Badger Love Stories - 2000s

My now husband, Brian Fox, and I met at a Theta Tau "nut and bolt" mixer party. He matched up with my best friend and his best friend matched up with me early in the party. After not seeing the guys for some time, I ran into Brian near the bathroom. I made rude comment, he came and found me when he was done, we talked, he got my number. It was the night before the Packers and the Patriots played in the Superbowl. As we were leaving, he screams "Go Pats!" Being the WI native that I am, I slugged him. For some reason he still called me the next weekend... We were married in 2001.
Rebecca Fox (Pokrzywa) '00

My first date with my future husband, Matt, was on Valentine's Day 1998. No pressure, right? We were sophomores and lived in Kronshage Hall back then. Neither of us had a car, so we walked to the Angelic Brewery on Johnson Street for dinner. I made the mistake of ordering lasagna and wearing a white shirt, so you can guess what happened next. I was so nervous, I dropped a big glob of marinara sauce on myself! Luckily, Matt was nervous too, so he didn't even notice the mess I'd made. I guess it was just meant to be.
Erin Hueffner (Hannan) '00

The best trip of my life was one that I had while attending UW Madison in 1999. The Badgers were going to the Rose Bowl for the second time in a row and a group of us decided to ROAD TRIP out to Pasadena to bring the WI party spirit to CA. On the trip we celebrated the turn of the Millenium at a bar called Mooseheads in Pasadena. The party was done up right and my date ended up being a guy that a good friend brought along on the trip. We toasted the New Year, kissed under the flying streamers and confetti, and partied until we got kicked out of the bar. We couldn't catch a taxi ealily because people were already camped out waiting for the Rose Parade, now only 6 hours later. The walk back was fun and included a broken shoe heel and therefore a piggy-back ride. Getting in a cab, finally, was heaven! The best part... we kissed at the turn of the Millenium and have been together ever since. We are now married 2.5 years and enjoying New Years much more since!
Heather Sweet '00
Kenosha, Wisconsin

In the Spring of 2001, I took Finance 300 to work toward a certificate in business. I walked into the giant lecture hall in Grainger with a friend of mine, and as we started walking up the middle aisle I spotted a beautiful girl that caught my eye instantly. I whispered to my friend that I wanted to see behind this girl, so we moved in and sat right behind her. As the semester went on, we continued to sit right behind this girl, and I eventually started to talk with her and we quickly became friends. After class was over, we started to date, and to make a long story short- we have now been married for almost 3 years! I was bored out of my mind in Finance 300 but I'm infinitely grateful that I took it because without it I would not have found my wife who is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. We laugh from time to time about meeting in class and the fact that on that first day when I whispered to my friend that we should sit behind the beautiful girl, Shannon (my wife) actually thought I was saying something bad about her! She soon found out that wasn't the case, and here we are living happily ever after- Badgers together for life!
Dave Bierly '02

In the fall of 2000, as a junior at UW, I was heading down State Street with my friends on a chilly Halloween night. People were everywhere, dressed in everything you can imagine. We stumbled across some more friends in the crowds and wouldn't you know that an adorable duck was standing before me. I must say, the duck costume was a little pitiful because it comprised of a yelow rain slicker and a rubber beak nose. I, looking as cute as ever in my rock star getup, began talking to this mysterious duck. The next thing you know, amongst all of the mosters, witches and goblins, he kissed me! (Luckily he removed the beak first). The rest, as they say, is history... We have since named our lovable dog Randall, after Camp Randall of course. He too is a huge badger fan!
Lynley Teras '02

Serendipity, I guess it's called. I was eighteen, a freshman, auditioning to be a campus tour guide. The senior tour guides were the judges, and I first saw her red hair that day, taking notes about what I forgot to say about Science Hall. Six years later, 2005, I see her walk into DC's alumni bar. I couldn't place her (it was a long game that day) but I knew I knew her. After some awkward tries, we finally landed on the fact that she was probably a judge that day I became a tour guide. We've been living together ever since.
Adam Cuthbert '03, Brittny McCarthy '00

My wife Quynh (2002 graduate - Poli Sci/French) and I had our first date at - of all places - the Historical Society in Library Mall. There can't be too many people who can say that they took a date to this place.

I had been in the habit of studying at this location due to it's quiet and beautiful surroundings. Marble floors, grandiose staircases, and the high ceilings in the library/ study area. Kind of romantic, right? I had been doing some geneology research for my mother on some relatives that had settled near Racine in the 1800's before moving on to Minnesota. My mother had asked me to look through some census records to find information about my great-great grandmother. This info could only be found on microfilm at the Historical Society.

