Whew! Where do we begin? Let’s start with this. This has been an amazing journey for the last two-plus years. We’ve had excitement and adventures one after the other. We've laughed together, prayed together, and worshipped unapologetically, together. We are in awe of God’s goodness and faithfulness. Ok, now on to the SHORT version of our story in the third person. LOL MET ONLINE: One winter morning, LaShaya created an online profile on Match.com with a well-written bio that highlighted who she was. Literally HOURS later, Markanthony stumbles upon her profile. He had just created his profile three days prior. He was of course intrigued and reached out. His opening line was “Hello, LaShaya. How was your weekend?” Impressed by his grammar, and the fact that he capitalized the “S” in her name, she decided to reply. However, she was not a big fan of his unique screen name and responded with “It was good. But, what is your ACTUAL name?” He said “Markanthony…all one word.” The first conversations flowed with such ease, wit, and laughter. It was like they knew each other already and were only going through the formalities. They were both excited to get to know each other. They both closed down their online profiles that week. FELL IN LOVE: Over the next several months they talked, met, asked, and answered what seemed like thousands of each other's questions. Because honestly, this was feeling like a dream. Markanthony was the first to express his intentions and level of interest to Lashaya. He was very clear and upfront with LaShaya about his feelings. Once he shared he wanted to be exclusive with her, she made it clear that she wanted the same. LaShaya told her family she had met someone and they expressed overwhelming excitement as she shared what had been unfolding. He even shared that his life was “basic” before she came. LOL, He told his boys about her and she was invited to one of his friend’s cookouts. The following months included meeting the families, including Markanthony’s mother, sisters, and beautiful then 4-year-old daughter. He also met LaShaya’s sisters, father, aunts, and uncles. They truly enjoyed each other’s company; hosted and attended cookouts, went on shopping excursions (Markanthony is a fashionISTO), restaurants, hanging out, and more! Since its inception, their relationship and the beautiful love story have blossomed. HE PUT A RING ON IT: LaShaya’s father had proactively told Markanthony that he was in full support of them getting married (keyword proactive-NO ONE asked him! LOL). Anyway, in a covert operation with LaShaya’s best friend Janice, Markanthony worked hard to pull off a surprise proposal for LaShaya at one of her favorite restaurants that included even some of her out-of-state family. It was 99% a total surprise to LaShaya. She sensed “something” was going on because ALL her family and friends were acting so weird: being vague, not answering the phone, or even when her father accidentally said that he was about to get on a plane! The surprise engagement was a beautiful tear-jerking event. There was even a random restaurant customer who witnessed it all and cried. LaShaya quickly said “YES!” to Markanthony and to the stunning rock she now proudly wears. She has been left-handed ever since and refers to herself as “LPA”..LaShaya PRE Archer. EXCITED FOR THEIR FUTURE Wedding planning is well underway and has brought them even closer together. Markanthony’s now six-year-old daughter is excited to be the flower girl and merge our families together. They support each, pray for one another, laugh, eat, cook, watch Netflix series, attend church together, and dream together. You can easily find them out and about holding hands. The couple looks forward to building a thriving life together centered around God, family, and lots of laughs. We hope you can join them on April 8 as they publicly kick off their next chapter! #ArcherEverAfter