Welcome to my little corner of the internet.
I'm Shandell, wife to Ben and mama to Malakai + Desmond. 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. In November of that year we started dating. We were engaged in February 2007 and married 4 months later.
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 and started working in Reservations at the Hilton. The summer of 08 Ben got a job at the college as well and we enjoyed carpooling, spending our lunch hours together, 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 healthy + perfect.
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 his current job. 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 are also very active at our church. Ben plays in the worship band and I've been volunteering in the nursery since 2003. This lead 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 feet of space 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, and are gearing up to overhaul the entire backyard this spring.
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 joined us on October 10th, 2011.
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.
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 joined us on October 10th, 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. I am now Director of Nursery thru Kindergarten ages!
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.
