Our Wedding

Most of you know me by one of the following...Erin, Erin-Elizabeth, EE, DblE, E squared and other assorted nick-names that may not be listed:) I was born in Miami, FL  to Thomas and Linda Russell. I have 3 crazy sisters, Shannon, Heather and Megan! I went to elementary & middle school in Miami and my high school was split between the Florida Keys (Islamorada) and Citrus County (Inverness). I played several sports in high school but my favorites were cheerleading & volleyball. After graduating from Seven Rivers Christian School I lived in several places before becoming a Nanny in Madison, NJ. It was a wonderful & life changing experience that God used to move me to Raleigh, NC and Meredith College!! I graduated in May 2009 with a B.A in Psychology from Meredith and am hoping to continue my education in rehabilitation counseling at the UNC at Chapel Hill next fall (2010). I am very enthusiastic about starting a career in counseling & helping others enrich their lives in all areas. I am even more excited to start my life with Matt. We are looking forward to glorifying God together in our & growing together in who God wants us to become. The wedding planning has officially started & I am thrilled to be able to share this special time with the people that mean the most to me!!

Matt is the strong silent type:) He was born in Charlotte, NC to Michael & Debbie Hamlett. He has a younger sister, Kim, and a younger brother, Tyler, who both still live in Charlotte. He came to Raleigh as a freshmen at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and has been here ever since. He is currently finishing his Ph.D in computer engineering from NCSU and hopes to graduate this summer!! Matt has also been interning for a company called Qualcomm and has been offered a full time position upon his graduation. Matt is really loves his job & is so thankful to be part of the Qualcomm team. He is looking forward to spending the rest of his life with Erin-Elizabeth (lucky guy!). He loves her outgoing personality, sweet spirit and her love of Christ. She has been a great encouragement during this high-stress time for which Matt is incredibly thankful! He is looking forward to graduation and celebrating his love for Erin-Elizabeth with his friends & family.

We often laugh & look at each other whenever someone asks us how we met! As a student at an all woman's college it was hard to meet guys that I felt had any long term potential. Matt was very focused on finishing his degree and didn't have a lot of time for meeting girls. We both joined e-harmony and were matched around thanksgiving of 2008 (Thanks David for noticing I previously & wrongly stated 2009!). We e-mailed back and forth for about a month before finally meeting face-to-face. We had one date & then I went to Florida for a month during Christmas break. We talked for hours every night and it was a great time for us to get to know each other even better. When I returned in January we went out again and have been together ever since! We are different in so many ways but I think it's our differences that attracted us to one another. Matt has taught me that I need more quiet time than I would have ever thought & I have taught him how fun socializing (with non-engineers) can be!! We work together well as a team and as it turns out, often think about things in very similar ways!