So… yesterday wasn’t supposed to be a blog doubleheader. I was as surprised as you might have been to wake up to two posts on my blog. Clearly, I wasn’t paying enough attention to my planner. Oh, the irony.
In case you missed it, yesterday Sarah and I hosted a planner giveaway (entries accepted until Thursday). That post I expected.
My Ten Frugal Things Lately post… not so much. Oh well.
Since I suddenly didn’t have a post ready for Wednesday, I figured this was a good time to do a quick bloggy hello since I have some relatively new readers.
Hi.
I’m Elisabeth. Yes, it’s spelled with an “s” — and yes, it gets misspelled all the time. My mom had actually written out (by hand!) all my birth announcements with a “z” when my father glanced over her shoulder and casually informed her that when he submitted my birth certificate, he spelled it with an “s.”
Why an “s”? My dad was a Baptist minister, and that’s how it was spelled in the King James Bible. For the record, the Bible I use spells Elizabeth with a “z.” But I like the “s” and people always seem to be curious about the history behind this fairly unusual (for North America) spelling.
I’m a perfectionistic pessimist who has steadily worked to look on the brighter side of things. Optimism doesn’t come naturally to me. This blog has played a huge role in how I see and process the world.
I started it back in 2021 because of Laura Vanderkam’s advice that something you do three times a week can be considered a habit. That was the final motivating force I needed to launch a blog. My original site got deleted — which was devastating at the time — but, in hindsight, it turned out to be a blessing.
When I relaunched, I went with a theme of gratitude (Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist) and started a weekly series called Happy Things Friday. This posting routine changed my life. Literally. Making note of happy things each week (and then writing about them) has impacted how I view the world.
I’m married to an incredibly kind, handsome, and HILARIOUS husband (John — his real name) and mother to two adorable, spunky, and (exhausting to an introvert like me) extroverted kiddos: a 14-year-old daughter called Belle (not her real name) and an almost-eleven-year-old son called Indy (also not his real name).
I’ve had many jobs but no single career. My background is in biology; my undergrad focused on birds (within intertidal zones), and my graduate degree focused on bees.
Actually. I researched birds and bees. That’s not a joke (though many jokes were made).
I worked for a university in varying part-time roles for almost two decades, but stepped down from my final role this past August. These days, I still help run the backend of the small business my husband and I co-own. I also blog and recently launched a Patreon site called Lighthouse Keepers, dedicated to deep dives into gratitude, including daily gratitude-prompt printables.
My husband travels extensively for work so I am regularly a solo parent and have lots of thoughts about the ups and downs of that way of life.
2026 is shaping up to be an unusual one for our family as we’re planning to temporarily relocate to Europe for four months, which is equal parts exciting and terrifying.
What else?
- I love reading (check out my book reviews from October here) and travelling.
- I love food (especially sushi, my husband’s savoury waffles, unbaked cherry cheesecake, cottage cheese, and peanut butter and banana on toast).
- I can’t roll my tongue. I don’t have a tattoo. I’ve never ridden a camel. In fact, here are 130 things I’ve never done.
- I tend toward minimalism but my kids tend toward chaos. It’s all about balance…
- In general I hate exercise (and I hate that I hate exercise), but I do host a global walking club twice a year. More irony.
- I’m passionate about where I live. Nova Scotia, Canada, is absolutely gorgeous. And I’ve been so fortunate to make incredible friendships through this blog. And people have come to visit me!
Okay. That’s enough. What am I forgetting, long-time blog readers? Also, now seems as good a time as any to circulate a fresh call for Ask Me (Almost) Anything submissions if someone has something burning on their mind. Feel free to leave them in the comments.
Your turn.
- Tell me three random facts about your life.
- Do people frequently misspell your name?
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Did you forget lighthouses, Elisabeth?
Three random facts:
I am a lefty, hate coffee in all of its forms, and have extremely large feet for my height
My name isn’t hard to spell, but my husband’s last name gets misspelled or mispronounced all the time. I made the mistake of spelling one daughter’s name in a slightly different way for the US ( an a instead of an e), and she struggles with people misspelling it.
I do like lighthouses!! Definitely an oversight on my part.
I am always shocked by how many left-handed people read my blog. There are a lot!
I have big feet, too. One member of my family sometimes calls them my “canoe paddles”…!
Do people misspell my name? Yes! And mispronounce it – I get Susan-ed all the time!!
That sounds so frustrating.
This is also the point in the conversation I admit that there is someone I know (not well) and I can’t remember if her name is Suzanne or Suzanna. But I’m too embarrassed to ask at this point so I always say her name quickly if I’m talking about her to someone else and slur the ending.
Ha, I had no idea about your birds-and-bees background, so cool!
My name is misspelled all the time, “Catrina” is a tricky spelling and I can totally understand why people don’t get it right. Also, people often call me “Christina” or similar. Which I don’t mind either, I’m so used to it, haha!
