Welcome Family & Friends

Since we were high school freshman, we have been growing up together while also growing closer together. As we have passed through the different phases of our young adult lives, we fell in love over and over again, in new ways we hadn't thought possible. We would each like to share a glimpse of how our love has brought us to make this lifelong commitment to one another, told from our individual perspectives.

My very first memory of Anthony was freshman year history class at Bishop Shanahan. He was rolling up his pantleg to show a classmate a cut on his leg from falling off his longboard. My second memory was us very quickly becoming friends, and me realizing it warmed my heart whenever I caught him smiling. We would skip out on lunch to watch movies in the library together, eating Goldfish and Cosmic brownies. The nuns would send me off to wipe down bookshelves once they put two and two together. We went to all (but one!) of our high school dances together, yet if I were to tell anyone when I truly fell in love with Anthony, it was at the Jersey shore. Going “down the shore” and staying at the house in Barnegat, having beach days at Island Beach State Park, walking the boards at Seaside… but laying in the hammock together and gazing up at the stars at night, that was when I truly felt in my heart and knew in my mind that I wanted to be with Anthony forever. As we passed through the milestones of young adult life side-by-side – high school graduation, going away to college at Penn State, graduating with our Masters degrees, starting our careers, and moving into our first apartment together, we have only grown more in our love for each other. Anthony has been my constant motivator, my calm, my unending support, and my best friend. His passion for life and his drive to achieve his goals is inspiring. He cracks me up, and is my sole confidant. We can talk at length, or sit in silence – both at peace. He is the beginning and end of my day, and the true light of my life. We both say we have fallen in love in different phases, in different ways, over time, and I can’t wait to fall in love all over again on our wedding day. I love you, Anthony!

As a freshman in high school, I had started out not knowing a soul after transferring from my small elementary school. Equally as important as meeting new friends was the chance of meeting a pretty girl I could possibly date. I had my priorities in line. One day during lunch, I noticed the long, beautiful brown hair of someone walking by to her seat – I overheard her name was Natalie. I was hopeful that within the next four years I would have a chance to go out with someone half as pretty as her. Unbeknownst to me at that time, we would become good friends later that year. Eventually, the two of us were skipping lunch to sit in the library together and watch movies on my laptop. This is where I got the inspiration to ask her out to see the movie Oblivion with Tom Cruise. It’s ok if you don’t remember that one, I barely caught any of it. Fast-forward four years, we began our college journeys at Penn State. Luckily, we were only separated by a 45-minute drive between the Altoona campus and University Park until our junior year. No matter where we were, we always managed to find something fun to do in beautiful Centre County, like drinking, for example. But when we weren’t doing that, we would continue the theme of spending time in the libraries together, talking about our classes, imagining our careers, and discussing the possibilities of our lives after we graduate. I remember how motivated we were by each other and how easy it was for us to envision a future together - we were eager to embark on life’s journey. No matter where that journey took us, we both agreed that it should at least take us to the beach. It’s our ultimate happy place, and I would bet 80% of our favorite memories together were from times when we were either at the Jersey Shore or in the Keys. That’s why I found it suitable to embark on our journey at the beach by proposing to Natalie at Island Beach State Park. Even after anticipating the moment I was to get on one knee for years and years, I still was not prepared for how excitedly nervous I was. Natalie had probably said yes ten times before I was even able to get myself together and say “Will you marry me?” Now, we are happily awaiting our wedding day to finally, officially, begin living the lives we had envisioned for ourselves over the past 11 years.