Grant Audet is my Best Man and next door neighbor of 18 years. Growing up together meant hopping the fence between our yards regularly, water/hose fights across said fence, many days spent with playmobile, Civilization, playing basketball on the trampoline, watching the t.v. show 24, sailing (and flipping over) at Shoreline Lake, countless bike rides, and me making Grant late for school when he had a car and I had none…. Grant is simply an incredible guy, one of the smartest and most talented people I know, who I have, and continue to count on as one of my best friends.

Anthony Valera and I had the pleasure of living together for about a year while we were both in Irvine. His girlfriend (Lia Pallivathucal, one of Ri’s Maid’s of Honor) and Ri stealthily coordinated the end of our leases and how convenient it would be if we lived together. Happily – they were more than right. Anthony has been an incredible friend through it all, helping make sure I didn’t go too crazy while Ri was in Scotland, exposing me to the world of CrossFit, mechanized robots, and the party game Time’s Up (for which my stellar win/loss record stands at about 2-347). Countless game nights and a couple trips up the coast have been a blast together.

Roger (Rog) Hull, Ri’s younger brother, is an awesome and defining part of the family. Roger’s keen observational ability and sense of humor make for some incredible comedy as he quickly and cleverly shows how well he knows us all and how ridiculous we can sometimes be. But beyond helping us laugh at ourselves, Rog is fearless, caring, and intensely smart. The love he has for his family is profound and I feel lucky to soon get to call him my brother.

Tara Sooreechine and I met on our study abroad summer from UC San Diego to Peking University in Beijing China. Neither of us were particularly gifted at Chinese, but we were both particularly gifted at eating all the Chinese food! These two traits bonded us over the summer and our fondness for all food continues to be a prime source of our friendship. Beyond our time at UCSD, with Tara’s career as an Actuary, she has had many exams to study for. And, as I geared up for my Business School application, I needed to study for the GMAT test – as a result Tara and I would study for significant periods crammed in a Starbucks in Torrance, CA until we were starved and would head out to a local restaurant to catch up and fill up.

Matthew (Matt) Rose is another great mutual friend of Ri and mine. Though Ri has first dibs, having grown up with him and all, I have had the pleasure of getting to know Matt especially well over the past few years. As an extremely caring and smart friend with a huge heart, I can always count on Matt – he has the unique ability to always see through to fundamental truths about the world around us and an epic sense of humor that helps me to not take myself too too seriously.

Anthony Hoopes, Ri’s older brother and one of the two Anthony’s of this wedding party, is yet another tremendous guy I am so excited to have among my grooms-people. Now living in Seattle, Ri and I got to visit him and his girlfriend and we had an absolute blast staying with them and exploring the city. Spending time with him then and at various family gatherings it is clear that Anthony has the ability to brighten any room with his presence and his love. For Anthony as well as Rog, I so look forward to getting to call him my brother.