Making a Comeback

Well, I figured a couple years was long enough; it's time to get back to posting.  2012 was a fun year for us: we went to Iceland, I got my K-6 teaching license, and we celebrated our first anniversary.  2013 is looking like it's going to be one of the more eventful years that we've had together: we leave for India in 4 days, we're going to Ecuador for the month of June, and then we're going to live in whatever country that I can get a job in starting in August.  Whew- makes me tired thinking about it. :) And a little bit excited.  

If you know me well, you probably know that Iceland has been a dream/obsession of mine for quite some time.  While living in S. Korea, I decided that it would be a good idea to brush up on my Icelandic, regardless of the fact that nobody else in Korea speaks it.  Hardly anyone else in the world speaks it, really, so who cares?  Needless to say, my expectations for the trip were a bit high.  Fortunately, they were fulfilled in every way.  Here are a few of my favorite things:

Lamb hot dogs on every corner

The best lobster soup in the world.

The awesome streets in Reykyavik.

Felix, our reliable friend.

Oh, just some scenery.

 Not my favorite thing.

A little more scenery.

Naturally heated swimming pools.

 Just some glaciers; NBD.

 Fred, the puffin.

The best blue mussels around.

 Beautiful nature.

Whale watching.

 Turf grass roofs.

 Waterfalls.

 Volcanic Activity.

 Nuff said.

And that just touches on my favorite things.  If you ever get the chance to go to Iceland, do yourself a favor and go.  

My (late) New Years resolution is to post more on this here blog.  I hope to get at least one good post in during our three month trip to India.  I know, the whole one of you who reads this can barely sit still due to suppressed anticipation. 

New Travels

December was a busy month for us.  We finished our semesters (mine teaching at the university, Nora student-teaching for her license and taking graduate courses for a Masters degree), gave away most of our furniture and half of our clothes, moved out of our apartment, sold our car, and bought tickets to India.

Now that we have our passports returned from the Indian mission, with Visas approved and stapled inside, we are good to go.

We'll be gone from the end of January to the beginning of May.  99 Days.  Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

The plan is to start in Mumbai and circumnavigate much of the subcontinent going counter-clockwise.  The other plan is to eat a lot of good food.

We might even update this old thing a little more regularly--with pictures, of course.

Iceland Recap

Having returned from Iceland 3 1/2 months ago, I thought it time I showed a few of the many delights.

 - fish jerky

- a monument to civil disobedience that stands before their parliament building.

 - blonde jesus!

 - imagine Bjork, but with more squawking and more child's toys used as instruments, and you might begin to understand the awesomeness of Sparkle Poison

 - eating a glacier is good for your health

 - attack of the puffins!

 - this is what about 99% of Icelandic churches look like.

 - breaching humpback whale

 - a restaurant/dairy barn that let you watch where your dairy comes from while you eat it. brilliant.

 - one of thousands of Icelandic waterfalls, doubtless named after some saga hero who murdered some other saga character.

 - baby horse tapas!

 - the blue lagoon

 - Iceland's flag

 - our car, Sylvester the silver fox, who journeyed off road more than any car with that small of an engine and low of an undercarriage has any right to do. 

Spring Break

for spring break we went camping on little talbot island, near jacksonville, fl.

here is the walk-up to the beach:

singleton's seafood shack. to get there, we had to take a ferry. it was worth it. this is the old sea town of mayport, and singleton's is awesome.

the kingsley plantation:

camp by night:

the beach at little talbot island:

Until the Future Comes

Here are a couple of pictures from the past year:

(We will be working through time in reverse)

This is cheese that Nora and I made from scratch. Nora marinated it and then fried it with onions. It was the best cheese you've never had.

Here is our Christmas tree with my suitably southern gifts, boots and a banjo.  I can wear the boots better than I can play the banjo.

If cigarettes were this expensive everywhere, we'd either save lives or re-establish the tobacco industry.

Here's Nora, very much on the edge of a very high cliff. I took her to North Carolina for her birthday. Less dangerous activities included eating too much and soaking in a natural hot spring.

Last but not least, which is the place graffiti usually occupies in art, here is this thought for you: