My first military ball

Last Friday marked a very momentous occasion in my life as a military spouse--my very first military formal.  It was also my very first official military anything, actually, thanks to Captain Husband's rather unconventional military career since we've been together.  I was pretty nervous about the whole event--what was I going to wear?  What was I going to do with my hair?  And then the awful realization that I was going to have to not only wear makeup that night, but I'd also have to go out and procure some before the actual event took place (I estimate it's been about three years since I last bought any and I threw it all away when we moved last summer).  Thank goodness my friend Aubree' was here to walk me through the whole beautification process.

After two very unsuccessful shopping trips to Macy's and Dillard's (I maintain that having to shop for a formal gown while pregnant should be considered cruel and unusual punishment), I finally found a dress that I liked on eBay and took the plunge, hoping that it would fit by the time the formal rolled around.  The formal was here before I knew it and I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, going to various appointments like pedicure, manicure and hair.  I don't think I underwent this much primping for my very own wedding.

We were running waaaaaaay behind schedule so we weren't able to pose for any nice pictures before hitting the road and CH didn't want me bringing my camera along, due to my habit of wandering off to take pictures rather than socializing, which was a huge bummer because the ball was taking place in the gorgeous Camino Real Hotel in downtown El Paso (home to the beautiful Tiffany Dome pictured above).  Thank goodness for my iPhone!  All in all it was a pretty good night--I got to meet some of the people CH will be working with once he takes command at the end of the month and it was fun to go out for a night on the town with my husband, even though we headed home at 10 pm like a couple of old fogies.