The importance of Backing up your photos.

This was an experience I will never forget.
I experienced this first hand last summer.

Friday morning began like any other summer morning.
I got up, and started on my daily routine. Got my babies their bottles, put them back in bed and decided to try and get some things done while my house was calm and quiet.

I hopped on the computer and started working. It was a little after 9am and I decided to check facebook for a moment.

As I was scrolling down and glancing at comments and pictures, a picture of a very large fire caught my eye so I decided to look at it.

To my surprise, the fire burning was at the top of my subdivision and I had no idea!

I quickly stepped outside. I looked up at what should be a blue sky, and gasped!

This picture was taken by my friend Shellee who lives just up the street from me.

As I saw and realized what was going on I ran back inside and told my children to get dressed quickly as we needed to go!

I gathered my children, some food and diapers and my external hard drive, laptop,  camcorder and a small box of pictures that hadn't been scanned into my computer yet.

As I sat in the car with my precious children, we decided to have a little prayer to help everyone calm down.

My children were crying and very nervous. We could hear sirens blaring close by, and cars rushing by.

My neighbors were frantically doing the same things as us.

Keep in mind my husband was not home and was at least an hour and half drive away! It was my job to get my family to safety and keep them calm.

As I drove out of my subdivision there were cars everywhere. It was difficult to even get out! The city had a police officer directing traffic so we could get out safely.

The picture below was taken from my friend Deanna just up the street from me.

I decided to leave before the evacuations were official. But learned later that the official evacuations were put in place about 30 minutes after I left.

We were evacuated from our homes for about 30 hours!


When I arrived at my parents home, unpacked the kids and food. I was so incredibly relieved to know that I had the most important things in my life with me (other than my husband who was at work, but still safe.)

I was careful to back up my photos, digital scrapbooks, sound files,  and important documents to my external hard drive!

During my moment of panic I felt like my decision was quite simple as to what to take other than my children. My external hard drive! It had most of my most precious memories all safely backed up.

I did learn a lesson over these past few days about be prepared and not procrastinating my backing up process. This is something that is a continuous process and needs attention weekly.

I'm happy to report that no homes were lost and no injuries occurred.

I was truly blessed! Today I look at my home a little differently. I'm glad to be living in it!

This wildfire  burned nearly 6500 acres and threatened many homes. It was an event that was covered by national news.

As I drove  to see the aftermath, my jaw dropped. There were a few places where the fire was only about 20ft away from some homes!

Firefighters are truly heroic people! They put their own lives on the line to protect us. And for that, I am truly grateful.

Please make sure to back up your precious photos and documents! Learn from this. Don't wait!

You can learn more about backing up your photo here.

 -Kathleen

I have linked up with this fun blog. Check them out, HERE.