soup for a winter's day

I don't know about you, but we're still combating leftover turkey here. It's a good thing, really. Last night I made the creamiest, most thick+ tasty turkey soup and it tasted even better leftover today. Leftover-leftovers...It just keeps getting better. It may not look like anything special, but the taste is pretty spectacular on a chilly winter's day.
Creamy Turkey-Bacon Soup

1/2 c. carrots
1/2 c. celery
1/2 c. diced onion
32-oz carton of chicken broth
2 1/2 c. water
3/4 c. jasmine rice (or whatever you have handy)
2 c. chopped leftover turkey
6 T. flour
1/4 t. poultry seasoning
1 1/4 c. whole milk
5 slices crumbled, cooked bacon
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 c. butter

Saute diced carrots, celery, and onion in large stockpot with 1 T. melted butter until soft. Add broth, water, rice and turkey. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes. Stir as needed.

In a separate saucepan, melt remaining butter. Mix flour + poultry seasoning in a separate bowl, then add to butter; stirring constantly for 1 minute. Then add the milk and cook until it begins to thicken.

Add creamy sauce to soup. Top with bacon, salt, and pepper. Serve + enjoy!

*****

We spent Sunday night and part of yesterday decking the halls around here. I never get tired of decorating the Christmas tree, although I may tire of chasing G away from all the ornaments. He is quite smitten with all of the balls + baubles. I can't believe tomorrow is December. Must put my advent calendar together! For now, I am wrapping up my November gratefuls:

25. I am thankful for family. We had a really delightful time hangin' in at my parents' Thanksgiving weekend.

26. I am thankful for baby girls. It seems like everyone is having them these days!! I am so excited to have heads for all the sweet headbands I've been compulsively making ever since I was pregnant. I'm thankful for this little lady and also my first little niece on the way!

27. I am thankful for God's goodness. He is Love. I am thankful for the ways that he moves in our lives everyday.

28. I am thankful for forgiveness. I hugely wronged Jeff the other day and we got into a bit of a tiff. I'm thankful for mended hearts and thankful that it only makes our marriage stronger.

29. I am thankful for the amazing ultra strong properties of super glue. It's powerful stuff in a super small bottle. Whoever invented it--I think you're really cool.

30. I am thankful for craftiness. For inspiring projects and stacks of fabric + felt. Today I am putting together some sample projects for my Christmas craft party this weekend. I can't even wait!

gratefulness

Today I want to share a few more things from my grateful list before Thanksgiving. The holidays are really upon us!! I am off to work tonight, then loading up our little family and heading over the river and through the woods to grandma's house tomorrow evening. Really excited to get my whole family together and for G to play with his cousin E. What are your plans? What's on your list of gratefuls this year?
20. I am thankful for color. It's such a huge piece of creation and an amazing property of light. It makes me happy every day--in a zillion different places and combos. Its possibilities are endless.

21. I am thankful for clean, safe, and readily available drinking water.

22. I am thankful for my hubs. He's a really good guy and really good to our family. He's almost always kind, considerate, and adorable with G. Jeff makes a mean pancake and is {admittedly} better than I am at making the bed.
23. I am thankful for home video. The other night, we were flipping through some old favorites and G stood near with his mouth dropped, curiously watching himself on the big screen. How fun for him to have these little tidbits + memories as he grows. There are some things you just can't capture with still photos. Like hearing the hiccups he had when he was 1 week old. Or the time his case of the giggles turned into wild squeals. Or seeing his first few steps. We're working on another really awesome video of him peeling an orange. I was completely floored when I saw him peel one completely unassisted for the first time this week. I am in awe of his fine motor skills.

24. I am thankful for leftovers. For quick convenient remnants that taste even better the second time around and require minimal effort to prepare.

25. I am thankful for snowflakes that stay on your nose + eyelashes. There are flurries flying as I write this and I think it's pretty awe-inspiring that every single snowflake is completely unique. A miniature masterpiece. I've been meaning to get this book of micro photographed flakes for my coffee table. {So I can admire them from the warmth of my own couch.}

***Please don't forget this week's giveaway!***

the perfect storm

Early Saturday morning, we crawled out of our cozy beds, looked out the window, and found the world tucked under the perfect snowy blanket. We'd all been wondering when the first snow would fall--and boy did it show up this year. Eight-or-ten-or-something super magical inches. We squealed with delight at the chance to bundle up our little Snowgraham and let him explore the wintry wonderland.
Catching up on my thankfuls:

12. I am grateful for sweet friends, weekend guests, and craft weekends (more on this soon!)

13. I am grateful for warm, woolly mittens and the muscle men around here who shoveled tons of heavy, wet snow.

14. I am grateful for good worship music and to have a gracious Savior worthy of endless praise.

We had a completely perfect weekend. xo

cheap and juicy

Today is for playing house & playing catch up, for laundry, for shining my fridge inside and out, and for running a couple of errands.

