My Best Friends Wedding....Round 2

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Hogan

One of my favorite movies of all time.... My Best Friends Wedding. If you have seen it, you probably loved it. And if you haven't...you need to rent it :o) I have seen it so many time I can watch it in my head (if they find a way to project brain waves onto the big screen you could just watch it with me)

If they make a Hollywood presentation of the 'best guy friend' situation, there have to be many of us out there who have them. Best guy friends are the "big brothers" we actually liked spending time with in our younger years. They are the guys that your parents thought you were dating because you were always on the phone or hanging out with them. They are the guys that your friends said you should date because "you are always together anyhow, why not make a relationship out of it". They are the guys you never thought about dating (and if you did you cringed because it would be like dating your brother) and never wanted to attempt to date because of the risk of ruining the friendship.

That is Ryan to me... We have been friends for about 10 years. I could not ask for a better friend. Met him my freshman year of high school in our youth group. He was a senior (my brothers age) and made my freshman year bearable. After high school, he went into the Air Force and our daily phone chats turned into once a week chats. I longed for those phone calls to give him the latest gossip and to hear how horrid his days were :o) Eventually he came back home and continued to be the big brother who was always looking to protect me. (I never did what he said but listened to him ramble anyhow) He knew he could give me all the advice in the world and I would probably just do whatever I wanted anyhow.... but he always told me what he thought. He was there when Andy died (close friend and youth group member) and we spent many evenings just sitting...watching movies, talking, or literally just sitting. Somehow knowing that we were both hurting and both understood the other was the comfort we needed. I am so grateful to have a friend like Ryan.

We even made the "If I'm not married by the age of 30 and your not married we might as well just marry each other" pact. Both knowing the chance of that happening was not so great, we continued to joke about it. I had Micah, and after some tough relationships Ryan had Heather. Lucky for Heather I LOVE her to death and she is perfect for my best friend. Lunch dates, mini golfing, and just hanging out still filled our free time and sometimes we would even convince our significant others to join in on the 'dates'. (Thanks to both Micah and Heather for being understanding of our friendship!!!)

Dancing with My Ry-Pie

In December of 2007 I called Ryan to break the news that I was not going to be able to marry him because Micah just proposed. Before I could get out my exciting news, he told me he was going to ask Heather to marry him and was needing advice on asking her. When he was finished with his news and discussion, I shared my news. It was one of the best conversations ever as we got to share the the next step in our lives with one another.

Myself and my boys at MY wedding :o)

Wedding planning galore and then my wedding arrived. And then more wedding planning for Ryan and Heather and now they are official. It was such an exciting day, unlike in My Best Friends Wedding...I was not there to break up the wedding and take the groom for myself. (Again, it's a good thing Heather is such an amazing person because had she not been on my 'favored list' we may have had some issues) Beautiful wedding, gorgeous bride, and wonderful groom.... I teared up a little with excitement. My best friend is happy and that makes me quite happy as well.

So, Heather, thank you for making Ryan so happy, for taking care of him, and putting up with him...you are a saint. And Ryan, I am thrilled you found Heather...she is your perfect match. And it's a good thing we found our soul mates because I really don't think I would have lasted long if I married you myself :o) And I know you would have gone insane since I am soooo 'high maintenance'. So take care of one another and love each other until the end!!! And I am sure double dates are in our future because I don't think life would be complete without them.

Love you both so much!

Some of my favorite people in the world. Nick, Ryan, Beth, and Howard. A.K.A. YGP Lifers :o) (For those of you who are not familiar with YGP, it is what we named our youth group)

Job #3

With my nannying position coming to a close (beginning of June) I decided it was time to figure out more ways to entertain myself. OSF was the answer. I will be doing the same job (basically) as I currently do at proctor, but with more trauma and patient care. The OSF Emergency room is the place to be if you want to see all the cool injuries that come out of the Peoria Area. I am more than thrilled with this job. I will be working as needed which basically means that i will be called in at least once a week and possibly more depending on the need.

I will be remaining at Proctor as well and will be switching to Part Time (from PRN). I am already working Full Time/Part Time status most weeks so they decided to just switch me so i get the Paid Time Off and other benefits.

So once nannying is complete I will just be working the Hospitals and going to school. I will be taking 12 hours at ICC throughout the summer. I am sure to stay busy (I Hope).

*Micah and I are also in the process of buying our first home. 500 Brentwood in Morton. If all goes well we will be moving in on May 15th. I will post many pics and more info at that time. And there will be numerous updates made to the home so i am sure we will have some before and after blogs in the near future.