Ryan's SOI Instructor Graduation

Since I am a bit behind, Ryan graduated from SOI Instructor School a few weeks ago! For the past few months he has been learning all about what he will be doing for the next three years, instructing at MCT for the most part, and he has been working his tail off. Long hours and lots of PT in this course were only a preview in to what is actually ahead for his job! But I know he is going to be happy here. Grueling schedule aside, it is what my husband loves. Infantry related things and instructing Marines, two things I must say he really excels at. I have a feeling he will do so very well in this SDA. Here is to the next three years... I am so very proud of him.

 

 

This class of instructors was a bit smaller than normal... their next class is supposedly about four times as many Marines! Which is good, apparently they have been needing more instructors lately so these men and women are eagerly awaited!

Getting ready to graduate

 

YAY! So proud!

 

Reciting the Instructor's Creed

 After the ceremony there was a small lunch where we got to meet his new company (at least his new Chain of Command) and get some more information. They basically affirmed what we have heard all along, be prepared for some long long long days. We got this, no worries. Between the Dup and my trusty 9mil I am not worried about anything! It was nice to meet them though and get some information though.

 

Again, so very proud!

 Ryan's old boss (Master Sgt) came to the ceremony as well, which was so incredibly nice. We will defintiely miss the support we had in Ryan's old company, MSgt was pretty terrific, he and his wife even came with my husband to see me perform in Dracula! Hopefully we will be able to stay in touch with him and his wife, they truly are wonderful people.

 

Ryan is on leave for the holidays and will start with his new company in the new year. I work up until Christmas Eve then I have a few days off, work some more, then we have more time together for New Year's Eve, so I am really looking forward to the time we have together. It may be the last big break we get for some time!

 

And now, on to our next adventure! 

 

239th USMC Birthday Ball





Pardon the weird quality, it is a picture of a picture after all.



This past weekend we attended the 239th USMC Birthday Ball for SOI in Wilmington, NC. Even though Ryan is still in student status we decided to go to the SOI Ball rather than the ball his old unit was having (and the fact that one was on Saturday and one was Sunday had nothing to do with that decision!). Last year, Ryan was deployed during the ball season so we were pretty excited to go this year. I love seeing my husband in his dress blues and I love having an excuse to dress up. This year I wore my bridesmaid's dress from my best friend's wedding this past May... military spouses are definitely some of the few people in this world that wear them again!

 

We decided to make a weekend of it and get a hotel in Wilmington so we didn't have an hour drive home that night. We get to the hotel, grab some hot drinks since it got cold literally overnight, and then Ryan realized he hadn't gotten a hair cut! So he went off to do that while I got ready.

 

Naturally the day of the ball I had a huge breakout on my face, I cut my leg badly in the shower for the first time in months, and for good measure I wacked myself in the neck with a hot curling iron as I was doing my own hair. Geeze. Top that off with still feeling off from my gall bladder I barely ate all day. At least from far away you can't tell that I felt like a walking hot mess.

 

Obligatory mirror selfie

We took a cab to the Convention Center (all $4 it cost us) since it was chilly and got there with time to mingle. We got our Professional pictures taken early on since I knew Ryan has zero patience for such things and once we got going it would never happen. This year's picture (seen at the top of this post) is probably hands down our best one to date! We were both pretty stoked. I know it was good because my non social media using husband switched his facebook profile picture for the first time since 2011.... seriously.

 

Another new thing, we had to all get stamps inside our wrists if we were over 21 and wanted to drink, that was diferent for sure, but we were definitely buying us some overpriced alcohol so we obliged. It was nice to meet Ryan's other fellow students I had heard so much about. For the first time since we went to a ball in DC years ago I was pretty thrown by all the "brass" in the room. So many officers and higher ranking enlisted, it was a tad bit intimidating truth be told!

Ceremony

The itty bitty PFC that was the youngest Marine this year must have really felt it. She was born in 1996, the same year as my baby brother who is still in high school! Oy! Ryan and I bet on the year they'd be born, I sadly lost.

 

We had a decent view of the ceremony and the video, which dorky me absolutely loves every single year. This year got me teary (not a first) because the battles they mentioned in the video I know my Poppy fought in during WW2. Seeing some of the footage, especially talk of the bloodiest battles of the war at Peilalu and Guadalcanal, and knowing my Poppy was there was hard to wrap my brain around.

Our guest speaker

Our guest speaker was very good (they usually are!) and I am ashamed to say I forgot his name. I will have to edit this when I get home. My favorite part of his speech was that he ended with the following poem:

"The wonderful love of a beautiful maid,
The love of a staunch, true man,
The love of a baby, unafraid,
Have existed since time began.
But the greatest of loves,
The quintessence of loves,
Even greater than that of a mother,
Is the tender, passionate, infinite love,
of one drunken Marine for another."

