I just unpacked with the help of my boy Spike. I can't wait to see what all my Flickr peeps have been up to! I really tried to stay off the computer while I was on holiday but I did upload a few Scotland photos. I'll be working on them all weekend, so be afraid! I hope everyone is well and I can't wait to get caught up. My trip was just amazing. I had the time of my life. Here are some highlights: ~Greyfriars Kirkyard. Wow. I cried the first time I saw the gates. What a beautiful historic cemetery. Just unreal how beautiful. Our flat overlooked Greyfriars and I couldn't stop looking out the window! ~Our flat! What a lovely little apartment. We had a lovely little gas fireplace in the living room and a well appointed kitchen. We had some initial trouble just getting into the flat when we first arrived (that dang mortise key!) but a kind neighbor helped us out. ~Hot sticky toffee pudding. HOLY MOLY! Yummy goodness... ~The World's End Pub = Veggie Haggis with whiskey sauce (I will miss you Veggie Haggis) and hot sticky toffee pudding (I will miss you toffee pudding!) and Cranachan (I will miss that raspberry oatey goodness) ~Buildings. Buildings. Buildings. Just stunning and it makes me want to cry just thinking about how much I'll miss them. Oh, I will miss them. ~Nighttime in Edinburgh. Nighttime in Edinburgh is magical to begin with...but nighttime in Edinburgh on Halloween? ::::faint::::: Heaven on earth for me. Too much to take in. ~History. I've become a bit obsessed about Scotish history. Murder, intrigue, madness. Wow. The stories I heard on tours were just magical and gothic. I did research going in, but what I learned was just so great and fulfilling. The stories! ~Walking everywhere. It was really fun to discover Edinburgh hoofing around. Just so much fun. My calves are screaming at me...but I wouldn't want it any other way. My poor shoes. My jeans were always muddy...so much fun. ~Loch Ness. We took the Loch Ness boat tour and I stayed topside during the whole trip. It was cold and freezing but me and about 3 other people stayed on deck. Such a great ride...so very pretty. Did I see the monster? No, but Duane did down below. ~Skulls! Everywhere I looked in cemeteries...SKULLS! Sensory overload. ~The Highlands. Our tourguide, Shelby, was such a great guide. She was energetic, warm and witty. It was also her last tour so she went all out. The Highlands were so stunning and Shelby's storytelling was spoton and just so informative. We had a great fun! ~Hot sticky toffee pudding. Did I mention that already? What was NOT good about the trip? Scaffolding! SCAFFOLDING! I was soo looking forward to seeing Advocates Close...to take great photos. When we got there? SCAFFOLDING ruining the whole view. ::::sob::::I couldn't believe it! A bit upsetting. ALSO, scaffolding in Greyfriars obstructing some classic stones! There were 3 classic stones that I couldn't even see due to scaffolding. I won't lie and tell you I wasn't heartbroken, because I was, but hey, I'm in Edinburgh, I got over it! Duane hit the nail on the head by saying that Edinburgh can be overwhelming at times. It's true. There is just tooo much to take in. Too much to do. You do the best you can. I think we did pretty good! I love you Scotland! I hope to be back someday to do the 800 things I didn't get to do!

Oh my goodness, I made it in time. I really wanted to make it before the clock hit twelve so that this would be posted on Dec 2nd, my birthday! :D 1. If you can count the number of candles, I'm already 19!!! :o 2. And spazzing over the awesome birthday cake that I had - McFly-style. Do you spot Danny, Tom, Dougie and Harry? 3. I added noise intentionally... really wanted the faded, film-ish look again... :) 4. I love birthdays - because there are candles and it makes the picture extra special. :D 5. Today I watched Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale, to celebrate my birthday! :) It was a really nice one and a half hours! 6. I also had Starbucks - it was the day where they gave away free tall-sized beverages and encourage you to donate to the Salvation Army! :) I donated! :D 7. I always wanted to say this, but I'm going to write a couple of testimonials for some special people here... let me know if you want one though, I'll be happy to write one for you! 8. I have decided to start a 52 week challenge.... it seems apt because it's also on my birthday, and in a year we'll be back on the same date, so... yes. This will be good for me. :) Also, I found out today my sister got a waterproof film toy camera for her birthday back in April... and she took it out to show me today. -.- Wow. 9. If you were wondering, I designed the picture on the cake, so yay! 10. I love December, it reminds you of snow, coldness, gloves, hot coffee, shaky breaths, birthdays, christmas, winter, white, lights, a calmness.... it's really indescribable. I mean, many people sing of December, so it has to be special yes? ;) Hope your week goes well too. :)