About Us

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. 

I'm Shandell, wife to Ben and mama to Malakai, Desmond, and Aurelia.

Here is a bit more about us.

Ben + I met through mutual friends in the spring of 2005 at the college where he had recently transferred and I had graduated from the year before (BA in Education with a license to teach K-5). In November of that year we started dating. We were engaged in February 2007 and married 4 months later. 

{July 2007}

We both worked full-time outside of the home. I was in my 3rd year as an Admissions Counselor at our alma mater, and he had just graduated the previous May (BA in Music Industry) and started working an entry level job nearby. The summer of 08 Ben got a better job at the college as well and we enjoyed carpooling, spending our lunch hours together, and riding our bikes to work through campus.

In November 2008 we began our journey to meet our first son. In preparation to stay at home (my dream job) I left my job at 4 weeks before my due date. Unfortunately, Ben's position was cut just 2 weeks before Malakai was born. My first pregnancy was more eventful than we would have liked, but complications aside Malakai Benson was born in July of 2009.

We had a unique opportunity with daddy at home to bond as a family of three for 6 weeks. In early September 2009 Ben was blessed with a job with his current employer. Later that month I began to work part time providing daycare for my friend + previous boss. Their son Henry is just 2 months older than Malakai. I was able to provide daycare for a few other families as well until February 2010.

We were also very active at our church. My roles in serving the Nursery led to my taking on a part time job in November of 2010 as the Nursery + Toddlers Director. 

In March of 2010 we bought our first house, which as any homeowner knows, is quite the undertaking. We live in a small 900 square foot home and have purged a lot of our belongings to make living a bit simpler. Since moving in we've painted, replaced tile with laminate, planted a garden, tilled, leveled and replanted the backyard and installed sprinklers, added a door from the garage to the garden area and quite a few smaller projects. There are still plenty more we'd like to do...

In February 2011 I surprised Ben with the news that we were expecting our second child. The following 9 months of growing baby and trying to keep up with a toddler was quite the adventure. Desmond Lee joined us in October 2011.

I took a little less than 2 months off of my job at the church and came back to immediately take on an additional job as well. From December of 2011 to May of 2013 I was director over the Nursery-Preschool. In May of 2013 God called me to stay home full time and homeschool Malakai for a year of preschool before sending him off to Kindergarten this last fall.

On big brother's 3rd day of Kindergarten we welcomed a little sister, Aurelia Ann was born September, 2014

Since then we've been learning the delicate balance of being outnumbered by our energetic children. Raising a toddler, a preschooler and 1st grader is always interesting. In the midst of it Ben + I are usually trying new things at work, church and with our family + friends plus we're still dreaming up a remodel for our teensy house.

{December 2014, photo by b.lovely photography}

We're continually growing + learning as we go. How to love each other better, how to meet the needs of our children,  how to balance work, church + family commitments, and especially how to follow + serve God along the way.