Happy Tuesday everyone! It's that time of year again, Soup Sunday is back! I made this soup last weekend and it was the perfect remedy to an over indulgent weekend. The weather is cold, the Broncos are on Sunday football and soup is the only thing that takes the chill off.

If you cannot tell, Adam and I love everything spicy and with a bit of mexican flare, this soup is no exception. From the salsa verde to the fresh cilantro on top, I love this soup. P.S. it's even better day two!

So, since I love soup and all recipes so much, I'm doing my FIRST ever link-up!  It's called Soup Sunday...and yes I know, it's not Sunday, but I wish it was! Share your favorite soups and link up below! Feel free to grab the link and share on your blog! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 6 stalks of celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 (16 ounce) jar of salsa verde
• 1 (7 ounce) can diced green chilies
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 cans, white beans (leave out for paleo)

How to Make:

1. Add all ingredients into a crock pot (except cilantro). Cover and cook on low hear for 4-5 hours until the chicken breasts are cooked through. 
2. Remove chicken, shred and stir back into the soup. 
3. Serve with cilantro and sliced avocado! 
4. Enjoy! 

One of my guilty pleasures is reading rag magazines, Us Weekly, People, I love them all. Us Weekly does a feature every week about celebrities and all the fabulous things they have in their bag. I know it's weird, but I absolutely love it!

In the spirit of getting to know the blogger behind the blog, I thought I would show you whats in my bag!



First, my Madewell Transport Tote. When it comes to work bags, I've tried them all. Louis Vuitton, Target, Gap, if it comes in black, I've probably tried it as a work bag. Nothing compares to this Madewell tote. It's lightweight, big enough, has a shoulder strap and lots of inside pockets. It's the best.


The non-glamourus side of this picture includes receipts at the bottom of my bag, dry cleaning tags, more bobby pins than I can count, starbucks straw wrappers and lots of pens.

The fancier side?

I am never, never without my planner. Yes, my paper planner. I don't even have things in my iPhone calendar, it's just how I function.

My little Tory Burch bag is full of lady-products, lip gloss, some powder for those super greasy days, a Tide Bleach pen, extra hair ties, bobby pins and all things considered lady necessities.

My wallet is the size of a clutch and it's just the way I like it. Full of 1 credit card... and tons of discount cards. I am such a sucker for grocery store cards that make gas cheaper, gas cards that make car washes cheaper and anything that gives me 10% off once I've spent $100. I have actual pictures of my nieces and nephews, my best friends, my dog and my husband in my wallet, plus I still use my law school ID card.

I always carry a book because I always find myself waiting in weird places. Doctors offices, court... the car wash. A good book is a necessity. And yes, I consider Elin Hilderbrand love stores good. Headphones and your iPhone are also important. You never know when you're gonna have to pretend you're listening to music to avoid a rando.

Lip crayon, chapstick, lipstick and a nail file round out the lady necessities. This Nars lipstick is the BEST ever. You never know what level of fancy you're gonna be and what type of lip product you may need.

A Larabar when I'm hungry and don't have time to go to McDonalds, I mean... let's be real, I love McDonalds and Larabars are the only thing keeping my cravings at bay.

Oh, and mints, because no-one likes bad breath and (random fact) I hate gum.

What's in your bag?

Happy Cyber Monday everyone. I hope you made it through Black Friday successfully and safely! Today is my favorite day to shop. I am ALL about sitting on the computer & buying my christmas gifts. Today I only have 3 gifts to buy and then I am DONE with shopping. That is a huge accomplishment for me as I am usually shopping the day before Christmas.

Today, I have some great sales for you, plus a huge Everyday Grace ad space sale! I hope you all get everything you wish, want and need today! Happy Shopping!

It's no secret that Black Friday and Cyber Mondays are the best days to shop and save. I have to be honest though, I'm not the biggest fan of getting up early, bundling up and braving the crowds. I'm all about sitting at my desk with a cup of coffee searching the web for sales.

If any of you are like me, then this post is for you! I'm bringing you some of my favorite links to some of the best sales, plus an ad sale here, on Everyday Grace! Get your credit cards out, it's time to shop!


Happy Shopping everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! If you're celebrating like me today, you're outside, drinking wine, stuffing your face with turkey and taking thousands of pictures. Regardless, I'm hope you're happy, full and celebrating all the wonderful things we have to be thankful for.

Are you ready for this list. I've got a lot and I love listing it because when I'm feeling sad or down, I turn to this blog and this post and I'm instantly reminded of how insanely blessed I am.

What are you thankful for today?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, hooray! Today I am spending the day with my family, especially my mom, helping her prep for the big day tomorrow. Spending time with my mom is the absolute best. Cooking with her and learning from her is even better. I'm so lucky to have a mom who is practically Martha Stewart.

Every since I can remember my mom has always hosted Thanksgiving. I honestly never remember being any where else for Thanksgiving until Adam and I started sharing holidays. My mother is the perfect host. She reminds me of Monica in Friends when Monica "is always the hostess". Lets be real, my mom is the best host, so why go elsewhere.


