Marine Reunion - Paper Issues

A couple years ago, a bunch of Marines got together for a mini reunion.  It was fabulous.  On this day, we spent the day on the Battleship North Carolina.  There definitely is a bond of brotherhood between these men and their families.  I love being a part of it.  We have made friends for life with so many people. 

I find that we are very loyal and committed to relationships that we develop.  

It has been a struggle since we have left the Marine Corps.  

It seems to me that people have a much different perspective on what a friend is.  During my husbands 20+ years, we have made friends that are like family.  We bring them into our hearts unconditionally.  

Any-who, I played along with the Paper Issues Monochromatic challenge.  Its pretty fun.  I may have cheated because you can use black or white as an add on and I used silver.   Oops!

Oh, I used Pebbles Night Night collection from the PI Store.  Get it or anything else for 2-% off with code: Mary-Ann.

Memories - mambi

With my husband retired from the Military and having been a part of it with him for many years, we have been away from family.  We would spend many holidays and life events with friends instead of our real family.  Now we are stationary now and not far from family.  We still have the habit, if you will, to make our friends like our family.  If we can not get together with the real thing, or even when we do, we still try and hang with our friends.  We are grateful for these two and their children.  This photo was taken at this past years, USMC ball.

This layout is made up of all things mambi with a little additions for decor.  Like I have said before, I try any chance I get to add pink to a layout.   These new papers from me & my BIG ideas are truly rich and beautiful.  

I LOVE these glittery mambiCHIPS.  Wish they were mass produced!  I also need to point out the little tin flair that is in this photo.  It comes from a kit club by Felicity Jane.  It is stunning.  They little glittery gems you will see on the layout are from this too.

This Small Talk title from mambi was the inspiration for this layout.  I love what it says and created the perfect jumping off point.

Have a great day.

USMC 239th Birthday Ball Pictures

Happy 239th Birthday Marine Corps!  I feel so honored to have been a part of such an elite group of men and women for over 21 years now.  I can not remember how many balls I have attended, I was trying to think back the other night about the different dresses I have worn.  I believe I have only repeated a dress once!  The rest, hang in my closet.  Sad, I know.  The older we get, the less "prommy" my dress gets.  I guess that is an indication that we are old.  

We feel honored to have been invited to the same ball for the last 3 years with our friends, the Jennings who, three years ago, moved back to this area.  

Next year will be sad, it is almost time for them to move on.  

They also invited another set of friend's (our neighbors) the Gannons. 

Here, we get a group shot before things get crazy and the ceremony begins!

The Jennings during the ceremony.

A quick selfie during the talk!

The Gannons!

This is my chum Stacy!  Her husband is also a Marine and they live in our neighborhood too!  During the ceremony, I received many a text, telling me how hungry she was:o)

The guys. Yes, that is a Navy uniform!  

He is the corpsman for the Marine Corps and pals with Randy.  

They were stationed together in Londonderry a few years back.

As you can see above, the lighting in the hall was not great for iPhones, so off to the bathroom we go, for a well-lite groupie!  We give the phone to Linda, because she has the longest arms!

This may have been well into the night.  Instead of duck lips, it looks like we all are sniffing our runny noses!  We took tons of photos here in the bathroom, Ill just share these two!

At this point, the ball is winding down and we decide it is time for us old folks to hit the town!  

Off, by cab, to The Greatest Bar.  

Do you have any idea how cold it was outside?  

Or how hard it is for 6 people to get a cab and head to one location? 

On a Saturday night in Boston!

I knew by the bouncers outside that this was the bar for me!  What kind of music you ask?  Rap, rock and pop.  I just LOVE it!  Crowded, loud and FUN!  So, the trick is, show up with a guy in uniform and you just walk right in, kinda like the cool kids cutting line in all the movies!

Randy and Tate with a couple creepers in back!  ha

Off we go to another bar, about 17,000 miles away.  

Yes, we walked!  Yes, we closed it down!  

You can see here that we, or some of us, still got it!  

He is all mine folks!  Back off.

Tommy  and Linda knew the owner of this bar, 

so we got to hang a bit after the young peeps went off to sleep!  

As we are leaving the bar, the owner gets us sausages from the street vendor outside.  

We all THINK we are hungry.  They were delicious!  I think.

What a grand night with great friends.  

We are blessed that the Marine Corps has brought so many wonderful people into our lives.