Bride
Hello from the future Mrs. Koehnke :) For those of you who know me very well, you probably don't need to read this and can skip straight to Ben's information. For those of you who don't know me very well, here's a brief (I hope) overview of my life...
I'm a Southern California native who was raised in North Eastern Wyoming. I grew up on a buffalo ranch in Wright, WY with my supportive, loving family: parents (Craig and Pam), 2 older brothers (Caleb and Colin), younger sister (Chelsea), and younger brother (Connor). We had lots of pets/animals, but I won't get into all of their names :)
After high school (2003) I received an athletic/academic scholarship to the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota. I loved USF and have many great memories running Cross Country and Track, playing Intramural Basketball, and hanging out with friends. I miss Sioux Falls and would love to go back for a visit.
At the start of my Junior year of college, I transferred to Concordia University in Irvine, CA. I also ran Cross Country and Track there and made some amazing friends (Jennifer and Alma, I'm talking about you, lol). I completed my degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis on Mathematics in 2007.
After graduation, I attended one more year of Graduate school at CUI to start on my Master's and get my teaching credentials. Soon after, I received a call to teach 6th grade at St. Paul's Lutheran Elementary school in Orange, CA. During this time, Ben was introduced in my life. Some co-workers of mine, Nate and Ashley, mentioned that they had a single friend I should meet. We arranged to have me meet him at their wedding.
July 12, 2008 I met Benjamin Peter Koehnke. We met at the wedding (Ben was the best man). We've been crazy about each other ever since...
This is my second year as a 6th grade teacher, and my last year to be called Miss McFerran. I am so happy to take the next big step in life and officially join the wonderful Koehnke family.
Groom
I'm getting married!!! I am still trying to comprehend this fact. I am very excited and I can't wait to start this new adventure!
I was born and raised in Orange, California and currently live in Anaheim. I have an awesome family composed of my parents (Peter and Mindy) and two brothers (Zach and Sam).
I graduated from Lutheran High School of Orange County in 2003. I knew I wanted to go to college after high school, but I did not know where or what I wanted to study. I ended up at a junior college in Orange and got some general classes out of the way. I took a year off of school to work and decided I definitely wanted to continue my education. I went back to the junior college and finished my gen-eds. After that year, I got accepted to the University of California, Irvine. I also had the opportunity to go to Concordia University, Nebraska to play basketball. On the very last day to say yes/no to UCI, I said no and went off to Nebraska.
I spent two years in Nebraska and they were two of the best years of my life. I met some incredible friends (some of which will be at the wedding). I loved my time there, but realized that I was spending a small fortune on tuition. I came back to CA and started right away at Cal State Fullerton. I am FINALLY graduating this spring with a degree in accounting. I have also been fortunate enough to be chosen for an internship doing tax accounting at a firm in Irvine starting this January. Things are really starting to come together for us.
If you have reached this point I am sure you know the details of when/where we met so I won't get into that. I am more than ready to move on to the next phase of my life with Paige and I wish the big day would come sooner!
