We Got Bourboned.

So down to N’Awlins (New Orleans) we went for Kari’s 50th birthday. Woo hoo! It was going to be the time of our lives for all 11 of us! Sunshine, Bourbon Street, and living it up!….

Just kidding about the sunshine. But 11 of Kari’s closest friends and family flew down to New Orleans for the weekend to celebrate the big 5-0. So we fly in, get picked up in a limo as it was way cheaper than all of us paying for cabs, and finally arrived at our little bed and breakfast. We then decide we are going to get going to the beautiful, infamous Bourbon Street. We all can’t wait, so of course, we beautify ourselves. We get outside, start walking, and it starts to rain. So Carolyn suggests that we stay under cover beneath the bridge until the rain passes. However, no one heard Carolyn, and so there we all are, trucking away in the rain, and what once was rain was now a torrential down pour. This was pretty much the equivalent of people pouring buckets of water over your head. By the time we got to the next block, the make up was running down our faces, the hair was sticking to us, jeans glued to our legs. At this point we could have chosen to be cranky, however, we were troopers! No bad attitudes allowed in this gang!

Side note: Kari’s idea was to only bring a carry on, as we were only gone for the weekend. Remember this.

The night went superbly, and so we went to bed, woke up, and were ready to take on Friday. So off we go back to Bourbon Street, the temperature dropped significantly, and no word of a lie, the temperature was wayyy colder than back home in Canada. So now, clothes are all drenched, no layers available (as we thought it was going to be hot and sunny), and so we have no additional clothing. We are frozen. So we go out and buy gloves, and sweaters. YES, you heard us, gloves and sweaters! That night we go out to celebrate, and Kari takes all her money with her. All of a sudden, there is no wallet to be found, no ID’s. Karsyn went on a serious mission, talked to every security guard, made announcements through the guy on stage, had the security guards watch the video footage, and came to a conclusion that we knew who had taken her belongings, but no evidence. This could have made for an awful, drastic attitude change, but we had fun! We chose to be positive.

Next thing next, we start heading back to the hotel. Rylee forgets her shirt in the cab. Karsyn almost lost her phone. And we were now all billboards for New Orleans, looking like HUGE tourists.

The last night rolls around, and we are frozen to the core! Again! We went on a bus tour, even though we had already seen everything and anything. We go to the cemetery that is a must see when you are down there! And guess what, Karsyn and Ben go for a little stroll to grab some water from the store, and KA-BAM! Face plant into the cement. Karsyn is scraped from top to bottom. Thighs. Knees. Hands. Arms. Face. Just another instance of a time where the attitudes could have changed horribly, but what are you going to do? Sometimes life throws your curve balls and you have to just roll with it.

Moral of the story - we did have a great time! It was fun! We can choose to have great attitude and have fun, or we could have had a bad attitude and it would have changed the whole weekend to being awful. We always have the choice to change to positive in this moment. And what is money, anyways?