the land of ice

I'm BAAAACKKK. Did you sugar plums miss me? Were you bawling over your computer, highly anticipating this post? Tears trinkling down your face as you sob, "Leexyyyyy, whereeee arttt thouuuu"?

No, you say. No? NO?! NOOOO?! *Dramatic cries. Thunderous screaming. Maybe some hyperventilation for good measure. Like a storm. Then I calm down. Like the calm... after the storm? (Okay, I know it's all about the "calm before the storm." But I think the "calm after the storm" is equally sufficient and realistic and anyways, that's besides the point.)*

Oh, right. Silly me. You probably forgot I was gone. You probably didn't even realize. Why? Because I still posted! Because I planned it all out! Because I CARE! Don't you say that I don't take CARE of you! (That's my dad's favourite line. He utilizes it whenever he performs godly tasks for me. Most recently? He smuggled three chocolate chip cookies from his conference in a napkin and stuffed it in his pocket and gave 'em to me for the plane ride. He's a saint. I love him.)

Anyways. I thought I'd divulge a handful of the, um, 1200+ photos I took over the past week. Iceland was a really beautiful place. Different from what I expected. (No, I didn't picture it as, well, a land of ice. NO, NOT AT ALL, DON'T BE LUDICROUS.) (Okay, FINE. But my sister and I bonded over this likeliness in thinking. I AM NOT A WACKO. Or maybe, we both are. You know. Genes and things.) It was a really beautiful place - very vast. There's something like 3 people for every 1 square kilometer. There's something about the vastness and beauty and just... THEREness (?) of nature that just screams, "dude. you're just an insignificant human being on this gigantic planet." I don't mean that in a bitter way. In fact, quite the contrary. I almost like this feeling. Yes, it makes me feel small and worthless and hey-you'll-die-one-day-but-nature-will-still-be-there (or so I freaking hope. hear that people? love the earth!). But there's also something about this feeling of insignificance that ignites thoughts of, "DUDE. You are so insignificant! Your actions don't have a huge impact on the world! Therefore, DO WHAT YOU WANT." It's a little marvelous.

Right now, I'm kind of in a limbo of anticipation. I have no idea what the next year will bring. But I guess a lot of moments of this trip sparked thoughts of, "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE."

I swear, kids, my head is always up in the clouds.

Where do you see yourself one year from now?

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Oh, and here are some of the many, many, many pictures from Iceland. We got to go do a lot of fun and crazy and memorable and beautiful things. My mom books a lot of tours when we travel (i.e. every possible time slot). She is anal like that. I hope you enjoy. I was going to commentate these photos, but I realize that I'll probably start sharing stories about how I tried to smuggle pretty poisonous sea urchins home with a six-year-old girl or how I secretly attempted to send my horse off the path for a wilder ride... so I think I won't. If you have inquiries and things, send them this way. There were many marvelous "this is like a postcard" moments. xxx merry days and stuff.








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If you scrolled through all that, yippee! Hope you enjoyed and the likes.