My older sister and the first person to expose me to the joys of being an aunt. Growing up, Ashley exposed me to 90s and early 2000s culture and let me listen to all the music and watch all the horror and R-rated movies that our parents had said "no" to. It may very well have been the starting point for my current love for horror films, exploring new music, and bending the rules just a little bit more than necessary. While we may be 10 years apart, we shared summers of camping, playing "Children of the Corn", and making late night snacks of baked nachos and Fruity Pebble rice krispies when she should definitely have been doing chores. We might not have always seen eye to eye or always had the best forms of communication, but I will forever be thankful to have Ashley in my life as my sister, no matter where life takes us.

My little sister and, of course, my very first childhood enemy. Growing up as two very headstrong people, we gave each other as many hugs as we did bruises and cared for each other even when we didn't want the other one to see it. While we have always been opposites in so many ways, we have always shared a love for video games, animals, and, truthfully, a strange sense of humor that persists after all these years. We have experienced countless childhood summers in Wisconsin together, Warped Tour road trips, even had the misfortune of being co-workers for awhile, but, truthfully, I would not have changed those moments for anything. While we are states, and states, and states away from each other, I am so grateful to have to you as my sister for forever - not matter the distance.

Bailey and I met in the sixth grade in my less than graceful attempt to avoid sitting with a classmate that always got me in trouble - little did I know that she would become so near and dear to my heart. Now, 18 years later and a few states apart, we are still the best of friends. We spent many years struggling through the awkward nature of teenage angst and friendships, Drama Club practices that ended in tears and laughter, and dual-credit college courses to get where we are now and I would have it no other way. Whether it is us being states away, or Bailey braving the cold to spend time with me, I am grateful for her being in my life. She has always been the sweet to my sour and I wouldn't have survived much of those formative years without her.

Alex and I met at a point in both of our lives where there was a mountain of chaos, too much change, and much need for some dark humor, stupid jokes, and friendship. We bonded through gaming deep into the late hours of night (and sometimes the wee hours of morning), good food, forcing him to take baked goods, and talking about the weird world we live in. Many inside jokes and moments of belly laughter and tears have been shared between us and I am so thankful for finding Alex in my life. Whether it is sharing seats at a Ghost concert, bumming around a farmer's market, burning alive at the Ren Faire, or flying out to Oregon, I know there are fond memories just on the horizon when we get together.

What can I even say about Ryan? We were each other’s first friends, probably first enemies, and thankfully have been very close for most of our lives. Like any siblings, we fought, especially when we were younger. But over time we found that we shared interests in music, video games, and all sorts of nerd things that we ended up playing and doing through our formative years. We stayed close while both of us went away and came back from college, playing video games into the night and talking about whatever cool thing had our interest at the moment. I know that at any point, if I need someone, Ryan will be there, and I couldn’t ask for a better brother.

Christian and I met his freshman year of high school in marching band while I was a junior, and honestly the fact that we were both in marching band and loved it should tell you all you need to know. We became friends incredibly quickly that year, and by the time I graduated he was unequivocally my best friend. I had him keep an eye on my brother when he got to high school, and through that we all became close and started hanging out together frequently. To this day, he remains my tech guy, and loves to share in every niche interest my brother and I have, even if he isn’t into it himself. He has always been there for me, ready to talk about anything and everything, and I greatly appreciate him.

I met Adrian in late 2015 through Christian, who had met him that year at college. Christian said that he knew a fourth guy to play Call of Duty Zombies with us, and I am so incredibly glad that he did. Little did we all know, we just met our third best friend and completed the friend group as it is today. We bonded quickly over being the two guys in the group most interested in sports (college football), and the two in the group with the worst sense of humor, always ready to drop a pun or a dad joke. I couldn’t be more thankful for this guy showing up in my life by chance.