Cheesy Wild Rice Soup

If you follow me, you know that for the past 4 years my husband and I were living in sunny San Diego. 300 days out of the year it was sunny and warm, I could start laying out at the pool in March, sometimes February. I wore flip flops all year long, it hardly ever rained and you never had need for anything more than a light hoodie and jeans on the coldest days. It was amazing when we first moved there, so warm, no winter, we didn't even have central heating in any of the apartments we inhabited. There was simply no need for it. Air conditioning bills ran high in the summer months though, those were routinely $130 or higher for 3 or 4 months as 120 degree heat had us staying inside our apartment with the shades drawn. There was no need to make warm, comforting soups or stews, there were no rainy days to make them on. Well, actually the "rain" was never more than a few drops so it never lasted long enough to whip up a chili or soup.