Griffins on the Go

March 18, 2011

Jackson Hole

I wanted to share a few pictures of our awesome trip to Jackson Hole. (My camera was on the verge of dying the entire time, and sadly my camera battery was about the only thing I left behind. So, here's a couple of the very few pics I took. No worries though, Jill and Mere took tons!) We were gone for 6 days, and had a ball spending time with our friends! The first plane took us from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, then another from SLC to JH. We had an incredible house that slept 14 people, and we were able to cook dinners, sit by the fire, and enjoy our time together. We skied for 3 days and on our last day, David and I took a snowmobile ride through Yellowstone with Meredith and Johnathan. It was gorgeous! And we had the most hilarious guide, Bob. He was a trip! A real ski bum/outdoorsman from out west. On the trip, we also met a young couple who had quit their jobs in New Zealand and had been traveling since last June all over the States, Canada, South America, and Western Europe. Needless to say, we were envious of their lassez faire lifestyle.
David's skiing has improved tremendously (thanks to his Ski Instructor Kimmee), and he and I took it easy mostly on the soft snow and the runs at the bottom of the mountain. One afternoon, we took the lift up high and had an interesting time skiing back down the mountain. On our last day of skiing I was brave enough to do it again...and came down unscathed! Afterward, David and I took the gondola to the top to see the views...it was snowing so hard and was so cold and windy that we didn't stay long!
At the bottom of the mountain was a great place for us all to meet back up and have a beer in the afternoons - The Peak at the Four Seasons. They served great lunches and beers, but our favorite drink was the Bailey's Hot Chocolate!
We had an amazing time skiing the mountain, laughing with our friends (especially playing the Game of Things and watching the Bachelor finale), and eating good food. Looking forward to our next time with everyone!

On our way!

On the way into Jackson...

The bottom of the mountain at the ski resort

From the bunny lift!

My skier hubbs!

The view from our afternoon perch

The adorable little skiers in their tutus!

And the conclusion of ski school...all in a line!

Before dinner on Saturday night at the Snake River Grill

Under the antlers!

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar!

Boxed wine!

We had fresh snow all week!

Taking off through Yellowstone!

Old Faithful

The snow was really deep in places! David and Meredith sank!

Buffalo

Headed back to the airport

March 11, 2011

Headed out West...

This morning, David and I are boarding a flight to beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming to go skiing with our friends The Roberts, The Kings, The Campbells, The Grays and two other couples. While y'all are enjoying the cusp-of-Spring weather in the high 60's, we'll be enjoying fresh powder with this forecast:

Fri Mar 11AM Clouds / PM Sun 31°/16°

Sat Mar 12 Mostly Cloudy 37°/23°

Sun Mar 13 Few Snow Showers 37°/23°

Mon Mar 14 Mostly Cloudy 38°/25°

Tue Mar 15 Few Snow Showers 37°/25°

Wed Mar 16 Rain / Snow 36°/24°

Happy Skiing!

March 9, 2011

Healthy and delicious!

Its no secret my affection for my favorite kitchen utensil - my handy dandy Magic Bullet mixer. I've had so many people ask "What all can you make with it?" Well, add this one to your list with homemade guacamole, pesto, and salad dressing...mashed cauliflower. Yep, cauliflower to take the place of your beloved mashed potatoes. I know I am not the only one out there who tries to eat healthy, so this is a great substitute for those carb cravings. And, a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables like kale, collards, broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts is essential. David and I eat a really low carb diet (save for those occasional frozen yogurts and bread in the restaurant basket! Oh, and does wine count? :/ ), so this was a nice alternative to mashed potatoes that can have up to 18 grams of carbs per serving! Yikes! The healthy cauliflower only has 2-3 grams of carbs! Now that's my kind of substitute!

I mean, do these mashed potatoes and gravy not look divine?

But these mashed cauliflower with chives look equally as good!

My ingredients: sauteed tomatoes with basil; reduced fat milk; Smart Balance; cauliflower; and my Magic Bullet.

After adding all the solids into the bullet mixing cup, I filled it with milk to create a creamier texture.

They look great!

And placed on the plate with grilled salmon, grilled asparagus, and sauteed spinach, they were wonderful!

March 8, 2011

The new Hamsleys!

I just had to include a few more pics of the new Mr. and Mrs. Griffin Hamsley. I totally stole these from Facebook but wanted those of you who don't have a FB account to be able to see how great they looked at their rehearsal dinner, how pretty Alli was on her wedding day, and how cool the reception venue was when the party was in full swing! Happy Tuesday!

March 6, 2011

Wow! What a weekend!

David and I had a full weekend once again, and loved every minute of it! We were able to be with so many friends! Friday night we met friends Meghan and Brian, Lauren and Ryals and Renee at Davio's in Atlanta to splurge a little since it was Restaurant Week. We loved being with them in our private dining room and eating that delicious Italian food while catching up! On Saturday morning, we had brunch with the Griffins to celebrate Pammy's birthday. Brio was wonderful....after a few frozen Bellini's, a crepe and some creme brulee, we were on our way to pick up Christen at the airport and head to LaGrange for Griffin and Allison's wedding. We were so excited! Griffin and I graduated high school together and so many of our HS friends were there as were a ton of Georgia Southern friends to support he and Alli. The wedding was at the First Baptist Church and the reception was at an amazing new venue downtown with bricked walls and a lovely trayed ceiling. Their band was awesome and played forever! Today, before heading back to the airport, 14 of us had breakfast at Cracker Barrel to celebrate Christen's March 10th birthday! Here is the birthday girl with her ice cream treat!