Please join us for a whimsical walk down memory lane while we recount the story that is Patrick and Shannon. It all began at Cooper Middle School...

Shannon moved to Illinois just before the 6th grade. We first met each other during the "Chocolate Unit" in Mrs. Spencer's 6th grade class. Throughout middle school we shared a group of friends, routinely hanging out at lunch in Mr. Wendt's room and after school. But Shannon was, at the time, taken; and Pat, well, wasn't quite ready for a girlfriend anyway. He was too busy burning the hair on the back of his hand with bug repellant and matches. That all changed on February 24th, 2001 when Shannon asked Pat to the freshman Turnabout dance at Buffalo Grove High School. The next day, Pat asked Shannon to be his girlfriend and the rest is history.

We really hit it off after Turnabout and quickly became high school sweethearts. Despite getting into some trouble with our parents, we walked home together every day from school, no matter the weather. We would hide behind Shannon's house and talk until Shannon's Dad came home, at which point Pat would scurry away. The relationship evolved into late-night phone calls and, eventually, a separate phone line for Shannon. We kept dating all the way through Junior and Senior Prom becoming the couple to stay together longest in our grade, against some stiff competition. After some hard work, we were both accepted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and left to begin our new lives away from home.

Freshman year at University of Illinois was a blast. Pat would frequently head over to Shannon's dorm to enjoy the best dorm food on campus. Shannon's hallmates referred to us as "Mom and Dad". Strawberry smoothies at the Six Pack were another favorite of ours. Our Sophomore year was a trying time for both of us, but through all the trouble we emerged an even stronger couple. Junior year, we spent half a year apart while Pat was studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. Hundreds of $2 text messages and long-long-long distance phone calls later, Shannon was able to visit and we both SCUBA dived the Great Barrier Reef. As if that weren't enough time apart, Pat took a six month internship at Rolls-Royce, during his senior year, in Indianapolis, resulting in many a two hour car trip (even in a tornado warning). Shannon went on to graduate with a degree in Animal Sciences and a minor in Chemistry; Pat graduated half a year later with Honors in Computer Engineering. Thus, we began our adult lives.

Shortly after Pat's graduation, we took a ski trip to Utah. While there, Pat finally (after almost eight years) got around to proposing to Shannon. After she picked her jaw up off the floor, Shannon, of course, said "Yes!" We then packed up our things and headed to Seattle, where Pat is starting a job at Microsoft and Shannon is going on to nursing school. We are looking forward to starting our married life here and hope that you can be there with us when it becomes official in Chicago.