Hallo. Ég heiti Jackie.

I am trying to learn how to say that phrase, which sounds more like, "hallo, yay hettay Jackie" than anything else. I am working at this rather simple task because we are leaving for Iceland in a little over two weeks! It's a spur of the moment thing, J and I got it into our heads that we needed to go somewhere interesting this year, somewhere awe-inspiring. Two days later we had booked our flights from home to Reykjavik and back, and now we're cruising through a guide book to try and figure out how best to spend our eight glorious days on the ground. Every corner of that country (it's only about the same land area as England) has some jaw-dropping, spiritually powerful scenery, from icebergs (which we plan to hike on), to fjords, to miles and miles of lava fields, cliffs, ocean, and friendly little fishing villages. We plan to stay in small towns almost the entire time, sleeping in our sleeping bags to save some dough (in Iceland, most accommodations offer a dirt cheap sleeping bag option, which includes a room, but not a bed). We are ridiculously excited about this bon voyage we are about to take. It will be something.

On an unrelated note, I have become a Bikram yoga devotee. I go twice a week at least, and I've introduced J and another friend to the experience, with mixed results. J got so dehydrated that his electrolyte level plummeted and he experienced cramps in his hands and around his mouth. Weird, scary. Next time, more water.

Here's to Iceland and sweat!