Here’s the short version of a long, unfortunate week:
- For the first time in my life, I bought a computer of my own with my own money.
- During setup, it somehow wiped my hard drive and erased six years’ worth of digital photos.
- I felt devastated as I thought through the images that might be gone forever — graduation photos of my boys, family vacations, everyday moments I’d collected over the years.
- A computer technician is working on photo recovery; it may take up to three weeks.
- I remain frustrated with the new computer and would gladly send it away. (Is there such a thing as a Technology Therapist?)
- I couldn’t stand not blogging, so my husband brought his laptop home so I could write this.
- If the crash hadn’t happened, I would have posted updates about the things I’ve been up to lately.
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I’m not finished decorating for Christmas, but this year I’m enjoying a more traditional look with plenty of natural greenery and sentimental ornaments. One of my favorite projects so far is a simple paper garland that brings a homemade, cozy feel to the tree.
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My home office hosted its first dinner party recently. The desk converted back into a dining surface nicely, and the evening was relaxed and fun. (Yes, I eventually set out proper plates — those gold chargers were only decorative.)
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Over the weekend I got ambitious and tried making Pioneer Woman’s Lemon Blueberry Buns. It was one of those experiments that sounded better on the screen than in the kitchen — I discovered my yeast had expired months ago. They weren’t a total disaster, but they weren’t the beautiful, fluffy buns I’d hoped for. I’ll try again with fresh yeast and share a better “after” picture when I get it right.
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I went on a fun shopping trip with a friend and treated myself to a pair of boots I really like. I briefly considered returning them to help cover the cost of computer repairs, but ultimately I decided to keep them — sometimes small comforts matter.
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I’ve taken my good health for granted for a long time. A few days ago I had a scare when my heart began skipping beats. I saw my doctor and started a few tests; the preliminary diagnosis is a harmless extra-beat condition. My doctor advised cutting out coffee for a while. I’m relieved the solution may be simple and grateful for the checkup.
So that’s the update: a mix of holiday preparations, home projects, a baking experiment gone sideways, a few new boots, and an unwelcome run-in with data loss. Before I go, I want to share the most important lesson I learned the hard way this week — and it’s an essential tip for anyone who values their digital memories.
Back up your photos and important files in more than one place. Relying on a single hard drive, a single computer, or a single cloud account risks losing everything if hardware fails or an account is compromised. For reliable photo backup, consider these layered options:
- Keep an external hard drive dedicated to full backups and update it regularly.
- Use removable media such as USB flash drives or memory sticks for an additional copy you can store offsite or in a fire-safe box.
- Use a reputable cloud backup service as a third layer to protect against physical loss or theft.
- Verify backups periodically by opening files to make sure they’re readable, and keep at least two different backup methods so one failure won’t be catastrophic.
Trust me — losing photos is heartbreaking, and a few simple backup steps can save you that pain. I’ll update again once the technician finishes recovering my files. In the meantime, enjoy the season, back up your memories, and take care of your health.