My Life As an Army Wife {Part 2: Military Formals}

Wes and I just arriving for Cocktail Hour

My Bestest German Friend Rebecca (Clarke's Tante)

Wesley, Dale Smith and our neighbor Curtis Baker
(just a few of Wesley's best friends here in Germany)

My first taste of "GROG"

"Crash" (one of my besties), Me and one of my other German Friends Jeanette

I know I said that I would be posting on Monday's about my life as an Army Wife, but I wanted to save this post for Today. Wes and I attended our very first Military Formal last night. We had Clarke's babysitter "Miss April" come over around 4:15 and she stayed until around 10:45. Clark is always so good for her and that makes us proud! We left with a house of chaos and came back to it all tidied up. You could tell that we'd been gone all day and only home long enough to get ready.

Here's a little about how the night progressed. Cocktail hour was from 5:00-6:00 and then we proceeded through the Receiving Line to introduce ourself to all of the "Special Guest" of the evening. We then moved into the hall to find ourselves STANDING at our seats for around 25 minutes waiting for the Welcome, Posting of the Colors, Invocation and the Toast to begin so we could be "formally" seated by our husbands/special guest. Side Note: I had not eaten since 930 a.m. (and very little at that) had already had 2 large glasses of wine and they were expecting me to Charge my Glass and drink more during the toast. FINALLY, we got the 2 minute warning and continued to stand for another 20 minutes while the above happened. All the while I was getting more and more annoyed because I was tipsy from the wine and starving to death. Finally, I heard the words, Gentleman....Please seat your ladies. They then proposed a toast to all the ladies in the room and the men were allowed to sit down as well!!! WHOA, I thought it would never end.

We were then asked to note the empty table at the front of the room that represented the Fallen Comrade's that were not with us during the evening. It was a beautiful representation; a single table, white table cloth that represented the pure intentions of the solider, a single red rose in a bud vase with a small red ribbon tied around it (there was a meaning but I don't remember). The chair was leaned forward as if the table was to remain unoccupied. Brought me to tears thinking that it could, sometime in the future, be someone that I know personally.

Next was the GROG ceremony. What an interesting event. GROG is a tradition for most military balls if I understood correctly. It is a mixture of WHATEVER (alcoholic) each Company wants to add to the punch bowl as a symbolism of the necessary ingredients for deployment. Last night there was Bacardi 151, Jack Daniels, Malibu Rum, Sand from a soldiers boot (sand from the desert), Screwdrivers, and MUCH MUCH more that I could not tell because the article was presented in a gas can, oil filter, pitchers, etc. It didn't taste near as bad as it smelled. Thank You "Crash" for encouraging me to try it! I thought it was strong but YUMMY! Since they ran out last night maybe we need to make some of our own!

The remainder of the "Formal" part of the evening was dinner, a little slide show, some remarks from the Commander of the Batallion and the Lt. General, some songs, a little prayer and then the Colors were retired. Then, the D.J. started playing and everyone danced and drank the night away! In all the night was exciting and a good time with some of our very best friends here in Germany.