Daniel and Marnie met in the Fall of 2019 while Marnie was visiting her family in Portland. The pair built an initial bond around their connections to Sun Valley, Idaho, and mutual interest in sports, particularly fantasy football.

While Marnie was still living full-time in Chicago when they met, she moved home to Portland at the start of the pandemic to be closer to family and rebuild her life in Portland.

Family is very important to the couple. Daniel first met Marnie's parents at a Super Bowl Party that they hosted in 2020. In anticipation of Daniel's arrival, Marnie anxiously hid some questionable African taxidermy décor in a closet at her family's house that she felt Daniel, a native of Senegal, might not fully appreciate. Years later the décor was redisplayed at the house during a dinner party and it turns out that Daniel does, in fact, like taxidermy chetahs but he hopes to see them in the wild someday.

Since 2019, Daniel and Marnie have built a beautiful life together. After remodeling their 1920's home and moving in together in 2022, they adopted their beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Izzy. Marnie looks forward to taking Izzy for long walks and hikes on the weekend while Daniel enjoys taking Izzy to the park and teaching him new tricks. The couple enjoys eating fruit, going on drives in the city, making Senegalese food, barbequing, thrifting, learning about lions and other animals and hosting parties with their friends.

Daniel proposed to Marnie last summer while they were visiting his home country of Senegal. Marnie finally got the opportunity to meet Daniel’s family and eat the amazing food Senegal is celebrated for.