team mannie.

I'm just going to pretend like I haven't ignored updating since December. But I can no longer avoid the death threats my friends send me every other day about not updating anything on here. So here we go...

On May 7 my best friend, Mike, married some random girl he met on an airplane in 2008 named Annie. No really...take a look for yourself:

I mean really? This is straight up out of a Taylor Swift song, or a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie. This is classic romantic comedy cliche material! This is good stuff here! I might attempt writing an Oscar-winning screenplay based on it.

I've known Mike since 2003 when we were in the same hallway in the Rigby Hall dorms. I often tell people who ask that I don't remember the transformation into us being friends. For some reason there isn't a recollection or a memory of the "OH!-*SNAP*-WE'RE-NOW-FRIENDS!" moment.

After our missions we were roommates every semester for the rest of our college careers; aka 4 years. That's a long time. So for all the parties, crushes, church meetings, trials, celebrations, art projects, fights, car malfunctions (something I'm notorious for), movies, pranks GALORE, class ditching (oops!), tv marathons, horklys and craigos visits, general conferences, halloween hilarities, road trips, exercising attempts, and pure randomness (ex. setting up a tent in the living room), etc...Mike was pretty much there.

The tent story really is one of my favorites. It has 2 parts: 1) Mikes twice ex-girfriend came over in a rampage and threw a picture frame at him and a copy of the Sleeping Beauty DVD that he gave her. I literally had to kick her out of our apartment!! Pure mayhem craziness!! and 2) After calming down we were on a weird kick and saw one of his tents that we had never used. So to clear our minds from all the drama and in a moment of clear randomocity (I know that's not a word but I like it) we thought: let's set it up in the living room and camp out. why not? Still a classic story (both parts).

Needless to say Mike has pretty much been there through all the ups and downs of during and post-college life. Thanks buddy!

Now onto

Year 2009. Month: May. Mike's birthday. One year after they met on the airplane. Mike had been talking about some girl named Annie in his class and that they met on a plane a year before and that he thought she was cute and blah blah blah I didn't really think anything of it.

We were throwing Mike a surprise party and it was my job to get him to go to the movies so that everyone could gather at our apartment while we were gone. Well during the movie and dinner after Mike kept talking about how he wanted to go hang out with this random Annie girl and take her some dinner at her work because she was working that night. LAME SAUCE!! I couldn't get him to shut up about it! I kept thinking WHO IS THIS GIRL AND WHY IS SHE RUINING MY PLANS ALREADY?? But I kept my cool and was FINALLY able to talk him out of it and get him to our apartment where everyone was waiting for the birthday surprise (thus the picture above).

Near the end of the party is when Annie was able to show up. There was so much hype around this random girl (because we have a pretty tight group of friends) that EVERYONE was talking about it/her at the party whenever she wasn't around them. Everyone loved her instantly (including me) but I seriously never thought anything of it really. I didn't really think this would one day be the girl marrying my best friend. But then for the following days, weeks, months, and years she was always...just...there. And then slowly it turned into ME being always...just...there. Haha!! And the rest is history that I was pretty much an eye-witness for the entire time.

Thus, MANNIE was born!

Mike + Annie = MANNIE

Week of May 7, 2011

Our small bachelor party event. And I finally got to meet Jon's baby Link.

They're married!

The whole Briney gang...including me!

All the friends of the bride and groom who were able to make it. Many from out of state!

View from the Joseph Smith Building where the amazing luncheon was held.

Mike and Annie asked me to make a bulletin board of "All Things MANNIE". Let's just say that it was quite an ordeal to make this, but way fun. Thanks to my friends April and Emily for helping me with this. They love the movie UP! so I made a replica of the house from the movie and attached it to the bottom left of the board. This was on display at both their Utah and California receptions.

Best friends picture.

I love this picture that I got on accident.

L.A. reception a week later:

Kim and Jessica were able to make it!

The Brineys hired an In-n-Out Burger truck to come cater the reception and it was AMAZING.

Me, Mike, and Matt.

Lots of friends showed up for the California reception too.

Me and Mike.

Me with MANNIE.

Now...

GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!