Do you miss your job at the university? Or do you find that it brings more calmness in your life having the extra free time?
I’m used to the mispelling, too, and it doesn’t really bother me. But in official things it can be a big deal, so sometimes I have to make sure I correct people! My coffee order? Sure, give it to me with a “z”, but government paperwork needs the “s”…
I don’t miss my job. I also feel just as busy as I did when I had it which is crazy. How?? I feel like my responsibilities at home expand to fill any new time I find in my schedule.
Oooh an AMA! I was thinking of doing one myself (although I don’t know if I have any new readers! Maybe I do!) I am going to think of some good questions and come back to it.
Also, I feel excited that I knew all these things, I think I’m one of your OGs. We met through the Secret SANta swap, I think!
I also do not have a tattoo but I can roll my tongue and have ridden a camel (you knew that, well, maybe not the tongue part)
I’ll admit it actually surprises me a bit you DON’T have a tattoo.
Now that you mention it, that’s exactly how we met: via the Secret SANta Swap! I wouldn’t have been able to put a finger to the when/how.
I feel like most of the relevant questions have been asked at this point, but I feel like it’s fun to toss it out every once in a while.
No one is complaining about 2x Tuesday! Or about getting this bonus post today.
I don’t like to tell other people what to do, but I believe passionately that everyone should visit Nova Scotia, and the sooner the better. I’m only speaking from personal experience.
My three randos are that I am left handed, my undergrad degree is in nutrition (zero work experience), and that I couldn’t figure out what to call my blog so I named it after the street that I lived on at the time + the topic of my first post. The name makes zero sense but it’s here to stay.
I can’t resist sticking with my alias of Birchie, but I think that by now everyone knows my name is Caroline. There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are aware that Caroline and Carolyn have different pronunciations and spellings, and those who enforce the pronunciation/spelling Carolyn on everyone with either name. But it’s fine.
Awww. You are a fellow evangelist for Nova Scotia. Love that I “converted” you.
I definitely asked someone ahead of your visit how you pronounced your name. I know some people who pronounce Caroline with the line = lynn. But your’s sounds how it looks!
I only knew about the nutrition degree because of our long walk at Cape Split. I found your background fascinating.
Nice to meet you, Liz…or do you prefer Betty? *wink wink*
I don’t get misspellings but people often think I’ve said Julie when I tell them my name.
Random facts: I’m a cynical optimist, how’s that for a counterpoint?
I didn’t know where Nova Scotia was before meeting my husband, despite several readings of the Anne of Green Gables series.
Ha. Betty. CAN YOU EVEN. How old would I need to be to get Betty?
I don’t think I had ever met a “Joy” before you!
Ohmygawd is my name misspelled frequently. Sigh. Sara no h is practically a tic at this point. I’m particularly annoyed at work when they have to type my email into the send box and see it and then still spell it wrong in the body.
In fact, funny story, when B was 4, I set him on the counter to get something out of my bag while we were getting ski passes and the woman said what’s your name and I said: Sara…and before I could finish, B turned his head to say “no H!” I was impressed he had picked up on that lol!
I OFTEN will tell people filling in my name: It’s Elisabeth with an “s” as a default statement. Or sometimes people will be looking me up in a system and, of course, type it with a “z” and when they look perplexed, I’ll say it’s with an “s”. Another thing that’s funny is how often when I say it’s spelled with an “s” they don’t know what letter to replace. Some people will ask me to spell my whole name.
I will admit that my brain naturally adds an “h” when I think of the name Sarah. Same with Ann. I ALWAYS want to add an “e” but we have a neighbour who spelling it Ann and it never looks right to me.
I’ve never done an AMA – I really should, though! I’ll have to keep that in mind for a future post!
I knew all of this about you since I’ve been reading your blog for several years now and we’ve taken our friendship off-blog. Can’t wait to take it from URL to IRL eventually!
My name is not misspelled, but I will be called “Liz” sometime which I do not at all understand. Liz is not a derivative of Lisa. Lisa is a derivative of Elizabeth, but how do you jump from Lisa to Liz? I try to be very sensitive to name spellings – and to people’s preferred nickname. I am careful to see if, for example, someone with the legal name Zachary signs his email Zac, Zach, or Zachary. If you can’t get a person’s name right, I automatically have less faith in your attention to detail… Granted, mistakes are made, and I have made mistakes but when I discover it, I apologize to the person rather than pretend it did not happen!
