Our Second Birthday Ball

(The first part of this blog is a bit belated, but I have a good excuse- we are in the middle of another move!)

I can hardly believe it has already been a year since our very first Marine Corps Birthday Ball that we spent in Florida. Our first ball was such a great experience, from sharing it with our great friends the Reeds, to dancing under a symphony of antique war planes in the National Museum of Aviation, and of course, having the Commandant of the Marine Corps as our guest speaker of the night. I knew that this initial experience was quite spectacular and we were greatly spoiled by this first, of what would be many, annual Birthday Balls. However, although the ceremonies of the Ball follow the same format and traditions each year, somehow this second year at the Marine Corps Ball was a completely different experience than last year's, and we loved every moment of it!

The 237th Marine Corps Ball for the Marines stationed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi was held at the Omni Bayfront Hotel in downtown Corpus Christi. The hotel is located in the Marina district of downtown, and overlooks Corpus Christi Bay. Just the previous weekend, courtesy of a generous gift from my parents for Jordan's selection celebration, we were treated to the most amazing dinner at the restaurant that is located on the top floor of the hotel, the Republic of Texas. It features amazing, multi-level, panoramic views of the the bay, including the boats in the Marina, the USS Lexington and the beautifully lit harbor bridge. We were even treated to a full moon the evening we had dinner there, and it's reflection on the dark night ocean was breathtaking. After our dinner there last weekend, we were excited to return for the Marine Corps Ball the following weekend.

View from of the Harbor Bridge-the lights look even more beautiful once the sun sets

Republic of Texas-wouldn't be complete without a giant cowhide on the wall!

The views were breathtaking!

 As I said previously, for the most part, the same traditions and schedule of ceremonies is followed at every Marine Corps Ball; however, unlike last years, this year's ceremony was celebrated over a sit down dinner at the venue itself.  Well in typical Jordan fashion, my husband forgot to sign us up for a specific table, so that we could choose who we would sit with at dinner. Well, wouldn't you know it, but we ended up being placed with only one other student aviator and his date, and the rest were Captain instructors, including Jordan's on-wing instructor-yes the one from the tie-cutting and promotion ceremony stories. Well if you hadn't already guessed from these past stories shared, Jordan and and his on-wing instructor definitely have a love-hate relationship. So upon realizing the seating arrangement, they both just rolled their eyes and accused one another of purposely setting up this situation. However, despite being sat at a table with mostly superior officers and their wives, I have to argue that we had the best table in the whole ballroom!

I may have to give a little bit more background on these instructing officers that we were placed with, because not only were these instructors the students' superior officers during primary flight school, this specific collection at our table was also the most notoriously hated group of instructors amongst the students. They are known as the MIF-monsters, MIF being the baseline score that students have to score above in order to do well and increase their overall NSS score (Navy Standard Score-which determines your rank and eligibility for certain platforms). If one scores below MIF, one's score will drop. It may be best relayed in academic terms, in which MIF would equated to a D, it's not quite failing, but it's not passing either. So sitting with these infamous MIF-monster instructors, we did not know what to expect from their personalities that night. And as we found our way to our seats, and stood behind our chairs around the outside of our round table waiting for the announcement that we could be seated, we all eyed each other cautiously, not sure how the rest of the evening would play out.

