A little background info....

I want to dedicate this portion of the blog to talking about "memories", fond recollections of days past. In other words I am going to give you my side of the story about the people in our wedding and how I met them. If I haven't met them, I will make up the events of our future meeting. There will be one installment of this by me, and Michael will blog his fuzzy memories tomorrow. It will be his blogging debut, so get ready.



1. Sarah:

I met Sarah when I was 8 and she was 9. It was at summer school (you will notice from my grammar and spelling errors: Summer school don't work) and we were on the tan bark by the monkey bars. It was just me and her. It was a little awkward. She had "hella hair" I remember thinking. A lot has happened for us since then. I lived with Sarah's family for many years in my teens, we lived in Germany together for 2 years, we lived together in the Santa Cruz ghetto and have partied with a lot of old weirdos. Sarah is married (sorry guys) to the fantastic Mr. Jason "goulet" Hackforth, whom will be our wedding officiant. ALSO, they have a baby named Audrey who happens to be the funniest baby in all the land. Sarah is a floral design teacher at one of the fine high schools we attended. She also does a mean Cher impersonation and loves to eat meat. She is of Slavic heritage.



2. Lydia: I met Lydia back in the day (like 3 years ago). She was coming to town to attend the university in Santa Cruz. She is still going there and working on her PHD. This makes her sound very fancy, but really she is just another drunk like you and me, hence the nickname "uncle Bernie". When I first met Lydia we would cook dinners together and drink wine. It only took a few of these "fancy nights" to figure out that what we really wanted to do together was dress up like Tanya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan and roller skate to the bar. We also share a love of crafts and party planning. Lydia just Married mike (groomsman). Lydia also likes to eat meat and is of Slavic ancestry.



3. Tiffany: Tiff, Tiff, Tiff. Lets just say Tiffany and I met in Junior High in PE class. I liked to tell her things like "its fine to smoke behind the bleachers instead of run laps, we wont get busted"..And we didn't, so HA! Tiff and I also share a love of fashion, Vodka, and Joking around. I was involved in introducing her to her fine husband Slim. Tiffany is really funny but insists on wearing fur and Chanel to every event....flea market, dive bar, grocery store, you name it she is dressed like a drag queen. She is such a whitey that when you take her picture her eyes turn red, but she looks glamorous otherwise.Tiffany likes to eat petite fours.



4. Mike: I met Mike when Lydia let him move to Santa Cruz. They were dating a long time and finally got married in July of last year. Mike is in charge of "the Data Base" which means he works on computers or something. I immediately knew I liked Mike because he will laugh at everything I say and because he is a really good BF/Husband to Lydia. Mike has a sweet motorcycle, a lot of tattoos and a pretty big face. He is also good at cooking and taught me to twirl a baton around my finger. He likes to drink Miller High Life and eat cheeseburgers in the morning when he is hung over.



5. Josh: I met Josh about 4 or 5 years ago. I met him when I started playing poker and he just vowed to never play again. Here's what we do have in common: Hockey. Josh gets hammered and likes to sing Karaoke. Josh will verbally harass anybody: Babies, Grandmas, Kittens-ANYONE. Whoever walks down the isle with Josh needs to know that he is a Little pigeon toed. He plays softball, volleyball and surfs. He also does a mean Harry Caray impersonation. Josh eats a lot of Taco and Burrito type foods.



6. Ryan: I met Ryan at a bar called St. James Place (along with the rest of the Hurley clan). Ryan is a "secret comedian", Which means you may think he is quiet and shy but really he saves his jokes for key moments. One might call him "sarcastic" or a "real smarty pants". Ryan is a guitar hero genius but helps me pick on Michael when I make our band fail songs. What a gent! Ryan doesn't like buffalo wings but will put down an Italian ice and a cheese pizza.



7. Shannon: I think Shannon should have her own game show or radio show. She is one of the funnier broads I have ever met. She is a lot like Michael in that she is creative, sarcastic and very considerate. I thank her for what ever she did as a big sister to help condition my fiance into being such a sweet, sarcastic and talented fellow. She also is a great mom to Kennan, Gabby & Addison and the married to a lucky guy named Child. Shannon and I have a lot in common. We both like to type things like this for hours because we think we are really funny. Shannon likes to drink hot buttered rum.



8. Erin: Erin is Michael's baby sister. She has a great sense of humor but more importantly is a cutie (I am very shallow). She is fun to dress (like a rare brunette barbie) and so I like shopping for clothes for her at my stores. Erin and I have a lot of hanging out to do, but haven't much so far because she lives and works way up yonder in Wisconsin. Erin is involved with this years Flukiest love story: Erin has become "involved" my old buddy Josh mentioned above. I assume they are preparing to race us down the isle in September. Erin likes to eat fettucini alfredo.



9. Derick: I met this guy at a bar. He gave us beer and shots so I knew I liked him right away. Derick also works as a water conditioning expert. He has shared a lot of funny stories with me about Michael's glory days (a long time ago). Derick and Tara (GF) have promised us a double date at the sturgeon spearing thing which sounds RAD. I am not sure what Derick likes to eat.



10. Scooter: I have not met this man yet, but I have heard the legends. I assume he helped invent the Michael we know and love today so therefore I love this guy. there is a rumor that he may wear assless chaps in the wedding.



11. Leann: Leann and Scooter are a couple and they own a leather tailor business. This gets me very excited because I think I am a cow girl. Leann was also pretty involved in Michael's early days and I cant wait to hear what stories she has to tell about the infamous "slip" a.k.a Michael.



12. Buck: I haven't met Buck yet, but from what I hear he once ruled Kenosha with My main man Michael. I also like the name buck a lot, so that's a great start for our relationship.



13. Rick: Rich "Satinderpal" Chadha is one of the first people I met when I moved to Illinois. He has a lovely wife named Kelly and is rumored to have 2 kids, but i haven't met them. Rick likes the same things as Michael: Heat trace, Whiskey & Guitar Hero. Rick also is a funny fellow. Rick likes to eat spicy Cajun food.



14. Joan: I met Joan when I was 18 and was hired to babysit her toddler son Mitchell. Joan turned out to become a best friend. Joan has many talents: Cooking, Organizing, Riding elephants (used to work at Marine world Africa USA!) and making people laugh their asses off! Joan likes to eat nothing that I have cooked. She used to be stunned at some of the strange foods I would prepare for her toddler son. Joan is single, so watch out...She is a man eater.