Ellen K, 33, was born in Ithaca, N.Y., the oldest of three girls. Her family moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., when she was young, and she spent most of her life there.

She loves Colorado: the snow, the mountains, the open space. She graduated from University of Colorado-Boulder and worked there until about two years ago, when she moved to the Northwest.

Ellen works in IT support for an environmental engineering firm, and she loves her job because it challenges her to solve problems – and she gets paid to play with computers all day. She also loves meeting new people, networking and trying out new restaurants, but she’s also content to stay home with a good movie and good company.

“In my free time, I volunteer for several different organizations, but I find events that involve animals are the most rewarding personally. I have a Golden Retriever, Penut, who is also a licensed pet therapy dog - meaning we go to hospitals, retirement homes and nursing homes and visit the patients.”