Colleen and Rachel met during Rachel's senior year of high school when she helped move a friend into the dorms. It wasn't an instant connection, but as time went on and Rachel came to visit, it wasn't long until Rachel would knock on Colleen's door to go for breakfast. Rachel and Colleen have been on many adventures together: Sea World, Puerto Rico, and New Orleans! Rachel loves that she can just lay in bed watching Flavor Flav and have the best time ever with her company.

Ginger is a friend that Rachel considers a gift from her late brother Jordan. Rachel did not know Ginger until Jordan passed, but they connected a few months after and slowly got to know each other. They really connected and it became tradition to visit her kids, who she proudly calls her nephews. Ginger just had a little girl who Rachel proudly calls her niece. Rachel loves spending family time with Ginger and her little family.

Ruth is the first person Rachel met when she went to Israel for her year long trip. Rachel was frantically looking for linens and was asking person after person if they spoke English, and Ruth was the first one to say she did. I told her I needed linens and she said she did as well and we went shopping followed by coffee. She was Rachel's best friend in Israel and Rachel has many fond memories of the adventures she went on with Ruth during her stay in Israel. Rachel is honored she is coming all the way from Israel to help celebrate Rachel getting married.

Rachel and Liza have been friends since high school when they were both in Best Buddies. They became closer in college, and even closer as adults. Rachel has always appreciated Liza's honesty, integrity, sense of humor, and friendship. Liza never fails to make a joke that makes Rachel laugh, and one thing Rachel loves about Liza is that she fully accepts Rachel for who she is.

Johanna and Rachel became friends in dance class freshman year of high school. One of Rachel's fondest memories with Johanna is pushing her in a shopping cart around a shopping mall. Johanna has a sense of humor that is contagious. No matter how busy, Johanna has always put herself out there to check on Rachel to see how she is doing. A highlight of Rachel's time with Johanna is when she came all the way from Maryland to visit her in Israel during her one year trip there. Of course there were adventures that Rachel will never forget.

Jaci and Rachel go way back to diapers. As first cousins they experienced so many good memories, especially spending time at our Mom Mom and Papa's house. Rachel is fortunate to have the opportunity to grow a beautiful relationship with her cousin Jaci and looks forward to sharing her special day with her.

Jeff moved into Uncle Steve’s house for what was supposed to be a temporary few-month stay in 2017, when he first moved to Washington, DC. After about three hours of apartment hunting—and getting a crash course in DC rent prices—plus the first of what would become many free meals, he decided to stay… for the next three years. Some things never change: Jeff still tries to squeeze as many free meals as possible out of Uncle Steve.

Surprisingly, despite being called "The Twins" by Jeff's Folks growing up, Branden and Devin are, in fact two separate people. However, unfortunately for Branden, Devin never sent Jeff a picture, so once again, Branden has to share something with his less responsive brother. Sorry, BDawg! Jeff and Branden (plus Devin) go waaaay back—like Ms. Kerns’ second-grade class back. There were countless sleepovers, a lot of GoldenEye on Nintendo 64, bike rides between houses, and serious scientific research into just how many plates a person can unreasonably use at the Pizza Hut buffet. These days, Jeff keeps in touch with Branden partly because they’re friends… and mainly because he’s hedging his bets on multiple future yacht vacations once Branden becomes CEO of Kroger. Devin has zero interest in becoming CEO of Kroger, but he still earns a spot on this list for forgiving Jeff after that middle-school Mortal Kombat incident—yes, the one where Jeff cheated, and is only admitting it right now.

Jeff met Will (a.k.a. “Willma” to his friends) sophomore year of college, and they hit it off immediately after discovering they had a lot in common—most notably, a shared appreciation for alcohol. Since then, Will has spent years expertly convincing Jeff to buy things he doesn’t really want or need. Jeff and Will have had plenty of fun (and occasionally questionable) adventures together: the Cancun trip where the hotel staff put rose petals on the bed they were sharing, that summer Will drove the camp bus for the kids Jeff was a counselor for, and—well… there was also that other time in Thailand where... Never mind.

Ryan and Jeff met at a highly questionable educational “boot camp” in Dayton back in 2012. They bonded the normal way—by discussing only the safest possible topics: politics, religion, and dating. Jeff assumed that once they “graduated,” they’d slowly lose touch. Instead—mostly thanks to Ryan—they stayed in contact over the years, until they both eventually found themselves back in Washington, DC and reconnected. Jeff’s ears really perked up when he learned Ryan had a boat, and he immediately decided they needed to become the best’est of friends… certainly not because of free boat rides (or because he may have implied to Rachel, early on, that the boat was his).

Jeff met Dewey while mixing glue at work (this is not a joke). They quickly bonded over their shared love of fire trucks, fish tacos, and video games. Dewey, however, remains convinced that everyone in his online games is hacking. He hasn’t accepted the truth: he’s just old. Since then, Jeff has baked Dewey alarming quantities of mandel bread and assisted in multiple backyard tree-removal operations, all of which ended with zero fatalities (great success!). Dewey’s photo features his sworn enemy—a raccoon that once occupied his garage—sparking what Jeff has come to know as the Great Raccoon War of 2024, a saga between giants, fighting for control of Dewey’s domain. It was a pyrrhic victory – Dewey got back his garaged, the Raccoon is probably living under his house. Though Dewey has since moved on to greener pastures, they still reunite for bonfires, where Jeff consumes five hot dogs and confidently claims it was “maybe two.”