I am so excited to spend thanksgiving in Arizona. 3 full days of sunshine, family, great food, delicious wine and everyone I love.


TODAY, I am grateful for Arizona. I am grateful for my huge family. I am grateful for a place to call home. I am grateful for the beautiful blue skies, the green cactus' and the fact that I know my way around everyone. I am thankful for too many pictures, laughing until it hurts and hugs that last forever.

It's really easy to forget to be thankful. I know that sounds terrible, but let's be real, it's the truth. It's easy to look at the world and everything going on and forget to be thankful that we live in the Land of the Free home (because) of the brave. But today I am celebrating everything I have to be thankful for.

I love thanksgiving because it is a day, an entire day, 24 hours where my entire focus is on being thankful. Emily from Ember Grey is currently doing A week of Grate(full)ness and I just love this idea. An entire week spent realizing how lucky I am (& we all are) and how grateful I am.


TODAY I'm grateful for a warm house, a warm bed and a loving husband. Sometimes I rag on our apartment because I have dreams of a home, but today I am so grateful for a place that Adam and I have made home together. I'm grateful for Adam and his enduring love. I'm grateful that I have food on my plate every night. I am grateful for all the things I sometimes take for granted.

For as long as I can remember my mom has always sent Christmas cards. She has a long list of who she's sent too and who she gets cards from. She has a basket that sits in the same spot every year where all the Christmas cards go. I can remember coming home every night and looking through the new cards. I'm partial to the picture cards, but it is so fun getting Christmas cards from people all over and catching up on their lives.

Learning from my mama, I started sending Christmas cards when I lived in Omaha. Nothing super exciting, just a little Christmas stationary to let my loved ones know I was thinking about them. Well, as soon as I got engaged, I knew this was my chance to have a family Christmas (with a picture) card. Needless to say, Adam was less than thrilled when I told him about our Christmas card photo shoot. 1000 pictures later we had the one.

Next, comes the best part. Picking out the perfect card. I could peruse Minted for hours picking the right card. I play with fonts, different pictures and styles. Minted literally has everything I could dream of when it comes to picking the right card. I have personalized stationary (with my new married name), I did our Save the Dates, our housewarming party and all our Christmas cards with them. They do not disappoint.

Here's a preview of our card from last year. Adam was lucky because I used a picture from our engagement picture session so that he didn't have to endure another photo shoot. I mean, how cute is this card and how handsome is my fiance!


I'm still working on our Christmas card for this year. It's no secret going through thousands of wedding photos to find the right one to be deemed Christmas card worthy is a hard task! I figure next year I will no longer be a newlywed so this year is my last year to use a wedding picture :)

My blogging friend Ashley at Simply Wright just posed a thought provoking and semi-sad question for her recent post, are Christmas cards dying? Gosh, I hope not! And just your luck, to help Christmas cards stay alive, Minted is offering this amazing deal right now on all their holiday cards. Guys, 15% off your cards is such a steal. I'm working on my cards as we speak so I can get in on this offer. I'll be sure to share our christmas card as soon as it's done! Until then, I suggest you get shopping, because there are only 31 days until Christmas!

Is there anything better than getting Christmas cards?

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive 10% if you make a purchase using this link.

Ribs are one of Adam's favorite meals. I make them for his birthday, special occasions and random Sundays. When he requested them this past weekend I knew I wanted something spicy, easy to make and easy to prepare. The rub for these ribs is so good you don't even need sauce. Oh my gosh, I could eat them all the time. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds of ribs
• 1 Tbsp.sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. paprika
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 2 tsp. cayenne pepper

How to Make:

1. Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine all spice ingredients together in a small bowl and stir to combine to create the rub. 
2. Rub both sides of the ribs with the spice rub and place the ribs on a baking sheet, rib side down.
3. Bake the ribs for about 2 hours and 45 minutes, turning ever 15 minutes or so. Set the oven to broil and cook the ribs for 5-10 minutes to brown the meaty side.
4. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice the ribs and serve.

Tommy, Happy Birthday! I hope San Fran was awesome and that today you're eating cake and drinking delicious cocktails. I can't wait to celebrate next week! love you! And, now a throwback picture from when we were both younger, prettier, skinner and Tommy was making model faces. Happy Birthday! 

You know when your heart is so heavy but you cannot even begin to speak the words to express that feeling? That is how I feel about everything that happened in Paris this past weekend and everything that is happening around the world. As a blogger, having a loss of words is a detriment, but today I think it's a blessing.

My heart breaks for everything going on in this world. All the hate spewed daily, the constant fear that so many people live in. It's devastating. I have no ideas on how to solve this, no words of wisdom to heal the broken hearts of families who lost loved ones. All I know and all I can do is pray. I'll pray for the ones who lost loved ones, the ones who feel pain and the ones who are afraid.

Today there will be no funny jokes, no recipes, no stories from the weekend. Today is dedicated to Paris and everywhere else dealing with daily acts of terror, days filled with fear and grief. My prayer is that we all come together and figure this out. How? I don't know, but that's what my prayers are filled with today. May God Bless and continue to bless all those lost, Paris, the United States and everywhere else.