Post Thanksgiving Hike

Today we did a short hike out to Monument Rock just to get some exercise.  Mere and Tim are still here and we took Clyde along.  It was great as usual.

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

We're hoping that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We went to Denver and spent the day with Tyler and Lauren.  Everyone had a great time especially the dogs (Clyde, Charlie, and Ricki). Tyler made a great turkey in his infared cooker on the front porch and his delicious crawfish stuffed mushrooms.  Lauren made her delicious brussels sprouts with cranberries and gorganzola cheese and her Grandmother's cranberry pudding with sauce, Mere made some great scalloped sweet potatoes, spicy peach jam, and a cider, rum, thyme cocktail.  The weather was great and we had a fun time!!!  I wish we had taken a group pic (Lauren if you can, send me a copy of the one you took)

Our new chef fav.................

We recently came across a chef named Nick Stellino on TV.  Arn loves his accent and frequently mimics him.  This past weekend we tried his Coffee Rubbed Steak.  It was simple and delicious.

Coffee Rub
1 Tbsp Espresso coffee
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
Mix and rub on both sides of steaks.  Let the steak rest in the fridge for at least 30 min. and up to 4 hr.
Grill steak and let rest for 5 min.

Delicious!

Meet Ricki

This is little Ricki (yes, Tyler and Lauren got another dog)......She is very cute and very sweet and Charlie loves his new little sister.  She reminds of Maggie.  She is a great comfort to her Mom at this difficult time in her life.  She kind of makes me want to get a puppy but.............not really.  An occasional visit will be fine.

Master Bath Update - we can take a bath!

We have finally finished the shower and tub area...........and we can use both.  We had a few goals with this project.
1. Enlarge the shower so the water doesn't splash all over the glass.
2. Enjoy a spa-like feel.
3. Have a doorless shower.
4. Have a heated floor.
We did all of this to the tune of a few more bucks than Arn wanted to spend.  We replaced the old whirlpool tub and went with a free standing one (instead of having the contractor lift the old one and tile around it) for a similiar cost.  We went with a pebble floor but got the ones that are sliced so we stand on a flat surface.  We decided on a pony wall instead of all glass so that it could be a 'shelf'. We tried the teak bench inside the shower but Arn didn't like to bend over so we are trying the plant stand as a place for soap, etc.  We decided on not having a soap dish or shelf attached to the wall since these areas just seem to collect water and mildew.  The onyx deco strip in the corner was put in vertically instead of horizontally just for something different. Water doesn't splash on the glass very much or out or the entry way which is good.  We also are enjoying the rain head shower with the flip switch for a more powerful stream when we want it.  We will be getting the walls texurized to match the other ones and need to get estimates for a new countertop and we also need to look for lights.  We kept the old vanity and just changed the knobs. The floor is on a timer and comes on twice a day.....it's great!