Being the romantic that I am, I asked this beautiful young ladyfriend if she'd like to come to the Historical Society with me to do some research. We went into the dark room to view the microfilm, and while scanning the pages together (with her on my lap, no less) she was the one who identified my relative's name among the hundreds of pages of difficult-to-read microfilm! It was a hit, and a sign to me that if we can have such a good time looking at microfilm together, she just might be the right girl to share my life with.

From there, as they say, the rest is 'history' - thanks in part to the Wisconsin Historical Society. Quynh is my wife of almost three years now and 5 weeks ago today she gave birth to our first child, a beautiful baby girl named Eva.
Nick Sperrazza '03
Minneapolis, Minnesota

My husband, Mitch, and I met during my freshman year at Madison. He was the cute guy from my com-arts class and I finally was able to talk to him at the "Marti Gras/Around the World" party at the KHK fraternity. I was actually warned to stay away from the guy with the authentic Marti Gras beads (they had flashing female parts) but I didn't listen.

When we started dating, we discovered that it must have been fate that placed us both in Com Arts 100. He, as an engineering major, could have taken a different course to fulfill the communication requirement of his degree. I was actually signed up for the class, but at an earlier time, which I dropped as soon as I secured the spot in the later section.

We married this past summer and, to keep with the Madison tradition, our colors were red and white (well, champagne and apple red). The version of the chicken dance played at our reception was from the UW Marching Band's album. We also made sure "Varsity" and "Jump Around" had all the Badger fans in attendance out on the dance floor.
Kristen (Soldner) Hager '04

In 2001, as a senior in high school, Kristin Kalhagen made a last minute visit to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus before deciding where to attend. As she sat outside State Street Brats (with her UW Alumna mother) on a warm, spring afternoon she thought, ?How could I go anywhere else??

It's a good thing she made that visit because in that exact location, about 3 years later, she met her future husband, Joe Chose. Kristin was very active in school activities such as the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board and the Greek System while you could often find Joe near the stadium for early morning football and wrestling practices.

Even though their expansive friendship circles at Madison often overlapped, the two had never met. It was at the beginning of the school year in 2004 when their paths finally crossed. The courtship continued over many football Saturdays until Joe asked Kristin on a date to Gino's on State Street in early December. The two Badgers would be together from there.

While travels and a job took Joe to both Brazil and Chicago after graduation, Kristin found herself in Washington DC. But the Badger bond could not be broken. Kristin moved back to Milwaukee and Joe joined her there, proposing to her shortly after. This spring, Joe and Kristin will return to Madison to celebrate their marriage at the Monona Terrace. And yes, there will hopefully be an appearance by Bucky and many alumni singing 'Varsity.'
Kristin Swan Kalhagen '05

When I first met the love of my life, I didn't know he was the love of my life. We had Theatre 250 together and I didn't really pay much attention to him at the time. My fellow classmate had already decided that she was going to sink her meat-hooks into him before anyone else could, so I didn't bother much to get to know him. About half way though the semester, I found out that this boy had no interest in this girl, that in fact he had been trying for a month to follow me out of class and talk to me, to get to know me. Apparently I was a quick one out of the classroom and a fast walker, so he seldom caught up with me, but one day it finally all came together one sunny spring afternoon... and one day was all it took. On my way out the door, he caught up to me and struck up a conversation. Now this was not one of those meaningless conversations that skimmed the top layer of the water, but one that dove deep down into the dark depths of our being. We went on to share stories back and forth about our unusual and unique lives, always smiling and genuinely interested in what the other had to say. We started dating shortly after that, and from that point on I guess the rest is history. Still to this day he insists that he is the reason we met and started dating, but I'd like to think I had some part in it all.
Cailin Shannon '07

My boyfriend and I met at Halloween two years ago, through a mutual Badger friend. She and I had just transferred to UW and become friends in the dorms. He was a friend from her hometown she often hung out with on Mifflin. A few weeks before Halloween, he and I officially met for the first time, when we ate dinner at Pop's with this mutual friend and others. But at Halloween our friend invited me to a house party she and he were attending, and we think of this as when we really got to meet. We spent the whole night talking together and began to melt each other's heart.
Kara Anderson '07
Madison

My lovely girlfriend and I met one chilly friday night at Madhatters (back in the good ole days). We were both UW students, and I had gone to meet with some friends for FAC. They all decided to leave right after I had bought a fresh pitcher of Leinie's Red, so I was drifting around drinking my beer solo. I ran into some other friends, who had a beautiful redhead with them that I hadn't met before. There was some shameless flirting, some dancing, and a little kissy-kissy. And the rest, they say, is history.
Ryan Mylrea '07
New Orleans, Louisiana