Sweet Shoppe Designs

Credits:

Kit: Smart Chic by Julie Billingsley
Alpha: Art and Soul Alpha: Neutrals by Julie Billingsley
Edge Templates: Punchy Edges by Julie Billingsley
Template: Set #58 by Cindy Schneider
Font: DJB Ruth by Darcy Baldwin and TimesNewRoman

Journaling:
It was over a year ago, but I can still remember the day that my external hard
drive died, taking with it numerous photos that included my youngest son’s
first snowfall, his first Christmas, his first hair cut and his first birthday. I was new
to the digi scrapbooking community, and I thought I would give these speed
scraps a try. I made it so hubby took the kids to his parents during the 2 hour
window, and I sat and waited with eager anticipation. With 30 minutes until it
started, I decided to use some of my excited energy to clean. I threw away some
trash and put some papers in the drawer. Eventually all that was left was dusting.
It’s insane how much dust a monitor collects! I stood up and started getting
behind the monitor. I moved my external hard drive over so I could get in that
corner and as I wiped up the dust, my wrist bumped into the external. I tried to
catch it, but I was unsuccessful as it fell over onto my desk. I didn’t freak right
away because this had happened a few times in the past, and it always worked
fine afterward. But this time, there was this horrid noise. Kind of a grinding, weird
dusty-metal noise. And then, randomly - when I would try to access something - I
would get this loud DING that sounded like something connecting somewhere it
shouldn’t. And the folders I was trying to get into would freeze. Long story short,
my external hard drive was now dead, and those beloved photos of many of
Liam’s firsts were lost. Well, lost until I can afford the HUGE amount of money to
have it examined in one of those special clean rooms. Yeah - that won’t be happening
any time soon! But with the death of something so dear came the brith of something
I never imagined I would get! My husband felt so bad for me that he told me to
have a new computer built - and that price wasn’t an issue! Dameon (long time
friend and computer genius) went to work, ordering and building me a computer.
It was designed specifically for me - with my hobbies of photography and scrapbooking
in mind. Faster then I ever dreamed, my computer was finished about a month
after that horrid day. I brought it home, marveling at the size. And the speed. And
Vista - that was new to me, being an XP girl. I can’t imagine not having this
computer now! The things I do, the memory I require - never could I have even
tried to do a quarter of this on my old computer. It still hurts knowing that some
of my favorite photos are trapped on that external, I can still see them in my
mind’s eye. But having my new (totally awesome) computer definitely helps!