Vegas Vacation 2012

In February, Jon and I took a trip to Las Vegas with our good friends Kellie & Kenny. We happened to be there during Superbowl weekend, which was so much fun! We stayed at the gorgeous Aria (where Jon and I stayed on our honeymoon) and the weekend was full of gambling, partying, eating and relaxing.

 The first night, we went to see Tim Allen do stand-up at The Venetian, and had dinner at Domenico's Steakhouse. Jon had a steak that was to-die-for, and I had a scrumptious tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich

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Kellie and I split an amazing pecan pie for dessert.

We all watched the Superbowl at Todd English Pub, located in our hotel, and it was glorious to be able to sit outside in 70 degree weather in February! We had a lot of fun....even though we were rooting for different teams.

Our last night there, Jon spoiled me, buying me some sweet Ray-Ban Aviators...

As is true majority of the time, Vegas won, and unfortunately, Jon and I did not come home with any big winnings. The only machine I won on was the 'Hangover' slot machine....and I won 30 bucks. Oh well...maybe next time!

We had such a fun time, and hope to visit our favorite vacation spot again next year!

Cooking...My New Obsession

Lately, I've been on a food kick, cooking every chance I get! I've come across some delicious recipes, and thought I'd share them here, our the blog. By the way, if you haven't heard of Ree Drummond, "The Pioneer Woman", do yourself a favor and try out one of her recipes! They are delicious! To get the recipes, click on the link (recipe name)...

Lasagna Soup
I found this recipe via FoodGawker.com. It is an easy to prepare, one-pot dish that is sooooo good and just warms your insides! Serve with french bread and plenty of Parmesan cheese. :)

Cosi Tomato-Basil Soup
Next, a delicious, creamy tomato soup. Recently, my friend Kellie took me to a great little cafe in Tulsa called "Cosi", and they had the BEST tomato soup I'd ever eaten. This recipe is a re-creation of that, and I recommend eating it with grilled Gouda cheese sandwiches.

Spicy Pulled Pork 
This recipe was too good! I served it with mashed potatoes, baked beans and bread. It also makes great pulled pork sandwiches.

Apple Brown Betty 
Imagine....a sweet, cinamonny (is that a word?) dessert, that is pretty much heaven on a plate.

 Broccoli Cheese Soup
On a cold and rainy day, this soup will warm your soul. I very highly recommend it! It pairs well with any kind of crusty bread.

Williams-Sonoma Oven Fried Chicken
This recipe is a healthier alternative to fried chicken. It is delicious and super easy to make. I typically pair it with asparagus and mashed potatoes.

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes 
I recently made these for a happy-hour at work, and they were a big hit! They are super chocolaty, and great for an adult party.

Fried Mushrooms
These are so delicious, and go perfectly with Cane's Sauce. These would be perfect as a game-day party food.

December 2011

What a busy month this was! We started the month out with the lovely Caroline's Second Birthday party. Riley loved getting to play in the YMCA gym, eat cupcakes, and attempt to roller skate.

A few weeks later, it was Christmas, and as usual, Riley was blessed to receive some awesome gifts. His big gift was a train set from his Grandpa Jeff.

I cooked a ham and sides for our Christmas Eve Dinner, and the next day we went to my dad's house for some delicious prime rib. It was a day of presents, food, and relaxation. On a side note...this was my first time using my fine china...and it makes any meal look gorgeous!

We also made red-velevet, and mint chocolate chip cookies for Santa Clause...

We had a wonderful holiday, and feel so blessed to have such a wonderful life.

Buffalo, NY - 2011

We took a long-overdue trip to Buffalo, NY over the Thanksgiving holiday.

This was Riley's first plane ride, and Southwest was kind enough to make an announcement on the plane that "we had a first time flier on board, and would Riley Honan raise his hand..."

Unfortunately, our little turkey slept through that...However, we did get a first flight certificate for his baby book. He did pretty well on the airplane, but the 5 hour layover we had in Chicago was brutal!

It was very nice getting to see Jon's family and friends...especially since we hadn't been to Buffalo since 2007. Jon's sister, Melanie, and her boys entertained us, by taking us for a walk around South Buffalo...

 

Our Buffalo trip was filled with lots of eating as well...For Thanksgiving, we went to Jon's cousin, Julie's house and chowed down on a delicious Turkey with all the sides...

Jon's brother Jordan, and his girlfriend also cooked us a delicious meal...

The rest of the meals included various foods that Buffalo is known for. They've got the most amazing chicken wings, pizza and chicken finger subs! Riley loved the pizza especially...

I got to meet Jon's uncle, John, and his beautiful family. He and his wife, Lisa, have 8 children! All are well behaved and made us feel so welcome!

We also got to spend the night in a hotel overlooking Niagara Falls (thanks to Jon's mom!). It was beautiful, and we had a great time.

Our last night in Buffalo, Jon's mom, Audrey, gave us tickets to attend a Buffalo Sabres hockey game. We had so much fun! The people up north take their hockey very seriously...I compare it to our love for Oklahoma Football. I had to get in the spirit, and ended up purchasing a very stylish Buffalo Sabres hat...

After our ten day trip, we were exhausted and ready to head home. But, we had a fun time, and are so thankful to Jon's mom for letting us stay with her during our trip. We hope to visit again soon!

Happy Halloween 2011 - "Bad Boys, Bad Boys...What Ya' Gonna Do?"

Hello everyone! So many changes have been going on in our family lately, and I just haven't had the time or energy to blog...I'm sorry...I hope you'll forgive me. ;)

I'm going to do a series of catch-up posts, and thought I'd begin with Halloween 2011.

Riley dressed up as a policeman, and he was too cute (although, his whistle was promptly taken away after I nearly went deaf...why on earth would a whistle be included in a toddler's Halloween costume?) Jon and I decided to take our little man of the law to the Oklahoma City Zoo for 'Haunt The Zoo', and he had a blast seeing all the people dressed up, handing out goodies.

Because Halloween was on a school night, we decided we'd take Riley trick-or-treating on our block, and then call it a successful night. However, thirty minutes after my two men set out on their candy-seeking adventure, my son came home and wanted to continue to run around and go door-to-door. So, I took over, and walked him around the neighborhood...where he walked up to every single door, proceeded to take handfuls of candy from each house, and run. (Boys!)

All in all, I know Riley had a very fun Halloween....and he collected so much candy that we had to ration it out over the next few months. ;)