Toni. (Antoinette) Czarka Spalding:  

After working for a number of years in private industry (roughly 14!!) I finally found what I wanted -needed- to do as a career while I grew up. It took awhile, but I had lots of unique experiences along the way that I otherwise would have missed out on... it was worth the trip. That special niche for me was finding away to serve my country without becoming a soldier myself: a job as a civilian for the Department of Defense working in the field of acquisition and contracting. I had the opportunity to support both reserve and regular army soldiers over my 24-1/2 years of service, retiring in the fall of 2011. The return on my investment of time spent interning to journeyman level in the government included taking dozens of classes, both locally and outstate, while at the same being placed in the work environment to get on the job experience. I met the most wonderful people from all walks of life. I successfully completed undergraduate education (graduating Magna Cum Laude) from Wayne State U, and went on to complete my masters degree at the college I once dreamed of attending but never thought I would, Lawrence Technological University. Through work I was given opportunities to travel to Washington -both D.C. and the state, where on a perfect day I was able to see both Mount Ranier and the Olympic mountain range in the same panoramic view. It was breathtaking! I also spent quite a bit of time in Virginia but my most memorable trips were to South America - specifically Bolivia. It must have been destiny. Mom had saved various papers and projects done over the years, and in looking through them she found in my school work from seventh grade world history a research paper I had written about the country of Bolivia -complete with maps of the region and information on the altiplano ! What fun. I worked for the U.S. Army from 1987-2011, serving as a Systems Analyst, Management Analyst, Contract Specialist and Procurement Analyst, and Procurement Management Analyst I had the trying but interesting experience of working on mainframe systems (a whole new world and language for me), as it related to Army contracting and data tracking. Additionally, I worked in contracting on projects that included the HMMWV and retro-fit armor HMMWV programs; Army watercraft vessel and communications (C4ISR) upgrades; various foreign military sales programs, and during the five years prior to retirement I worked for the Program Executive Office, Joint Combat & Combat Support Systems, parent office of the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, as well as the tactical vehicle programs, and too many more to name. ** Bachelor's degree from Wayne State University in 1997; Magna Cum Laude Senior Scholar Award Otto Feinstein Honorary Mention Award for Excellence in Writing for undergraduate thesis ** Masters Degree in Business Management from Lawrence Technical University in 2003. I am married to my best friend who I have been with since 1978; no children, but many pets over the years. At the first writing of this we had a beautiful Siberian Huskey senior citizen (Jake), (deceased 2013) and three cats: a tabby named Toby (deceased 11/2015) who was a snuggle buddy-always there when you need some loving; a black terror named Sam who way out grew his sweet little kitten self into a big kitty that is afraid of his own shadow--he really is the perfect Halloween cat, :-) (2013), and lastly, but not least, a sweetheart calico named Holly, for the time of year she adopted us, Christmas (2014). After finally conceding to surgery, I had my left knee replaced in April 2013. It made a huge difference for the positive. So much so that I joined my husband, two of his siblings and spouses, and took that knee on the road in the fall. Traveling by bus, then train we went to the Grand Canyon for a few days...what an incredible occurrence of nature! We moved on via a mini van which fortunately had some under the floor storage, as between six adult bodies, six pieces of luggage and several carry on bags and totes, we were packed like sardines as we traveled through Jerome for lunch on our way to a couple of days in Sedona. Lovely, lovely, lovely! Perfect weather, beautiful area. From there one more night in Arizona, in Phoenix, then a plane home. A really great week in the company of good friends and family. Thanks to my husband's job, which gave him annual travel to medical education related conferences, I have had the opportunity to see several great cities in the United States among them Philadelphia (100 degrees in the shade), San Antonio and it's historical sites, and San Diego whet I was able to ride horseback on the beach, drive into the mountains for a day, go to the zoo, etc., just to name a few. Then there was.the most wonderful and beautiful Newfoundland!! Twice!! Newfoundland, if it is not on your bucket list of places to visit, but you love nature and light houses and tiny towns and villages where homemade is a lifestyle; and where you can almost feel the fog wrap around you-gentle fingers of mist touching your face and hands inviting you to join it., you should add it. If you prefer, it is a fabulous place for hiking and nature photography, where one day you will be watching the whales and the next an ice burg will float by. . . you really should add Newfoundland to your travel wishes. Your visit choices also include lovely partial shoreline drives that will take you through many small towns where seafood is served fresh from the north Atlantic and will have flavor unlike any other. You can also choose to observe an archeological dig in progress in the town of Fairyland, or take a side trip to one of many island light houses. If any of this touches you then this is the country for you to visit. After a second trip there this year, 12 years after the first, I found I still had a difficult letting go and heading home. And I have not even yet traveled the width and breadth of this lovely country. The year 2014 was super special in that after many years of talking about travel with my sister and her husband, we finally got to Scotland. Wow! For a first trip we opted for a small tour group and coach.... and saw so much in a week! We landed in Glasgow and spent a few hours there walking and bussing around to see the sights and partly observing a large organized group who were vying for a YES vote on the separation of Scotland from the U.K.... the vote was held during our time in country (it did not pass).. However, it did make it an even a more exciting time to be there. Additonally we spent the night at a lodge in Inverness, travelled the Highlands which come by their name honestly, stopped at one of many scotch distillary's; traveled to the awes...Expand for more