I mentioned in the first part of this two part reflection that the main goal of our little road trip was to go to Memphis and visit Graceland. None of us have ever been, including my grandmother, who loves to tell the story about how she was on her way to pick up my uncle from football practice, when she heard the news of Elvis' death on the radio and had to pull over to compose herself due to the amount of shock which followed.

With that being said, Graceland did not disappoint us or my grandmother. There was way more to the estate than just the tour of the home. We saw his planes, all of his cars, and what seemed like countless mini museums with photos and belongings. The whole experience was definitely surreal and entertaining for all of us. For me, it was inspiring, as well. I can totally get behind Elvis' "go big or go home" style and over-the-top taste, and spending the day surrounded by a whole new level of glitz and glam was a dream come true for me.

That night for dinner, we ventured into downtown Memphis to eat ribs at Rendezvous, which was recommended to us as a must-visit, and that did not disappoint either. They were easily the best ribs I've ever eaten, especially the lamb ribs my dad and brother ordered, which were insanely delicious.

Other than Graceland, the highlight of Memphis for me was also seeing the Mississippi river for the first time as we briefly crossed the bridge which borders Arkansas. I've never been that far west before, so seeing a completely different part of the country other than the southeastern part I'm used to was really quite the experience for me.

tennessee road trip: nashville.

Back in March, my dad, sister, grandmother, and I took a road-trip to Tennessee. My brother, an officer in the Air Force who's currently training in Mississippi, met us in Nashville, the first stop in our two-night adventure. We spent the 2nd leg of our trip in Memphis, but since I have so many photos, I'll be covering that portion of the trip in a separate post.

As you can see through the photos, Nashville was pretty rainy, but nothing too unbearable for walking around. What made things extra difficult, however, was the flood of blue-clad University of Kentucky fans that you can see can in the last picture. Without realizing it, we timed our trip perfectly with the SEC tournament. We all couldn't help but just laugh at our luck, because these kinds of things seem to only happen to the Robinson family on big trips and vacations.

Fortunately, this didn't change much of our plans because our main goal was to get to Memphis and see Graceland. Nashville was just a fun stop along the way for us, and it still was despite the weather and the crowds. We were able to go to the Johnny Cash Museum, which is probably one of the biggest highlights of the trip for myself, since I'm a huge fan.

Nashville was a colorful town glittering with neon lights, and it shined bright even in the rain. Walking around, smelling barbecue and hearing familiar country songs, it felt like home and Hollywood all rolled up into one. I'd definitely like to go back sometime when I have more time to truly explore the city, but I'm thankful for getting a small taste of what it's all about.

beachin' pt. 1.

Sharing the DSLR photos I took from my beach vacation a few weeks ago. We usually go every year to the beach to celebrate my grandmother and brother's birthday, a tradition we've been keeping up since he was born on her birthday 22 years ago. We stayed in a beautiful house super close to the beach, right across from the pier, and it was wonderful. The last time we stayed in a house like this was four years ago. My brother had just graduated high school. I was going into my junior year of high school, and my sister was about to start high school. This time around, my brother just graduated college, I'm going into my junior year of college, and my sister is about to start college. Time is a funny thing.

I have a ton of more photos from the trip besides these which I took on my iPhone and plan on sharing soon.

from the weekend.

Remember me saying a few days ago how crazy life has been lately? Well on top of all that chaos, my brother graduated college and was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant this weekend. Crazy, right?

His commissioning ceremony was so beautiful and it was awesome seeing so many of our(and his) loved ones gathered together. Michael, we love you and we are so proud of everything you've accomplished. Life may be moving at a million miles a minute but we are so excited to see what it has in store for you!

His beautiful girlfriend, Nicole(pictured second from top), also graduated this weekend from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Biology. We are insanely proud of her as well, as everything she's accomplished is no easy task to say the least.

Last but not least, the flowers pictured at the bottom are from Mother's Day. I'm feeling so thankful for such a strong mother who can handle the craziness like no other. This weekend definitely reinforced her unconditional love during the good times and the bad. Mom, you're the best and I love you. I feel like I say it every year, but you don't get thanked nearly enough for all that you do.

shrimp and grits and surprises.

So a while back, my dad, brother, and brother's girlfriend drove up to visit me. The plan was to get breakfast and then look at potential cars for me, because my family and I have been talking about getting me a car some time this year.

After a delicious breakfast at Early Girl Eatery, my dad parks next to this car in the student parking lot. He proceeds to look at it, asking me if I was interested in something like this. I obviously liked it, but I thought it was a student's because it had a UNCA plate already on it. He opens it to look at the interior and I freak out thinking he's breaking into someone else's unlocked car. After literally walking away and begging him to stop, he tells me the car is mine. Commence immediate tears of joy and laughter at my own stupidity. I seriously can't believe I fell for it, and I still can't believe the car is mine. 

It is so perfect, and I am so amazed and grateful that it's mine.
2010 Hyundai Accent Hatchback. Excuse the really quick picture of it, I think I was still in shock. Also, I am posting this about a month later because I wanted to have some better pictures taken of it, but we've had so much snow lately that I haven't really been that mobile, so this will have to do.
So far 2014 has really been my year. I am loving absolutely every minute of it, and I am so grateful for what has come my way and equally excited for what's ahead.