After spending the past decade working abroad, I found the transition to being a permanent D.C. resident to be pretty bumpy. Though I loved seeing family and friends so regularly, few could relate to the reverse culture shock I was experiencing, and I hated that my new after-work default had become watching Netflix every night instead of getting out and about exploring like I did when I was living in Turkey, or Nigeria, or Thailand.

I adopted my best friend Nani “Fluffy Butt” Dempsey on March 24, 2018 from Lucky Dog!

Growing up, and to this day, I feel as though I connect better with animals than I do people. At first, my love for animals was limited to dogs (and monkeys). I grew up alongside my best doggy pal Buddy, and when I stayed local for college at UMD, I was never more than 30 minutes away from him.

You can always find hope in a dog's eyes. I--no we--found that hope one March day in 2013, when we met Ally the Great Dane, 2 weeks after our first meeting she'd become part of our family, and have a beagle brother, and change our lives forever. I say "we" because my journey into rescue includes my then boyfriend and now husband. It's become a passion and core part of who we are as a couple, and now, family as we've been joined by our daughter. We are a proud rescue family.

I first got involved in rescue right after college when I adopted my puppy Scooby, a chow chow/collie mix, from the SPCA in Roxbury, MA and then started volunteering there. One soon became two when Angus (the cocker) joined our little pack. Angus was severely abused and not on the adoption floor. It was either come home with me or be euthanized due to overcrowding...so we know what happened. I wasn't able to touch Angus for the first 2 months I had him and I relied heavily on his brother to help me show him that not all humans are horrible.