Week 7 Updates from Manila

I’m enjoying doing a random update every so often, as I have a few fun pieces of “news-worthy” stuff that don’t merit an entire post (unlike corn dogs!!).  As long as everyone’s okay with this bullet-oriented style of posting, then we’ll just keep doing it for awhile (until my life becomes boring and I run out of multitudes of news-worthy items).

Here goes….Just finshed week 7 and crossed the 50 day mark in Manila.  WHOA.  I have actually met quite a few people that are newer than us – not sure I like that – I was enjoying the attention of being the “newbies” in town.  Then there’s also the expectation from the “newer newbies” that you have some idea of resource suggestions.  That definitely adds some stress!  I just want to say in return when they inquire, “BUT I’M STILL NEW, THAT’S NOT FAIR TO ASK ME THAT YET!”  Am I seriously feeling pressure to have all the answers already?  Sadly, the answer is YES!  It comes with being a type A personality, I guess… Enough complaining and on to the updates:

• Wedding Bliss: Of course it was fantastic to marry my fabulous guy and have the day go off with out a hitch.  But my dreams really came true a week ago when Minnesota Bride Magazine emailed to tell me that they’d be featuring our wedding in their Spring 2010 issue (in stores January 15th).  Every event planner’s dream – to have their event showcased in a magazine!  The pictures have been selected (about 10) and I already did the interview, so now all we do is wait for it to come out… Nick said he would prefer to be cut out of all the shots but I was SURE he was just kidding.  Boys.
• Honeymoon Planning: I still feel a bit cheated out of a honeymoon because we had to report to DC the day after we got married.  I know, I know, the Philippines is like a honeymoon everyday…. it’s just that a real-deal honeymoon is part of a woman’s expectations.  Thankfully, Nick managed to get 10 days off over Thanksgiving and we are finally going to make it happen!  We’re hitting two highly touristed, hard-to-reach spots that we’ve always dreamed of visiting: Angkor Wat, Cambodia (home of the ancient temples) and Bali, Indonesia (home of the private plunge pool).  Stay tuned for pictures and a full review…
• The Military Ball: All the ladies are abuzz this week due to the fact that the date for this year’s Military Ball was announced for late October, only 2 months away!  I mean, you hear the word Ball and you know it’s a big deal, but having never experienced this annual post event, I had no idea just how BIG of a deal it is.   The top thing on everyone’s mind though is (of course) what you’re going to wear.  Apparently it is common practice to have a dress designed for you (around $150 for labor, design and material).  In fact, I was floored at lunch yesterday when a friend said she had already gone in and gotten measured…. holy crap, I need to get on the ball (no pun intended)!  So here’s my big debate: I DO technically have formal dresses I could wear that haven’t been seen at a Ball before, but DO I REALLY WANT TO wear something old when I could have a beautiful new gown of my dreams created for next-to-nothing????  These are tough decisions people!  :)  Rest assured that I will keep you in the know.  Feel free to weigh in on the decision if you’re so moved!