Organize Your Family History

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Genealogy gratitude

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genealogy gratitudeI love Thanksgiving. I think it’s wonderful that we have a national holiday here in the U.S. dedicated to giving thanks for all those things we are fortunate to have in our lives.

On my organizing blog, I wrote a post about what I’m thankful for this year in my personal and organizing life. Here, I want to write about some of the things I’m grateful for in my genealogy life. The genealogy community is so rich and there is much to be thankful for.

Here’s my genealogy gratitude list.

  • Civil War pension files. I am so grateful that I was able to order the pension files for my three Union soldier ancestors as well as my one Confederate soldier ancestor. (The latter came via Fold3.) And that I figured out how to process them.
  • My blog readers. I love the comments you leave and I’m so happy and grateful to have met some of you in person at the various conferences I’ve attended!
  • A famous cousin. I was tickled to death to go to a talk by big-name genealogist Josh Taylor and discover that we are cousins!
  • My 30 x 30 challenge. Making the commitment to spend 30 minutes a day on genealogy research for 30 days was a huge boost for me. I need to start another one. January 1 might be a good time!
  • Transpose.com. This web app has allowed me to create genealogy forms online that have made my genealogy life easier. I’ve also used it to create other forms for other aspects of my life. (Sadly, Transpose is shutting down December 9, 2016.)
  • Genealogy conferences. In 2015, I attended RootsTech, the National Genealogical Society conference, the SCGS Jamboree, and the Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois conference. I learned a lot from each and absolutely loved the connections I made. With a new puppy coming into my life in a couple of weeks (squee!) I think I may not be able to attend as many this year. But I look forward to going to at least one or two.
  • The growth of this blog. I’m on track to hit 100,000 pageviews in 2015, which will be twice what I had in 2014. (And five times as many pageviews as in 2013.) I am so grateful that so many people are interested in what I have to say!

I look forward to another year of genealogy research and exploration. I know that I will continue to have much to be grateful for.

What’s on your genealogy gratitude list?

Illustration by Julie Jordan Scott via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

My genealogy gratitude list

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The grave marker for my great great great grandparents

The grave marker for my great great great grandparents

It’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S., my favorite holiday. I love it because it’s an occasion where family and friends gather to eat good food and express thanks for all they are grateful for.

It seems appropriate therefore, for me to make a list of the genealogy-related things that I’m grateful for. (I published a more general gratitude list today on my organizing business’s blog.)

This year, I am grateful for:

  • The ease of online genealogy research. The instant gratification of finding a record via ancestry.com or Fold3 or elsewhere is such a rush.
  • The thrill of in-person research. I was delighted to find three generations of Jeffries buried in a single cemetery in western Missouri this year. I also visited my the graves of my great grandmother and great grandfather Brown (a different side of my mother’s family) on the same visit. Seeing the actual gravestones (rather than pictures of them online) was unbeatable.
  • Getting the chance to learn about preservation of family papers. I’m devouring the great information provided by Sally Jacobs, The Practical Archivist.
  • The prospect of going to my first large genealogy conference. Can’t wait for RootsTech 2014 in February!
  • The family members that I have met thanks to this blog. I am so grateful that it has connected me with my mother’s cousins. I can’t wait for the Brown Family Reunion in June!
  • This blog’s readers and commenters. I so appreciate the support this blog has received this year!

How about you? I hope you have much to be thankful for (genealogy-wise or otherwise) this year!

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