Most people I meet either have a dog or want a dog. They often get dogs at a pet store, or from a family or farm that breeds puppies.

Another way to give a little fur ball a home is to adopt a rescue dog. That's how we got Rey. Toward the beginning of last summer, my mom's friend got a puppy through this organization called Paws for Life. The organization rescues dogs from Aruba. The island has so many dogs living on the streets, why not rescue some and give them a loving home here in the United States.

Volunteers go down to Aruba and fly back with the rescued dogs so they have someone to escort them. The dogs are usually flown to areas south of the States, like Florida. After that, they are flown out to foster homes through out the country.

My mom and I had been thinking about getting a new dog for a while. After having my old dog, Buster, Mom said she didn't want to go through the puppy phase ever again. She insisted that she wanted a dog that was already full grown, and a girl.

Well...she got half her wish. After seeing Rachel's adorable dog from Aruba, we decided to get one of our own and support the Paws For Life organization. Mom filled out an application and we got matched with a puppy who was in a home in Bridgewater, about forty minutes from my house. Mom texted me while I was at work one day telling me that we were going to go meet the puppy the next morning while my dad and brother were out fishing. Of course, anyone who has gone to "look" at a dog, knows that's never the case. 9 times out of 10, you usually end up taking the little furball home.

The puppy we were matched with was part of a litter that was rescued. When we met her, her name was Peggy. I personally wanted to keep the name so I could make Hamilton jokes, but my mom wouldn't have it. So in the end, we named her Rey, after the Star Wars character, since everyone in my family is a massive fan of the franchise.

My mom fell in love with Rey when we met her. I fell in love when I saw her picture. Needless to say we did not just meet Rey that day, my dad had a nice surprise when he got home. We even had to stop at Petco to pick up things like food and a bed for her.

Now Rey is a year old and still as energetic and crazy as she was the day we brought her home. She could probably give Marley a run for his money with the amount of trouble she gets into. But she also has an adorable face that makes it hard to stay mad at her for too long.

Sometimes I look at Rey and I wonder what her life would have been like if she never left Aruba. And I thank Paws for Life for rescuing her, and bringing this crazy furball into our lives.