Months back, upon completion of Jordan's first solo flight, Jordan's on-wing instructor gifted him with a coin. On one side of the coin was the emblem of the VT-27 Boomers Squadron, on the other side were the words "Work Hard, Play Harder." Perhaps we should have taken the saying engraved on this momento coin as an indication of what this group would be like outside of the normal work setting. This group of instructors and their wives were a RIOT! In every, single, sense of the word! Our whole dinner was just pure comedy, unfortunately it was mostly at the expense of one Captain who forgot to put his wings on his dress uniform because he couldn't find them as he scrambled last minute to get ready for the Ball. At the table, I was seated next to Jordan's on-wing instructor's wife, who I had met previously when they invited us over for dinner. It was so great talking to her, and hearing all about her previous experiences at the ball.  After talking with Mrs. Donahue, I realized just how lucky we were to have these front row seats to the presentation area and speakers of the evening. After 8 Marine Corps balls, and her husband earning rank as Captain/Major-select, she said this was the closest they had ever been to seeing the ceremony! I am not quite sure what we did to deserve these amazing seats for only our second ball, but we were not going to complain! So after whispering to her, and her then relaying the message to her husband, I got approval that it would be appropriate to take pictures of the ceremony. And I had to take pictures, considering "Skinny," one of our swordsmen at our wedding, and now training at the nearby base NAS Kingsville, was the narrator for the evenings ceremony.

 

Look who it is! It's SKINNY!

So fun to see a familiar face from home! Skinny was a swordsman at our wedding!

The night progressed with the traditional presentation of the cake, and the passing of the oldest to the youngest Marine present (as I documented about in our Our First Birthday Ball ). We had the annual video presentation as prepared by the Commadant of the Marine Corps, a speech by the Colonel, the commanding officer of the Marines at MATSG-22 (Marine Aviation Training Support Group), and a guest speaker. Our guest speaker this year was a wounded warrior, Gunnery Sgt. William “Spanky” Gibson. He lost his leg in Iraq, but soon after returning home was training for triathlons, and was one of the first amputees to go back to serve in Iraq as an amputee. For more on this inspiring Marine, see: Marine Returns to Iraq .

Front row seats for the ceremony

Our
Our "VIP" seats allowed me to take great shots of the ceremony- I love the white glove and sword on the far left

Action Shot! Birthday cake being escorted out of the room at the end of the ceremony

First piece of cake to the oldest Marine present...

Second piece of cake passed from the oldest to the youngest Marine present

 After the speeches and ceremonies, we enjoyed dancing to the live music of the band. The highlight of the night was when all the Marines in their dress blues started dancing to the popular song : Gangnam Style. For those of you who don't know Gangnam Style is a song by a South Korean artist who inspired a unique dance craze based on his silly music video. While all of us enjoyed the festivities inside, a crazy storm was brewing outside over Corpus Christi Bay. We could see the flashes of pink lights out the windows as the lightning put on a show of 50-60 strikes per minute, winds gusted up to 70 mph, and downed powerlines around the city. And as quickly as the storm blew in, it suddenly stopped, allowing us to venture out downtown after the band finished playing.

Wanted to get a red dress this year to complement Jordan's uniform, and his National Defense Service Medal!

Jordan and I at our second Marine Corps Ball

Audrey is an Interior Designer at Ethan Allen- we have greatly enjoyed working together these past 7 months!

Some of the Marines, posing with the cake

Jordan feeding Chris, Audrey's boyfriend, the cake!

Corpus Christi is a very small downtown, and it was such a neat sight to see all these sharply dressed Marines in their dress uniforms and  their glamorous ladies in their beautiful ball gowns, filling the streets of downtown Corpus Christi. We all made our way to a place named Aria, where we continued to all dance together at a rooftop lounge, under the beautiful stars of a now clear night sky. And as amazing as the entire night was, our absolute favorite part of the weekend, was waking up to the beautiful views of the Corpus Christi Bay from our hotel room, with the USS Lexington and the Harbor Bridge in the distance, and enjoying a morning cup of coffee together as we took in this beautiful view of Texas and reflected on our time here in the Lonestar state, as this part of our journey is now coming to a close.

View of the bay and the USS Lexington from our Balcony

While we were not the fondest of Corpus Christi, Texas initially, as always, we have made the best of our time here and will leave with great memories and have gained lifelong friendships.  Wherever we end up, we are so thankful for the people that come in to our lives and the friends that turn into our extended military family, especially around the holidays, when we all come together to celebrate although we are far from home.

Jordan and I on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner table is set!

I think this picture says it all, mission accomplished! Thanksgiving was a success!