Pick yourself up. Brush yourself off. Start all over, again!

2011-06-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

That's exactly what I am doing, since the beginning of my endeavors in the world of blogging. A move, new job, computer crash...on and on. It sure didn't leave much room for research or blogging. Add to that, changes to the blogging set-up. But, I'm still here....wow, I'm full of songs, today. Did you get the reference to the Ginger Rodgers / Fred Astaire song? And, who can forget Shirley MacLaine - I'm still here?!

Today, I took my first trip to a Family History Center, hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Church, in Stafford, Virginia. They were so kind and I intend to discuss that experience and what one can find when going to his or her local center, in a future post. My trip today was to order the microfilm of the Marriage License for my Great Grandfather, Andrew B. Cole to Mildred L. Ousley, 20 Nov. 1901. We have been unable to discover Andrew's father's name, though from the census we can ascertain that his mother's name was Ann E. Cole. But of course, we can find nothing under her name. I am told the microfilm will be in in about 3 weeks. I will venture back to Stafford at that time, gather a bit more information on the center itself, and report again, this time with a copy of the marriage license!
Looking forward to visiting with you then and until that time, happy hunting!

New Beginnings in Family Research

2010-06-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hi fellow family history traveler. Glad to have you along on this journey! Though I began in land research in the old Fairfax County, Virginia Courthouse, it wasn't until my Aunt Jan and Cousin Michael showed me the family genealogy they had and are still performing on my mom, Phyllis', side of the family, that I really got hooked. Add to that BYU TV's "The Generations Project", PBS's "Faces of America" and the now infamous show on NBC, "Who Do You Think You Are?", and well, it became almost an immediate obsession. I may have had courthouse research experience in land transactions, but genealogy was a different animal. So, I immediately "Googled" genealogy and through various clicks came across a few sites and subsequent pod casts that I would recommend, especially to the newbie, but actually also to the well worn researcher. My list of current favorites are:

Genealogy Gems by Lisa Louise Cooke ... wow what I've learned from her! I don't know her personal history, but I would not be surprised to find that she was a teacher, and a favorite one at that! You will find her at www.genealogygems.tv....I highly recommend her site and podcasts. One of her recent interviews with PBS's own History Detective's Tukufu Zuberi (Professor of Sociology, Author) was so uplifting and informative. You'll find her videos on YouTube, also. Check her out.

The Genealogy Guys with George G. Morgan and Drew Smith....Evidently, The Genealogy Guys Podcast is the longest running regular weekly podcast in the world. They share their vast knowledge on their pod cast with a friendly banter between themselves (along with Fletcher, Tosca and Rex the wonder cat), that will include current news in genealogy, listener emails, and among other things, the latest genealogical events The most current of which I am aware is the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree going on June 11, 12 and 13th 2010! Sure wish I could be there. You will find them on-line at www.genealogyguys.com.

And lastly for today's blog and actually the one that first got me started on my way is, www.rootstelevision.com. Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak is one of the partners who started Roots Television, and you may have seen her on the "Who Do You Think You Are" episode with the wonderful, Emmit Smith, explaining his DNA. You will find short videos on various subjects, events and interviews given in much like the YouTube format. I could watch for hours...oh, yes.....well, I guess I have!

I hope you will check out the above sites and pod casts. They are up on their game and are current with the modern trends in genealogy. And, they are just alot of fun to hang out with, cyber space and pod cast world speaking!

Next time, I plan on sharing other favorite sites/pod casts as well as some "tips and tricks" I've gleaned from these and other expositors of wisdom. And of course, though the learning is fun, what it all comes down to is family, and I will share where I am now in my research and would love comments from any interested reader on their genealogy journey.

Thanks so much for being here and I sure look forward to hearing from you!

Kim a/k/a KimmyT!

Kimmy T's Family Trees

Pick yourself up. Brush yourself off. Start all over, again!

New Beginnings in Family Research