Oh be careful little eyes...

I've developed this new habit in Amsterdam, maybe you've heard of it.  Insomnia.  Wanna know a secret?

IT SUCKS.

Like a Hoover in overdrive.  Holy moly I'm gonna put Tylenol PM outta business over here.

Anyway, what better way to combat insomnia but homework blogging and hot chocolate, right?  Right.

For a little update, last week I welcomed some lovely visitors to my city.  My mom and my dear friend, Maddie, made the long journey across the pond to suffer jet lag and miss out on Thanksgiving dinner and Black Friday just for little old me!  Now if that wasn't something to be thankful for, I don't know what is!

We spent the first 2 days exploring the city, they took a canal cruise, we checked out the Red Light District... ask my mom about that one ;)... it was hilarious, and spent hours on end laughing til we cried over sleepless nights of snoring, my geographical illiteracy, and never a moment spent without song or movie quote.  It was a week I will never forget. Did I mention we went to Scotland too!?  Edinburgh held a quaintly beautiful hotel, a 12-hour bus tour through the highlands, JK Rowling's favorite café, and loads of little shops.  It was a charming city, and I am very thankful and blessed to have been able to share it with 2 of my favorite people on this Earth.  Here's a photo montage of the visit!

Upon arrival at the airport! Bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Mom and daughter on a beautiful day!

I Amsterdam.. even in the rain!

Cheers to a Happy Thanksgiving!

We ate a delicious Thai Restaurant near the Red Light District.. and rolled all the way home :)

Snow capped mountains on our tour of the Highlands of Scotland.

Loch Ness was my favorite part of the tour.. even though I didn't spot Nessie.

"Birthplace of Harry Potter"
I've signed the bathroom :)

The Edinburgh Castle

On top of Edinburgh 

There she is ladies and gents

  While we were riding through the middle of nowhere Scotland in a charter bus with 20 other tourists, I gazed out on the snow capped mountains and was beside myself with confusion.  Sitting out here, where the air is as crisp as cool Gala apple, with one house every mile if that, and beautifully snow-capped, virtually untouched mountains, all I could think of is how selfish this whole "end of the world" myth is.

We, as Americans, keep going on and on and on about how much harm WE'RE doing to this Earth, and how OUR lives and OUR world is going to come to an end.  Well I bet your bottom dollar all these Doomsday Preppers have yet to make the trip to Loch Ness.

I doubt they've seen the delicate desolateness of the Scottish Highlands.  The beauty that lies simply in the simplicity of the unknown, unchartered land.

Yet because..

WE are the most powerful country in this world, 

WE are all we really worry about, and 

OUR world is coming to an end because of the harm 

WE alone are causing.  

Well guess what folks, from my point of view, there's a side of the world out there that doesn't have all signs pointing to apocalypse and I think it's about time we pull our gas masked heads out of our rear ends and be thankful for what have had, and the opportunity to do what we can do to give back to this Earth we constantly take so much from, instead of hiding from what just might be the inevitable.

But this isn't all, these thoughts of embarrassment over the selfishness of this country that I truly am so proud to be a part of snowballed into my return from Scotland, as a few political conversations with other internationals have put into perspective for me how much our country's political figures effect the rest of the world.  Call it ignorance, I'll say I'm naïve, but I never really realized that our President, our currency, our opinion alone probably effects every other person in every other country of the world.  Talk about a power trip.

And here I am, pouting the day away because I can't wait to return to the Mecca that is the USA.

And there it is.. I'm ready to come home, y'all.

Even though I can think of a million things I still want to do, still need to do even, that Temperpeudic pillow waiting on my bed trumps it all right now.  There's only so long I can go with hairy legs, Dutch subtitles, and Skype hugs.  And after seeing home here, live, in person, I'm longing for that 9 hour day of travel that awaits in a few short sleepless weeks.  But please, if you take anything from this post, don't let it be that I'm taking anything for granted, or am not fully living out the opportunity I've been given, because that's simply not the case at all.

If anything, take this post (if you've made it this far) as my last prayer request, that these last days be filled with as much adventure as the first, that I find the encouragement to power through my exams, and that I can fit all my stuff back into a 50 pound weight limit ;)

Much love from Amsterdam on your Wednesday evening in the States,
Messie