“We believe we were made for each other,

we’re best friends… and honestly, it shows.”

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From the beginning, our relationship has been a blend of laughter, timing, God’s grace, and the kind of coincidences that make you say, “Okay Lord, we see what You did there.”

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How It All Began: 

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We met at Neiman Marcus, working side by side for weeks before we were ever officially introduced. Even after orientation, we stayed politely in our “coworker era.” Small chats turned into longer conversations, longer conversations turned into lunch breaks, and lunch breaks turned into friendship without us even realizing it.

 

For about a year and a half, we were just two people orbiting close, working together, laughing, sharing days, until one simple question changed everything.

 

Duke asked: 

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“Shenise, wanna go axe throwing?”

 

Axe throwing never happened (because of course it didn’t — have you ever tried aligning schedules for those places?). But that question opened the door to our actual first date in Downtown Los Angeles. And from that day forward, we were inseparable.

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Duke officially asked Shenise to be his girlfriend just after midnight following her birthday dinner at Castaway Burbank on September 1, 2019.

 

Then that’s when we started seeing the patterns. The “meant to be” threads we didn’t notice before.

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We were always in the same places at almost the same time even before we knew each other. Shenise grew up in Koreatown which also happened to be where Duke skated almost every day. Whenever we drive around the city Duke casually points and says “I used to skate there” and Shenise replies “I used to walk there.” It felt like God kept crossing our paths until we finally met.

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Growing Together

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Our relationship has been built with God as our foundation.

We’re like two vines, growing well on our own, but somehow growing stronger, healthier, and more beautifully when woven together.

 

We’ve laughed, prayed, learned, healed, and bloomed in ways that only make sense when love is guided by purpose. And every chapter has shown us that we’re stronger as “us” than we ever were as “me.”

 

The Conversation That Changed Everything

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Marriage wasn’t a surprise topic for us, it has always been deeply rooted into our relationship goals.

We talked about it often, knowing from early on that this relationship was heading toward a lifelong commitment. It wasn’t a matter of if, just when.

 

Then one Sunday at Gen KBBQ in Glendale, California, on September 28th, our hearts aligned in the most “us” way possible.

 

Between bites and future plans, the conversation simply flowed into:

 

“So… are we ready to get married?”

 

And because we don’t overcomplicate things we already know are meant to be, we answered ourselves:

 

“Yes. Let's do it!"

 

Right then and there, we scheduled our appointment to get our marriage license.

If you know Duke and Shenise, this part probably makes you smile because it’s exactly our style. When we understand the assignment, we don’t hesitate… we move.

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Faith, Purpose, and the Road Ahead

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We’re stepping into this next chapter with joy, gratitude, and a deep desire to continue putting God first in everything we do.

 

We hope to stay strong in our faith, grow our family, continue our adventures together, keep learning, stretching, and becoming better versions of ourselves, and always return to the foundation that made our love possible

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This is only the beginning of our forever, but oh, what a beautiful beginning it is!