9. I am grateful for a bowl full of those juicy little clementines and my new oilcloth tablecloth. (Isn't the pattern so grandma fabulous? You'll be seeing much more of it, I guarantee.) I love that those mini oranges are sweet, cheap, and fresh once again. Hooray for citrus season.

10. I am grateful for a clean bill of health for me & my fam. If there's one thing a career as a nurse has taught me, it's to rejoice in your (& especially your kiddos health) every single day. I think it's a gift we all take for granted.

11. I am grateful for having a washing machine + dryer in my house. After years of sinking quarters at the laundromat, this is one amenity I will forever hold dear.

jumping the gun?

I used to fault stores for jumping the gun and hauling out the holly long before Halloween. Lately I've begun to accept (and maybe even embrace) this practice of building up to Christmas, despite the mega-material holiday it has become. It really hit me this weekend when Jeff and I were on a date at Target (yes, we went there, admittedly after dining at Chipotle, but even Target is romantic and wonderful when it's just the two of us.)

When I picked up a bag of minty kisses on impulse, suddenly, I had mistletoe and tinsel on my mind. It felt a little bit like Christmas, driving home in the dark that night. Visions of sugar plum fairies and all.
We are keeping gifts simple this year. I say this every year, but this time I really mean it. I am 100% all for handmade, and if I can't make it myself, I want to support other craftspeople who can. I'm extra excited because starting tomorrow through December, all Meet the Maker Monday features around here are taking on a festive twist, and will be part of a new Holiday by Hand mini series--intended to help you simplify your holiday shopping, making, mailing, and decorating. Please drop in each week for extra swell giveaways, tips, and tutorials!!

*****

Speaking of jumping the gun, I am listing my gratefuls for today and tomorrow:
7. I am grateful for Mr. Graham. He cracks me up and melts my heart...often simultaneously. Today after I peeled him his 5th orange. (He LOVES those little clementines!) He plopped down contentedly on the kitchen floor, ate one bite, then popped up said "hug!?" walked over and hugged my neck. A few minutes later, he was walking around the living room, proudly sporting my shoes and necklace. My little fashionista. I am grateful for these little mommy moments.

8. I am grateful for Daylight Savings, even if babies do not observe this holiday. And although an extra hour of sleep was not on my agenda today, I am thankful for an extra hour of productive time this evening!

a bright idea...

As a prelude to Thanksgiving, I've been noticing tons of blog friends celebrating 30 Days of Gratefulness, a really simple daily project in which one lists the things she is grateful for during the month of November. I really love this idea, and am asking your permission to join the club, fashionably late?

1. I am grateful for thrift stores. For the thrill of bargain hunting and for the place where I stumbled upon my new aqua lamp. I'm thankful that for just a couple bucks, I brought this gem home and didn't even have to spray paint it. I was grateful that with an updated drum shade and a new light bulb, she lit right up. She has great curves, don't you think!?

2. I am grateful for our cozy home, for a well-operating furnace, and the warm bodies inside.

3. I am grateful for God's provision. More like amazed. He has been blessing our little photog business so much lately, that Jeff had to hang up his apron at the restaurant in order to keep up with all of the work(!!!) We'd been praying about this for awhile, because for the last couple of months, Jeff has been stretched so thin. We carefully looked at our budget, decided we had enough saved up to live off of my income alone until after Christmas, and took a leap of faith. Not even 1 week later, our established/exceptional wedding photographer friend & mentor called Jeff up and asked him to join her business as one of her associates! We will still have our own business and Jeff will do shoots for her clients for extra income and experience. I can even go along and work as a second photographer at any of these weddings! God is so good.

4. I am grateful that freeing up Jeff's work schedule means more free time for our family. This weekend, for the first time since Labor Day we are both neither working nor traveling. It is wonderful! We are just relaxing and giving our home/yard some much needed love and attention.

5. I am grateful for chocolate, a working computer, and my silver sparkly ballet flats. Three things I could not live without.

6. I am grateful for the sun shining through our windows. I washed all of them inside and out this morning. I can't believe I let them be so filthy for so long! Now we will have crystal clear views of the first snowfall...Any day now.