Kristin, daughter of Ron and Sandi Vodopivec, was born in Jeannette and raised in nearby Norvelt (named after Eleanor Roosevelt!), Pennsylvania. She graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in 1996 and from Kent State University with a mathematics degree in 2000.

In April 2001, Kristin moved to the Windy City to work for Allstate Insurance Company located in Northbrook, IL. She is currently employed as a Product Operations Consultant and pursuing her MBA from DePaul University (5 classes away!)

Kristin lives in Wheeling with her sister Stacie, one of the maids of honor. Both Kristin and Stacie are working on getting their youngest sister, Nikki (other maid of honor) to move to Chicago so the trio can be together once again. Kristin's cat, Zoey
Zoey the devil cat, can't wait for the big day either.

John, son of Jack and Jane Banta and youngest of three kids, was born in San Diego, California and moved to West Hartford, Connecticut at the age of 7. He spent his younger years there in New England until attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in central Florida where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1996.

Following a senior year internship with American Airlines in Dallas, Texas, John moved to the Lone Star state for several years until the itch to move brought him to Chicago in 2003.

It was New Years Eve 2003 when we were introduced by our friends, Sonia and Matt Wharton at Casa de Dodge. The first date was not far away when John asked me out for dinner at a sushi restaurant near his old neighborhood in Wrigleyville. I am not a real fan of uncooked seafood but decided to pretend for the evening! We had a great time, and here we are three years (and many sushi dates) later!

We went ice skating on Saturday, December 9th, at Millennium Park (Chicago's version of New York's Rockefeller Center). It was a cold but sunny day, perfect for skating as the rink was packed.

They had just cleared the rink to resurface the ice. The manager asked if we wanted to be the first ones on the ice after he parked the Zamboni. Little did I know that John had worked this all out the week before! I was a little reluctant to go out first because I am not too graceful on skates (and we had an audience of over 100 people watching!), but John dragged me onto the ice before I could disagree.

About half way through our first lap, the holiday music that had been playing through the sound system suddenly switched to 'One Particular Harbor' by one of my favorites, Jimmy Buffett. At this point, John pulled me into the center of the ice, got down on one knee, and proposed. I was in shock and everyone started clapping and cheering. It was quite the moment! Of course I said yes, and we did our 'victory lap'!

We then went home to get changed for our dinner reservation that evening. When we got to the restaurant, we walked in, and my parents, Stacie and Ryan, Nikki, and John's parents were there waiting for us. Needless to say - it was waterworks (for the women!)

It was a spectacular evening, and a day that we will remember always.