"your computer's hard drive is bad".
Which I knew. Just disappointing to hear those words. I'm having them put in a new hard drive along with the attempt to recover the lost data.
My poor computers. I have a really bad computer history, don't I?
Update ---
They called and yet again, nothing could be recovered. I'm mourning a bit because I had an inkling of hope :(
I did get a new hard drive put in it.
After $3400, I now have 2 "new" computers. (((sigh)))
Absolutely cheesy title I know :c)
The new 'puter was suppose to be delivered on Friday after we had already left for Chicago. I called UPS and tracked down the package so they held onto the computer and (thankfully) delivered it on Monday instead. Good thing because I wasn't going to be home but also because severe weather went through Friday night.
The pretty silver Mac was opened late last evening. It's now up and running and I'm loving it. It's funny how just a couple years makes a world of difference in the upgrades on a system. Even the keys work remarkably better and they are quieter, too, which helps for those nights I'm typing in bed while Neil is sleeping. (hehe)
Now hopefully this time I don't run this one to it's death in just a few small years. Wish me luck. (I obviously need it.)
Chicago (and my time with Johanna) was absolutely wonderful. More to come once I get back into the swing of everything. Another wedding on Saturday, just 4 days away, and in the meantime I have 5 family sessions to proof and 3 wedding albums to do.
Serenity now, serenity now.
I just spent $3100 on a new computer. Thinking of all the money I have spent over the years on macs makes me feel sick, but at the same time, it's probably a sickness that makes me buy another one. It's a vicious vicious cycle. As they say, "once you go mac, you don't go back". Yup, it's true. But my stomach still hurts from the files I lost and the money I just forked out which make me feel even more ill.
At least the sun is shining, tomorrow is Tuesday and we leave for Chicago on Thursday. Things could definitely be worse, and now that I've lost files 3 times in the past 6 years, I'm taking it much better each time one decides to die on me. (Way to think positive, eh?!)
Happy Memorial Day. I know the week is going to get better.
(added: Question of the day -- why do you keep buying macs? Answers are in the comments. I should have made it a post. Thanks, Jenn, for asking. It got me to thinkin'!)
My office is a big part of me and my home. Since I work from home, my children have even grown very accustomed to it. They even know now (finally!) when I am working in there, that I'm "at work", which is nice. And even though they still can come in anytime, it's my only real special place in my entire house that I can call my own. I actually feel invited to go in there, especially now. And so I thought I would invite you in to it also!
Just a couple weeks my husband got done painting my office. I've been having a lot of back troubles lately, so I for the first time ever, I didn't paint a room in my house. (I direly LOVE to paint walls!) Sweet darling hubby did all the painting and he worked on it each night after the kids went to bed. (He's so good.) It went from bland icky probably-never-actually-painted stark dirty white to a crisp oh-so-warm and fresh coat of RED. I love red if you didn't already figure that out. :c)
You also may or may not have figured out that I am a photographer and I work out of my home. I've been working out of my home for over 5 years now. It definitely beats my last (very odd) job as a professional taste tester. While I actually LOVED doing taste testing and found that job exciting because there are not many people in this world that can do that it -- taste anything and EVERYTHING no matter what it is and be able to pinpoint on my palette what attributes the food has on a scale and then spit it out (yes, spit it out in front of people!) -- I still would much rather shoot pictures. It's definitely more rewarding and tad bit more fun :c)
I chose to work from my home because of my kids. When I started my job, I didn't have kids, but I was praying that I would. We had lots of troubles conceiving, but I still felt like God would not have put me in that position if He wasn't going to give me a child. And shortly after that He did. And it's worked out beautifully. Of course there are many a days when I wish I worked outside the house, but most days I'm very happy and content where I am.
I mainly shoot weddings, which is I have all those Martha Stewart Weddings, but I've found myself shooting tons of babies and kids lately, and I'm having troubles deciding which I like shooting better. I'm afraid in the long run, those small cuties will win out, but we'll see. I'm putting stricter requirements on the weddings I shoot which makes it easier for me and much more fun. Who would have thought I would be able to pick my weddings? It's definitely a blessing.
