Gina O'Leary is Tanya's Maid of Honour, and she lives in Halifax with her husband Tim and dog Jersey. Tanya and Gina met over 4 years ago and hit it off immediately and have been close friends ever since. Gina's maiden name is Palmer and Gina and Tanya always joke that they are related.
Gina motivated Tanya to try running again and their social exercise habits match perfectly. She is the one friend who will come pick Tanya up at 6am to go to that 6:30am class! They also share a love for beauty products and, well, anything to do with shopping.
Gina is an impressive organizer, and loves doing special things for her friends and family - creating elaborate cards and gifts, paying close attention to detail, and is always very thoughtful when it comes to making others feel special.
Gina and Craig hit it off instantly, probably because of their mutual love of design and perfection.
Gina is dedicated to her career as a nurse, and Tanya admires her discipline in achieving her goals as much as she admires the support and openness of Gina's friendship. Tanya is very excited for Gina to be a part of her wedding day.
Cathy Amendola, Norma Matheson and Sarah MacLean are Tanya's sisters. Cathy and Norma are Tanya's bridesmaids. These three ladies have a special place in Tanya's heart and their bond will never be broken.
Tanya has fond memories of her childhood and loves getting together with them to reminisce about the good times. Tanya and her sisters were active children and loved playing games outside. Sharing one bathroom between the four of them, there were bound to be some conflict, but they always stuck up for each other no matter what.
Craig hit it off with Tanya's sisters right away and was included in family fun, such as Michael Jackson 'Thriller' Dance parties.
Cathy and her husband John live in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Norma and her husband Mark and daughter Abby live in Oakville, Ontario. Sarah and her husband Steven, and two sons Matthew and John live in Lakeside, PEI.
Cathy has always been a big sister to Tanya, and Tanya looked up to her for style and attitude. The two became even closer in University, when they had more freedom to be friends (since they no longer shared a bedroom). Tanya has always felt like she could go to her big sister for advice, and she is inspired by Cathy's ability to adapt to the challenges of life.
Norma has always been there for Tanya - starting way back when Tanya had troubles sleeping in grade 6. Norma was always able to calm Tanya down. This carried on into their later years, especially when Tanya was a starving student in University. Norma is a very dedicated and determined parent to Abby, and Tanya is looking forward to reading Norma's first book on parenting.
Sarah is Tanya's baby sister who has two beautiful boys with big personalities. Tanya loves that she has a great connection to Sarah, whether on the phone, or on Facebook. Sarah has a big heart, and is very thoughtful - Craig and Tanya always enjoy the trip to PEI for many reasons, but not the least of which is the armloads of fresh lobster, cookies, and smiles Sarah always manages to pack under their arms.
Emily Hallé is Craig's sister and one of Tanya's bridesmaids. Craig and Tanya are so excited that Emily is able to make it all the way from Whitehorse, Yukon.
A year ago, they had a chance to visit Emily and her husband Jesse on an truly eye opening adventure in the beautiful north, driving up the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Circle (next time we'll go all the way to the Arctic Sea!). Emily and Jesse truly live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and Tanya & Craig feel extremely privileged to have had Emily & Jesse as tour guides.
Emily and Craig were more like friends growing up, sharing advice, and learning lots from each other. They continue to be that way to this day.
Emily is an amazing person who is very passionate about everything in her life, and has an intelligent view on just about every subject. Tanya and Craig often find themselves asking "What would Emily do", and they always find that the choices they make with Emily in mind are positive and sustainable.
Emily believes (and Craig likes to take some credit for this belief) that everything works out for the best, and it's hard to argue with this position when you see the life that Emily has built for herself.
Kyle Sandford has been friends with Craig ever since they got in a fight in grade 8, and were forced to sit in the principal's office alone for a half hour. This lead to a significant amount of mischief and fun over the following 20 years.
Far too many stories have been lived and forgotten to even start to give some idea of the good times they have had, and perhaps it's a good thing given the statute of limitations in this country...
Kyle and Craig have always been there to help one another; moving to new apartments, help with construction/renovations, etc. They also have always been there to just hang out and have some drinks, whether it's over a Mtl Canadiens game, or hiding from the girls playing "Dead on the Bed".
Craig had the honour of being the best man in Kyle and Joann's wedding in 2004, and is excited to have Kyle do the same for him. Kyle and Joann have a beautiful relationship with a deep love and mutual admiration, which is a model for any married couple interested in a fulfilling marriage.
Craig has a lot of respect for Kyle's easy going attitude, and attributes a good portion of his patience and positive thinking to growing up with this friendship.
Kevin Dolan and Craig went to the same high school, but other than attending parties together and terrorizing Peter MacDonald (their grade 11 chemistry teacher) they didn't hang out very much.
When Kevin went to Australia in 1998, Craig started hanging out with Serge DiPenta, Joey Constable, and Ryan O'Hearn (after running into them downtown every night for an entire summer at all of the same locations). One night, they said they had a buddy coming home from Australia, and they were all going to party together. Craig arrived, and was surprised to find it was Kevin!
Since then, they have been avid surfers, ping-pong adversaries, and professional rum-drinkers. Tanya has also become close to Kathleen, Kevin's wife, who has to be the most genuinely nice and accepting person on earth - Tanya felt like part of the gang instantly when she met Kathleen.
Kevin has a fierce determination to succeed professionally, only supplanted by his determination to succeed leisurely. He has a very firm work-to-live attitude which allows for his professional growth, but not at the expense of family and friends. Craig is extremely grateful to have another friend who shares this way of life.
Colin Hudson and Craig first met in Jr. High School, but didn't really start hanging out until senior year in high school. They attended Dal Music together, and also toured North America in the ill-fated Johnny Favourite Swing Orchestra. Colin is responsible almost entirely for Craig's deep appreciation of jazz music.
The two were virtually inseparable for about 10 years, having gone to the same school, university, travelled in the same band, and both worked at Dalhousie in the Dentistry department. This comradarie continued as they focused their sights on Halifax's nightlife.
Colin is the only person who can stay up as late as Craig, and often the two would be out entertaining themselves well after the majority of the population had been asleep for hours.
Comedy is an important part of their relationship, and like all of their interests, they are always practising to perfect it (much to the annoyance of everyone they know and love). Combined with severe lack of sleep, this can be a deadly combination!
Craig has always been impressed with the focus and determination of Colin towards achieving his goals, and he has consistently been an inspiration to Craig over the 15 years they have been friends.
Don Crowe (you may know him by his AKA: Buck) and Craig have been friends since one day on Lawrencetown Beach in 2003. Craig was carrying a surfboard out of the water, and Don stopped him, saying "That's my board". Of course, Craig was quite sure he had purchased it himself... but a quick exchange quickly led Craig to realize the 2nd hand board he purchased was actually *made* by Don. The two realized they shared many similar interests, most notably having a good time in any situation, at any time, and started hanging out regularly.
They collaborated on a few construction projects, and on terrorizing bar patrons downtown, and on splitting waves at the reef.
Don is the self-proclaimed "Sheriff of L-Town", and he keeps people in line out in the community - making sure the pristine countryside stays litter free and the pounding surf stays safe. Don is also extremely intelligent - just listen to him for a few minutes and he'll tell you himself!
Don consistently does things his way, and has limitless energy (except during a 9-hour concrete countertop pour in Craig's house after a few bottles of wine and a lot of whiskey, after which he fell asleep on the floor, leaving Craig to trowel the cement). Craig looks up to the experience and ingenuity of Don, and attributes a lot of his interest in Engineering to his friendship with Don. Craig looks forward to many more projects the two will no doubt be involved in.