~Our Story~

 

Today is my 5 year anniversary. I went through most of my old blog post and I don't think I have ever shared the whole story of how I met and married my husband. I was going to write it all out, but than I remembered. Ryan already did. He wrote it out and we printed it on the back of our  wedding programs. So here it is. Our story, written by Ryan, a few days before our wedding.

 (left: Jack Sturtevant center: Ryan right: Joe Maile)

The story of Ryan and Alicia begins long before their engagement, their first kiss, or the first time they met. Their story start with their grandparents.

Jack and Bonnie Sturtevant (Ryan's grandparents) and Joe and Barb Maile (Alicia's grandparents) were friends in high school. They went to the same hangouts and even worked the same jobs. They remained friends through  marriage and after having children. Their kids also became friends and went to school together. The families were so close that Ryan's mom even babysat for Alicia's aunt and mother.

In 1972 Jack and Bonnie went to a little tent meeting where they met their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was a decision that changed their lives, and would soon change the lives of many others forever.

Jack and Bonnie brought Alicia's mom, Laura with them to a tent meeting one night. Laura became a believer and thus redirected the course of her life. Slowly Alicia's entire immediate family came to know the Lord.

 After high school Ryan's mother and Alicia's mother both went their separate ways, heading West. Eventually Sue & Ed moved back to Michigan from California and Dave & Laura moved back from Utah.

Ryan remembers when they first met. He was seven and Alicia was nine. He was just a little shorter than her shoulder. Ryan liked Alicia right away, but he know that he was too young to have a girlfriend. When he was 9 years old and in the third grade he prayed for an entire year that they could have a "relationship." One year later he confided in his brother Joel that when he was 14 and Alicia was 16, he would ask her to be his girlfriend. He figured that the gap between 10 and 12 just sounded too weird but 14 and 16 was better. Ryan's hopes continued until he was 16 years old.

 

It was about that time that Alicia really began to notice Ryan. He had just committed his life to the Lord and was a different person. Alicia recalls one evening at church while she was just sitting there, watching people around her. She noticed Ryan, off to side by himself. He was praying with sincerity than most were. She uttered a prayer to God that He would give her a man like Ryan Fedell. Ryan prayed for Alicia when he was in elementary school. Alicia prayed for Ryan when she was in high school.

They came together as friends first, than as more. Alicia went away six hundred miles to college and Ryan finished high school. They came together and they parted for a time. While the status of their relationship changed, their friendship never did.

 April 8, 2006 exactly six years from their first kiss, Ryan asked Alicia to be his love for life. Obviously, she said yes, or you would not be here today, reading this story.

Some people call it luck, some call it love, and some people believe that it is fate that brings them together. Ryan and Alicia believe that they were divinely appointed to live their lives together. They believe that God planned their marriage and their lives together, even while their grandparents were still in high school. God designed them for each other.

Alicia and Ryan want their lives to show the amazing grace of Jesus and the power of prayer. Thank you for coming and joining with them as they make their covenant before God.

 And that, is our story. Five years later, it still rings true, every word. We have changed as people and as a couple. We have become parents. We have lost loved ones while new ones joined the family. We have changed and moved and adapted as life continues it's path.

I am so happy that God chose Ryan for me. He is the perfect partner through life. I greatly look forward to the next 5, 10 and 50 years before us.

If there is one thing that I do know, it is that this life we lead will be a great adventure!

Ryan Fedell, I love you dearly.