I met Erica the day I was born, which also happened to be the day before her first birthday unfortunately for her! Erica is my only sister and we grew up less than one year apart. We spent our childhood living in rural Pennsylvania, so we spent plenty of time running around the woods barefoot and tending to our pretend farms. As we've gotten older and our interests grew, we've continued to bond over a shared love of music, and Erica's smart and funny son Ezekiel.

I met Kat when I was 21, and she was instantly like an additional big sister to me. Some of my best early 20s memories were learning the difference between indoor and outdoor activities at Kat's mom's house during friendsgiving. Kat has always been someone I could count on for good and caring advice whenever it was needed. I am so grateful to have her calming energy with me for my wedding day, I could not imagine doing this without her.

I met Shanna my sophomore year at Kutztown University at the Campus Women's Center. We became fast friends and bonded over our shared love of intersectional feminism and ugly leggings, and have been best friends ever since. Our decade long friendship has since seen vacations, matching outfits from the maternity section of Kholes, and cross country moves. All through this we have still managed to talk every single day. I am so admiring of Shanna's tenacity, and unwavering support she has provided throughout our friendship. This wedding day would not be complete without Shanna's unforgettable presence <3

One of the first times I met Alyssa was at her wedding in 2017 to her wonderful Husband Tyler Rismiller, which I attended as her sister Shanna's plus one! Since then we have developed our own wonderful friendship, largely based on a shared interest in trashy reality TV. We became especially close during the COVID-19 pandemic when we formed a quarantine bubble in order to socialize and watch Hamilton, which we have since traveled to see live on Broadway together! I have felt especially blessed over the past five years to have the privilege of being involved in the lives of Alyssa's two beautiful daughters Layne and Reya. I admire Alyssa so much as a mother, wife, and friend. I look up to her as a role model in this process, and this day would not be complete without her!

I was only three when my brother Ryan was born, but I am told I didn't like him very much. He has grown on me over the years. Growing up Ryan and I would terrorize the neighborhood with cap guns, build forts in the woods with our neighborhood friends, Nick & Tony, and lots of fishing trips with Dad. As we got older we had the opportunity to have our relationship grow from him being my little brother to being a friend, with many days spent tailgating Penn State football games.

I was 11 when Colin was born, and though we are cousins we really grew up together. Some of my best childhood memories are family camping trips, beach vacations, and summers spent swimming at our grandparents house. Still as adults we have remained close. Colin has been there through it all and I can't imagine doing this day without him.

Derek and I were close friends since freshman year high school biology class, and we had the opportunity to reconnect when we ran into each other at Catty Corner on a thanksgiving night. Weekly pandemic night cookouts at his house are a highlight (and where he taught me to cook as he will tell Rachael). There are many adjectives you can use to describe the kind of friend Derek is; reliable, kind, candid, funny. He is a friend I know Rachael and I will both have forever.

I met Sean in the Aerospace department my first year of grad school. Sean is a friend I could always rely on for advice, help with research, to vent to, or to just have fun. There was our weekly Guitars & Accordians on Friday nights (that is: Zeno's pub for Spider Kelly and some terrible dancing), pizza at Home D after late nights in the Lab, and testing the limits of flip phones at the Phyrst. He is someone I immediately knew I wanted to be a groomsman and am happy to have as a friend.