom glances and mutual but unspoken affection, that we would have spoken sooner. In the books, it would have been a week into class.
But, MAN, am I ever grateful for God’s timing on that one.
Time and again, He has shown me where my love of storytelling is a gift for His glory, and where it could trip me up into playing God. And don’t get me wrong: God is in complete control, and allows all things that happen to happen– but the outcomes are not based on me and me alone. It is easy to be egotistical and assume that the odds are in the favour of my own dreams, because “God is on my side.”
The outcomes are always in my favour because God is on my side, absolutely. But those outcomes are far better chosen by Him than me. So the best thing we can do as followers is submit to THE Storyteller. He’s a pretty darn good One.
If you know me in real life, you know that I absolutely adore nut butters. And if you’ve been in my kitchen in real life, you know that on a whole new level. I almost always have more than one type of nut or seed […]
In case you didn’t know, I tasted the most amazing food in the world a couple weeks ago. An avid foodie– and, more importantly, an avid peanut butter lover– I was so intrigued when I first noticed Salted Caramel Peanut Butter (sugar free, whole foods, […]
This post contains some affiliate links. All opinions are my own and are completely honest and candid.
Ah, the world of blog hosting.
When I started the whole blogging thing back in 2015, I really just wanted to share my writing with anyone that might possibly want to take the time to read it– and I was prepared for that to be no one.
So when I started getting thousands of unique visitors checking in to Cassie, Compiled. every month, I was a little overwhelmed that my passion project had become something strangers were taking in and, hopefully, being inspired, challenged, and entertained by.
And one change… okay, maybe two or three, but one MAJOR change, made all the difference in my ability to share this blog with more people, and that was the decision to invest in self-hosting by SiteGround.
I have had nothing short of an incredible experience working with SiteGround. Having owned cassiescookery.com for over a year before I finally decided to invest in hosting, I can attest to the utmost importance of the site speed, widgets, ownership, and more that come with self-hosting.
Here, the top reasons I recommend self-hosting your blog right away if you want to give your content the chance to be recognized by the audience you are after.
You are much more likely to be optimized for search with a self-hosted website. Here is how a writer with ZERO tech knowledge like me was best able to grasp this: the “web spiders” that crawl the Internet looking for the best content for each and every Google search will be much more likely to deem credible those who actually own the content on their site. That’s right: if you’re just using a WordPress domain– even if you’ve paid to get rid of the free “.wordpress.com” domain– WordPress holds the right to delete your site at any time, because they actually own the content. Think of hosting as like investing in a physical space for your business that you actually own.
The possibilities to monetize are now endless. While WordPress has the right to post any ads wherever they want to on your WordPress site, you can place ads of whatever kind wherever you would like on your site hosted with SiteGround. And you become much more of a professional entity in your niche, and thus much more likely to be contacted by brands within your industry– those dream companies you’ve been wanting to work with. Once you’ve navigated this new self-hosting territory, don’t be afraid to try some cold pitching, too. Still a bit of a newbie, I got my first opportunity working with a dream brand by emailing them with a genuine heart and passion for their product.
You can grow your community by reaching your readers the way they expect to be reached. Keeping up with consumer trends means understanding the importance of communication with readers the way they best receive it. This means including an email list, responding to comments, and cultivating your community. The amazing community at Cassie, Compiled. is just getting started, but rapidly growing thanks to the technology-smarts of SiteGround. They provide the beginner-friendly widgets and tutorials for implementing all of these important aspects of communication with your clients.
If you’re looking to get started with self-hosting, I could not speak more highly of SiteGround. With budget-friendly plans and options for various types of websites, plus access to 24/7 online customer service (which I have used multiple times and have had incredible experience with), you cannot go wrong. To get started, head here.
Any questions? Experiences with self-hosting? Hesitations? Let me know in the comments below! <3
It is only just hitting me that in a matter of weeks, the girls I have lived with for the past three years and I will never live together again. In fact, each of us will be transitioning to living with– a man— for the […]
When I first stumbled upon Curated KW, I was so intrigued. Quite honestly, I wanted to WORK for the business, be a part of it in some way. I assumed, given the obvious effort and passion displayed in this initiative to help Waterloo Regioners understand […]
Are you a soup person? I’ve never been much of one myself.
Growing up, I did love Nestle Chicken Noodle, and my mom’s homemade chilli was to die for. But creamy, one-colour purees? Is that baby food or potato chowder, ya know what I’m saying?
As much as you wouldn’t catch me ordering a creamy soup at a restaurant, you will catch me eating one on my wedding day.
Ok, I’m already drooling just thinking about it.
A few months ago, Johnny and I took my best friend and her boyfriend to join us for our menu tasting at our wedding venue, The Cambridge Mill. The tasting featured all of the options we had to pick from for the appetizer, entree, and dessert on our wedding day… and this tasting stands as one of my favourite days ever. We had so much fun sampling all of the wines, salads, soups, meat selections… the boys, still having enough room, even snuck to the lobby to try the taco bar!
All we could say: we could choose any of the options and be absolutely thrilled with the food. I’m so excited to eat it again!
If you haven’t guessed it, we chose a soup for our appetizer. Celery Root and Apple Puree with Honey Creme Fraiche and Roasted Chestnut, the 10/10 taste of this soup blew each of us away. While the colour is underwhelming, and there was only so much that could be done to amplify its presentation, the creamy, sweet taste was out of this world, and we all joked that it would be a great surprise for our guests.
Thrilled with how much Johnny had enjoyed something made of celery, and loving it myself, I set out to try to recreate the soup with one of my favourite kitchen applications, my NutriBullet RX’s 7-minute heating cycle, or “SouperBlast.”
I was thrilled with the way this turned out! I’m allergic to dairy, so I made mine with almond milk, but you could most definitely use a dairy milk or cream instead. I’m sure butter would also be delicious instead of olive oil. And feel free to play with the seasonings!
I also enjoyed it drizzled over sunny-side-up fried eggs on toast. Soooo good.
If you try this, let me know in the comments below! It’s not necessarily 5-star-restaurant worthy… but it satisfied by craving for the best soup ever, so that’s not too shabby.
The buzz of my alarm greeted my ears this morning at 5:30AM, and I found myself instantly missing waking up with the sunrise time on the daily for work. As I have transitioned out of a three-and-a-half-year period of working at coffee shops just this […]
