Páll Ágúst

Posted on May 30, 2014June 29, 2014 by jamie

We were married by Reverend Páll Ágúst Olaffson at Búðir Kirka on 27 May 2014. Páll is a jolly man with a generous smile and a firm handshake. Our paths crossed about three months ago after we had settled upon having the ceremony at the Búðir Kirka. In our first email exchange, I had written that though neither of us are religious, we are both spiritual people; though we had not desired or planned on a religious ceremony, we were both open to the idea of making our wedding sacred in some way. Páll’s response: “The only thing that matters is that you love each other and that you are excited to get married!” Instantly we knew that we had the right person.

As we began organizing the ceremony, Páll forwarded us his typical ceremony format and asked if we would like anything special. We had two requests: that he leave room to read a letter written from Pia’s father, Marius; and that we have a chance to read our own vows to each other. Páll was happy to oblige.

Once all the arrangements were made and we had both travelled to Reykjavik, I got an email from Páll on Sunday night, wondering if we might be able to meet briefly the next morning. As it would turn out, Páll was living in Reykjavik, traveling the two hours’ distance out to Búðir and his other parishes. We arranged to meet him in the lobby of our hotel at 9:30 AM the next morning.

At 9:15 AM, our phone rang—so much for Michigan Time™. Páll was waiting. Jamie & I hurried to finish getting ready and jumped on the elevator. When the doors opened, there stood a man with a quiet, friendly face. We introduced ourselves, and Páll asked us a few questions about our travel and our plans for the next day. He gave us instructions about the paperwork due that afternoon in Stykkishólmur, wished us a safe trip to Snæfellsnes, and was soon on his way to a ‘9:30 emergency.’

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Arriving at Búðir

Posted on May 29, 2014June 13, 2014 by Pia Eva Greiner

After our adventure in the mountains and Stykkishólmur it was finally time to go to Búðir. For four months, this place with the tiny little black church was on our minds daily. Knowing that not only we would get married there, we would finally get to see each other, hold each other, fall asleep and wake up in each other’s arms. While our days in Reykjavik were wonderful, we finally settled into being ‘us’ on the road to Búðir. We listened to Bach, Beethoven, and finally Sigur Rós. We drove through mountains, clouds, rain storms, and coastlines. Though we had decided to use a map from now on, we didn’t look once. We knew it would come up and the suspense of every turn was filled with more and more love. More and more connectedness, until finally, while listening to Sigur Rós’s ‘Góðan daginn’ (an absolute favorite for the past couple months), the black church appeared. With teary eyes and held breath we quietly drove up. We came ‘home’ at last.

We walked into the hotel and were greeted the with friendliest smiles, amazing smells from dinner and the cutest dog named Nagli (nails). We walked up to room no. 23 and just fell in love. The views from our room: ‘moonland’, seaside, and the church. We hugged for a long time in the open window overlooking the church. When we finally were cold and damp from the wind and rain, we headed downstairs for dinner.

The whole hotel had turned into a sea of candles! Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better we ate freshly caught salmon and drank delicious wine. From the moment we drove up the road to Búðir, it finally started to all fall in place for me. After a hot bath in the middle of our room, we went our separate ways for a little while. Jamie rewrote his vows in a postcard moleskine. I went downstairs and sat on a couch by a window overlooking the sea. After chatting with the quiet hotel manager, I ended up just copying the vows I had already written a few days before, it felt right.

Not much sleep happened that night, the rain came down hard, adjusting to the midnight sun and the excitement for the next day were reasons to not close my eyes. I was so comfortable though, next to my love and in a huge, warm, and soft bed.

Our ‘Detour’ on the Way to Stykkishólmur…

Posted on May 29, 2014June 13, 2014 by Pia Eva Greiner

Our way to Stykkishólmur to meet with the county official for our final paperwork became a bit of an adventure. Thanks to ‘Garmina’, our Brittish GPS tour-guide we ended up in the mountains, on a road where we could hardly turn back until we had to drive through a river and our earlier suspicions of being on the wrong path were confirmed. We should have listened to our hearts but we were so preoccupied with excitement and nerves that we let Garmina guide us.

Up until Borganes everything was fine but about 10 minutes out of the last ‘big’ town before one hits the middle of nowhere we ended up on a mountain road toward… who knows. On our way we were first greeted by handfuls of the cutest little lamb and their protective mothers. They are so curious and yet so shy. They make the sweetest noises and above all, they wag their teeny tiny tails when they drink.

A lot of potholes later we were stopped by a group of horses that were grazing off the side of the road and drinking from the water that filled the potholes. We stopped, rolled down our windows, and were stared straight into the soul by these friendly beauties.

