16 months ago I, Stephanie Lynn Rodarmel, lost the man I called "my love."  He encompassed all that I ever knew to be good, faithful, honest, and protective.  He provided a beautiful safe haven for our two beautiful children to grow and thrive but we were not safe from the sin of this world.  He took his last breath on September 24th at 3:30 pm, into the hands of Jesus he rest and yet his work was not finished.  You see, God had a plan and His plan was to continue to protect and guide us closer to our Heavenly Father.  This is our story and only the beginning.  Ryan Johnson, also called RJ, is a nurturer.  He is a protector and he is a dreamer.  He believes that life is meant to be lived and lived out intentionally, something he said to me the first time we ever spoke.  His initials are RJ, Jason was JR.  The first time I went to meet Ryan for our coffee date, he gave me an address, but did not mention the name of the place.  As I pulled into the parking lot, I got chills down my spine...it was the restaurant La Cave in Newport Beach.  This was the very first date Jason had taken me on when we were 16... Coincidence or God's hand?  Just recently the most incredible thing happened after Ry and I got engaged.  We decided to go ring shopping for him.  Many stores and days later we came up empty and Ry became frustrated.  We talked about this at the last store and he turned to me and said "I will know which one it will be when I see it."  We continued our search during or Maui vacation.  Near our last day, Ry and I happened to go to a local jewelry store in town.  He once again was disappointed to see everything he did not want until this small cabinet, in the far corner of the crowded jewelry store, caught his eye.  He asked to look at a case of local artisan made rings.  The rings had Titanium on the outside, and a thin band of local "Hawaiian Koa wood" in the ring.  He took one look and said, "That is it!  That's the one."  Tears streamed down my face as he held this ring and beamed with an insurmountable joy.  At this time, I had to stop and pull him aside.  I began to share a special story about Jay.  When Jay and I graduated from high school we took a family trip to Maui for our Graduation gift.  While we were there, he saw this very ring.  He talked about how he would love to own one someday. He mentioned many times in our marriage of how he desired to have that ring someday.  Well, August 2011, I surprised him while we were in Hawaii for our 20th wedding anniversary with the the ring he dreamt of for 24 years.  He cherished this priceless ring for about 2 weeks and then he died.  I had never shared this story with anyone but now I think it is best that our friends and family know.  You see, I do believe that My Jay may have taken his last breath on earth, but with God's hand, they are directing a beautiful continuation of our love story.  On December 1st, 2011 at dinner together, Ryan broke down in tears and said, "I think Jason is passing the baton to me. I think I am to finish the race with you."  I truly and whole heartily believe these words.

We would love it if you could share any words of encouragement or hope for our wedding day. We cannot wait to share this celebration of Love, Friendship, and New Beginnings with all of you.  Please do not feel obligated to give any gift.   We just want you to be willing to continue to lift our family up in prayer daily.  The motto for Ryan and I is, "life is a journey, not just a destination."

So Ry and I have chosen Bora Bora and Teha'a for our honeymoon escape.  We are planning on spending 3 nights on a small secluded island called Teha'a then 5 nights on Bora Bora.  We have chosen a few excursions as well as some nice dinners and special breakfasts.  If you would like to be a part of helping us achieve our Honeymoon dream, you can check out our honeymoon registry and click on anything that you might like to contribute to.  Please do not feel obligated to help out.  We just thought since we really do not need another blender or coffee maker, this would be a better idea for our stage of life.  Thank you for visiting our wedding page.  We hope that our story might encourage you and yours to "embrace the life you have been given," but more importantly "cherish those that created the life and memories with you."