30 September 2007

Time flies even when you are not having fun.

I just noticed it's been a couple weeks since I did a post. I hope to change that in the future, but for now it's because my brain is complete mush. I've just started a new job working nights. It doesn't require much brain power but it completely exhausts me because of the physical demands. Let's just say I better loose some wight after working this job.

Until I get use to this rhythm of taking the boys to school, daughter to mom's and going to work with my dad it'll be a while before I can think straight enough to do one of my posts. I feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off.

I have been taking my Family Tree Magazines to work and reading when I have time and jotting down notes in my note book for future posts. So I'll get a few organized soon and I'll be back up and running.

Until you see me again take care and happy hunting.

12 September 2007

One more off my list

As some of you may know I have been transcribing and posting records related to Kootenai County Idaho on Genealogy Trails where I am a host.

As of last night 1870 census when Idaho was nothing more than a Territory has been completed and posted. 1880 census was already done a while ago. Please feel free to let me know if there are any mistakes. I tried to scan it and look, but I'm good at not catching my own errors.

I also found some time to go through some old Spokesman Review obituaries and transcribe and post them here.





I do currently have one cemetery transcribed and posted. It was the old Paupers Cemetery. It has always intrigued me since the day I moved up here. This little cemetery up on the hill over looking Seltice way. It's nestled under the trees. Though there is much progress and modern buildings going up in the area, it's still a little piece of history that looks almost untouched other than the occasional clean up and care by different groups including the 4-H. When I find the time I would like to do much more research on the residence of this grave. Many of them were buried here by the county because they were poor and had no estate to cover the cost. So this plot of land was set aside for such burials. Many of the graves have a white cross, but the names are unknown who is buried there. Only a few are marked.

Don't forget I am always looking for more volunteers to find records and help transcribe them to post on Genealogy Trails. At his points I'm flying solo which will become more difficult to do as I will soon be going back to work. So if you are interested in contributing, take a look at the site and see what records are needed and then email me.

11 September 2007

Remembering 9/11

My dear Miriam Midkiff of AnceStories2 shares with us her thoughts on 9/11. She also asks a series of questions to get you thinks, so I thought I'd paste them in here and share my experience.

*How did you hear about the attacks of 9/11?

I was just getting up for work that morning and had gone over to turn on the TV while my coffee brewed just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower. I was horrified. I remember just standing there with my fingers up to my mouth. My husband had already gone to work and our son was still asleep. So I just stood there in silence and watched. Wow I hadn't thought of that in a long time. But I remember it as if it were yesterday.

*What did you do that day? Did you go to work or school, or stay home?

I did go to work. I had the privilege of a big screen TV to watch the news all day. At that time I was a portrait studio consultant. So we showed the images on a big screen TV which I sometimes watched the news on when I had nothing better to do. September really starts the slow time for about a couple months till it picks up for Christmas. So I really had almost no customers that day. Instead I set at my viewing room desk with a few projects going on the computer and watched the news all day.

*What were your feelings?

Mostly sadness. Especially when we began to find out the magnitude of the lives lost that day. I was horrified as I witness the plans hit the building. I can't say I was really scared. I mostly considered myself blessed that I lived in a part of the US that I didn't think they would really be interested in destroying. There isn't much significant that would affect the whole country on that magnitude her in Idaho.

*How has what happened that day changed your life in some way?

I'm not sure my life has really changed too much. Expect that maybe now I realize how important it is to write about my life and chronicle my story and that of my family just in case, God forbid, that some tragedy takes me away from my children. I really realized that tonight when I watched the children on Oprah today talking about the parents they lost and in some cases barely knew because they were so young. Even if I'm not here someday and my children are young, I at least have the peace of mind that they will know me and their father because of the stories I have done and the ones I'm still working on.

*What are your hopes for the future, in connection with this tragedy?

You know these days I'm just focusing on keeping my head above water with my own life and family. I don't think much about the future of the world. My life is enough to worry about. However, I will say that I would like to see our military men and women begin to come home. I feel they are fighting a loosing battle over there. They've have done a noble job and deserve all of our support, but I feel it is a loosing battle they are being forced to fight. It's time they come home.

Well there are my thought to Miriam's questions. So what are yours. Share with us how you felt, what you still feel, and what your future hopes and prayers are in relation to the 9/11 tragedy.

Genealogy Brick Walls

I just noticed tonight that one of the chat rooms I enjoy so much is hosting a special session this Thursday Sept 13th on Brick Walls. Check out their calendar here.

You will need an MSN passport or hotmail account to get in, but that's easy to sign up for if you don't already have one.

Genealogy Experience invites you to join their group on Thursday night Sept 13th at 8PM CST. Bring your brick walls and there will be many people there to help you! Let's see if we can help a few people get past their brick walls. I plan to try and make it if my husband is working that night.

Hopefully I'll see you there!

07 September 2007

Finding Your Ancestors, Part I

Now the fun begins! Now that you have filled and organized your photos and documents putting together what you do know about your ancestors will be a great deal easier.

So lets get started. The first thing you will need to do is download and print several charts and forms for compiling your information. You need to write down everything you know about your family in an organized set of forms that will help you to start searching. Here are all the forms you will need:

Pedigree Charts

Family Group Sheet

These are the two main forms to get started. Grab a package of sharpened pencils and set down and fill in as much information as you can using the photos, documents and your memory. Now for some of you this will be easy and you will have a great deal of information to start off with. For others this may be more difficult.

Here are two more pieces to add to your arsenal of information gathering.

Family Interview Also on this site you will find other related articles to help you learn how to interview your family members in order to efficiently unlock the clues of the past.

Very Detailed Family Interview!

Interview as many relatives as you can about themselves and what they remember of the family. It's important to keep in mind that unless they are speaking of themselves consider the information just clues. Second hand accounts may be inaccurate.

Keep a log of your interviews and interview attempts. You may have some relatives resistant at this time, but when they realize the rest of the family is really getting into what you are doing and it gets exciting they may be willing to get involved later. So keep a log that you can go back to and try to revisit those relatives.

Correspondence Log This link will take you to a great article about maintaining a correspondence log. Also included in this article is another link to many other useful forms such as the ones above.

Keep in mind that you need to gather as much information as possible before you start your search. Your search will be a great deal easier if you gather information about relatives living in the 1930's and before. For me that was my grandparents, but where I had information on great grandparents my search became much easier.

The title of this page will take you to a website of someone I consider to be very helpful for the beginner. Emily Ann Croom is the author of Unpuzzling Your Past, a wonderful book. I bought her book of worksheets a while back and it has helped me to be even more efficient in my search. Take a moment to read some of her articles as well.

06 September 2007

Tibetan Personality Test

I know this blog is suppose to be genealogy, but this is amazing. Take this Personality Test you will be amazed at what it tells you about your personality. I was really amazed about what it told me about myself. It all fit right in place with my life.

I don't want to give any of it away, so with out doing that I can tell you that I found out the Family is the most important thing in my life, I have a Buddy personality, my hubby is cuddly (usually when he wants something....hehehe), my life is relaxing (usually the case except for right now), my true life friend is my best friend Dez, someone i really love is my mom, someone I will never forget is my brother, the person who is my twin soul is my mother-in-law and I can really see that, someone I will always remember for the rest of my life is my dad, now all of that about made me cry.

So go take your test and see what it tells you about your life and personality. Then please let us know (with out revealing the questions).

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