{Choo Choo! It's the SM iNSD Blog Train!}

Welcome fellow digi scrappers to my stop on the ScrapMatters iNSD Blog Train! What an awesome ride it is, huh? There are so many fantastic freebies to be had with the new SM Design Team Collab, "Moments That Matter" and I'm excited to be a part of this special day. You likely just left Stephanie's blog HERE. What a great freebie she has!

If you don't already know, Scrap Matters is giving away a HUGE collab kit called "Moments That Matter" when you purchase $20 worth of products during the iNSD celebration going on now. The kit is beautiful! It is perfect for documenting engagements, weddings, baptisms, and every special moment you can think of. The colors are soft and tender and the elements are original and simply perfect.

Since we are celebrating special moments in our lives with this kit, here is a moment that really mattered to me in my life.

My husband and I were given an adorable puppy by one of my students about two years into our marriage. The puppy was a mix of Chihuahua and who knows what, but man was she cute. We named her Rafiki, or Fiki for short. Fiki quickly worked her way into our hearts. She had so many little quirks that we loved and her personality was one of a kind. My husband had an especially close bond with her. Fiki would sit on the top of the sofa and watch for him to come home when she knew it was about that time. She waited at the top of the stairs for him to finish showering and changing for the evening and then followed him downstairs for some lovin'. She was a joy in so many ways.

Sadly, one evening I let her outside to do her business and she never made it inside again. I heard people shouting outside and just knew in my gut that she was hit by a car. My husband cradled her in his arms and we showered love and tears on her as she left this world. We said goodbye to our friend of almost eight years. The pain of losing Fiki was unbearable. Not only were my husband and I heartbroken, but our little girls were devastated. To this day, over a year and a half after Fiki died, they will break out in tears and say they miss Fiki. I suppose it's good for them to experience loss, but it sure is hard to deal with as a parent.

Although we swore we wouldn't get another dog for a long time, the emptiness that we felt without our Fiki was overwhelming. We started looking at rescues online and quickly found a cute little Chihuahua mix puppy who had the most soulful eyes ever. I knew she was meant for us. After contacting the rescue and going through the application and interview process, we drove several hours to another state to bring our new puppy home. As it turned out, there were two puppies available: the one we had claimed and one of her sisters whose original adoptive "parents" had to back out of the deal. My husband and I agreed to take both puppies and our girls were thrilled! This moment, seeing how excited our girls were to have two new puppies to love and feeling the excitement ourselves, was monumental. Although we would give anything to have Fiki back in our lives, we know that she would be thrilled to know that we are now sharing our home with two puppies who almost had horrible lives. Out of loss comes new life, and in our case it was new life times two!

Our sweet Fiki, just a few months before we lost her. How I miss that adorable little face!

Our girls and new puppies the day we adopted them from the rescue.

Well, now that I've shared an important moment in my life, how about we get on to the reason you're here? The freebie! I had a lot of fun making this gift for you, although it was hard to stop myself from making an entire layout with all the gorgeous elements and papers!

Here is the preview of the "Moments That Matter" kit and my freebie:

And here is the freebie: one 12x12 layered paper! All you have to do is add your photos and elements and you'll have a gorgeous layout!

Download the free layered papers HERE.

*** Download link has expired.***

Now you must chug along to the next stop on the train ride around the world! Your next destination is Cyndi's blog. Click HERE to read about her moment that matters and pick up your next freebie.

Happy iNSD!