i never used to know the sun would shine after the rain.

I am currently having trouble finding inspiration, and I don't know what to write. Last night was an interesting night, with interesting in this case being a synonym for fairly awful. It was hard to wake up this morning and have hope that everything was truly going to be ok. It sounds extreme, but another thing that I have learned about myself since I have been here is that even the smallest annoyance or problem easily escalates to a crisis in my mind. I am so far from home and from everything comforting that I panic at the slightest issue. There was no wireless on campus yesterday afternoon and evening, and then my keys got locked into my friend's room. Not a crisis, clearly. But all of my forms of communication were gone, and I panicked. Don't worry, there were two open computers in the computer lab, so Jesse and I were able to communicate with the people at home to let them know that we were unable to communicate with them. Haha.

In my quest for inspiration, I will elaborate on my weekend. We adventured to Loch Ness on Saturday! It was a good time, and again, can only be described by a picture:

The hills surrounding the loch were covered in snow, and the water was the deepest shade of blue, to the point of almost being black. It is a sight that I never really thought I would get the chance to see; something that is such a part of fantasy that I never believed I would have the opportunity to take part in the beauty. After riding the ferry boat on the lake (which is when this picture was taken), we were dropped off in front of Urquhart Castle:

What I distinctly remember about the three weeks that I was here as an 8th grader was that we went to too many castles. I didn't appreciate the experience at all, and that makes me sad, because there isn't much chance that I'm going to be able to see those places again. You may be thinking, looking at these pictures, that it was just a pile of ruins, nothing to see. But it was amazing. And each castle has a different character... it's like, if you meet two people with the same name, you don't immediately dismiss the second one because you already know someone with that name. Which is good for me, because there are a lot of Amanda's in this world. Haha. But we are planning on seeing another castle in a couple of weeks, and I am excited! This one is Glamis, the supposed setting of Macbeth. And if you know me, you know that I'm a bit of a Shakespeare fan. Not quite as nutty as the girl in 10 Things I Hate About You, but still, a fan. So anyway, I'm excited to see another variety of castle, to see another personality that is completely different from the two that I've already seen.

As I still am lacking the words to say exactly what I'm feeling, I am going to end this post with this beautiful picture of a river as the sun sets:

What I love about this picture is that you cannot tell where I was standing when I took it. I was in a parking lot, as there were three buses running and spitting diesel-y exhaust into the fresh air, waiting for us to come aboard so we could begin the trip back to Aberdeen. The perfect picture, captured where no one would have expected.

"My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you. I've been running round in circles in my mind. And it always feels like I'm following you, because you take me to the places that, alone, I'd never find. And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight. You're a candle in the window on a cold dark winter's night. And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might. And I can't fight this feeling anymore. I've forgotten what I started fighting for. It's time to bring this ship into the shore... because baby, I can't fight this feeling anymore."

-->REO Speedwagon/Finn Hudson (from "Glee," of course!), "Can't Fight This Feeling"