Shanan Gardiner was born and raised in the Northwest and has spent most of her years living in Seattle , Washington and Portland , Oregon .  In Seattle she earned a BA at the University of Washington in South Asian studies with a focus on Hinduism and the Devanagari script.  At the same time Shanan has always been an active member in both school government and local community affairs holding numerous offices and positions.  Post college her career focused primarily on corporate event planning.  Currently she is “retired” and assists with events in her free time.

Shanan has been active member of the LDS (Mormon) church most of her life and currently dedicates her time (when not planning events) to her handsome husband Garin of almost seven years, and her beaming one year old daughter Bailey.  She currently resides in Tigard , OR.