Top 10 or 2012 (# 6)

6. Paris
    One of the cities we were most excited about seeing while living in Europe was Paris. Caleb had traveled to France with his family when he was a kid, and I had yet to experience this romantic place, so needless to say we were thrilled when our sweet friends Kris and Tiffany Holstege proposed a week-long adventure. Along with Matt and Corrie Ott, the six of us stayed in a condo/time-share a little outside the city, rented a van to hold us all, and set out to have our own Parisian experience. 
     Because we had some flexibility with schedule and transportation, we spent several days touring neighboring towns, including Orleans- a city liberated and made famous by Joan of Arc, Rheims- the capital of champagne production, and Versailles- seat of the palace and former capital of political power before and during the French Revolution. Inside Paris, we toured the Lourve, the Musee d'Orsay, the tomb of Napoleon, and Notre Dame, captured to views of the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees, and of course watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle.
     One highlight of our trip, however, would have to be our day spent at Euro-Disney. Much to the dismay of certain travelers (my husband), the six of us bundled up to experience Disney, Paris style! A little silly sure, but all in all it was such a fun day. While Paris wasn't one of my favorite cities in Europe, I was amazed to see some of these places in person, and our company was unbeatable!

Church in Orleans

Champagne Cellars in Rheims

Corrie, Me and Tiff in front of the Louvre (pyramid entrance)

Notre Dame

So beautiful at night!

I love these girls!

RULE! (Napoleon's tomb in the domed building in the background)

Get excited!!!

This just about sums it up :)

Top 10 of 2012 (# 7)

7. Western Med Cruise
    After such a successful cruise in 2011, we decided to get the crew back together for round 2. This time, add in Tom and Liz Dowd and a new side of the map!
    Our 7 night cruise started in Rome, and made stops in Genoa Italy, Cannes France (where we also took a train to see Nice), Barcelona Spain, Valencia Spain, and Mallorca (of the coast of Spain). Each city held it's own charm and pizazz, and we loved exploring this part of the Mediterranean. Our last day was to be a day at sea, complete with laying by the pool and relaxing on deck. Unfortunately the 15ft swells and 20mph winds closed the pool and kept us all in doors. Good thing we had great company (and a lot of food!) to keep us entertained!

Tom and Liz cannot believe how big this boat is!

Champagne with the Captain (or Captains, when our guys took this a little more literally)

Aquarium in Valencia

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The church was started in 1883 and is still being worked on today.

Gaudi wanted the church to feel organic, like it was growing from the ground up toward the heavens.

Las Ramblas in Barcelona

The birthplace and childhood home of Christopher Columbus in Genoa, Italy

The coastline in Nice

The view from the water taxi into Cannes

formal night

us and the Otts on the water taxi

Beautiful church in Mallorca

last dinner on board with our awesome wait staff, Sherman and Yasir

 

Top 10 of 2012

2012 was an amazing year, packed with traveling, visitors, laughter and tears. We were thankful to have both sides of the family out to visit as well as dear friends, separate trips to the US for work/school purposes for Caleb and I, rounding out with a wonderful visit to Texas for Christmas. Sadly, we lost Caleb's grandfather, Walter Cienski in August of 2012 and were unable to make it to New York for the services. He is dearly loved and missed and we cannot wait to reunite with him in heaven.

So the best of the best this past year? Where do I begin...

10.  Leadership in the Squadron
       Caleb and I were blessed this year to take an active role in the 510th Fighter Squadron. Caleb officially took over as the Mayor of the Buzzards and, only because of him, I was named the Mayorette for the spouses. For Caleb, this mean coordinating, overseeing, and mastering the social aspect of the squadron. He was the official MC for squadron events, the go-to-guy for planning and executing purposes, and the leader for things that us wives have no idea about! I, simply, was in charge of small spouse gathering and promoting unity amongst our group. For me, this was more a position by default, as I happen to be married to one funny guy, but Caleb has shown such poise and class as the Mayor. I am so proud of all the work he has done and how he has been able to make a lasting impression on the squadron.
        At the turn of the new year, Caleb was able to hand off this job to another incredible guy in the Buzzards, Patrick "Merc" Arnn. While it was bittersweet to turn over the reins (ok mostly just sweet as it was A LOT of work throughout the year), we are so excited for Merc and his sweet girlfriend Jess to pick up right where we left off!

9. Spouse Taxi
    It is always fun for me to understand Caleb's job a little better (albeit I grasp only a small part....those acronyms!). The squadron arranged for a spouse taxi in the spring of 2012, where I was allowed to suit up, get "trained" and ride in the back seat of an F16 as it went in afterburner down the runway. While we obviously weren't cleared to go airborne, it was still a great experience! The icing on the cake was my handsome pilot showing me around. During the b-course at Luke I did a spouse taxi with another pilot, because Caleb was still a student and could not yet taxi anyone down the runway in his backseat. This time around I got to ride with him and it was such a fun, special experience!

I'm in the back seat, ready to go! RULE!

8. A Week In Western Germany
    Caleb is working diligently to finish his master's degree through OU, as they offer an incredible opportunity for military students to take classes "in residence" at different bases overseas. A professor was traveling to Stuttgart, Germany for a particular class Caleb needed for his program, so we loaded up with our good friends Tom and Liz Dowd and took a road trip to spend a week in Germany.
    Before reaching Stuttgart, the four of us decided to participate in a Rhine River cruise and castle exploring. It was absolutely breathtaking! After arriving at the Army Post in Stuttgart, we spent our days touring the nearby cities of Rothenburg and Baden Baden, explored to area of Stuttgart itself, and had the added surprise of a visit from our close friends Dave and Lynn Gertiser! We all bunked up in our suite-hotel room (slumber-party style) and enjoyed quality time with precious friends. It was truly a wonderful week!

On the boat

Tom and Caleb taking in the sites

One of the many cute towns and castles you see from the river

Cute town of Rothenburg

Dave, Tom and Caleb. Love these three!

Catching Up...

Apparently my blogging skills equate to those of my diary writing in middle school...good for awhile, but then all of a sudden I am a year behind and have a lot of catching up to do!! In effort to speed up the process, the next post will be a year in review of sorts. This allows me to catch everyone up without putting you to sleep, while getting to the new and more exciting stuff that has been going on in the Cienski household. So stay tuned...I will get caught up...and then we get to look forward to the next chapter...