i am thankful for good health.

i am thankful to be healthy. I rarely get sick and tend to bounce back quickly when I do.

i am thankful for a body that allows me to run, walk, hike, lift weights, do yoga and more.

i am thankful for a gym that offers classes to help me stay motivated to workout. 

i am thankful to be surround by people who maintain a healthy lifestyle.

 

i am thankful for laughter. It truly is the best medicine. 

i am thankful for a healthy mind. I choose to be optimistic. I offer loving-kindness to myself and others.

i am thankful for access to high quality health care.

i am thankful to work for an organization that is committed to good health for all.

{image via}

i am thankful for home.

{image via vol 25}

i am thankful to have a place to call home, where I am safe, warm and completely comfortable.

i am thankful to have a home to decorate, keep tidy, make messes and entertain. 

i am thankful to share a home with B. 

i am thankful i've had the opportunity to live with my family, in a house with 60+ girls, with best friends, with strangers (who were a little crazy) and all by myself. I will never regret not trying any of the options.

i am thankful i moved to California. it has been a good home away from home.

i am thankful to call Colorado my true home. i am lucky i was born and raised in a great place. some day it will my permanent home again.

{image via qadesign}

i am thankful

Be thankful for what you have and you will end up having more. But if you concentrate on what you don't have, you'll never, ever have enough. ~ Oprah Winfrey 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I wanted to take some time to jot down what I am thankful for. Over the next few days I plan to share them here on the whole enchelleada.

{i am thankful notecards from Paper Source}

Here are a few idea for sharing what you're thankful for at your 

Thanksgiving dinner this year:

Create a jar full of thanks

Paper Leaves of thanks

A book of thanks

Thankful notecards (above)

Want to keep track every day?

Keep a Gratitude Journal

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I think I'm on a soup kick. Here's why:

a) in the last few weeks I've made lentil soup, chicken taco soup and now roasted butternut squash soup b) the last few times I've gone through my recipes I am drawn to the soups c) it is Fall now (even in California) and nothing feels more cozy than a warm bowl of soup d) I've realized how easy it is to make your own soup, so that gives me even more motivation e) I've been known to go on 'kicks' before, like adding quinoa and couscous to many meals.

Kaci mentioned recently that she made butternut squash soup. I was intrigued and finally decided to make my own this weekend! I was especially drawn to this particular recipe because it's dairy free (hooray). I was happy with the result and would recommend serving with a salad or some form of protein (like your thanksgiving turkey!)

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients
1 (2.5 pound) butternut squash
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
6 cups vegetable stock (I used store bought, low sodium version. feeling more ambitious? make your own)
2 Yukon gold potatoes, coarsely chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf


Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut squash in half lengthwise; discard seeds. Place squash, cut sides down, on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until tender. Cool. Discard peel; mash pulp.
3. Heat Dutch oven (or large pot) over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; saute 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add squash, vegetable broth and next 5 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Let stand 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
4. In small batches, place vegetable mixture in a blender (I used my magic bullet*). Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure twice with remaining squash mixed. Return pureed mixture to pan; cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. 


The original recipe suggested adding parsley and honey into each bowl of soup. I didn't add the parsley but we did try honey. It may sounds strange but it was a delicious addition!


Enjoy! 


* Since steam cannot escape from Magic Bullet, I blended small batches for 60 seconds or less. I also used a dish towel to handle the bullet so I didn't burn my hands. It worked perfectly! 

Original recipe and photo from Cooking Light.

Baby Bunting Banner

Over the weekend one of my college friends,  a soon-to-be mama, was in San Francisco with her hubby. They are expecting their first baby, Georgia Leigh, on January 22. Since this was the last time we will see them before the big day, a few of us went in on a gift for them. In addition to this adorable owl and a few classic children's books, I made them a baby bunting banner (say that three times fast!).

 I was inspired to make this by none other than the Inspired Honey Bee who made a similar banner for her besties' baby shower. While I'm still not 100% sure what to call these cute banners (bunting banner? pennant banner? flag banner?), I settled on bunting banner because when you say baby bunting banner you can't help but smile.

Wanting to make the banner bright, colorful and girly, I settled on the pack of paper called Greehouse by K&Company. Not only is the paper really cute, it's also double sided with a large pattern on one side and a smaller coordinated pattern on the back. 

Using the Cricut, I cut 4.5 inch circles from 6 different patterns of paper. Using the same 6 patterns, I free hand cut 12 flags. I then used the Cricut  and plain card stock to cut out 4 inch letters to spell 'Georgia Leigh' in white and a shadow in brown. Since the banner paper was so bright, I knew a shadow on the letters would help them stand out better.

Once I had everything cut out, I layed out all the flags plus their corresponding circle to make sure I had them in the best order (don't want flags of the same color/patternright next to each other!). Then I got busy gluing all the pieces together.

After they all dried I folded the top of the flag back to create a small flap. Using these flaps and a small piece of clear tape, I attached the flags to a long piece of hemp cord.

 

Once the banner was complete - photo shoot and all - I accordion folded the flags with the hope of keeping the letters in order and the strings tangle-free.

I had tons of scrap paper left over, so I made this card to go along with the gift.

Succulent Success

 Two months ago, during my September Creative Challenge, I took the plunge and planted my first succulents. After not doing so well with an herb garden, I was cautiously optimistic.

I'm happy to report succulent success! Not only are they still alive, they are growing...a lot. In true proud parent fashion, I present to you then and now photos:

THEN

NOW

 It's the little things in life, right? Hooray!

Share the love

Last week I shared the print I purchased for B (here), you make my heart go BOOM, by Vol 25. When I received the print in the mail I was so excited to find some extra cards in the package. It was completely unexpected but greatly appreciated! I decided the perfect thing to do with my extra prints was to make them into cards, and share the love by mailing them to others.

I turned this business card into a housewarming card. The print is cute on it's own, but a little too small to stand alone. With gray card stock, yellow patterned paper and some oyster gray twine, it's a perfectly warm greeting card.

I really like this print. The art work, colors and quote are fabulous. Not wanting to take away from that, I simply glued it to card stock and now it's an encouraging card!

 

 

Last but not least are these postcards. I contemplated making them into cards, but actually really loved the simplicity of the postcard. My grandma, Geraldine,  used to type all of her letters, so when I saw these that's who I immediately thought of her. I sent one to her and one to my other grandma.

I love to shop Etsy knowing I'm supporting a small business. The little extras that come along with a purchase makes it even sweeter!