Now even though my stomach stinks I nibbled on some delicious food, the highlight being this chocolate cake. It was hands down some of the best chocolate cake I have had in my life. Seriously. I wanted to take what I could not finish home with me to eat later. If it could have fit in my purse I probably would have!

 

 

Proof I am getting old. I cannot take a selfie to save my life. Or a ussie? Whatever you want to call it! I cut myself out when I try to do it and when you turn it around the quality is pretty awful...

Thankfully one of my husband's fellow students was nice enough to take a picture for us... that one thankfully came out nice too! The large red carpet they had leading to the dance floor was a nice touch if you ask me.

 

 

We danced and hung out for awhile, had a few drinks, before everyone decided they wanted to go out. Any of you who know me know I am not a big partier by any means... but I did my best. We went back to our hotel to change because, well, really it was too cold for most of us! We started at City Limits, a country western bar that I was more than happy to stay in, especially since our cover fee was waived, but we were in the minority. Instead we ended up at Sputnik, another nightclub. Definitely not my typical scene, give me a quiet pub with trivia any day, but I made it a good three or four hours before I begged my husband to have us leave! Aside from a drunken pizza detour (for the Marines sadly, not me) we eventually collapsed into bed way past my bedtime.

Someone stole the VIP sign from another table after we managed to snag one... we aren't that cool, I promise!

 

All in all, another succesful Marine Corps birthday in my book! Happy birthday Marines!

 

Happy 239th Birthday Marines!

239 years and man, you still look damn good for your age!

Our Birthday Ball will be this weekend and I am pretty excited... not gonna lie. I have my bridesmaids dress from my best friends wedding I can wear, proof that you can actually wear them again! (Especially when you pick them out yourself.. thanks for that Sammy!) It will be with my husband's new assignment so I won't know anyone (hello SOI instructors, we will be your official n00bs for the evening) but I am really looking forward to Ryan and I having a nice night out together.

Happy Birthday Marine Corps! You will see another update next week from me I am sure. Don't forget to watch the Commandant's Birthday Message if you're not attending. I usually wait until the ball to watch it so I will just link it above for those interested.

Also, if you need some Marine Corps Birthday Ball Dos and Don'ts it is by far the most popular entry I have ever written on this blog. I update it yearly, so even though it is from 2011 it is still relevant for any google stalkers out there! Welcome!

SDA and Oktoberfest



I have blogged before about my husband applying to do his SDA (or Secondary Duty Assignment, or B-Billet) and the roller coaster ride the whole process has been. Well as of this Monday he is officially doing his SDA! Ryan got accepted to be an instructor at SOI (School of Infantry) at Camp Geiger for the next three years. So no PCSing in our future since it is still pretty close by. There will definitely be some long, long hours for him to work. For three years. Oh boy! Anyway, since he had to check out of his current unit at Lejeune on Friday and in to the new one at Geiger I got to see the rare sight of my husband in his Alphas. Yes, the dress blues are wonderful, but the Alphas make me swoon too! He get's some genuine WW2 era swag when he wears them in my eyes, especially when he gives his cover the twenty degree tilt as pictured below.

*SA-WOON*

After my husband checked in he came home and we decided to head to New Bern for the day to walk around and spend some time together since I was off from work. It was finally a little chilly so I dressed for semi-fall weather and tried a new hairstyle. Verdict is still out on how I feel about that!

 

I did get a little car sick on the drive there so I wasn't feeling my best when we arrived. The longer we walked around the better I felt though. Our first stop was at this giant, indoor flea market we never managed to visit before. It was pretty neat! We had fun exploring and Ryan found a pewter box with the comedy/tragedy faces on it with a matching necklace inside.. so he got it for me. (And by got it for me I mean he found it, realized he had no cash, saw I had some in my wallet, and I paid for it!) It was very sweet though.

 

We stopped at a few more shops after the Flea Market and Ryan was super excited to find a giant rooster in one of them. It is a long story (aside from the USC Gamecocks affiliation) but we had to get the picture to send to his best friend Josh. The man never likes to get his picture taken and complains like crazy until there is a five foot tall rooster on a table. Sigh.

 

 

As we walked around we saw signs for the Oktoberfest the Rotary Club was putting on for their fundraiser. I was feeling better so we got some tickets at the gate and decided to go in. We had some delicious brauts and sauerkraut with German potato salad and some really delicious Oktoberfest from the Carolina Brewing Company. We also paid a little extra for some Apple Streudel and German Chokolat Cake! We got to meet a lot of really nice people and have some good food and drink, so it was definitely a win. A lot of people came in ethnic outfits and there was also a full German Folk Band with dancing!

