Sometimes you just can’t explain your best friend

..they just are.

Fun Fact: Mark and Sophia’s first kiss was at Claire’s house!

Claire and Sophia met on ‘pajama-day’ during spirit week in 8th grade and have been best friends ever since. In addition to a best friend, Sophia feels blessed to have gained a second family through their friendship. Claire and her family have kept Sophia’s silly-side alive and have been an amazing outlet for laughs and support for the last 14 years!

Sophia and Claire talk on the phone almost every day. Sophia especially loves calling Claire when she’s driving to work and is about to drive by Claire’s apartment, because rain or shine, Claire will run out to her balcony, wave at Sophia in her Jeep and wish her a great day as she passes by.

Sophia has loved being able to share this special season of engagement and wedding planning with Claire, as Claire is also getting married this year in July!

Teige and Mark have been friends since middle school where they met out on the soccer field together. They lived out their fun in high school and couldn’t stay away from each other as they roomed together in their college years at St. Thomas. Today, Mark and Teige live in the same city and are enjoying their ‘homeowner’ phase of life, as they help each other with house projects on the weekends!

Ellie and Sophia became friends when they were 9 years old while playing hockey. It wasn’t just hockey that brought Ellie and Sophia together though. Their ‘inner nerd’ brought them even closer as partners on the high school science team, math team and while studying for their AP classes together. Beyond high school, Sophia and Ellie have continued to support each other through many milestones and exams in their postgraduate training (Sophia in vet school and Ellie becoming an Actuary). Outside of their studies, Sophia and Ellie love spending time together with their Moms on the lake.

Kalvin and Mark go back to middle school where they played hockey and soccer together. They found a common interest in snowmobiles and began learning how to fix-up machines alongside each other. Not much has changed since that time, as they now find themselves with a beer in one hand and a wrench in the other while tinkering with projects in their garages.

The hockey rink brought Sophia and Haley together when they were in 4th grade. They quickly became friends and continued to play hockey together through their senior year in high school. Also while in high school, Sophia got to learn a lot from Haley while playing together on the high school golf team. Though they attended colleges in different states, Sophia and Haley stayed close. They now enjoy playing together in a women’s hockey league and drinking wine while talking about Haley’s dog Atlas!

Mark is the brother that Jacob never wished he had, but is now stuck with and has learned to like him. Just kidding! Mark and Jacob have been friends since Sophia first brought Mark home in 2015. They enjoy spending time on the lake together in the summer and snowboarding in the winter.

Jacob has learned to admire Mark’s beer pong skills and has been taking lessons to hopefully one day beat him…yet Mark is convinced that day will never come.

“Hola” is all it took for Sophia to fall in love with her new sister-in-law! Sophia and Denise are a great pair who love to laugh and drink wine with each other. The two have spent the last year planning their weddings together, talking about how much they love their dogs and gabbing about Jacob and all the goofy things he does. Sophia is so happy that Denise and Jacob live nearby and is excited to follow in their footsteps of a happy marriage!

The day that Austin posted an online ad looking for jetski parts was when Mark and Austin became immediate friends. They have spent countless hours in the summer traveling to ride their jet skis and track down the next best jet ski deal. Their winters became boring with the lakes freezing over, so they found themselves joining an RC Car league together and having way more fun than they should!

Courtney was Sophia’s ultimate ROCK during vet school. They were roommates for all 4 years, shared endless laughs during online COVID lectures, and cried together when they found out they passed their boards this year! Sophia proudly became an ‘Auntie’ when Courtney brought home her new kitten Pepper during their 2nd year. Sophia made so many special memories with Courtney throughout their time in school together and can’t wait to continue into this next chapter as friends.