the bridal party

Maid of Honor: Bonnie T.

Bonnie, a 1996 Maryknoll graduate, is an architect at WATG in Honolulu. She has been married to Kenny T. since 2003. They are world travelers who love to sing karaoke. Bonnie is a previous Miss Chinatown Talent Contest winner who tells a mean story, loves rabbits, and spends her time volunteering with various community organizations.

Bon and I have been friends since Maryknoll Grade School. She is the friend all moms want for their daughters: smart, responsible, and unfailingly considerate. We have had many adventures, including co-chairing the 2007 ACUW Scholarship Fundraiser Fashion Show (which really consisted of me talking Bonnie into it and then Bonnie doing most of the work - sorry Bon!). We now live a hop, skip and jump away from each other in the upper Makiki area.

Bridesmaid: Lisa W.

Lisa, born and raised in Hawaii, is a veterinary technician living in Tacoma with her husband Daniel, 13-year-old stepdaughter, and an assortment of cats, dogs, and sometimes other species. She is also a '96 graduate of Maryknoll. Lisa is definitely one-of-a-kind. She's a former wrestler who loves kittens, a girly-girl who can fire a gun, and of the two of us, no one thought she'd be a parent first!!

I met Lisa in seventh grade, and we have many Maryknoll memories - Quiz Bowl, Modern European History, and many a school-sponsored dance in Rogers Hall, to name a few. Lisa left Hawaii shortly after high school, and she is one of the few people left in the world who appreciates good old fashioned correspondence - via the USPS - and just about the only person I know who doesn't have e-mail. I tease her about this endlessly - but actually, if it weren't for Lisa, I'd never receive handwritten letters.

Bridesmaid: Victoria S.

Vickie, a Kaiser grad and another Hawaii girl turned Northwesterner, lives in Tualatin, OR with her boyfriend Brandon and their Yorkie pup, Mr. Belvedere. Don't let her penchant for cute things fool you - she is a Mac Goddess and knows her way around a Kevin Smith movie or two.

Vickie and I have worked together (we met while working at the Manoa A Plus Program back in ... 2000?), shopped together, and gotten pierced and tattooed together (she looks so sweet, doesn't she? But then again, don't I?).

In October I'll be making my very first trip to the state of Oregon, where we are already planning hilarious fun to tentatively include go-kart racing, golfing under the influence, and of course, shopping.

Bridesmaid: Caryn N.

Caryn, a 1998 Maryknoll grad, lives in Aiea and is a fifth-grade teacher (YAY!!) at Pearl City Elementary School. She loves reading, video games, reality TV, and visiting her boyfriend in Hilo.

We didn't actually become friends at Maryknoll. We met in 2003 when we both turned up in the same Foundations of Education class for Chaminade's Masters in Education program. Caryn and I suffered through many late-night classes, commiserated over many a bowl of ramen when those classes got out at 9:45 p.m., and were part of a group of friends who constantly got in trouble for talking during class. Hehe. Caryn's nickname in grad school was "The Overachiever." :)

We both love reading, dogs, Las Vegas, and, apparently, the fifth grade. (Well, I'll get back to you on that last one.)

Bridesmaid: Tami S.

Speaking of fifth grade ... Tami is my grade level partner, the level-headed, organized one out of the two of us. I come up with the harebrained ideas, she makes sure the deadlines are met. :)

This is only the second year I've known Tami, but it is easy to become good friends with someone when you share the same crazy job and are trying to plan a wedding at the same time.

Tami, a 1996 McKinley grad, will be marrying her fiance, Roger, in June. She likes penguins and singing karaoke.

Bridesmaid: Niranda H.

Niranda, a former journalist, is a physician's assistant in Honolulu and will soon embark on the great medical school journey. We met in the UH newsroom in the Spring of 1997 - Ka Leo O Hawaii was our second home for several years - and soon were spending equal time in the newsroom and out of it, at lunch, the mall, Paradise Palms, you name it. If it wasn't class, we were there! (Just kidding, mom. We went to class.)

Niranda lives with her husband, Brett, and their cat, Cheddar in Makiki - in a building about 20 paces from mine. As much fun as it is being neighbors, we hardly ever see each other due to our busy schedules. We always joke that we saw each other more often when she was living in San Jose.