Marine Corps Birthday Ball 2009

Let me begin by saying, "Happy Birthday, Marine Corps!"

The above picture is, you guessed it, Mike and me at the ball. I used some cool special effects and am thinking this photo might be a framer.

While I'm on the topic of the photo, take a look at my Marine's medals. They're lookin' good, wouldn't you say? The one that caught the most attention last night was the bronze star... it's the star on the far left.. and it actually looks more like gold than bronze. just saying.

In any case, straight to the point, the ball was a BLAST. It did, however, start out a bit rocky. It had nothing to do with the shoes (I managed to make it through the night without a single episode of tripping on my dress) and it had nothing to do with the hair (I managed something that I deemed acceptable). It had to do with the fact that Mike was in the sword detail.

In other words, he was part of the ceremony and wasn't able to sit with me for the first 30 minutes of the ball. Which was supposed to be okay, because our friends were at our table, so I was supposed to have company. But, they were late.

While Mike prepared for his sword detail, I took a seat at the table... by myself... for a good 10 minutes. Awkward. No one else from our table was there! Finally, one of the marines showed up and told me the ball had been delayed by 50 minutes due to some traffic situation.

So, I headed for the bar. And that's when things started looking up. Our friends arrived, and we had 50 minutes to drink and socialize before the ball began. Translation: everyone had a nice buzz going before heading in for the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony. The first 30 minutes of the ball the Marine Corps impresses you with their incredible sense of honor and discipline. They remind you that you're not just there to dress up, socialize, look pretty, and have fun. You're there to remember the Marine Corps and all it stands for. They make you proud to be part of something bigger than yourself. It's quite awesome.

And, if I may say so myself, my Marine did an impressive job marching in, standing at attention, and providing sword detail for the guests of honor. Sadly, I have no pictures as my table was near the back of the room, and I couldn't get a good shot of him. So, you're just going to have to take my word for it.

After we ate the delectable food and had a few photo ops in our pretty clothes, we took to the casino. (Oh, did I mention the ball was at a local casino?) Some of the girls and I changed clothes, but the boys opted to stay in uniform. We had so much fun that we stayed out until 2 am! The boys had so much fun that they stayed out until 4 am.

Fun indeed.