Carolyn Jane Ruffino is her name and big ballin’ is her game. Carolyn, who is known in the basketball world as Carol, was born and raised in Thousand Oaks, CA to Bob and Joan Ruffino. If you know Carolyn then you know how much basketball plays a part in her life, initially as a player and now as a mentor and coach, where for the past 3 years she has been working at San Jose State University on the Women’s Basketball Staff. Carolyn’s path to where she currently resides alludes to her incredible personality and unrelenting drive. Carolyn completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology by attending and playing basketball at Ventura College and ultimately graduating from University of California Santa Barbara. She then sought to pursue her Master’s degree in Physical Education and built an opportunity in Denver, CO as a Graduate Assistant Coach for Women’s Basketball at Regis University. It was from her experiences at all of these different institutions that Carolyn was able to land her first Division I opportunity at San Jose State. Her career is just beginning and we are extremely excited to see her passion of helping people find their path come to fruition. Jonathan Joseph Decker grew up in Simi Valley, CA to parents Scott and Irene Decker and if you didn’t know by now he kind of likes soccer. Jonathan completed his time at California State University, Monterey Bay in 2015 with a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology (Exercise Science) while playing for the Men’s Soccer Team. After graduating, Jonathan took on a role as an assistant coach at California Lutheran University for the women’s soccer team and began his path towards a Masters degree in Business Administration. Jonathan now works as a head coach and college advisor at a local club in their current residence of Pleasanton, CA. Jonathan aspires to work as a recruiter where he can help people to find their career path and mentor them throughout the process.

Now that you know some background about us individually, it will come as no surprise that our paths crossed thanks to our shared commitment to sports and helping people. It was the Summer of 2013 and Jonathan was working as an intern at a physical therapy clinic in Thousand Oaks while home from school. Jonathan was used to working with more of the elderly patients and doing less of the “active” therapy exercises so you can imagine how exciting it was to have an athlete come in for work! In comes Carolyn, fresh off an ACL injury and ready to grind and get after it, it was just what Jonathan needed to bring some excitement to the workday. Little did he know this smart, courageous, funny, and quite electrifying personality would actually utilize her therapy as a way to “flirt” and joke around with Jonathan. It wasn’t until he saw how easily Carolyn gets ‘water-logged’ that he realized she was having more fun messing with him than getting through the therapy. Fast forward a few months and now we start to realize how creepy both of these kids were. Both attempted to stalk and find the other via social media outlets and don’t be surprised to hear that Carolyn found what she was looking for. Jonathan was back at school and in the middle of his soccer season, Carolyn was at Ventura College starting her college career when Carolyn sent Jonathan a message on social media. One thing led to another and they setup their first date, at a beach house for dinner with her sister Laura and now husband, Eric. The two hit it off like they had known each other for years. The connection was instant and memorable.

It was a beautiful spring day in April. Carolyn and family were spending time on the beach soaking up the sun in Carpenteria, CA, one of our favorite spots to visit! Carolyn and her parents decided to have a nice quiet dinner together to culminate a day filled with birthday parties and fun. While Carolyn was getting ready for dinner, Bob (Carolyn’s dad) decided to take a walk on the sand to pass some time. While on his walk, Bob noticed a bottle with a note in it sticking out of the sand. He knew what he was seeing, Carolyn however, did not. This is where everything would begin to change. Bob called for Carolyn to meander down to where he was, where she was presented with the bottle and note. Carolyn read through the note to find a passage that led her to the next spot on her new adventure. As she continued walking down the beach with her mom and dad, she felt as if she was starting to catch on to something. It wasn’t until she saw some familiar faces a bit farther up the coast, that she really started to understand what was going on. Carolyn was presented with roses and another note from two of Jonathan’s best friends, Alex and Eli. Again, the passage sent her on her way to the next phase of the journey. Carolyn would continue on to find Jonathan’s brothers, Andrew and Taylor with another note a roses further down the beach. They pointed her along her path to the next group waiting for her, all of Carolyn’s sisters, Katie, Colleen, and Laura with the final group of roses and note. As she peered farther up the beach, she found her fiancé waiting at the end of a torch-led walk. To Carolyn’s knowledge, Jonathan was still home in Northern California working over the weekend, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The couple shared an intimate moment with their closest family and friends watching from afar. To this day, Jonathan still has not received a confirmed “YES,” but rather an aggressive, “Just put the ring on!” Nonetheless, this couple could not be happier to share this wonderful occasion with all of you.