I’m going to have to dig deep to come up with 3 facts that will be new information to you. 1) After undergrad, I strongly considered going to law school. Then I read a book called “The Law School Confidential” and it convinced me that law was not the right field for me at all. It involves a ton of writing and I do not love writing. Part of the appeal of a math degree was no paper writing! 2) I spent the summer after my sophomore year of college and 2 winter breaks in Steamboat Springs, CO. I worked at a hotel and had the best time in that gorgeous setting. I strongly considered moving there after college but my manager said I should at least try a more traditional career path and I could always come back to Steamboat. Well, here I am 20+ years later, still on my traditional career path. I look forward to taking Phil and our kids to Steamboat some day and showing them some of my favorite hikes, though! Really I should go with Phil first as most of the hikes will be far too intense for the kids until they are much older! 3) I hate driving with the windows down in the car. I hate the feeling of my hair blowing around. I also hate loud music in cars.
Yes! I think we will get on like a house on fire (as my mom would say) when we finally meet in person. We have a lot of overlap in likes/dislikes.
I always feel extra mortified when I get something wrong (usually Meagan/Megan/Meghan – that’s the one that trips me up most often) because I should be extra sensitive to it. For the most part, I get it right. But I was concurrently working with a Meagan and Megan and it was a real struggle to keep each one straight; sometimes I was e-mailing one, sometimes the other and I to this day don’t know the correct spelling for which person. Oh the shame.
I didn’t know you were interested in law school!!
I LOVE loud music in my car (not too loud, but I like things to be thumping), but I also hate having the windows down. HATE it and almost never do it.
i love Elisabeth with an “s”! It seems more elegant than the “z” spelling. Weirdly, people misspell my name all the time (especially at Starbucks- but they’re notorious for that). I mean… J-e-n-n-y, how hard is that???
I agree! I really like how the “s” looks; “z” always looks a bit harsh and rigid to me.
Um…what could they possibly get wrong with your name? Do they spell it Jenni or Jennie??
OH! AMA = Ask Me Anything. But what is OG? Old Girls?
Always, “Jana, like banana”.
I think we may have discussed this, but what is your Enneagram #?
Random facts (Questioner thoughts: does anyone care? do I think this makes me special?)
1. Proud owner of nothing but Honda Accords since 1981
2. Cook on a wood stove in the summer in a cabin without electricity or a phone
3. Never owned a microwave
These days OG tends to mean original.
When I took the test the first time, I was an Ennegram 6 with a 5 wing.
A few years ago I had a huge discussion with my small group about microwaves; I was shocked how many people didn’t own a microwave. I use mine many times a day!
The birds and the bees. I was unaware of this tidbit and it’s cracking me up.
I’m a lefty too. I Irish danced from age 4ish -14, and hated it. Loved the friends, but hated the dancing part, probably because I was terrible. I wanted to be a physical therapist, but instead I married one.
People mistake my name for the male version (my IRL name is not Ernie), and when I was a kid I would get Valentine’s addressed to me as if I was a boy (my name can either be female or spelled totally different to be used for a girl). That drove me nuts.
Aww. That sounds really tough to dance when it wasn’t something you enjoyed. That’s a LONG time to endure something like that, too 🙁
No one can ever spell my maiden name or my married last name, but my real first name is easy and doesn’t seem to have any variations. I enjoyed learning more about you, as I didn’t know anything about your career! Three random facts: I’ve never had a cavity, I tend to hold on to friends for life, and I’m a decent oil painter (though I can’t draw worth a darn!)
Wow! You’ve never had a cavity. That is very impressive and I wish I could say the same!
My mom took up oil painting in retirement but doesn’t draw, either. I can’t draw…so maybe the answer for my creative output it oil painting???
Since Elisabeth is spelled with an “s” in German, I will easily get this right! 🙂
My name here, however, is sometimes spelled “Sondra”. Weird.
Loved reading about your again, my friend, even though most of it feels so familiar by now (and that gives me fuzzy feelings <3).
Yes, Elisabeth with an “s” is quite common in many European countries. I should feel very at home 😉
I sometimes get ‘July’ instead of ‘Julie’. Weird. I guess people are used to writing July and it’s just a habit? Who knows. Of course my last name is a mouthful and I don’t expect anyone to be able to spell it. It’s not even a ‘real’ name in India, it was a British person in Guyana who combined a first and last name when my husband’s ancestor arrived there. We think. So if you ever see the name Asregadoo, they are related to my husband! (I think there are some in Toronto)
I like your Birds and Bees background.
I love that I knew most, if not all, of these facts. Yay!
People misspell my name ALLLL the time. Both my first and last name, so it’s fun times for me!
Three random facts: My favorite food is pizza. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was younger. And I had my tonsils removed when I was 4!
I only know one person (John) who had tonsils removed, but he was an adult. Ouch! I feel like it’s not nearly as common now as it used to be?
I went to Nova Scotia years (decades) ago and loved it. Cape Breton National Park is one of the most beautiful places on earth, I think!
Wow! Colour my surprised. Cape Breton is beautiful and has some truly epic scenery and hikes. We haven’t been in a few years, but it’s a nice place to revisit.
If you ever make your way back this way, I’ll be happy to play Tour Guide <3