Its been a long time...

Me, Pat and Ian!


The girls...minus hanna!

Why hello everyone, long time no talk! :) Happy Wednesday to each one of you, and I hope that this finds you well! Wow...where do I begin, there is so much to say, but I will try to stick to the highlights and not bore you! :)

This past weekend was our first 3 day weekend so me and 5 of my good girl friends, Hanna (my roommate), Aubrea, Tiffany, Dalia and Kristen! decided to go to Nerja which is in the south of Spain, on the beach! (near Malaga)I discovered when coming to Spain that my Grandpa Payne has a first cousin living there so I contacted them and we ended up staying with them. Their names are Pat Ian and Pat McTavish! Absolutely amazing people! They rented an apartment for us girls to stay in next door to theirs, as well as a room in one of their friends house so we all had a bed to sleep in! We took the train Friday night late and arrived about 1 AM Saturday morning into Malaga. We were met their by my cousins (first time I'd ever met them!) and then drove about an hour to Nerja. Once we got there (this time about 2 AM) we had a feast...pizza, octopus, Macaroons, and a delicious Macaroon Paste (kinda like Humus) that Ian had made! So about 4 AM we crawled into bed...happy but very tired...

our view from where we stayed!

We woke up (later that morning ;) around 10 and went down to old town Nerja and walked around and enjoyed the shops and everything...at the end of our walked we ended up looking over the entire Mediterranean Sea! Absolutely BREATHTAKING!





After shopping a little more we sat down and enjoyed some good pizza for lunch then headed for the BEACH! My cousin has a friend who owns a paddle boat company so we got to take out a paddle boat for about an hour...but not just any paddle boat...it was a PINK FLAMINGO! We swam while out and just enjoyed the most beautiful day ever...I cannot describe enough to you how beautiful it was!





We enjoyed the beach for awhile then went back to meet my cousins for a grand feast for dinner! We went to this restaurant and enjoyed a Spanish style meal...no plates you just all eat off the dishes and pass everything around...we had Calamari, Fish, Pork, Prawns, Chicken...great food! Then since it was a holiday weekend in Spain (Spain Day/Columbus Day) there was a festival so we went and spent some time there, went on a roller coaster! It was awesome....we fell into bed that night again very happy but very tired....



The next day we woke up again and went out to a Flea Market that was in town...shopped for awhile and just enjoyed being outside...it was HOT! but so nice...
we came back for lunch around 3 with my cousins down on the beach...again quite a feast...fish, Calamari, Chicken, Prawns....(drooling yet?!) After our feast us girls went down and swam and played on the beach for awhile...took a bunch of pictures and just enjoyed each other and the beauty that surrounded us!



We then went and got some yummy dessert and coffee! Then came back and hung out with Ian and Pat for awhile...they are absolutely amazing people! They were so hospitable to us girls, took care of us, showed us how the locals EAT and live, and loved on us for the weekend. we left very refreshed and blessed! One of the coolest things about the weekend was that I got to hear some stories about my family (especially my Grandpa Payne as a young boy! ;) They have worked hard on the family tree and so I got to see that and where I fit in and I even got a copy of it! And just a fun fact about the Payne family, and the reason for our intelligence ;) is that we are actually related to SIR Isaac Newton!

So that was my weekend...it was amazing...fun, refreshing and just a huge blessing. A blessing to be with the girls and be challenged and loved and encouraged by them...so thats all for now. I have more stories and of course pictures...but I don't want to overwhelm you! Much love to everyone...