The Weekend

We discovered this:

Red Mango - yum. And we got to be with all of these lovely people:

Thanks for a great weekend everyone!

Our House

We have been making a few updates to the house. You can't expect us to watch all those design shows and not have a little fun of our own!

The guest bedroom.

A bit of a new look on the front porch.


The kitchen china hutches and nooks have been rearranged.

And, the living room. Andy bought the house and painted one of the walls red in the living room long before he ever knew me and my red couches. The color looked great, but the couches and the wall were competing. I felt like I could not put a red couch or love seat up against a red wall, so it limited what we could do in the room. Simple solution? Repaint the wall. I didn't mind the red at all, but paint is cheaper than couches.

We went from this color...

...to this color.

Before.

...and after.

I like this view.

This is a nice and needed change, never-mind that I forgot to put the heater vent cover back on.

What do you think?

Good News

My very good friend from college, John Marriott, has been fighting leukemia for the past several months and I just got a text from him saying that he is cancer free! I am so happy for John! This is such an old and funny picture, but the only one I have!

Homecoming 2008

This past week was homecoming week at SUU and we got right into the fun.

At the 3rd annual Presidential Ambassador Reunion, they "retired my polo". That is what you see above Andy's head. So hilarious.

But it was really fun to connect with old ambassador friends. Afterward, we went to the Smash Mouth concert which was fun. The next day the homecoming parade was fun and the football game was exciting! They almost won.

Can you believe this view? It's little things like this that remind me that I live in an incredible place.

Enjoying the football game.

Happy Birthday Dallon!

Happy Birthday Dallon. Dallon is my very first nephew. Dallon is so smart and fun to be around. I feel like I'm talking to someone my own age when talking to Dallon. I remember when he was like three or four and he would use the word "actually" I thought it was the cutest thing ever! I also really loved it when Andy and I were dating and the two of them would play Guitar Hero while I watched them become friends. Happy Birthday Dallon - we love you!

Lake Mead

We spent the weekend with friends in Las Vegas and went jet skiing in Lake Mead. It was such a good time.

Putting up the tent on our secluded beach.

Sun kissed and tired after an awesome day at the lake.

My swimsuit, that before this past weekend had only seen our back yard. I've been dying to wear this thing somewhere.
Hooray for Lake Mead.

Andy's cell phone managed to get drenched in the lake on our way from the dock to the beach. He took it apart, laid it out on the towel, left it for a couple of hours of 100-degree sun and we're back in business. After the lake, we all went out for sushi. Thanks everyone for the fun!

Cobb Salad

Our newest iceberg favorite.

My husband. My manly, tough husband is obsessed with iceberg lettuce. Before we got married, I was a lettuce snob and refused to eat iceberg. Now, you won't find our refrigerator without it. Whenever I mention that we're having Taco Salad, Cobb Salad, or Lettuce Wraps for dinner he gets so excited. He loves the fresh, crispness of iceberg. So, I am asking you for ideas of recipes I can make with iceberg lettuce. And in return I'll share this easy one with you:

NICOLE & ANDY'S COBB SALAD
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce
3 slices of bacon
1 ripe avocados, seed removed, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 rotisserie chicken or turkey breast diced into bite sized pieces
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1 hard-boiled large egg, grated
1/2 cup Blue Cheese Dressing

1 Cook the bacon in a skillet on medium heat until crisp on both sides. Remove from skillet and lay out on paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Allow the bacon to cool. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

2 Slice iceberg into two wedges. Wash and dry.

3 Compose the salad. Arrange the chicken or turkey, the bacon, the tomato, and the avocado decoratively over the wedges and garnish the salad with the grated egg.

4 Drizzle with Blue Cheese Dressing and enjoy!

This version serves 2.

Now share your iceberg recipe ideas!

Sheep Trail

After much anticipation, we finally rode through the sheep trail this weekend. This is a trail that is used to herd sheep from Cedar Mountain, under the freeway, and underground to the fields in the west part of Cedar City. It is like this concrete underground tunnel that is over a mile long. It was wild. Andy has been telling me about driving an old ford explorer under it for over a year, and today we finally had a chance to check it out for ourselves.

This was our vehicle:This was the terrain:

And this was the ride: (yep, we scraped the ceiling a little bit).


It was a rush! I love to imagine cowboys herding sheep under this trail.

Fresh Tuna Burgers with Thai Dipping Sauce

I found this recipe in the Fine Cooking Magazine. Here is their pretty picture of it which is what made us want to try it:

I should have used red serrano pepper instead of green because theirs looks prettier. It was very tasty and quite easy too. The Recipes:

FRESH TUNA BURGERS
1 lb. fresh sushi-grade tuna fillet
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbs. finely chopped red onion or scallion
2 Tbs. mayonnaise
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. m inced fresh hot green or red chile
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. canola oil

With a very sharp knife, cut the tuna into 1/4-inch dice. Alternatively, cut the tuna into 1-inch chunks and pulse in a food processor until just chopped, about 4 quick pulses - take care not to overprocess. Gently stir in the cilantro, onion, mayo, ginger, chile, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Shape the tuna into 4 equal 1-inch-thick patties. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes and up to 4 hours.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the tuna burgers until nicely browned on both sides but still pink in the center, 2 to 4 minutes total. Don't overcook or the burgers will be dry. Serve with Thai-Style Dipping Sauce.


THAI-STYLE DIPPING SAUCE
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 1/2 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. minced fresh hot red or green chile

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving to let the flavors develop and blend.

Andy's Massive Sign

Andy and his guys built a huge sign for a customer on Cedar Mountain.

I love this picture of his employee, Adam, because you can see that one of the letters is almost bigger than he is.

This is Andy bending some metal, yes with his bare hands. They actually had to build the sign in their shop, then cut it in half to transport it and then weld it back together on site. You can see how large it is.



This is Andy and Don and some heavy equipment getting the sign securely situated.

Andy has had a really busy summer and has done some incredible work. We have recently updated his website with all of his work. Check it out at www.fundercustoms.com. I am so proud of him!