Looooong Distance

Photo Credit: Images by Jaimie

My best-friend and I have been in a long distance relationship for over two years.

My husband is my best-friend and "best-friend" as in soul-mate because let's face it, Ryan would rather stick a pencil in his eye than stand in line at Victoria's Secret or see a new Broadway Show.  However he is my absolute best-friend and I love him for many reasons, but you'll find out one of those many reasons with this post.

  

This past week has been challenging.  Scratch that, the past two weeks.  It's just one of those times when things just aren't going your way.  To give you an idea of what my job is without getting into details, here's kind of what I do:

 

So to say the least, it requires a lot of time studying and 100% perfection.

It's stressful and I have spent a lot of time focusing on that.

Things weren't going my way the past two weeks, no matter how much time I was putting in and it was frustrating.  I started feeling down on myself and my confidence was severely lacking after awhile.  My husband spent our entire Thanksgiving break motivating me.  I know it sounds silly but he would occasionally remind me of my past accomplishments and just give me affirmations.  He put so much energy into making sure that I felt better and today went off without a problem.  I had to re-take a test and although it wasn't flawless, I got through.  

I also took a quiz on new material and got 100%

BOOYAH

My husband couldn't have been happier.  It's absolutely wonderful to be able to share in that type of happiness with someone.  It wasn't a fake or planned type of happiness, he's genuinely happy that I'm so excited. So to say the least, I have an amazing husband (yes, I'm bragging) but he's also a wonderful partner.  We aren't without our occasional fights, arguments, and moments of deep loathing stares, but we work through all of it.

We're a mil-to-mil couple, meaning that we're both in the military.

He's in the Marine Corps and I'm in the Air Force, and if you know anything about the different branches sometimes working together, the Marine Corps and Air Force don't overlap.

So Ryan is stationed in one place and I'm somewhere else.

This is where you can insert the whole, "well that totally sucks."

Why yes, yes it does.

It's been like this for two years.  I'm either in school and he's stationed at a USMC base, or when I became active duty, we're at two different locations.

It's not like this was some kind of surprise...

If the military wanted you to have a spouse, they would have issued you one.

It comes with the territory.  You could both be in the same branch and never be at the same base.  It all just depends. We're actually incredibly fortunate for multiple reasons but Ryan and I did plan on when/how we got married due to our military lifestyle. 

However, the good news is that Ryan is almost done!!

We're fortunate to be stationed fairly close to each other so that we can visit twice a month.

Thanksgiving was a treat because we had four days together.

Soon, we'll get to be together fo-eva.

I know, it sounds like the lyrics to a bad love song, but I am sooo excited.

We finally get to be together and just be married.

One of the most challenging aspects of being married and long distance would be the  

constant pick-up of where we last left off.

It's easier to get into petty arguments because you're not used to the way someone does something,

but on the flip side, it can be easier to ignore certain things because you don't want to waste the time you have together with fighting.

It'll be an adjustment, but something that I'm definitely looking forward to and quite possibly the best birthday/Christmas present I could get :)

\\\in other news///

 

I just saw Lawless and it was intense.  I don't do well with graphic violence/blood and there was lots of it.  The movie is dark and covers a family who sells their own batch of moonshine during Prohibition.  There were many parts where my roommate let me know when it was okay to look at the screen again.  

Despite all of the violence, Tom Hardy was in it and I adore him.

Did I ever tell you guys about when I met him?

They were doing premieres on military bases for the movie, Warrior, and he 

literally sat right next to me in the theater.

We were c-h-a-t-t-i-ng. I was probably 50 shades of red (haha get it) and the man is gorgeous and his accent, whoa man.  But anyways, I'm a huge fan and The Dark Knight Rises comes out on December 4th!  Oh hello Bain.

x-o-x-o

Every Girl Deserves to go to a Ball

The happiest of birthdays to the Marine Corps!

Going to my first birthday ball, right before I married Ryan, was an amazing experience.

It surpassed any and all expectations of how I pictured a military ball to be like.

It was in Las Vegas and everyone looked so gorgeous.

I would lying if I said I wasn't jealous of all the ladies and gentlemen going to their respective birthday balls.  Ryan and I decided to opt out- more like he decided.

Let's be real, when do I pass on an opportunity to dress up like a Filipino Cinderella...never.

Of course life has a sense of humor and Ryan has to go to his ball and I'm stuck at home for this extended weekend.

If you're like me and don't have the opportunity to go to a ball, don't fret. I will gladly walk you through a visual of what it is like.

Attire

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Marines wear dress blues (blue dress uniforms).  Some key differences include that enlisted members have the midnight blue coat with red trim and officers have a solid midnight blue coat.  The officers' coat looks like almost like a shade of black.  On the sky-blue pants, officers and non-commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers (starting at E-4 and above) wear the "blood stripe."  This honors the Marines who died in the Battle of Chapultepec.  Officers wear their rank insignia on their collars, while enlisted wear theirs on their sleeves.  

The Marine Corps symbol is the EGA- Eagle, Globe, Anchor.

Guests

 

I chose a Navy blue, mermaid style gown.  The celebration is for the Marines and the traditions that are a part of that military branch.  I wanted to look nice, professional and classic.  I especially wanted to be a great date for (my boyfriend-then) my husband.  When selecting your dress (or your suit), I would definitely recommend keeping that in mind.  Some ladies have chosen questionable dresses.  You're there to look classy, not trashy.

If you're going to a ball, you're going to need a venue.

Ryan has never been stationed on the east coast, so it might be a little bit different there but fun, entertaining venues are usually where they are hosted.

so...

VEGAS!

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Some folks have families with kids or some are young guys with girlfriends.

Either way, plans still need to be made.  Sometimes babysitters need to be scheduled, child care at the hotel/resort needs to be planned and at a very basic level, accommodations need to be made.

We stayed at the MGM and it was spectacular.

Vegas in itself is a giant production and so much fun.

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and here's a glance at one of the rooms

The room was fabulous. This picture doesn't do it justice.  It must have been a suite. It was gi-normous!

Once you get to the ball, it's gorgeous.

Depending on the size of the unit and who is hosting, 

there are a ton of people and lots of traditions as part of the ceremony.

There's the cake cutting done with a sword.  The cake is even carried in by Marines.

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It's usually celebrated/cut with the youngest and oldest Marine there as witnesses.

Here General Amos cut the cake.

I loved the tradition pictured above.  The Marines create live scenes of the history of the Marine Corps.  I found it to be so interesting to see the variations in uniforms over time.

There's food, music, dancing and it's all a lot of fun.

And there you have it folks. Here is me and my husband before we were even married.  Just two lil' cuties ;)

xoxo,

A Homecoming Captured in Still Images