Hunky Chunky Man Soup

This soup is magical.
I swear, it has turned soup-haters into believers. 
It takes a bit of preparation, but if you put on some music while you chop the vegetables, it will all be worth it in the end of the day. Prepare the ingredients the evening before a big day, then you can put this in a crockpot (slow cooker) for the day and even have company for dinner without trying!

Pair this soup with Perfect Rosemary Buns for an incredibly fulfilling meal! 

(Thanks in advance, for your votes in the Instructables Soup Contest!!)

Ingredients:
3 medium carrots
1 medium-large onion
2 stalks of celery
4 small potatoes
1-2 small sweet potato
4-5 cloves of garlic
1.5 cups dry soup mix (or a mix of dry beans, lentils, peas and/or rice)
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper.
1-2 tbsp olive oil/butter (for sauteeing vegetables, your preference)
1 small can corn kernels
7-8 cups vegetable stock
1 cup milk/cream (I used 10% Cereal Cream)
3-5 tbsp all-purpose flour

Step 1 Chop.

It all started with a limp bunch of celery. My personal celery consumption goes in two-day bursts where I eat the stuff until it comes out my ears, but they are few and far between. So, as this poor lovely vegetable sat in my crisper, I decided to make a soup and include Sir Celery.

Here's where the chopping begins. Carrot, Onion, Celery. Wash, peel and chop them up evenly - but don't mince them into oblivion. We want this to be hunky chunky! Get some fresh garlic ready too, because we'll be using lots of that. Chop up a few potatoes, of the white and sweet varieties.

(3 medium carrots, 1 medium-large onion, 2 stalks of limp but usable celery, 4 small potatoes, 1-2 small sweet potato and loads of garlic.)