So here it is . . . pieces of my office. It's definitely nothing fancy, but it totally works for me, and in between my actual photography needs are pieces of me. I love having things around me that make me happy. Everything is right there and I actually, for the first time ever (!), feel organized. I could tell you where everything is. It all has it's place, and that's something I didn't have until we moved to this home 8 months ago. Thanks to IKEA, Pottery Barn and reading my Real Simple magazines, I'm turning into an organized Val that I never knew existed. Some of my friends like Chel, Leann, Alexis, Natalie, Kristin, Heather . . . FINE, all my friends . . . will all be amazed by this because it's these people who are already organized or never thought it was possible for me to be!
These Expedit bookcases from IKEA have been a Godsend. I love them. We even have two in our family room. I'd like to have more but I'm not sure where we'd put them. I know how I am when I look at other people's pictures . . . I study them and try to figure out what everything is. So I just went ahead and listed it all for you so you don't have to strain your eyes. (But if you are straining, I suggest clicking on the picture and making it larger.)
Then there is my closet which Neil and I converted into more storage with shelves. It's worked out remarkably well. Back in the back of it where you can't see, I store old client files and negatives, personal photos, and all my big equipment (lights, light stands, reflectors, backdrop stands, light boxes, etc.). So I can hide all the not-so-pretty things out of sight and that's nice because it's all still in one room and not all throughout the house like it use to be at our old home.
And then there is my bulletin board which kind of speaks for itself.
And finally, my daily work space. One of the places I post my entries to Purple Valley from and *the* place I do all my photo editing from. Notice the 3 external hard drives. You can't have enough hard drive storage, which is something I have talked about in the past among some of my digital photography posts. (Speaking of, I hope to post another really useful and valuable post on choosing the right camera --- tune in later this week!!) 
Grandma Libby, one of my biggest role models, would be so so so proud of me, I just know it.
There you have it, my work space. Sorry I rambled so much, but if you plan to visit me more, that's one thing I tend to do ;c) But for some reason people just keep comin' back. And I appreciate it. :c)
I know . . . enough about my Mac, but you see, I rely on that piece of technology like it's my best friend. Some days it is my best friend. Right now I am having a love-hate relationship with it. My whole live revolves around it. My personal and work life resides in that computer. Thank God for my two back up external hard drives (did you guys take that advice???), but still, it's only been (not even) 2 years, it shouldn't die on me already. For goodness sakes, it's a Mac! Isn't that one reason why we Mac junkies buy them?! For their reliability?
I cannot afford a new one at $2500 a pop. No way, no how, and if I do buy a new one, I would have a "but" thought going off in my head . . . but, if I already have to buy a new one, I might as well buy the bigger one because I really do need it. HA.
So I took my imac to the Mac doctor today. A sticker was put on it and into the waiting room it went with other waiting-to-be-worked-on Macs. They said it could take 3 days and that's just to tell me what's wrong and whether my hard drive can be saved. This is bad. So bad. I know they'll do their best, though. They've helped me a lot in the past.
In the meantime I guess I send out an email to my clients who are waiting on their pictures to tell them I have no idea when they'll see their proofs and/or receive their pictures, and that I don't even honestly know if I have their pictures to one day be able to print them. Tell me, now how do I eloquently tell a client this?! I swear, I don't need this now, and neither do my clients. (But who does?!)
On the flip-side, I bought two decorating books today at Barnes & Noble. It made me feel temporarily better for about 10 minutes, and that was a nice feeling.
So Alexis comes home, hangs out with me all night, and this is what we do - play on our Macs. Call us geeks but this is why we love each other.
Who took this picture? Neil; who puts up with our mac geekiness. Oh yes, and notice the food. We cannot get together without EATING! (Duh.)
You might not know this about me, but I am a Mac addict. I learned all my graphic stuff on Macs in college. I couldn't afford one, so I went back to a PC when we got married. It was awful. When I was able to finally afford one, I bought one and will forever be a Mac girl. I say, "Once you go Mac, you never got back." I own two. Actually I own 3, but the third died a few years back and I can't part with it even though it will never live again.
I'm sure you've seen the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials. They are awesome. I really wonder how many PC users it has converted? What a great marketing strategy.
I ran across some ads I have not seen . . . Japanese versions and they are pretty funny. Enjoy!
