#13 John

John was a neighbor in Wilmington. He lived down the street from me and my roommate Melissa. He would always walk around the neighborhood and loved to chat. You had to be ready for a long conversation and he always had great stories. Whenever Melis and I would have parties we would invite John and he was always a hit with the ladies! The guys like John as well and he was always giving them pointers on how to keep the ladies interested. He was so in love with Melis - it was too cute. What a great guy. I miss seeing him walking around the neighborhood. I talked to Melissa recently and she said she will still hear from him time to time. No matter what kind of mood you were in John would always put a smile on your face! I will always remember his stories, warm smile and his love for Neil Campbell's Manahattans!

#12 Matt Barbadian

I still remember when I met Matt in San Francisco, it was when I was visiting Shay for my 21st birthday. I just kept thinking who is this guy! He had these colored sunglasses....apparently they were cool then! He was dancing and very sociable! Matt later went to Alabama with my sister and met my aunts as well as some of my cousins. I was shocked to hear that he was shy and thought if this was the same guy that I had met. But needless to say we all loved Matt and saw how much my sister like him as well. Matt has to be one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Matt and I share a lot, not only a love for my sister but a hatred of bugs, especially spiders. One of my favorite Matt moments (there are a few) is when he and Shannon came to Delaware for a visit and a firefly flew in his face and lit up. Keep in mind they don't have fireflies in California. Matt totally freaked out - arms wailing...his legs couldn't keep up with him. Shannon and I could barely stand up we were laughing so hard. Great Matt moment!
It was Christmas eve when Matt called me to tell me he was going to ask Shannon to marry him. I could not have been happier and was so excited that he was going to be part of our family. Brave man he is...haha :)
I moved to Cali shortly before they got married with our dog Mollie. Matt and Shannon welcomed me and Mollie into their home and let me stay there until I found a place. Matt was never really a dog person (and if you know our family - WE LOVE OUR DOGS) but has fallen head over heals for Mollie - who still lives with them - they are quite the buddies! I think Mollie thinks Matt is her husband and Shannon is just a roommate! Matt is a fantastic cook and it was fantastic living with them and having an personal chef! One last thing about Matt I should mention is he is a die hard Lakers fan and has even turned me into a fan as well (he will be happy to know that).
I would be lucky to find a guy like my sister has in Matt!

#11 Josh Hill

Josh was a friend from Virginia Wesleyan, one of the Josh's! There was Hill and Nolz and they were good friends. Both pretty adorable as well! They both played soccer at Wesleyan and all of the girls at some point or another had a little crush on one or both of them! I remember hanging out with Josh in the dorms or at Crazy Charlies. I will have to search through my pictures from college and post one! I recently found Josh on facebook - he hasn't changed a bit. I cant say that I was surprised that he was married - lucky girl, he's a great guy!

#10 Jeni Haugh

The Haugh's are family friends. So I grew up with Jeni, her brother Jason and sister Brooke. It seems like we were always at each other houses on the weekends. My mom recently sent me a box of old photo albums and other items, there was an old calender in the box and "Haugh's" and a time was literally on at least every other weekend. We all grew up together. We had some great times. The Haugh kids were swimmers and good swimmers at that! So lots of summers were spent at the pool and either at our house or theirs - BBQs and/or crabs were usually on the menu! Jeni was not only a good athlete but a great friend! I will always remember that about her. I still hear from Jeni from time to time and wish her nothing but the best!

#9 Jeremie Axe

Funny that Jeremie was next to come up since him and Alli dated back in our "younger" days. Jeremie was my friend Alli's boyfriend our senior year and for some time after we graduated. He was a year younger than us at our brother school, Salesianum. He was a nice guy and I have some great memories of him; pool parties, high school dances, senior week, and oh the trip to the liquor store prior to senior week are among the many. Poor guy...when we found out that he asked Alli to be his girlfriend and how he did it we decided to tease him relentlessly and that included putting a nice big sign on his car while he was in class. What a good sport he was!!!! We spent a lot of nights at his house, I remember his room was on the ground level and conveniently opened up to the pool area. Jeremie and I lost touch over the years, but with the miracle of facebook (ha) I have been able to get in touch with him and see what is new in his life. Jeremie's dad did the surgery on my knee and now Jeremie is a resident at a hospital in Boston and I have no doubt he will be a fantastic surgeon as well.

# 8 Alli Huber

Alli is one of my oldest friends. We went to grade school together all the way to high school graduation. We use to constantly tease Alli for being blond and having blond moments. Even though Ursuline was such a small school, we did have our core group of friends (I guess many would call them clicks) and Alli was in mine. We did a lot together and I will definitely post a couple pictures, even though she may kill me! Oh the memories...Alli was with me when we all went and got our belly buttons pierced - oh was that an event! We went through first crushes together, boyfriends, dances and lots of laughs. I still remember when I broke up with my high school sweetheart, it was Alli who invited me to the shore with her family to cheer me up! Alli is a great person and has a huge heart. She still does things to crack us up! She recently came to California for a visit and it was great hanging out! She is now a nurse and I couldn't think of a better profession for someone like her! There are some friends out there you lose touch with over time, but when I see Alli and we get together it does not seem half as long as it has been!

