Change of Plans.. Again.

The past couple of months have been interesting. I've been busy and completely uninspired, therefor I've been quiet. I finished last semester with pretty nice grades. Marinó came home shortly before Christmas and we spent the holidays with my family. We celebrated the New year in my family's cabin in the countryside and took a pretty big decision in the first days of 2014. We will not be moving to Copenhagen. At least for now we will live in Reykjavik. On the 4th of January we moved into a small apartment in downtown Reykjavik, and have slowly been making it our home. We are content, and I am filled with a sense of security that I have not felt in a long time.

In other news.. We did take a trip to Denmark. My sister Telma came with us over a weekend, and then Marinó joined us for a week, before we headed home together. It was extremely nice and extremely cold. We took a trip to the ZOO, walked Strøget again and again, took a tour around Christiansborg Palace and rode our bikes all around the city. The highlight of the trip was visiting my old daycare, and meeting up with my childhood friend for a cup of coffee. We had not spoken since we were seven, so it was fun to catch up!

Now the vacation is over and it's back to school!

Snowstorm.

My bedroom window.

Tonight I am taking a moment, staying up for a little longer, listening to the snowstorm raging outside my window. 

It is slowly starting to feel like Christmas is just around the corner. 

Still Life.

Hello there!

I got immersed in lectures and assignments as soon as school started a couple of weeks ago - and I am kind of loving it. I am taking two history courses this semester. One is History of American Illustration, the other is Art History through the 15th Century. I have always been fascinated by history, and Art (of any kind) History is especially fun. I almost don't even mind the weekly papers. I can not say which class I like better. I feel like I have learned so much in this short time since school has started. I am halfway finished with my notebooks (that I intended to use until Christmas), because I think so many things in the lectures are worth scribbling down. I am so happy that I am taking these classes online, because I can take as long as I want to write down my notes. I would have been the horrible kid in class that keeps everyone waiting for the next slide while I finish writing.. I've never been a fast writer.
Two Liberal classes are a lot in my opinion, so I took two studio classes as well. I am taking my first Clothed Figure Drawing. It is pretty strange drawing non-naked people, and I have not used my charcoals since last spring, so I have gotten a bit rusty.
I am also taking Still Life Painting. This is actually the challenge of the semester. I've never used oil colors before, so I was a little.. actually, A LOT intimidated by this class. I had some trouble with my supply shipment and wasn't able to start my first assignment until after the first module. Meanwhile the assignment became larger and larger in my mind, and even after I got the supplies I put it off as long as I could. Eventually I just started. I was so surprised how easy this was. Oil colors are a medium I've always wanted to try out, but because of the hassle around it and how complicated it seemed, I never actually went for it. But oh how mistaken I was. I really, really enjoyed it. I am pretty happy about the outcome as well. One thing that I think might have some effect on why I love this so much is that due to lighting, I have spent the late evenings on these assignments. Living in a home with six people can get a little chaotic and loud, plus having a little monster who is entering the terrible twos. So these moments, when everything is dark, and everyone is sleeping, just me in the silence, painting are heavenly.. To me this really is still life. I plan to continue cherishing these silent moments for the rest of the semester.

Goodbye summer.

This summer was a wonderful and a little tough one. The time we were able to spend together was incredible, but I also had to be away a lot. I took two very difficult courses online and spent the better part of the summer at the National Library of Iceland with my mom, studying. The time I got off we planned carefully. There were some trips to the summer cabin, lots of café hangouts and a few (very few) sunny days enjoyed. I also managed to take part in a 10 km run. That is something I never would have imagined I could finish.. But I did it and I am pretty proud of myself!

Having the chance to be with family was the best part. Ylfa fell in love with her grandparents and to her nobody is cooler than her uncles. It has been so precious to see her bond with everybody and grow over the summer. She is talking non-stop and two weeks ago she started going to daycare. The same day Ylfa started going there Marinó had to leave us. He went back to SF to pack all of our things and finish up some business. We miss him terribly. He will be back in a couple of months and we will spend Christmas together here in Iceland, before heading out to Copenhagen in the new year.

Here are some highlights from the summer:

Meeting baby Sky and spending time with family.

We actually managed to spend some time together

Hanging out with friends + Cocktails

WORK

The Icelandic countryside

Bathtime + Cuddles

Summer ended with goodbyes and new hellos

Yesterday we had some people over for coffee and cake. It would maybe not be mentionable, except for the fact that the living room was so dark that I lit some candles. In that moment it hit me... The summer has left us, and the dark winter is creeping in. Summer time is always fun, but for some reason winter has always been my favorite season. I felt a little tingle of joy while lighting the candles, and I can't wait for the dark days, with candles and warm blankets, to be upon us.

Hello again.

Beautiful Iceland

This summer has been a sad one for my little blog. After coming to Iceland at the end of May I took a few days to rest and meet up with people. Then school started and I barely had time to breathe. Because of all that was going on with school, taking care of my family and trying to spend some time with my friends and family in Iceland, I had no time left to put into of my small space on the internet. Therefor I took a break.. that lasted a little longer than I had planned. The summer just flew by with such a speed that I did not notice how long my blog was silent.

But now I want to come back. I am filled with a longing to create and share and be inspired.. hopefully when school starts again this Saturday, I will still be able to put a little love and time into this project of mine. Until then at least I will try.