New Orleans and My 25th Birthday Weekend!

Now that DAD test is over, I have a little bit of time to make a post! I really got overwhelmed with school these past few weeks, but I don't want to talk about school! I have a topic that is a lot more fun to talk about! My BIRTHDAY! Annnnnddd...A trip to New Orleans! :) Grayson's fraternity formal was this weekend in New Orleans....and hopefully it's his LAST fraternity formal! We left Friday after I got out of a test, and we got stuck on the young people bus. And when I say the "young people bus" I'm not kidding! Grayson and I were the only two people on the bus over 21!! I sat on very front row of the bus with earplugs in my ears and my Drugs and Diseases notes in my lap! Yup...I studied! On a charter bus! With about 50 people behind me drinking and screaming and taking pictures! There was music blaring and and videos playing too. And I still managed to get some studying done! That is...until the sun went down and I couldn't see my notes anymore. The bus stopped in Mobile at a Chick-fil-a for dinner. Grayson's grandmother lives right down the street, and his parents were there visiting. They actually drove over to meet us at Chick-fil-a, and had a nice little family dinner. It was really funny! Once we got to New Orleans, I was exhausted! So being the party pooper I am...I went to bed! The hotel we stayed at was REALLY nice! Or at least I though until I opened my window on Saturday morning. Here a picture of what I saw! Haha! Isn't it the most beautiful view you've ever seen?!?! Saturday morning, Grayson and I pretty much went out and did our own thing. We walked around and went to the French Market, and looked in several shops! I did good and didn't buy anything at all! We actually we back and watched Marlee and Me at one point. My friend Matt came down to the area we were staying and took us to this great little place that had the BEST burger I have ever had! They were delicious!! I had a mushroom and swiss burger, and I can't remember exactly what Grayson had, but it had jalapenos on it. They also had a peanut butter burger. I wasn't brave enough to order it for myself, but it sounded really interesting! After dinner, Grayson and I walked our way down Bourban Street and ran into a parade! It was an Italian American Marching Club parade. People were walking down the street passing out red, green and white roses (no, not real ones), and beans. Yup. I had about 3-4 beans in my hand, and Grayson finally flagged a guy down and asked what it was for. He told us, "They're lucky beans!" Oh of course! What was I thinking?! Lucky beans, some painted, some not. We finally made our way back to the hotel, and my sorority little sister, Chelsea came to visit! I haven't seen her since formal last year! So I was excited to see her! We chatted for a while and caught up. Then she helped me get ready for formal. I didn't take a lot of pictures over the weekend because my camera doesn't really fit in my purse, and Grayson hates to carry it for me! Probably because he hates to take pictures! Haha! We made it to formal and danced and had a good time. Overall, the weekend was a lot more fun that I thought it would be! Especially since I'm so much older than all of the people there! The bus ride back home wasn't as nearly as good at the ride there. We had a different driver who wasn't very good. I felt car sick most of the ride, so I didn't even think about getting my notes out. Plus it was my birthday! And who really wants to study on your birthday?!? NOT ME! So, I didn't...and that was a bad idea on my part! Haha! My sister Lauren called me on my way home, and said that she was cooking dinner and she wanted me and Grayson to come over when we got back to Auburn. So went over, and she had little cupcakes and a Clara Belle Cake! :) The cake was so cute! It was made of two cupcakes put next to each other with white icing to make it look like my dog Clara!! I couldn't eat it, but Lauren's boyfriend Rob could! Haha! After dinner, it was back to reality for me. I had to go take a quiz for DAD. It was at this point that by birthday buzz was killed, and I realized how much I didn't know for the test that I had yesterday! But, I'm planning on going out to dinner on Thursday night with a bunch of friends to celebrate! :) I'm also looking forward to my spring break next week! I'll be headed home to Dalton to help out with DiscipleNow and see my beautiful sophomore girls! I started helping out with their small group when they were in 8th grade when I moved home after graduation. I absolutely love these girls and have really enjoyed getting to know them and spend time with them! Ok, so that's all I have for now. I know it's long, but I'm trying to make up for being M.I.A. the past few weeks! :) Hopefully I'll update some next week over spring break! :)