#7 Katie Ward

I have known Katie ever since I can remember. Her parents were good friends with my mom and dad. Katie was one of the cool older kids of my parents friends that I looked up to and always thought was so cool. Katie and Billy (her brother) always had a Christmas party that I looked forward to every year! We have a had some great times with the Ward's. Katie came back to Delaware after she had her first child Will. I was lucky enough to help take care of Will while Katie went back to work. It was a great time...Will was such a good baby! I haven't seen Katie or her family since I moved west but I look forward to the day I do. She, her husband Lance and their 3 children live on the east coast. For now I will settle for Facebook updates - but I had so much fun spending time with Katie, Lance and their kids and look forward to seeing them again sometime soon!

#6 Jack Hamilton

Jack is one of my brother in laws friends. He is also one of the nicest guys I met when I came and visited Matt and Shannon (see...nice guys do exist in the OC) and when I moved here they were some of the only people I knew. He is married to Callie...also one of the nicest people here as well and they have 3 adorable children. Jack and Callie always have been very welcoming and never made me feel like a tag along. Jack and I were paired up at the wedding and he gave a great toast, such a great friend Matt has! Jack and Matt are HUGE Lakers fans as well and have since convinced me to be one as well - they will be so happy to know that! This is a picture from the wedding, Jack is on the left of me.

#5 Lisa A

I didn't really know anyone when I decided to move to Southern California. Lisa was one of the first friends I made when I moved to Newport Beach. She worked with me at Karl Strauss. We have had some great times and she is a very good friend. Lisa and I have had caused trouble all over the place-the good kind of trouble! The March Madness/Birthday trip to Vegas, New Years Parties, Angels Games (Lisa took me to my first Angels game) and game nights!!! I don't see Lisa as much as I would like since I stopped working at the Brewery but when we do get together its always a good time. If you are ever with Lisa while playing Taboo - you want to be on her team....it will be very entertaining and you'll win! I am lucky to have such a great friend like Lisa and I think we will be friends for years to come!

#4 Sam R

Sam was a high school friend. She was a grade above me, but in a school as small as Ursuline everyone is friends with everyone, no matter what grade you were in. Sam and I also spent some time at quite a few baseball games! I recently found one of my old yearbooks, Sam had drawn a baseball diamond at the end of her entry! I have some great memories of her. I still hear from Sam from time to time and hope to see her when I get back to the east coast.

#3 Laura Murphy

Skating was a large part of my life. So the people you train with you also spend most of your time with around. Laura was an ice skating friend, a pairs skater. She skated with Brian Wells, they were pretty good! I use to always enjoy watching them skate. In skating sometimes other competitors are the nicest of people but Laura was different. Not only was she nice but had great sportsmanship! I haven't seen Laura in a while, but found her on facebook not too long ago and she seems to be doing well.

#2 Jeannie Prest

Jeanie was my friend TJ's mom and a very good family friend. We all lived in Brandywine Hills and our families were always together along with the DiPrima's. One of my favorite memories of Jeannie is when we all went to Hawaii for Easter in '88. The vacation was a surprise for TJ and I. It was so much fun, but I got some serious sun while we were there - I looked like a lobster for a couple days. The picture is from is from one of the nights in Hawaii. I haven't seen Jeannie in years but have some great memories!

#1 DENISE FRAMPTON-STIGLITZ

Denise is my very good friend from Delaware and former co-worker. She was my manager at Iron Hill in Wilmington and quickly became one of my greatest friends. It was like the Frampton's were taking over Iron Hill, her brother Doug (my General Manager), sister in law Lisa (manager at Iron Hill Newark) and her husband Michael aka Stigz (the executive chef) - who she met there - all worked at one of the Iron Hills. Denise and I became fast friends, she has a great personality and is hands down one of the nicest people I know. Many complained that she played favorites with myself and another co-worker and let me tell you if playing favorites meant extra work and asking us to do more than others....I guess she did!
One of my favorite stories is how I found out about her and Stigz (who also is one of my best friends). Denise was always "painting" her house so we could never go over there to hang out. Well at dinner before I was on my way on vacation she told us she had to tell us something, I thought I was being transferred or fired due to the "favoring" complaints...but then came "Stigz and I are dating....oh and living together." Shocked yes, happy for them - DEFINITELY! Well they have since gotten married and now live at the beach and co-own The Pig-n-Fish Restaurant in Rehoboth Beach with Doug and Lisa. I look forward every year to going back to Delaware and hanging out with Denise, even though it may be just once a year I see her (and I wish it were more) its like no time has passed. But I do miss my friend - she is one of the best!