"Instagram killed the family blog"

So, I won't be updating this blog anymore.:( thanks for reading, you can follow me @nicolewhite99 over on Instagram  to see what my Fabulous Four are up to!  Xo.

That time I dragged my xmas tree into a field...

The Crash of '13

Hello??....Hello? Is this thing on? haha.


So as history will have it, the year 2013 will go down as the black hole of technology death. Let me explain:

When your computer goes black and comes up with a message that reads "Insert boot drive disk" and nothing else? You're screwed. Of course I didn't know I was screwed...I found that out two weeks later when the computer techie dude said, "It's toast. Total hard drive failure. Hope you backed up recently."


*Insert a cloud of obscenities here*

I never back my computer up-BUT! Paul does. Unfortunately, the last time he had done it was in January. My computer crashed in September.  That is a crap load of pictures. I mean.....at least 500. GONE. VANISHED. *insert childlike sobbing and fit throwing with a side of mental turmoil and anguish*

Having your computer crash is like the bomb that keeps exploding. Out of the blue I would say, "Oh NOOOO!!!" because I would remember a set of pictures that were gone to me forever.  However, I still had my phone photos, and that is where the real action is happening, right? I mean...the  phone camera catches the real moments and sometimes the best pictures, right? So I still had over 1,000 photos and videos on my phone.  Silver. Lining.

UNTIL....

Yep. The VERY SAME WEEK that my computer died.....my phone died!-for no reason, mind you. It was sitting on the counter-working one minute and dead as a doornail the next.  Well! This sent me into a total and complete nervous breakdown.  I ran to the nearest Apple store and begged them to fix it....at least long enough to retrieve my photos. 

No. Luck.

Not only did I loose all my photos....but I had to buy a new phone. After sitting there for three hours, I walked out of the store photo-less and a lot more poor. I promptly found a drive-through, ordered a burrito and had myself a sob session/pity party in the car in a dark parking lot.

Oh.....but it doesn't stop there.  The universe wasn't done. I mean....my camera was still working. Until it wasn't.  Ugh!  (I'm not making this up. I really felt like I had walked into the Twilight Zone..or at least into a giant magnet. ha.)  So I had headed out to take pictures of Olivia in her Halloween costume to try and lift my spirits and create some new photos that I might love more than the ones I had lost.   It was going great until I noticed a large black spot on every picture. I cleaned the lens...still there. I switched lenses.....still there.  Took it home and thoroughly cleaned it but the black spot kept showing up on every picture. This was the final straw. I called Paul and was so upset and depressed that he left work early. He said he was worried for his children. HAHA.
He immediately took me out for Mexican food because lets be honest....what can't Mexican food solve? Not much. Salsa Verde is truly the answer to most of my problems.;)

Long story short: Paul fixed my camera. He also found me a new computer WITH full coverage and access to a techie guy that will fix anything that goes wrong and I'm currently in the process of backing up and triple backing up every photo and video I own.  The great news is this: All the photos on my blog are full size. I never make them smaller before uploading them to blogger.  I never knew how....but I'm glad I didn't know because now I had access to several pictures through this blog. I also had uploaded some photos to facebook and while the quality isn't great, it's enough to print a 4x6 and to have a great digital copy.  Like this one:

I'm so glad I still have a copy of this. One of my favorites-ever!

I can't even begin to try and catch this blog up to date. My Instagram account will have to suffice for the summer and fall of 2013. However, here are a few pictures of Olivia that I did a few weeks ago.

So.....now I have four photos from 2013. haha.  Back up your computers people. BACK UP!! Trust me on this one!:)

iPhone dump

My phone tells a better story than I ever could.......


Allie's teacher was worth his weight in gold.  Hand wrote a letter to every single child in his class.  She has had such an amazing year and we have seen her grades soar. My favorite teacher to date-hands down.

She thinks she is 11. This is what she looks like when I have to break the news to her that she is, in fact, 4.  It doesn't go over well. 

Memorial Day. ALWAYS a party when favorite uncle Vic comes to play. He treats my kids like royalty and in return, they nearly love him to death when he visits.  Besides, can your uncle ride a wheelie for 7 blocks?;)

Allie auditioned and made a part in Tarzan! We are super excited about it and it should be amazing.  This is play #8 in three years.  WHAT?!  I know....

I love finding my kids in the yearbooks. :)

 New bikes for summer. 

 I love when she naps with me.  It doesn't happen very often anymore. :(

 Heeeelllloooo SUMMER!!

 

Heeeyyy!

 

The kids school did a 5k and 1 Mile color run.  It was awesome and Allie ran the 5K with her dad-with no training whatsoever! Easton ran the mile and came in fast enough to win a shirt.

 

 Allie turned 11. WHAT?! I know.....

Gymnastics. She loves it soooo much that it almost made purchasing the $12.50 trophy worth it.;) She really does love it and it wouldn't hurt my feelings AT ALL if I had a little "flipper" around the house.  I spent most of my childhood upside down. ha...

 Hawker grandbabies-all of them.

 Little 4-square sesh with Mulan practicing her high kick. haha...

One random morning I woke up and said,(literally I said it out loud)"I've never made a pie from scratch."  So I did it.  That day....I made my first pie crust and everything.  I made a Lemon Meringue and it was kind of amazeballs good.  Not going to lie.  Paul almost ate the whole thing.

 Shut up?! I know.....ha.

aaaaaannnd then we had to go to Taco Time for Dinner....because I was sick of cooking after that pie was made.

 

First dentist trip. She was a champ. Perfect little pearly whites.

This was her face when I reacted to her saying, "A boy loves me" hahah....

 

So my brother has a full-up, professional batting cage in his back yard.  Does yours?;) I'll have you know I smacked the shiz out of it.  Okay....that was an exaggeration.  I hit the ball. The bat made contact with the ball and it flew(fell) a few feet.

I "mint" to do that. ;)

 

By looking at these pictures, you would think I favor Olivia. Not true. My older two are just now too cool and are never around anymore.  So my phone is FULL of Olivia.

Grammy MEL! Allie sang "If the Savior stood beside me" and it was gorgeous...but apparently I filmed it upside down. Dang it.

Girls night out!

Allie's piano recital from a few days ago. Getting better all the time.

In other news, I started working a little bit from home for a company that needs professional writing done.  Its very, very part time(Maybe 8 hours a week). I basically write anything and everything-press releases, radio ads, blog reviews, product reviews, etc.  I like to write, so its an easy job for me and allows me to make some money while not wearing a bra. ha.  Honestly, I have loved doing it so far and my goal is to save up everything from this summer so that I can pay for preschool and Tavaci and piano all upfront in the fall.  That would be awesome-and mean more ski trips for me during the school year. (Always working an angle, right?) haha....

Summer is officially here! Our summer is jam packed full of plans so I let my kids sleep in today, because starting next Monday they start 5 weeks of 8 a.m. golf lessons. HA! Rise and shine babies! :)