Well Deserved Time Off

Ryan and I finally took a whole week off since moving to Texas over a year and a half ago. We headed off to Memphis for a few days before spending some time in Monroe, LA with my family. It was quite a trip. We started off getting rear-ended in Greenville on Monday on our way to Memphis. Then on Thursday in Monroe, we found a nail in our tire. Finally, we returned home on Sunday to find that the air conditioner at our house was out. We now need another vacation to recooperate from our originial vacation! It wasn't all bad though. Here are some highlights before the camera batteries died:

Us enjoying Beale Street without all the crowds

Ryan working as a bouncer...

Beale Street at night
We LOVED the music!

Gibson guitar factory across the street from our hotel

We had to wear safety goggles on the factory tour.
Ryan looks like a natural!

Gibson employees working hard...

Almost the finished product:

Another "must-see"...Graceland!

I wasn't impressed with the actual size of the house. Elvis bought it at the age of 22.
I think it was ~$100,000, if I remember correctly.

"The King and I"

Elvis' game room.
Yes, that's fabric you see on the walls.
It was on the ceiling, too!

Elvis' old racquetball court with some of his gold records and costumes.

No trip to Graceland is complete without a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich, Elvis' favorite! It was actually really good.

Did I mention that Ryan and I can't stand Elvis? But you just can't leave that place without some appreciation of what an impact he had on the world. But I still can't stand his music.

Shelby was at Rover Resort (the kennel she goes to when we go out of town) for the week. It was the longest we had ever been away from her. It was so hard for me to be away from her, I can't even imagine how it will be when we have kids. She has a great time when she goes to Rover Resort. We can tell that she plays hard because she is so tired when she comes home. This is just about all she did for a few days after coming home:

I celebrated my 28th birthday on June 24th at the Bavarian Grill with Ryan and our good friend, Ryan Stubblefield. We are a big fan of that place. The food is good, but the atmosphere is even better. I was thoroughly embarassed by the polka accordian guy singing to me. Things got even better when the waiter came out to play "Happy Birthday" to me on the COW BELLS! That was a new experience.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for buying me a beautiful new watch for my birthday. Unfortunately, you can't see it in the picture. But I absolutely love it!