March? No way.

Wow... is it really March 2??? How did that happen. Time is absolutely FLYING by here... I can't believe we are in the month of "Marzo." It blows my mind! Its exciting, but at the same time... really sad! I have a feeling that I'm going to be at the end of my semester here before I know it, and I'm not going to be ready to leave. Until then, I'm just going to have to take each moment as it comes, and appreciate it! I haven't even written about my time with my family, so I'm going to attempt to write a shortened version of their time here in Granada with me. :)
When I was waiting in the Granada airport for their arrival, I cant even explain how excited I was. With every person that walked out of the arrival gate.. my heart jumped. (It sounds really cheesy, but its true!) Once I finally saw them, I couldn't help but jump up and down and giggle. I felt like a little girl all over again, which was refreshing in a weird way. I burried my head in my dad's chest and didn't wanna stop hugging them! On the bus ride from the airport into Granada, I couldn't stop talking about my city. The busy was packed and we were the last people to get on... But I was able to sit by Nolan. As his eyes were taking in all of the sights of Spain, his ear was also being overwhelmed with my jabbering of nonsense things. Good thing he is so patient with me! The first thing we did was dropped off their bags, and got food- of course. We found a cute little restaurant closest to my school. My family's first meal in Spain was very suitable- Paella! :) Apparently they liked it... so that was good. I then made my way to classes and they went back to the hotel to rest up a bit! That night Mom, Nolan and I went to check out some live Latin Jazz music, and Dad and Clayton went to bed... understandably. Apparently Nolan and Mom are just a party waiting to happen ;) The next morning we woke up pretty early and caught a bus to Malaga. Malaga is a city on the southern coast.. and it is about an hour and a half bus ride to get there. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. There was either a carnival going on at this time, or the city just has a lively street life... Because there were performers (painters, mimes, etc.) all along the main street. It was so fun to watch. We then went to the Picasso Museum. It was super neat to be able to see authentic pieces of art by Picasso. He actually lived in Malaga.. and there was a tour that you could take to see where he lived, and get a taste of his life.. but we didn't have time. Maybe another time :). Anyway- the museum had 155 pieces of art from Picasso... even just sketches. It was so crazy to think that his hand had been above that piece of paper years ago. So neat. We then made our way along the coast... and took a LONG walk along the harbor to find the beach. The boys wanted to see the ships up close... and it turned out to be about an hour walk until we finally reached sand. Once we did, it was so worth it :) The weather was probably 70 degrees.. I was wearing jeans and a tanktop. We then just took in the sun for about an hour, and then it was time to catch our bus back to Granada! When we got back, the boys and I met my friend Maggie at Burger King.. and we made our way to the discoteca for the night! We had SUCH a fun time there. We met some other American kids, and found ourselves dancing/singing to Lady Gaga.. jumping up and down.. in a discoteca in SPAIN. The boys loved every minute of it.. I could tell. They also were getting plenty of stares/winks from the Spanish girls. ;) It cracked me up- but how could they not?! By the end of the night... we left back for the hotel at 3:30. Success. Sunday we slept in, and just kinda chilled out in the plaza... explored... those kinds of things. Most of the stores in Granada are closed on Sundays, so it was a very chill atmosphere which was refreshing. Monday rolled around... and we ended up going to the Alhambra in the mid-afternoon, because it had been raining earlier in the day. The family loved it, and I was glad they got to experience all of its majesty! The weather held up, and we got some beautiful pictures. Dad was infatuated with the view, but how could he not be?! We got one of those little personal tour headphones, so the boys enjoyed hearing the historical references throughout our Alhambra experience. They're just so darn smart... those boys. :) Tuesday the boys decided that they wanted to try skiing in the Sierra Nevadas, since I had class from 8:00AM to 9:00PM. They woke up super early, and were pumped to hit the slopes! Little did they know... the mountain would be closed due to strong winds. They arrived at the mountain at 9 in the morning... and there wasn't a bus returning to Granada until 4 in the afternoon. SO- their day was spent sitting in a cafe, with no phone, internet... or books. They got a beautiful view of the mountains, though! I was told it was a very "relaxing and go with the flow day." Maybe its just what they needed! Needless to say, they were excited to be back in Granada at the end of the day. Wednesday and Thursday were spent checking out different restaurants inbetween my classes, shopping, and people watching. Paco and Maria went out for tapas with us Wednesday night. It was so so so neat trying to play "translator" over the dinner table, though a little overwhelming at times with two conversations going on! It was so cool to have my "three families" together... The Blythe's, Alex, and Paco and Maria. I just felt so grateful for everything that God has blessed me with... especially during this time in my life. Paco and Maria and mom and dad got along great... and my parents thanked them over and over again for being an answer to prayer. (This may have been one of my favorite parts about the trip) Friday was daddy's 45th birthday... I didn't have classes. We went shopping, once again... and mom and I got our last scarf purchases. We went out for dinner with Alex again, and then went to a karaoke bar! I sang Shania Twain, "Honey I'm Home."- CLASSIC. Mom showed the Spaniards what was up... by whipping out a little Bonnie Raitt "Let's give 'em something to talk about." She even won a prize! She tore down the house. It was such a blast. Then, sadly but inevitably, Saturday morning rolled around. It was time for them to leave... I took them to the bus stop at 7:15AM, said my goodbyes... and walked back across town to my apartment. It was SUCH a dream and blessing to have them here. At many times, it seemed unreal! I'll definately remember it for the rest of my life...

As of now, I'm still chugging away at class. They are getting tougher, the deeper we get into the material.. but that's expected, right? I'm feeling more and more comfortable with my professors, so thats a good thing! We booked our trip to Spring Break yesterday. We decided on going to the Canary Islands, rather than Italy.. because an entire week in Italy was going to be a a bit too expensive for our budgets. We are planning on doing Italy the last weekend in April now, if things go as planned. Today I also bought my plane tickets to visit Dublin, Ireland the 15th-18th of April. SO- as of now.. I have London, Paris, Barcelona, Canary Islands, Sevilla, Dublin, and Italy in planned and paid for to visit! Thrilled is an understatement. ;) Thats all I have for now though, thanks for checking in, all!