Marine Corps Ball pictures, past and present.

Hello. I am back. Today, I will be posting pictures of my dresses that I have worn to the USMC (United States Marine Corps) Birthday Balls over the years. As I mentioned in my intro, I am married to a military man, more specifically, a totally kick butt Marine. I also want to mention a little history about the tradition of this occasion, because I was shocked to find out that many people have NO idea what or why the Marines have a Ball every year.

November 10, 1775 is the official birthday of the United States Marine Corps. So pretty much it is a celebration of the birth of the Marine Corps. The Ball starts off with cocktail hour, then the ceremony itself, with a guest of honor, (this year we had a Medal of Honor recipient!) the cake cutting ceremony, and then dinner, concluded by dancing/entertainment.


I always enjoy attending the Ball, although I don't always get to go every year...but when I do, it's awesome. They do the same thing every year, but I think it's a special event and I feel quite blessed and honored whenever I have the chance to attend with my husband. Heck, one year we had Gunny R. Lee Ermey as our guest speaker. He is best known as the crazy drill instructor from the film, "Full Metal Jacket." And oh YES, we did get a picture with him. A couple years later, he was the guest speaker again at another Ball, and my husband was able to get an autograph from him on the picture that we took of him!

The first picture up above was 2006. I was 8 months pregnant. Yes. And in true Gunny Ermey style, the first thing he said to me when he saw me (and my huge belly) was, "MY MY MY, what have we been up to???" I seriously could not stop laughing. That could explain the unusually huge smile I have in that picture.


I did not attend the very first Ball we had back in 2003, because I had just given birth to our son 2 months earlier, so my husband attended alone. For some reason, I cannot find our Ball pictures from 2004, but you are not missing out. My dress was not exactly "formal" and it was a bit "see through", which I had NO idea until I saw our pictures. So here are the ones from 2005 to this year:



This was from 2005 The one and ONLY time I will ever wear red. Red is a very common dress color for the Ball. Looking back I realize I lacked accessories, and did not fix my hair very well. Also I did not stand very straight. Haha.

Here is another from 2006. Just to show you how HUGE my belly really was.

This one is from 2007. At the time, I thought this dress was awesome and unique. Looking at it now, it looks so pageant-y. Ugh. Oh, and please excuse the wrinkles on the dress, this pic was taken after we got home from the Ball.

Now this one from 2008, is my favorite dress so far. This one also kinda looks pageant-y too, but I still love it. Haha.

I didn't attend the 2009 and 2010 Balls. I gave birth in 2009 and did not want to leave my 3 month old with a babysitter. 2010, my husband was deployed. So here is 2011. I loved this dress too.

And here is this years: Please ignore the black lines, I forgot to cut them out of the pic. It is after all a pic of a pic.

Well their it is folks. It's fun to go back and look at my old pictures and see how my style has evolved. I forgot to mention one of the most entertaining parts of the Ball is seeing what the other wives/girlfriends are wearing!! Some apparently have no clue what "formal" attire is, and end up looking like someone who is hired by the hour. Yikes. I have seen way too many of these types over the years, and I guess I will keep seeing them as long as I attend these Balls! Well, I hope you enjoyed the pics. Feel free to comment, and show me some love! :) If you like my blog so far, also feel free to follow me. I will most likely follow you as well! Thank you!!