Little bit of this, little bit of that.

Myself at Melrose Abbey.

Today is April 12th? I feel like I just got home from spring break and April had just started. Now it's close to being half over and I leave in a slim  27 days. As much as I love it here in Scotland and living with my friends, as time passes I find myself missing home more. Home, small town Iowa, a place most of us couldn't wait to get out of and go to college. The older I get the more I realized how lucky I was to grow up in small town Iowa, where the summer's are hot and the fields are endless. Especially having lived in a city now for 2 months I cant wait to be home where the only noises you here are the rustling of the trees, the cows mooing, and the gravel hitting a car as it drives by. It's simple things like this, even noises or therefore the lack of noise, that I miss. Even the air, I miss the smell of home. I've been using public transportation for too long now, I can't wait to drive my car down those back roads with my dogs in the passenger seat. The last two weeks have been busy and the next four weeks before I come home are filled with trips, fitting in last minute activities, and lots of paper

Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott's home.

Lauren, Kyra, and I at Abbotsford. 

writing as the end of the semester nears. So to start off last weekend we went to Bowhill, Melrose Abbey, and Sir Walter Scott's home. Bowhill is one of the Duke's homes and there are pieces that were moved from Dalkeith to the home. Such as the grand fireplace that used to be in Marble Hall was moved to Bowhill. It's engraved with a giant "A" for Anne Buccleuch who had Dalkeith Palace remolded. Sir Walter Scott was a famous writer in Scotland, who was the first to have his work sold internationally. His home had beautiful architecture and was in a very scenic area. He also was a collector, so his home was filled with antiques. The day we went and toured all of these houses the bus ride was incredibly bumpy a lot of people weren't feeling to well from the motion. I even ended up taking some Dramamine and woah did it knock me out. At Bowhill I was basically a zombie along with Kyra. Everytime we got on the bus I fell asleep, my friends found it quite comical. We also went to some clubs last weekend and danced the night away. We met two Danish girls whom we

Riley and I at Blacksmith's.

Lauren and I at Blacksmith's

became fast friends with and also met some guys who were in town for a bachelor party or as they call it here a "stag party". They were hilarious and very entertaining. On Friday night this weekend we went to our second rugby game to cheer on Edinburgh or as they say it at the rugby games EDINBRAAAA! It was a good time, but it was very cold. Edinburgh lost this time, so it was kind of a bummer. Today we went to Incohlm Abbey in the Firth of Forth of Scotland. We had to take a boat out to the island. First things first. The island had the largest seagull population I had ever seen. With my fear of birds it

Me wearing one of the masks from the Bachelor Party. The Duke of Edinburgh.

was quite terrifying. They were screeching at me and it was almost to much to handle. Kyra and I ended up being the only two who made it off the island without being pooped on. Champs! The abbey on the island was a medieval abbey from back in the day that was eventually used for military purposes. The abbey is the most well preserved one in Scotland. It was really quite beautiful. Kyra and I walked the beaches and collected as many pieces of sea glass as we could. The water was so blue there and I swear the views here will never get old.

Ladies and I at the rugby match.

Rugby game! Go Edinburgh! 

When we got back to Edinburgh we went to a restaurant called Garfunkles. I would recommend it to anyone who is in Scotland and is missing American food like I am! I had a burger and it was delicious. I have barley ate meat sine I've been here mainly because it just freaks me out. Tomorrow is a paper writing day. I only have three more papers to write between me and the end of semester then I am home free and I want to have all of them done before we go to the Highlands on the 24th. I have a start

Bridge by Incholm Abbey. 

Incohlm Abbey

View of the sea.

Kyra, Trevor, Amy and I at Incohlm Abbey.

on all of them, but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to finish two of them. I am exhausted after my day today of walking all over an island, but when I think about it I really have never felt well rested since I've been here. We are always on the go and traveling takes a lot out of a person. It's been worth 3 months of being tired, but it will be nice to get well rested back home in my own bed. Next weekend is my last weekend in Edinburgh and at the house, how sad is that. It's getting to the point where we can say, "hey this will be our last time here or our last time doing this". As sad as it makes me, it also makes me excited because it's one day closer to when I see everyone back in the states again. The other two weekends I have left here will be spent in the Highlands and Ireland. Both of which I am very excited for. Then it will be time to come home. I know it will be very emotional to leave, but I can tell I will be ready in a sense. I am really ready to see all my friends, family, and animals back home. I really am starting to miss everyone and it's nice to know people are missing me too. It makes you realize how loved you really are and how many people you care about having in your life when you do something like study abroad or are gone for an extended amount of time. I keep getting little reminders everywhere I go here of home. When I was in the kitchen the other day a man was out cutting the lawn and it reminded me of summer days at my house when my mom is out cutting the lawn and I'm riding my horse. Today on the bus a man's dog was so excited because he got a new toy and it kept looking at me with it's big brown eyes and all I could think about was how much I miss my puppies Stella and Shadow back home. I don't want to rush they days away here though because I am still a lot of fun and seeing so many amazing sights. The time is passing fast enough as it is. Sometimes I think about it and I can't believe I really did this, I really studied abroad. I worked my butt off and saved the money up to do it. It had been a dream of mine forever and I made it happen. It just shows me that you can achieve any goal you set your mind to. I have great family and friends who have supported me through this journey and for that I am forever thankful. Can't wait to see everyone back home, see you all very soon!

Much love and cheers!

Morgan