Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

I’m a guest on Generations Cafe!

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Do you listen to Amy Johnson Crow’s excellent podcast Generations Cafe? If you have read my blog for awhile, you know I’m a big fan of Amy’s. (Here’s her How They Do It interview on this blog from 2017.) She started her podcast in September and I’ve really enjoyed listening to it. So when she asked me to be a guest, to talk about genealogy organizing, I jumped at the chance!

The episode was published on Wednesday and I am really happy with how it turned out. If you haven’t already (I know Amy has a HUGE audience, so you may already be aware of it), please check it out by clicking on this link or subscribing to Generations Cafe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thank you, Amy, for the opportunity to talk with you and your listeners!

A special gift for a genealogy lover

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I’m not a big gift giver and I when I do give gifts, I prefer to give experiences, rather than stuff. (I see how hard it is for my clients to let go of items that were gifts and I don’t want to burden anyone with that.)

But I dearly love one piece of jewelry that I bought myself as a gift. It’s the Original Family Tree Necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs. She creates custom, hand-stamped jewelry. This necklace is meant for moms, I think, to include the first names of their children. But I chose to have my grandparents’ surnames printed on the necklace.

I think it’s pretty and when I wear it, I feel connected to my family. If you ever see me at a genealogy conference, you’ll probably see it hanging around my neck.

As the gift-giving season approaches, I thought I’d mention it now in case you have a genealogy lover on your gift list. It also makes a good gift to give yourself!

When I bought mine (pictured here), it was being offered in pewter. Now it’s in sterling silver (and therefore more expensive). Lisa Leonard offers discounts all the time. In fact as I write this, there’s a 30 percent discount available, which brings the price down to $90 for the shorter chains. I love mine so much I just had to share!

NARA 2018 Virtual Genealogy Fair is tomorrow!

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I almost missed telling you about the 2018 Virtual Genealogy Fair offered (free of charge) by the National Archives. It’s tomorrow, October 24. This is the sixth year for the conference, offered by webcast. It’s a wonderful resource.

You can read the lineup, with detailed descriptions of the sessions and links to handouts, here. Detailed descriptions of the sessions are posted here, which is also where handouts will be posted when they’re available. (Classes are marked either Beginner” or “Experienced.”) There will be six one-hour sessions, bookended by opening and closing remarks. The even starts at 10 am eastern and ends at 4.

I’m busy with a client tomorrow, so I was thrilled to read that I don’t have to watch live. The webcast will be available on YouTube to watch later. You don’t have to register.

Special thanks to my cousin, Jerry Brown, who alerted me to this year’s conference. It had flown beneath my radar this year.

Generations Cafe: A new podcast from Amy Johnson Crow

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New podcast from Amy Johnson CrowI’m an unabashed fan of genealogist, writer, and lecturer Amy Johnson Crow. I always jump at the chance to hear her speak at a conference. And I was thrilled when she interviewed me at RootsTech a few years ago. Most recently, I was able hear her speak for two days at the Missouri State Genealogical Society conference in August. In her talks, Amy always delivers solid, well-presented information.

At that conference, she confided in me that she was going to start a podcast. I was happy to hear that because I’m a big fan of podcasts and I know she has so much to share.

That new podcast, Generations Cafe, launched on September 20. Amy has published three episodes so far and they’re excellent. Her podcasts are short and focused. (The first three are between 10 and 15 minutes each.)

Since my own podcast is about getting over perfectionism, I was delighted that the first episode of her podcast was called Is Perfectionism Ruining Your Genealogy? (And I was tickled pink to hear her mention my name in that episode!)

If you don’t love podcasts (or haven’t tried them and are unsure), definitely check out the Generations Cafe posts on Amy’s website because for each episode she has written an accompanying blog post that provides, in written form, the information that is shared in the podcast.

I’m very excited to see what Amy will be exploring and her podcast will definitely be on my list of must-listens!