The stories behind the Legend

About Susan...as told by Susan
I grew up in Oradell, New Jersey. I am the youngest of four and have been lucky to inherit two step sisters along the path of life. I have four great parents, 6 nieces, 4 nephews, and 4 wonderful grandparents. I think I am the luckiest person alive when it comes to my family. I went to River Dell Regional High School (where I met Allen in the 7th grade) and then went to the University of Scranton and graduated in 2000 with a degree in Biology. After college I worked in hospital administration at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. After two years at MSKCC I decided to go back to nursing school at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Luckily the hospital had a 100% tuition reimbursement policy at the time so it was a feasible option to go back to school (mom and dad weren't paying this time)! After a two year part time nursing program and a switch in jobs to clinical research at MSKCC...I am done with school and officially an RN! Beginning on January 9th, 2006 I will be employed by Hackensack University Medical Center as a Nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 2006 will be an exciting year...new job and getting married (good thing we got the house last year).

About Allen...as told by Allen
I grew up in River Edge, NJ. I am an only child (not too spoiled). I went to college at Syracuse University and graduated in May 2000. I received my Bachelor's of Science Degree in Information Management and Technology from the School of Information Studies. After college, I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where I began work as a Support Engineer for Microsoft. My job was helping our customers with support contracts through their Exchange Server (Microsoft's E-mail Server Software) issues over the phone. After about a year and half of doing this, I became a Technical Lead which involved helping other Support Engineers when they would encounter tough issues. After about a year and a half of that, I moved on to become a Rapid Response Engineer supporting Exchange Server out of our New York City office. My responsibilities include traveling on site to assist customers with Exchange Server issues. I also deliver workshops which has been quite fun as I enjoy teaching.
Stuff I like doing when I am not working: Music, mostly the hippie jam band scene like Phish, Grateful Dead, moe., The Allman Brothers Band...There is absolutely nothing like live music... playing and watching hockey, photography, computers, and of course spending time with Susan :)

About Us...as told by us
It all started as Allen gazed down the hall on the first day of junior high in seventh grade... there stood Susan. Some might call it fate that our last names both started with "M" which lead us to have lockers near each other and the same homeroom. Some may say that we weren't really "friends" in high school, but we had mutual friends. We can now jump ten years after our initial meeting to the year 2000. Our friend from high school was getting married and that is when our friendship really began. We hadn't seen each other in a long time, but at this wedding we really connected. We were in separate states, but would email and chat frequently. While Susan was living in NYC Allen came to visit a few times. We both moved back to New Jersey around the same time, Susan to pursue school and Allen a new job. With both of our crazy schedules it took a while to get together so we planned a trip to the Bahamas. A trip to the Bahamas planned as friends turned into a romantic getaway for a new couple. We have been inseparable ever since. In the fall of 2004 we bought a house in River Edge, New Jersey. This is a great location since it is close to both of our families and tons of friends. On March 16th, 2005 Allen proposed to Susan at the bottom of lower Yosemite falls in Yosemite National Park. The wedding was planned for the fall of 2006 for a few reasons....Allen is finishing his masters degree, Susan wanted to be settled in a new job, and we really love the fall! We are really excited for our wedding and are really excited for our honeymoon to Australia and New Zealand.