Statistics: February 2011

The last time I posted my statistics was in October, oy!

Feb 2011. Family File Statistics

Okay, so I didn’t get as much done as I wanted. I won’t make excuses. It just didn’t happen! My individual count is up by 63. I do have to say though, ALL 63 are completely cited. Nothing is in the file without a source citation. So 63 is a bigger number then what you first think.

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Follow Friday: Roots and Rambles

It’s time for another one of my favorite genealogy blogs! This week I chose Marian’s Roots and Rambles. Even though I’ve been blogging since March of 2010, I’m still new to genealogy blogging. I’m still searching out blogs that I like and can relate to. Marian’s Roots and Rambles is one I’ve been reading for awhile. I can always relate to what Marian is writing and she’s another active twitterer.

Here are some of my favorite posts from Marian:

Really I find all of Marian’s posts interesting and worth reading and it’s hard to limit myself to just 5 favorites. So just head on over and read some of Marian’s blog and leave her a comment telling her how much you enjoy it. I’m vowing to comment more this year and Marian’s going to be one I make sure to comment on regularly.

Marian’s Roots and Rambles

Follow Friday: Tonia’s Roots

On December 10th, I blogged about being chosen for the Ancestors Approved award by Cheri Daniels. I said in the post that I was going to highlight my chosen 10 as Follow Friday posts after the holidays. The first winner is here!

Tonia Kendrick at Tonia’s Roots! Tonia was one of the first genealogy blogging buddies I made. She commented on my blog asking a question about the software we both use (The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding).  She’s very active on twitter and is always quick to offer congratulations or help to others.

Her blog is very fun to read. Adding a little personality are the scrapbook-like images she makes for her entries. It just adds a little pop to the factual information she’s posting. My favorite features are her vital records analysis and the reviews of her recent experience at the Atlanta Family History Expo.

Some of my favorite posts of hers are:

So if you have a few extra minutes, check out her blog!

Tonia’s Roots

Follow Friday is a Daily Blogging Topic used by GeneaBloggers worldwide.

Organizing my Chaos: Part 1

So here we go, I’m starting to actually get serious about this genealogy thing. I recently purchased a copy of Elyse Doerflinger‘s ebook, Organizing the Paper Monster Once and For All. Since I’m the queen of oversharing, I decided why not chronicle my attempts on this here blog. Obviously I can’t keep talking about what a mess the Mays family makes me (At least not everyday). So now that I’ve got the holidays behind me and a new outlook on my life, why not just plunge in!

One of the first things Elyse tells us is to admit we have a problem. No matter how big or small our paper monster is. Trust me that’s not going to be a problem. I HAVE A PROBLEM. A BIG ONE!

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Genealogy Goals for 2011

I’m making some genealogy goals for 2011. It’ll be fun to come back next Christmas Eve and see how many I stuck to!

Personal Genealogy Files Goals

  • I want to finally finish re-organizing my ‘To Be Sorted’ folders on my second hard drive. Right now I have a folder of Mays photos, a folder of Moore photos, a folder of scanned photos and a folder of tombstones to be sorted into my 2010 filing system. (Hopefully it’s my final filing system!)
  • I want to have the whole Mays side of my family entered into my website and both FTM and RootsMagic. This is a big feat, since I’m behind on my RootsMagic work and there are a lot of Mays family members.
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Tech Tuesday: Kodak All-in-One

Note: I have no affiliation with Kodak. I am not being compensated for this post. I’m just a Kodak user, who enjoys my Kodak products.

If you spend any amount of time with my family, you’ll realize we’re gadget people. It’s so very obvious. I’m not talking about my siblings. I’m talking about my extended family too. On my Dad’s side, our family reunions are littered with gadget talk.

When I started to think about what I would write about for Tech Tuesday, the first thing that come to mind is my printer/scanner combo. It’s not the fanciest or most advanced piece of technology I own, but it’s the most used by far.

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Happy Birthday!

Does anyone else always say Happy Birthday in the voice of Frosty the Snowman? Oh that’s just me? Nevermind then.

Today is a special day in our household. Today is the 235th Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps.

In August I posted my father’s Marine Boot Camp class photo. The Marine Corps birthday hasn’t always been big in our household. I know my Dad has always talked about his time as a Marine but until I was older, I just didn’t get how big his love of the Marines was. In fact, my father being in the Marines is the reason that I’m here today. You see, my mother’s brother was also a Marine. It was how my parents met. My father and uncle were both stationed in North Carolina when my mother went to live with her brother. The rest is history.

Not only are my father and uncle Marines (there is no such thing as a former Marine), but my cousin is also. That’s 3 people I wished a Happy Marine Birthday to today on Facebook. If there are any Marines in your life, be sure to tell them Happy Birthday and don’t worry, they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about. They take this day very seriously and I’m sure it would bring a smile to their face. I’d make my Dad a cake but the last cake took us so long to eat it got a little fuzzy. He’ll just have to settle for some leftover Halloween candy!

Technical Problems

Error Message

This is what you’ve been seeing when you try to access my websites over the past two days. Luckily, that is no longer the case. There were some server problems over the past week and it’s possible the site might go down again. My webhosting company is on top of things and when they give me the all clear, I’ll give you the same! Thanks for sticking with me and hopefully things stay up!

Busy Busy Busy

The day after we said goodbye to our dear old mailbox, I did something stupid. In hindsight, I probably couldn’t have avoided it. It was probably going to happen no matter what kind of circumstances led to it. Alright, I’ll tell you. I fell down the front porch stairs. I didn’t fall down all the stairs luckily. Just the last two. The first night I was afraid I broke it, but luckily it’s just a sprain. The problem is I’m a horrible patient. The first two days I had problems getting comfortable whether I was sitting or standing. Now the problem is not over-doing things now that I’m finally on the mend. I just can’t sit still!

Click for full size

The second thing I’ve been doing is troubleshooting my new website design. I like keeping you guys updated on my progress because it keeps me from quitting. This design is all my own. I haven’t modified any templates to suit my needs. So it’s a labor of love that is taking awhile to do. My current issue is getting all three columns to line up. I need that middle one to scootch over a bit so the blog sidebar can move up in line with the rest of the layout. You can’t see it but it’s there all the way at the bottom. Then I’ll conquer the customization of all the WordPress things like the look of a blog entry and the sidebar customization. I’ll tell you though, more than once I’ve wanted to download a theme from somewhere and just be done with it! This will be more satisfying by far.

Hopefully it gets figured out by January 1st, because that’s when I’m starting my Llewellyn Project. I’ll tell you more about that during Sentimental Sunday.

What I’ve been doing

I have to admit something. I haven’t touched my own genealogy in at least a week. It could be longer. I don’t remember now. I’ve done quick little searches here and there. I’ve searched Footnote and Ancestry for some things. The plain fact is I got a bit burnt out. Not to the point where I want to take an extended break. In fact, I want to do some now! The problem is I’ve just been so busy. I know that if I get into my own genealogy, I’ll probably be at the computer all day long! So this is what I’ve been doing.

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