This week started out with sad news as a friend, relative and fellow family historian passed away just a few days shy of her 98th birthday. She was a bright spirit and excellent researcher. As I think about this loss, I’ve thought about the importance of obituaries as a final record of someone’s life. Obituaries can be a treasure trove for genealogists. Let’s look.

Hope the new year has been treating you well. With the snowy stormy weather, I’ve been indoors more. The weather imposes boundaries on us, so I thought we’d talk about borders and boundaries when doing family history research. Let’s look.

Happy New Year! As you welcome in 2022, I hope this year brings you and your family much joy and happiness.  For those of you who have resolutions (I prefer setting goals), here are a couple of links to help you set those genealogy goals. 
The 15 Minute Plan for Achieving Your Genealogy Goals in 2020 (familyhistorydaily.com)
50 Tips for Genealogy Goal-Setting - BillionGraves Blog
My philosophy about goals is that they need to be important to you and it helps to write them down to remind yourself what you want to accomplish.  
Here's to the New Year! Happy family research and family history writing!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.  Enjoy time with those you love and treasure those moments that you'll remember at future Christmases! Happy Holidays!

​When I’m tucked inside on these chilly winter days, I am using my time to access my growing collection of family history items. Whether you have a plethora of paper goods, jewelry, books, or furniture, you may want to think about where all these treasures will go. Let’s look at resources to help you.

​With the anniversary of Pearl Harbor this past week, we pause to remember those who served during this time in history. Many of us have ancestors and relatives who served during World War II.  Let’s look at resources that can help us find more information.

This week’s blog is brief. I’m always looking for opportunities to learn more about family history and genealogy. If you haven’t received an email yet, I wanted to let you know you are able to sign up for RootsTech 2022! Like last year the event is free and virtual and you can register and sign in using your FamilySearch account information. RootsTech 2022 is March 3-5, 2022.
 
I don’t have any affiliation with the event but have found it extremely valuable. There are so many sessions that you can access during and after those three days. This is a great opportunity to learn from experts in the industry.
 
You can watch a video here: RootsTech 2022 • FamilySearch. While we have a few months before RootsTech, the way this year has flown, March will be here before we know it. And in the meantime, you can start learning by catching up on sessions from last year’s event Happy Learning!

Happy Thanksgiving 2021!  By now, you hopefully have enjoyed a day with family and friends and perhaps some shopping for those holiday deals.  I hope that you've had time to pause and give thanks for the many blessings and have captured stories and memories to treasure.

In past blogs we’ve discussed the need to look beyond our direct ancestors and explore their siblings and other relatives. I have been doing that recently with my great grandmother’s siblings who moved to Paris from Luxembourg. Let’s look at how maps are helping my research.

Happy Veteran’s Day! I hope you were able to thank a veteran. It is important for us to honor and remember our veterans and all the sacrifices that they made. Whether they served during war or peace times, they essentially gave up years of their life to keep all of us safe. Those were years that they were away from family, unable to pursue career goals or continue their education. Our ancestors include veterans from different time periods. Their service may have been voluntary or through the draft. They may have been stationed in the United States or abroad. Let’s look at ways to find their records.