Heidi's Haven

Stirling, in my opinion, is the greatest city in the world. It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, full of nature, beauty, history, and excitement. It is also where I lived for a summer while I studied abroad. If you get the chance to go to Scotland, I highly recommend visiting the central city of Stirling, and here are 5 things you should see while you're there. 1. Stirling Castle The childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots and the ruling place of countless other heroes of history, Stirling Castle is one of the most important locations in Scotland.  2. Hike Dumyat Pronounced Du-my-at, this steady climb up 1,371 feet for amazing view of the city of Stirling. As you walk, you'll encounter sheep and highland cows (coos) along the way. 3. Wallace Monument If you've seen Braveheart, you've heard of William Wallace. This monument is built on the spot where William Wallace and his men watched the British approach b...

I recently spent some time in Michigan's upper peninsula. One of the places I stayed on my trip was Marquette. While there, I decided to do one of my favorite things: hike to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugarloaf Mountain is an easy climb (we even took the "difficult" path) takes you up 1060 feet to amazing views of Lake Superior and the surrounding forests. It only took about 15-20 minutes to climb, the path is well worn and clearly marked, but it's definitely hard to leave those amazing views and come back down again.

In early April, when the weather finally started getting warmer, I took a little road trip to see the Seven Bridges Park in Milwaukee. This gorgeous covered bridge is why I came to this park. At the very start of the trail, you walk across this bridge, which reads: Enter this wild wood and view the haunts of nature. The beautiful wooded trail led right to the beach of Lake Michigan. I wish that I'd had more time to explore the many trails, but I suppose that just means that I get to come back sometime soon! May the God given peace of this leafy solitude rest upon and abide with thee.

If you travel to downtown Milwaukee, you may see three large, glass domes standing out among the buildings.  That would be the Mitchell Domes, a park just outside of the busyness of the city that houses three giant greenhouses. Each dome has a theme: a tropical dome, a desert dome, and then a show dome that changes throughout the year. The show dome was under construction when we were there, but we were able to go inside and see their progress. The theme is "Alice in Wonderland".

On a recent trip to Milwaukee, I spent a day wandering around the Milwaukee Art Museum. First of all, the architecture of the building is incredible. The "wings" of the roof are opened up each morning and closed at night, and they "flap" closed and open again each day at noon.  And really, you just can't beat that gorgeous view of Lake Michigan! The art inside was truly incredible. We spent the entire day looking at all of the pieces. Luckily, I went with my sister, who studied art in college, so she was able to point out important artists and tell me about their work and the movements they were involved in.  By far, the coolest thing was a piece of interactive art. It was literally just a light in a room and a fog machine, but we spent such a long time playing with the effects in this room.

Hello friends! Last Saturday, I turned 21. It's crazy to think that I'm already that old! I had an amazing birthday, though. I'm lucky enough to have been able to spend my birthday in Ireland! First of all, here's me at midnight right when I turned 21! I was pretty excited. I took a day tour on my birthday, and the first stop was at this beautiful castle ruins in Cashel. Next up was Blarney Castle! I got to kiss the Blarney Stone! The final stop on the tour was the city of Cork, where we did a little shopping. Once we were back in Dublin, my friend and I went for a night out, complete with tiara and "birthday princess" sash!