Karine Carvalho was born on January 8, 1976, in the Canadian province of Québec.  Her hometown of Alma, in the Saguenay-Lake St. Jean area, is about a two and a half hour drive north of Québec City.

Karine has a younger brother, Sébastien, who is currently preparing to work in England for the next year or two.  Karine also has a younger sister, Audrey, who still lives at home with her parents, Guy and Diane Tremblay.

In 1993, Karine left home to attend college.  She studied Photography for two and a half years at the College of Matane, in Matane, Québec, before returning to Alma to finish her college studies in Literature at the College of Alma.  At this time, Karine became closer to her old friend, Marie-Christine Fortin.  After they graduated, Marie enrolled in the program EurAuPair.  Karine found interest in this program and decided to give it a try as well.

So, off they went.  Marie headed off to Wayne, New Jersey, later moving to Cranford where she met Michael.  Meanwhile, Karine went to Long Island, New York.  Being in neighboring states, they were able to keep in touch and visit each other on many occasions.  It was on one of those meetings in New York City that Marie introduced Michael to Karine.  Karine and Michael continued to have a long distance relationship over the following year, meeting only over the weekends.

When Karine's program ended at the end of the summer of 1998, Karine and Michael made a decision that they wanted to spend their lives together.  They were wed in May of 1999 in Cranford, NJ.  They are currently sharing residence with Michael's parents.

Karine currently involves herself in various hobbies.  She has interest in arts and crafts, as well as drawing, painting, and sculpting.  Some of her current projects include the re-finishing of an antique wooden trunk, and creating the favors for several occasions, including the favors of her own wedding reception.

Michael P. Carvalho was born in New Jersey, on the eastern coast of the United States.  His hometown of Cranford is located less than an hour from New York City, as well as an hour from the New Jersey Shore.

Michael is the youngest of five children by Carlos and Mary Carvalho.  The oldest son, Carl, owns and operates Duplications Unlimited, a printing, duplicating, and graphic arts services company in New York City, as well as Asa Productions, a non-profit arts production company which he runs with his wife, the published playwright Adina L. Ruskin.  Carl and Adina are expecting their first child in September 2000.

Michael's oldest sister, Lisa, who passed away in 1993, was an Officer with the Union County Sheriff's K-9 Department, in New Jersey.  Her surviving husband Andrew Boryschuk, is a Sergeant for the Irvington Police Department, in New Jersey.

The next sibling in line is Christine, who works for Lucent Technologies as a Financial Analyst.  Christine is currently engaged to Mark M. Miller, a Government Property Administrator for General Dynamics.  They are to be we on May 5, 2001.  Christine and Mark share their new home with Keika, a German shepherd/chow chow mix, a cockatiel named Punky, and a jardine parrot named Sweetie.

Michael's other brother, Anthony, who has served with the US Marine Corps, is a Supervisor for AT&T and a graduate of Kean University with a BA in Psychology.  He is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Organisational Psychology.  Anthony and his wife Teresa, an Administrator for Lucent Technologies, have two daughters, Marina (4 years old), and Francesca (2 years old).

After graduating from Cranford High School in 1989, Michael attended New Jersey Institute of Technology, studying Electrical Engineering.  His involvement at NJIT in the school's newspaper, The Vector, led him to change his career path towards publishing and design.

Michael currently works at Duplications Unlimited in New York City as Graphic Designer and Operations Manager.  He has used his skills and experience to work on many types of projects of print design such as advertisements, stationery packages, promotional materials, logo design, and, now, web design.