Meet the Wedding Party: Sharon Maloney

Name: Sharon Maloney

Status: Bridesmaid...and my Godmother!

How We Met: Uh...she's my aunt. I was sort of born into this whole thing.

Favorite Memory: Lounging around at Big Chip, reading magazines, talking about life, and just doing a whole lot of nothing together. :) Or the first time that we went out to a bar together after I turned 21 and she was like, "I never thought I would be sitting at a bar with my goddaughter..."

Asking her to be a bridesmaid up at Big Chip last year...

...and the requisite pose with the cookie.

Sharon and I love us some Big Chip...and each other! :)

Meet the Wedding Party: Tyler Jay

Name: Tyler Jay

Status: Groomsman

How We Met: The summer that I met Shannon (summer 2007), we met one day when I went to Shannon's house to pick her up or drop her off.

Favorite Memory: Last summer, the three of us (Tyler, Shannon, and myself) were playing Catch Phrase. It was Shannon's turn to give the clues. Giving her clue, Shannon said (in her normal voice), "Some people say I have this when I talk." The correct answer was accent; Shannon has a Minnesoootain accent. However, before I could respond with the correct answer, Tyler said, "Lisp."

"No," Shannon replied. "If that was the answer, then I would have said, 'thome people thay I have thith when I talk.'" We all laughed for a very long time.

(Big) Chippewa Lake 2008
Notice how nice the weather looks and how comfortably we are dressed.

(Big) Chippewa Lake 2009
Notice how crappy the weather looks and how bundled up we are.

This was just last weekend. Everyone was there for Shannon's graduation from ISU.

My shirt is from my (previous) undergraduate university and Tyler's shirt is from his (future) undergraduate university. He is going to Kent State for musical theater.

Meet the Wedding Party: Laura Pientka

Name: Laura Pientka

Status: Bridesmaid

How We Met: I don't remember how we specifically met (though it may have been on our Washington D.C. field trip in 8th grade) but Laura and I had a lot of mutual friends and classes together, particularly during our later years in high school. We also share a mutual love for the Minnesota Wild, so that has helped to solidify our friendship. :)

Favorite Memory: No particular memory comes to mind, but we have had lots of good times involving runs to Cup N Cone before doing some late-night swinging on the beach of White Bear Lake and talking about life, not to mention our ritual of meeting at Applebee's after 9 for half-price appetizers and some Leinie Honey Weiss!

From softball...

...to prom...

...to Florida...

...to the State Fair (gotta love those pronto pups!)...

...Laura and I have been through it all together!

Meet the Wedding Party: Matthew Delzell

Name: Matthew Delzell

Status: Groomsman

How We Met: Since Matthew is my older cousin, we met at my birth.

Favorite Memory: How can I have a favorite memory of my cousin that I have known for 22 years? (Does this sound familiar?) Well, generally speaking, I enjoyed playing with Legos with Matthew. Every birthday and Christmas, we would shake our presents to see if they contained Legos. Matthew always had the best creations. My two favorites were his time-travelling pair of DeLorean and locomotive from Back to the Future I and III respectively. Sorry, no pictures :( Also, Shannon says that smart kids play with Legos :)

I also have a specific memory that comes to mind. My parents did not allow my brother and me to have any kind of video game system other than two Game Boys. Luckily my cousins had a Nintendo. Other than the classic Super Mario Bros. 3 and Duck Hunt, they had Christian video games. My favorite was Spiritual Warfare. We have beaten the game countless times, but this memory comes from before any of those victories. One day when my aunt and uncle were gone and Emily (Matthew's older sister) was in charge, we were all playing Spiritual Warfare together. The excitement grew as we passed a point in the game that we had never passed before. Then, Matthew accidentally bumped the Nintendo and froze the game. As a punishment for getting out of control, Emily made him sit in the other room...by himself.

This is from a birthday party of mine in the garage of our old house. Did I get Legos? It doesn't look like it.

Here we are hangin' out at his church.

Meet the Wedding Party: Cassie Bjork

Name: Cassandra Anna Bjork

Status: Bridesmaid

How We Met: Cassie was the "new girl" in my 3rd grade class...which means we have been friends for around 14 years! Who knew we'd be able to put up with each other for so long?

Favorite Memory: Well, with 14 years behind us, there are plenty: memories of the State Fair, Sonshine concerts, getting in trouble at middle school "Team Meetings", and visiting each other at college, but I'd have to say the favorite one that sticks out in my head is one summer when she came with my family up to Big Chip and we stayed up one night until like 3 AM quoting Shrek to each other. "Man, this is gonna be fun! We can stay up late, swapping manly stories, and in the mornin', I'm makin' WAFFLES!"

Hmmm...she looks nervous to be asked to be a bridesmaid...

...but we sure make some hot bowlers...

...and look slightly scary with guns...

and all in all we are pretty darn cute!

Meet the Wedding Party: Travis Williams

Name: Travis Arthur Williams

Status: Best Man

How We Met: Since Travis is my younger brother, we met at his birth.

Favorite Memory: How can I have a favorite memory of my brother that I have known for 22 years? I can't, but here is one that is pretty good. One day a preschool, we were served the provided lunch, but no one knew what the food was. I was not sure, but after thinking about it for a minute, I announced to the kids that it was pizza. I mean, it tasted like pizza and kind of looked like pizza. That should be enough, right? As soon as Travis "knew" that it was pizza, he started eating it and saying how good it tasted. A teacher heard all the excitement, so she came over to see what was up. Somehow, she figured out that we thought that we were eating pizza, so she corrected us by informing us that we were eating lasagna. My thought was, "Cool, I like lasagna," but my brother's reaction was, "Yuck, I hate lasagna" and stopped eating it. Even years later, our cousins would give him crap about this.


What a worthless baby. He can't even roll himself over.


Why the weird look on your face? Did you eat some sand??


This picture is obviously Photoshoped because I don't wear jeans. I wonder if I hit Travis in the face?...Mom, why would you have professional pictures taken with a wound like that?


Sending my brother off to college. (If you are like me, then you are wondering what is in his hands. It's hangers.) He went to the University of Iowa (as hinted by his hat) and is currently in his fourth year there in the athletic training program.

Meet the Wedding Party: Crystal Heuberger

Name: Crystal Ann Heuberger

Status: Maid of Honor, aka my "MOH"

How We Met: At Bible Study 3 years ago (my junior year and her sophomore year here at ISU). Our Bible Study had quite the mix of girls in it, and as Crystal says, she looked around the room, saw me, and thought, "I think I'll be friends with...HER! She looks like the only normal one here!" Soon after, we became roomies and thus an epic friendship was born.

Favorite Memory: There is a knock at our apartment door. Crystal, thinking it is Tyson, yells, "NO ONE IS HOME!!!" Pause. The voice on the other side of the door says, "Um...it's UPS!" Crystal becomes as red as a tomato, looks at me, and makes a mad dash to her bedroom, shutting herself inside and leaving me, the only other one home, to talk to the UPS guy. Um...thanks.

When I asked her to be my maid of honor...

A typical night at our apartment...

At the Iowa-Iowa State game...

As you can see, I love my MOH!