Not long after our meeting with the Icelandic horses we literally couldn’t drive any further. We checked Garmina and, oh yes, we were on our way to the complete wrong place! As a last sign, we came upon a totem marking the road as it forked—in one direction through a rushing river, the other up the mountain over a potted road. A slight panic set in as we were actually on a deadline. It is hard to imagine that one can be on a deadline in the countryside where time seems to stand still and the light is just as bright during midnight as noon. I jumped out of the car. Twenty turns later, we were finally turned around (the road was tiny) and on our way back to the main road. We were quiet, focused and even the horses sensed that we were in a rush this time.

The county official, Dadi, would be present at his office until 4pm. We arrived at 3:36 PM and rushed inside. With a serious look he asked us to sit down and hand him our paperwork. Without a word he left the room and came back with a very serious look, sat down, told us that everything was perfect and then—only then—he smiled. We looked at each other and sighed with relief. We were going to get married tomorrow!

We drove around Stykkishólmur for 10 minutes, stopped into a little store where I bought some lace to pretty up my shoes (which was eventually done with a hairpiece…) but then headed to the car, we were ready to go to Budir.

After we ate a real Icelandic Hotdog, with questionable crunchy bits in it, on our way to Budir, we laughed about it all. We also decided that from now on we will listen with our eyes while on the road and using a good old road map.

The Best Kind of Industrial Accident

Posted on May 26, 2014June 29, 2014 by jamie

Trying to avoid some of the cold and the rain, we traveled south yesterday to Keflavik, spending the afternoon at the Blue Lagoon. While relaxing in the glowing blue thermal pools, we both realized how exhausted we have become over the previous months. We slathered white silica mud across our faces, sipped Skyr smoothies, steamed in the bath house, and drifted across the pools in search of the hot spots which would soothe our souls.

The funny thing about the Blue Lagoon is that it is actually the result of an industrial accident. Next door to the resort is a geothermal plant which pumps hot water from deep underground, extracts its energy, and injects the used water back into the crust. The only problem is that the water doesn’t want to go back down. The same silica mud that we make our ridiculous masks out of stops the water near the surface, causing it to flood and spill out into the crater-like landscape. Looking at the lagoon on Google Earth you can see how this industrial accident played out.

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Departure

Posted on May 23, 2014May 23, 2014 by jamie

My plane has just pushed off on its way to LGA for the first leg of my trip. It’s hard to imagine that just about three years ago I was boarding a plane like the one I’m on now, beginning another journey that would change my life.

It is completely surreal that in just 48 hours I will again be with Pia and that shortly after that we will be walking hand-in-hand across a field to the tiniest little wooden church tucked inside an alien volcanic landscape. It’s hard to process all the emotions that we have been going through over the past months that we’ve been apart.

Pia last visited at the beginning of March. During that visit, like all the others this year, we had just enough time to forget that we live apart. And like all other trips, about four days before departure, one of us gets ‘the look’—the pallid look of desolation that spreads across one’s face as their heart sinks into their stomach under the weight of imminent loss. As soon as the look sets in, both of us are hopeless. It’s as if a bubble forms between the two of us, cordoning us off from the rest of the world as we try to hang on to every last moment of our time together.

I wish I could say that this goes away with time, but, in fact, the inverse is true: with each successive visit our hearts sink deeper, our tears flow more readily, and urge to hold on becomes more severe. This suffering reveals something I find quite beautiful between Pia and myself. When faced with hopelessness, we turn to one another. We do not hide, but walk forward hand-in-hand, facing the world together.

So it’s with these thoughts that I make my departure. There will be much to celebrate over the next month and I can’t wait. And when the emptiness returns, I will cherish that there is someone out there who can make me feel so deeply. Some people never find that person. I did in the middle of Iceland. And now I’m on my way to find her again.

Five more days…

Posted on May 20, 2014May 20, 2014 by jamie

Only five more days until we finally see each other again. And only 8 until we are married!

It has been an interesting ride. Stressful on one hand because of the distance but on the other hand it has been such an exciting time. We have looked forward to this moment for over a year and now it is finally here!

Thanks to everybody who has sent cards, emails and presents! We will be bringing everything with us to Iceland to open and read things together on our wedding day.

As we go we will be shooting little videos and photos to document our trip to Iceland. While the wedding itself will be small and intimate, we are looking forward to sharing our journey with everybody.

Stay tuned…

Jamie & Pia

Right choice

Posted on May 20, 2014June 10, 2014 by Pia Eva Greiner

Recently we have been asked many times if we feel like we made the right choice to elope. Every time our heart breaks a little. When do you ever feel like you made the right choice when there are so many choices that are wonderful. Well, the one thing I am 100% sure of is that we made the right choice to get married! Yes we would have loved to have everyone there, and, yes we love that it will be just us. We haven’t seen each other much this past year and we will be able to fully enjoy each other and focus on our love this way. One makes choices based on so many things and we were bound by timing and distance.

So, I believe that the most important thing is that you are happy with your choices and we are!