I grew up in Appleton, WI. I graduated from UW-LaCrosse with a BS in Marketing. I work in HR at Epic Systems Corporation in Madison, WI. I love downhill skiing, video games, and anything geeky including my fiancé . I grew up in the Green Bay area. I graduated from Michigan Technological University with a BS in Computer Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. I currently am employed at Epic Systems Corporation as a Software Developer. In my spare time, I enjoy watching TV, talking to friends over the internet, playing video games, making corny jokes, and just taking it easy. We met on a recruiting trip for Epic up at Mike's alma mater, Michigan Tech. We were working the career fair together and talked to each other more than the students. We went out to dinner with Mike's friend and former roommate, also named Mike. After a delicious meal we were on the way back to town when Mike turned around and asked me if I wanted to hang out with them for a while, or head back to the hotel. To Mike's surprise, I wanted to hang out with them, eventhough it entailed nothing more than watching more Star Trek and getting Shamrock Shakes from McDonald's.

After exchanging some work emails and getting lunch we started hanging out. On our first date it took Mike two movies (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and Alien Apocalypse) and two episodes of Futurama to finally hold my hand . At the end of the night I asked Mike "So when do you want to hang out again?" He responded "Tomorrow" with a big smile on his face. At one time during the career fair, the girl at the booth next to us asked if we wanted some candy, and we both grabbed a cinnamon disc. As we talked we realized we had a lot in common, but what Mike said that really won me over was his great Diablo 2 joke. We were talking about the various difficulty levels when Mike joked "...and you have no chance in Hell." (For those of you unfamiliar with Diablo, the difficulty levels are: Normal, Nightmare, and Hell.) I love his cheesy sense of humor and bad puns.

Every night I went over to his apartment he walked me out to my car at the end of the night. When I took a digger on my rollerblades he broke out his first aid kit and patched me up. I mentioned that my recliner was broke and he brought his tools the next time he came over and fixed it. Just a few examples of how wonderful he is and all the things he does for me. The morning of the career fair, I was waiting out in the lobby for Alicia since she had the rental car. As she walked into view, I was floored at how beautiful she looked without even trying. We got into the car, where she had a Steve Miller CD still in from the night before. this caused the smile on my face to get a little bigger.

After the career fair, we headed back to the hotel, with plans to head to dinner in a few hours. I returned to my room, closed the door, and said aloud "I really want to date this girl!" After some time passed, I headed over to Alicia's room so we could eat at the best place in the Keewenaw: Pilgrim River Steak House. Alicia opens her door, and I see she is watching Star Trek Voyager, the same thing I just turned off my tv. That smile that had been growing all day just got a lot bigger. Find out more about us by checking out some of our favorite stuff.

September 15, 2007 We were up at Mike's parent's cabin for the weekend. On Friday night we had a nice candlelit dinner, built a fire, and sat under the stars. On Saturday morning he asked me to go for a walk in the woods. About halfway through the walk I knew something was going on and started to get nervous, I could tell he was trying to hide something in his pocket. Finally, near the end of the trail, he stopped me and started talking about how the little things in life make us happy, but sometimes big things in life make us happy too. He got down on one knee and proposed. I couldn't even answer, I just shook my head yes and started crying I was so happy and excited!

October 11, 2008
Green Lake, WI

Add our wedding as an event to your calendar application:
The ceremony and reception will be held at Tuscumbia Country Club in Green Lake, WI. It will be an outdoor ceremony performed by a family friend. We will have a string quartet playing the music for the ceremony. The reception be held in a wedding tent on a brick patio right outside Tuscumbia's main lodge. The food will be served buffet style and we will have a DJ for entertainment. The overall theme is fall, my favorite time of year. Our colors are purple and chocolate brown.

Additional information for guests is available here.

Ellen Ven Rooy - Maid Of Honor [My best friend]
Katie Hurley - Bridesmaid [My half sister] Scott Riopelle - Best Man [Friend]
Mike Klecka - Groomsman [College roommate]
Nick Verhagen - Groomsman [Friend]