Good Morning! This week’s LOTW is I run by Allij2008. You can leave her some love in the gallery and on the forum! Congrats!

-Leslie

What is your User ID and why did you pick it? Aussiegirl, because I Love Australia and would love to go there some day.

 Have you been to Australia? No, not yet…someday!

 Do you like to travel? Yes, I love to travel and explore new places. If I can see a waterfall on a trip, I am happy!

 Dawn, can you tell us a little something about you and your family?

Are you married? Yes, I have been married for 12 years (June 14) to a wonderful man, Jesse.

 How did you and Jesse meet? We met in College through mutual friends.

 Do you have kids? Yes, we have 4 little girls. Sarah 7 years old, Tamara 6 years old, Kailey 4.5 years old, and Hannah 2.5 years old.

 Do you have any pets? We have a black lab mix named Max. We tell people at least the dog is a boy.

 Have you always lived in the same area? I have lived in MI all my life. Jesse and I both grew up in the Grand Rapids/ Battle Creek, MI area. Once we were married, we moved to the Detroit, MI area and have lived there ever since.

 What is your typical day like? My husband wakes early to go to his 2nd part time job. I get the girls up and ready for school. Once the older 2 are at school, the younger 2 and I play, scrapbook, read stores etc. When the older 2 get home, it’s time for homework before anyone can play outside or with more toys. My husband works 2 jobs so I can stay home with the girls. Some nights he is home for supper and bedtime, other nights, I am on my own getting the girls supper and getting them to bed. After bedtime, is “me” time.

 Looking back over the past year, how has your family been blessed? We attended Dave Ramsey’s FPU this past January through April. That was a huge blessing in helping us deal with our finances and how to handle them! We are on our way to living Debt Free!

 What about since you have been married? We were told we couldn’t have Children. Shortly after, we decided to take a trip to Walt Disney World and when we came back look into Adoption, Fertility Drugs and all that fun stuff. Well, God had other plans. About a month or so after returning home, we found out we were pregnant! God has blessed us with 4 little girls, and a 5th baby up in Heaven. With God’s help, we proved the Doctor’s wrong.

 What is one (or two) greatest blessings that you and Jesse have witnessed since you’ve been married? The birth of our Children. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord. Also, the fact that, when things get tough, or rough, and we don’t feel like we can go on or things just keep going on, God is in Control. He will never let us down. He is there right beside us, every step of the way.

 When did you start digital scrapbooking? I posted my first layout July 2007.

Have you done/scrapped anything with paper before? I paper scrapped for about 15 years or so before that.

 Dawn, do you mind sharing your gallery with us? Nope, it’s HERE

 Can you show us your favorite layout?

Why are they your favorites? I love the first one because it was out of my normal style. I tried something totally different for me, and loved the end result! I love the message behind the 2nd one (and Precious Moments), and the natural outdoorsy colors and feel to the page.

 How long have you been a ScrapMatters Girl? Since November 2008

 Are you on any Creative Teams? Haynay Designs, Melissa Daniel Designs and Neverland Scraps

 Whose gallery do you find yourself going to for inspiration? I love to look at my best Friend in real life: Neverland Scraps. I also enjoy looking at the following galleries as well: TheWerners, Melissa (Yzerbear19) for her nature layouts, Heather (Snowdrop) for her Disney layouts and Jan (Quiltymom) for her creativity in her layouts. They all have beautiful layouts and photos to lift or get inspiration from.

 On average, how many layouts a month do you create? I would say around 25-30. It depends on the month and what all is going on. Although QOS proved to me, that I can do more!

 Overall, how many challenges do you participate at ScrapMatters? About 9 different ones.

 What is your favorite Challenge at ScrapMatters? I really like Inspiration point. I love turning an ad or picture into a layout. I also enjoy the Tuesday Template and the Grand Theft Challenge (my secret goal is to be chosen for this one!)

 Do you have any goals for your scrapbooking? To try new styles and just keep growing in them.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with the readers? I am about 6 years behind in my scrapbooking. I have about 25 rolls of 35mm film just waiting to be developed! My new goal is to just put that on disk and scrap it digitally!

Thanks so much Dawn for letting us get to know you better! Remember you can check out her gallery HERE.

-Wendy