Ciera is the "She" to Carly's "Nanigans." They met through their (at the time) boyfriends, Nick and Brent. When Carly first met Nick, he was sharing an apartment with Brent and Ciera. As Carly spent increasingly more time over at their place, she and Ciera became fast friends (essentially becoming roommates themselves) and always hung out when the boys were away playing table tennis! Although they no longer live together, they still spend a LOT of time in each other's company. (You can often catch them on a Saturday night eating sushi bowls, watching Doctor Who, discussing Harry Potter fanfiction, and annoying anyone in earshot with their loud cackling.)

Truthfully speaking, it's hard to recall exactly how Brent and Nick became friends. They lived on the same floor at ISU, which explains the opportunity - if not the exact catalyst. Throughout their college years, and beyond they found many a shared interest and a fairly deep bond of friendship was formed. To this day they maintain a plethora of shared hobbies and social circles as well as a penchant for staying up much later than is reasonable.

Nicki and Carly first met in college, where they both majored in Sociology and worked as Multifath Ambassadors in Evelyn Chapel as part of their interest in interfaith work. Since then, they have literally been around the world together: from attending the 2015 Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, to living in the Philippines for two months as part of the IWU-Freeman Asia Internship Program, and taking a trip to Ireland together with their friends Loreto and Chris! Nicki and Carly are also lucky enough to once again be coworkers: Nicki also works for IWU Admissions as the Denver-based Western Regional Admissions Counselor and Assistant Director of Regional Recruitment.

Matt has been a staple of Nick's group of close friends ever since their not so auspicious beginnings in college. When Nick found himself going through roommate roulette in his sophomore year of college, he eventually took matters into his own hands and kidnapped Matt, who had previously lived next door with a not so great roommate of his own. It turned out to be a pretty good fit! Matt did eventually escape the confines of Illinois, but the two stay in regular touch and continue their great hockey rivalry.

You couldn't reasonably try to figure out how long Nick has known Ian, there's plenty of room for debate - their's is a friendship born of text based gaming, after all, but however you date it, Ian clocks in as one of Nick's oldest and most enduring friends. He's definitely a victim of wanderlust, and that's the key reason the two were able to meet in person and form the friendship they have today. Ian has proven a good friend, and a reliable DM, through thick and thin.

Rylee and Carly have a long history together, which started in the first grade when they both had a crush on the same boy! Luckily they were able to overcome that hurdle and got to know each other as teammates on the third grade soccer team at Milwaukee German Immersion School, and finally as friends when they shared a classroom in the fourth grade. They bonded over their love of fantasy and spent every recess inventing rules to new games and role-playing as dragons from the Deltora Quest book series. They were even neighbors for a time, where Rylee would occasionally orchestrate "kidnappings" and whisk Carly away for some new adventure. Rylee and Carly are excited for the adventures to continue -- Carly with Nick, and Rylee with her fiancé Patrick.

John and Carly were in the same class at IWU, but their friendship actually had quite the rocky start: John thought Carly was an insufferable know-it-all and Carly thought he was loud and obnoxious! But in their senior year they both landed the same internship and were forced to work together, and Carly discovered that he was actually a pretty cool guy! After they graduated, they were both hired by IWU Admissions and had offices next to each other, so they had the opportunity to become very close. John is one of the kindest, most genuine people Carly has ever met, and now she considers him one of her best friends. Whether having deep conversations about religion to belting out the Game of Thrones theme song at the top of their lungs, their times together are never dull.

Carly and Tess both went to IWU and graduated a year apart ('17 and '16, respectively), but didn't really get to know each other until they met through mutual friend John Fegan. Shortly after, Tess joined the IWU Marketing team and they saw a lot more of each other! Tess and John are recently wed themselves (just this past September!) and Carly has been so grateful for their support and kindness throughout the engagement and wedding planning process. Tess even put her talents as a graphic designer to work for the save-the-dates and invitation suite! Carly is so excited to have her there as part of the special day, and as a partner in starting this adventure of married life together around the same time.

Cal and Carly met in college while attending the weekly interfaith gathering and immediately bonded. They went on to co-found Illinois Wesleyan's Pagan Student Association and worked together as Multifaith Ambassadors in Evelyn Chapel. Carly and Cal are kindred spirits in their academic and spiritual interests and pursuits, and could often be found having intense conversations about religion, anthropology, or Pagan pop culture in the Chapel basement. In their roles as co-presidents for PSA and as close friends, Cal and Carly have planned many rituals together in the past, and Carly is so honored to have Cal officiating in the marriage ceremony.