It's just about freakin' time....OMG!!!

Yes, it's been over 3 yrs. since I've written on here. Where did the time go? Well, I'm going to catch this up and then start a blog for each of the kids too. I can't believe I've let this go for such a long period of time. I'm getting old and find the days go faster and I move slower. Not going to happen anymore. THIS is the place to document the life of my sweet family and I'm committed. YEP! Done deal...stay tuned for more posts.

The Garcia Gang is Really still Alive....

Wow....I am so bad. It has been over a year since I've added to this blog. I expected to be on it all the time. Promised myself I would write something, if even small, each night before bed....add a photo or two and boom! I didn't do it. Life happened and changed and I failed myself. But what is important is that I am back and ready to go. I am not going to promise anything and won't even commit to do more than I can but I will be back. I can't wait to see what this year brings. So many good changes and fun times in our lives. We are lovin' life and all that it brings. I will explain as I add posts. K-so ready!!

It's just my LUCK!!!
Feelin' it....We are all so very Lucky in our lives. Here's my list for the night about how lucky I feel each and every day....and not really lucky but blessed....guess that word comes to mind this month:

 Lucky to be in love

 Lucky to have family

 Lucky to have good jobs 

 Lucky to be healthy 

 Lucky to know Christ and that He loves us 

 Lucky to live in a free country 

So with that said I'm  Lucky to be able to write this blog and be back!!!!

IT HAPPENED TO ME. . . .

Yes, my nice iMac desktop computer hit the high road and crashed big time. I knew it was having a hard time finding the software when I saw the question marks flashing on the screen when I turned it on....I googled it and indeed it said it was either the mouse or the hard drive was having trouble seeing the start up software and programs. It happened a few times and then I knew I needed to back it up. I asked Nef one night to please back it up before going to bed and of course, Nef readily volunteered to do it. Only it didn't happen. He started to go downstairs and accomplish the task and then got side-tracked, he did ask how to do it and I explained how-he just never made it to the room to get it done. So, of course, when I knew it wasn't going to turn on, I called the Apple Store and brought it right down. It didn't take long before I got the dreaded phone call stating that they could not retrieve any info from it. They suggested we take it to a Mac repair store to see if they could retrieve anything from the hard drive. All the while, I was looking just like the lady in that photo-I cried several times knowing that all 25,000 photos were gone, all documents, scrapbook ideas, school files, etc....gone-just plain gone!

Yep, that's right-the Mac Doc's in SLC couldn't retrieve anything from it either. They suggested that we go online and find a place we could mail it off to and sometimes they could delve deeper into it and get all the files. So looking online, we found a place that charged $850 just to look and then $250 to retrieve jpeg images. So we were looking at about $1,100 plus just to start the process. I couldn't do it-so again I started crying and finally decided I would get the external hard drive and pray that I had at least had an auto back up from a few months ago-May or June.....

I guess the praying worked or maybe it saved Nef from getting a good beatin'-one or the other. When I plugged in the hard drive on the Mac laptop-I about fainted. Miraculously it had auto backed up the NIGHT before it crashed!!! How is that for a total miracle? I think I screamed loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear and at the same time I also let Nef know he could now relax and wouldn't have to wash dishes for the next 20 years or do the ALL the laundry, cook, clean, pay the bills, etc..... He had been saved. I was in total distress because I knew that I had just downloaded over 1,000 photos from my camera a few weeks ago from first day of school, Cancun, summer trips, marching band competitions, Lacrosse games and so much more. I automatically set iphoto to delete all originals from my camera after uploading them to the library. WOW!!!!

So now the daunting task of putting everything back on the hard drive. Yes, I did get a new hard drive on that same computer. They won't let me get another protection care plan on it though. So we're on our own.....ugh!!! I almost forgot another great part of the story. Unbeknownst (is that a word?) to us we "thought" our warranty with the apple care protection plan expired in December. Of course, as Garcia luck would have it and to top off this horrible incident, it expired one little week prior to the crash. Nef, again used his charm, and because it was sooooo close to the date of the crash persuaded the manager into doing the fix/repair {new hard drive} for FREE!!! Thank heavens again for small little miracles.

happy november!
it's time to start this up again.... and I'm committed to keeping up with it. I need to do it from the jounaling perspective if for nothing else. I'm really lacking in the motivation and for that I'm so sorry. I have no idea what is up with me-a slump of some kind and it needs to be gone.
so here's what I'm thankful for this month:

* a cozy warm home with all the cold settling in-it snowed today!

* a family that is happy, healthy, wealthy(not so much) and wise

* time to spend with cherished friends and always my family

* sleep-well sometimes

* knowledge of what is right and wrong-what makes me happy

* a computer that works {and backs up my photos}-my Mac crashed 2 wks ago

* the ability to work-fun or not

* a home-cooked Thanksgiving coming up-my sis Kelly will be here to cook....

* life as I know it.....

* an emily who is sweeter than the day is long-love that girl!!!

* shopping- did some today and hadn't in a long time-good? bad?

* hot chocolate, a good movie, and the fireplace on-ooo-la-la

just a few of the wonderful things in life that make it so much nicer to be alive.

Powerful Video

This is quick and quite simply stated how important it is to love those around you and not let a day pass without telling your loved ones how you feel. You'll have to go down to my playlist and stop the music so you can listen to just this video. Here's the link if you want to watch it in full size as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYhDhiojBPA


Isn't that sooooo good!!!