2016: A Year in Review

This is one of those posts that probably won't interest too many of you, especially as I've blogged (not too well this year!) about many of these topics already... but this is more of a post for the books. For my memory. For my family... and especially for my daughter. 

Regardless, 2016 was good to us! It was less life-changing than 2015 was, but it did bring along a cross-country move and home-ownership for the first time. Each month was filled with many different events, and I want to remember as much as possible.

In January, we took our first family vacation to Niagara Falls, Canada (with a stop at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on the way) when Annabelle was four months old. 

In February, we had lots of visitors to our home in Ohio - my mom, followed by Lydia, followed by Michelle! 

March brought Annabelle's half birthday, Dan graduating with his Master's in Applied Physics from AFIT, and saying goodbye to good friends in Ohio before moving to Texas. 

We stopped in Missouri to see family for Easter on our cross-country drive and got settled in Texas in April. Annabelle went to her first air show and (kind of) enjoyed it. 

We traveled to Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and New Mexico in May, and Annabelle got to go on her first six flights, including one Space A flight on a C-17. We visited family and friends on that trip and even took Annabelle to our favorite places from our years in Colorado Springs. At the end of the month, Dan and I celebrated two years of marriage. Exciting! 

In June, Dan promoted to 1st Lieutenant and started pilot training at ENJJPT, signifying the real beginning of our life in Texas. 

July was hot, and we spent a lot of time walking around our neighborhood in the mornings before it was unbearable. 

August was spent with a trip to Branson for a wedding and a trip to Kansas City for a bridal shower and bachelorette party. Dan flew his Dollar Ride in the T-6, and Annabelle and I went to the airfield to watch Dan fly his first solo in the T-6 - how fun! 

September brought our sweet and sassy Annabelle's first birthday, which was a blast, and a family trip to Dallas to take her to the zoo for the first time. That month ended with a trip to Kansas City so I could stand by one of my best friend's side as she became a wife, and then Annabelle and I visited another best friend in St. Louis so we could meet Baby Huxley! I also finished my exclusively pumping journey, which was a long but well worth it year-long extravaganza for me. 

In October, Annabelle and I returned from our road trip, and we celebrated her second Halloween by taking her to a Trunk-or-Treat event on base. 

November was busy with Dan flying long hours, hosting a giant Thanksgiving dinner, and just living life. 

December brought about Dan completing his training in the T-6 and traveling to Missouri for Christmas and New Years! 

What a wonderful year we had as a family. Here's to 2017 - hopefully it will be even better!

Pre Pilot Training Travels

We recently were able to take a couple weeks of Dans leave and travel the country a bit! Annabelle still hadn't flown on an airplane, nor had Dan's aunt and uncle met her, so we first headed to Portland, OR to see them for a few days. While there, we went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum an hour away and wine tasting, of course!

After that, we rented a car and headed up to Seattle, WA for a couple days and then caught a Space A flight out of Joint Base Lewis McChord, which was really neat. Annabelle did SO well on the  c-17 we flew on, and it was our third Space A trip! I definitely prefer it to commercial flying, but it's not always a smart option... just depends on your timeframe! Dan had 10 unused days of paternity leave that the Air Force so graciously lets new dads use any time within the first year... and since Annabelle was born on the first day of his three week break between grad school classes, he never needed to use it... I'd say we put great use to it!

From Seattle, we went to Colorado Springs, CO! Yes, I know, I know... we've been there a million times and even lived there for several years... but I have zero regrets because I got to eat at my favorite restaurants, see friends, and even visit my former coworkers and some students I taught a couple years ago, and let me just say that it was a real treasure seeing these teenagers interact with Annabelle. That alone made my heart so happy! We also were able to take Annabelle to the Air Force Academy and Garden of the Gods for some photos, which I will share another day because I love how they turned out.

From Colorado Springs, we took a Greyhound bus (don't do it... just my advice) to Albuquerque, NM to visit one of our good friends, Aaron, who has now been deemed Uncle Aaron. It was so great catching up with him for a few days; we had so much fun! From there, we flew home to Texas and slept SO well in our own bed. Traveling is a lot of fun, but it sure is exhausting... especially when you're moving cities and hotels every few days!

Enough of my rambling... I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the speaking for this post.

We had an amazing trip overall and are so fortunate that we had all that time together before pilot training starts! Lieutenant Lovemuffin will be so busy that I like to call this the calm before the storm. 

Have you visited any of these cities? 

Babymoon Series: Kraków, Poland

If you've been following along, Dan and I went on an epic babymoon adventure in March. We had a BLAST. I've already written about our time in London and Cambridge, but Kraków is where my heart was.

I had wanted to travel there since I was in seventh grade... so for 14 years. It was incredible to say the least, and I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity. I will write in more detail about the reason why I so desperately wanted to go, but in short: Auschwitz. That deserves a post all of its own at a later date, though... so today, you get Kraków.

The architecture was stunning, everything was inexpensive, and the food was completely hit or miss. We had a wonderful few days exploring this gem in Poland, and we would go back in a heartbeat!

Don't worry - mine was Sprite. Dan got six vodka samples (large) for $5 US! Crazy! I was slightly super jealous, so we'll just have to go back someday when I'm NOT pregnant!

Have you ever been to Kraków or anywhere in Poland?

Would Krakow be on your travel bucket list?

    

Babymoon Series: London, England

Remember when Dan and I went on our epic honeymoon across Europe last summer? Well, it was amazing, but it was cut short due to a family emergency. We never made it to England or Poland... both of which were high on our list. We are so thankful for Dan's accommodating schedule, as we were able to head back to Europe in March to finish our honeymoon - except this time around, we called it a babymoon - and it was so much fun!

We started out in London. Okay, that's a lie. We started out in Ramstein, Germany, but that's another story for another day. I promise I will eventually chronicle our Space A adventures. But for now... we begin in London.

Dan and I had London on our list for two reasons: 1) he went there for some Air Force training in 2012 (during the Summer Olympics, might I add - JEALOUS!!!)... so he was planning on showing me around since I'd never been... and 2) We have great friends who live there! Actually, they don't just live there... they are from there, and we affectionately call them "the Brits". You may remember my post about Lucy from when they visited us in Colorado in 2013... so we just HAD to go see them!

During our time in London, our friends had to work... so we played tourist around the city during the days and hung out with them in the evenings. We had a lot of fun and saw so many cool things! I wouldn't say that London is a favorite of mine... I prefer Paris, Rome, and Athens to it... but it was awesome being able to see a new place!

Also, don't mind our jet-lagged faces in these photos... we were TIRED after all that traveling.

Overall, we had a great time exploring the city and spending time with our friends - and they will actually make an appearance in the Cambridge photos... I promise! 

Have you ever been to London?

What's your favorite thing to do there?