These old people were my favorite, they were loving it!

We had enough beers that when some of our new friends dragged us out to polka we were willing to give it a shot! Even though I am extremely Polish my extent of Polka knowledge is the Chicken Dance, so our polka was more like a two step with Ryan leading and an extra bounce thrown in for good measure.

 

As Oktoberfest wound down we found a bar nearby with an outdoor stage and live music. I was done drinking at this point so I could drive, but we did stop in and listen for a few songs. I sobered up for sure because when Ryan tried to drag me down front to dance to Sweet Home Alabama I dug in my heels! He went and rocked out though.

 

We definitely had a great time and I was pretty bummed I had to work the next day, I would have loved to stay out later!

 

The outdoor music

 

Europe - Toulon

Next stop: Toulon! Part of Provence, France. Also known as the French Riviera.

The morning we were in Toulon I woke up not feeling very well. I get seasick so I was wearing a prescription strength patch that lasted three days before I had to put on another one. The rested right below my ear near my jaw and you could barely see it. Well, I didn't ever need to wear them longer than three days before so I didn't realize you needed to switch sides when you added a new patch. I didn't do that. So I woke up and ate breakfast that we got via room service and realized I couldn't see. My vision blurred so badly I could barely read the menu! Then breakfast came back up. Ryan mentioned me going to "sick bay" which I prompty shut down.

The cruise our ship did before ours had a huge norovirus outbreak. Half the ship was quarantined to their rooms. So they were big on if you had stomach problems locking them down. I knew mine were patch related (since 1, I had norovirus before, you don't forget what it feels like and 2, Ryan would have had symptoms too since it is severely contagious) so no sick bay for me. Our room was small, an interior, and the idea of not being able to leave for days made me claustrophobic, I felt better getting on deck for sure. I felt nauseous but it was doable. Plus we only had a day in each port, if I stayed in bed there was a chance I'd never see that place again! So I now knew next time to change my patch at night AND to switch sides. Sigh.

Getting air on deck before heading to shore. I stood there with Ryan for awhile getting my bearings back.

Toulon was one of the few places that provided free transport into the town. We got on a small boat that zoomed us across the river into the main port.

Once we got on shore we saw a large market taking place and decided to head straight there to walk around a bit. There was a church off to the left, St Francois de Paule, that we stopped in first.

After walking around a bit we decided to try and find somewhere to have lunch. We didn't have a map and just kind of wandered around anyplace that looked interesting. Ryan engaged himself in a very interesting conversation with some locals... :P

Near the French Navy Base

We finally stopped by a theatre for a photo and noticed a bistro nearby that seemed good for lunch. I was feeling better at this point so we stopped to peek at the menu. The waiter came out and started speaking to us in semi decent English and we really appreciated the effort! Bistrot de Cesar wins!

Ryan asked the waiter what the best thing to order was and ended up with a Hangar Steak with pepper sauce that was so unbelievably tender and delicious. I remembered being in France (about 12 years ago!) and ordering a Croque Monsieur and it changing my life, so I got it again. Oh man. Say what you want about french food but Ryan and I agreed this was probably the best meal of our entire trip.

Especially when we added dessert. Naturally Ryan had an espresso but we shared a banana nutella crepe with real whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Even between the two of us and how delicious it was we couldn't finish it. Travesty.

 

Ryan also quickly learned he was very lucky we were already married. I took pictures of basically every wedding dress shop we passed. They were so fabulous, how could I resist??

After lunch we climbed the steps of the theatre and sat in the warm sunlight digesting our food. The blue chairs in the picture below are where we ate lunch, so it wasn't far. The wedding dress shop is just behind the cafe. But after awhile we decided to get back on our feet and explore some more.

We journeyed upwards, away from the harbor and found some fun side streets, a train station and saw some pretty rolling hills and mountains in the distance.

Eventually we started to wander back and we found a pretty little park nestled in the city. We took our time strolling through there, observing locals walking dogs, lunching and picnicking.

The park also had a stunning war memorial.

After the park we walked near the Marine Museum and I persuaded Ryan to take a picture there for me. My husband is a patient man for tolerating my puns. Cause he's a Marine, get it??

Yes, I know I am obnoxious.

Sadly at this point I started not feeling well again. We found a small cafe at the harbor and as you can tell from our drink choices I was back to icky. I was hoping to bounce back but once we got on the little boat back to the ship I just felt worse. I am a terrible sick person so I sadly went back to our room and slept on and off the rest of the night. No bar hopping, clubs or dinner for me.

Next stop: Barcelona, Spain!




You can follow along with all of the entries from our trip here!