I can't believe it has been a year and a half since I have posted!  So much has happened.  I did get a letter sent to the gentleman in Arizona and he called me!  It was so exciting.  He didn't even know his mother had a husband before his father until she was going to the nursing home.  He found the purple heart and asked about it.  She got rid of it though and he feels bad about that.  All she said about him was that she didn't want him to go and he died in war.  While he was gone she worked as a nurse for the military men on our side.  She did not have any children with Roy, which was a long time question.  My grandpa could finally put that question to rest.
I did not get accepted to teach at NGS, but I tried!  I did however, get to teach at the conference at the Kansas State Genealogical Society in Dodge City.  It was wonderful!  The people were great.  I was disappointed in my photo class and need a lot of work on it.  The society was great and I learned so much.
Tomorrow I am teaching a Social Networking class and will be showing them my blog.
I also sent off for medical records for Earl black, my great great grandfather.  He was in the Psychiatric hospital in St Joseph for 4 years and died there.  We had to get a court order and we received it.  We are now just waiting for the records.  I am anxious to see what comes of it.

Goals for this week

I have a lot to do this week.  I need to submit my class proposals for NGS.  I have joined APG and am doing the Pro Gen program so I also need to submit my assignment.  I am meeting with a client and need to finish the report.  I also am overburdened with Random Acts requests and MOSGA.  lol  But it will all get done in due time.  I am going to make an appointment with myself to work on my genealogy next week.  I have a goal to finish my "Wright" side by July.  Well at least put what I have in a book. :-)  Busy Busy.  I am excited about all of it though.  :-)

What I have been up to

Well, I have been very busy!  I have gathered some information for my own genealogy by going to the courthouse itself.  What a difference that makes.  I found things I would not have found otherwise.  I was able to just delve right into the index and make notations of what I needed.  People who think divorce was not common, well, I looked through a huge index full of them!  Pretty interesting cases as well.  I have taught a class on organization and decided I had better shape my own genealogy up.  So I gathered papers from genealogies of other people's I have been working on, such as step family, etc.  I started typing the information into Rootsmagic and finding what needs to be done next. 
I have been working on a clients project and finding some neat things.  I have research plans set up and it's fun to see it come together.  The same for a friend I am helping out. 
Today I took a big step and I took the family interviews I have done to a shop that can put them on DVD's.  Luckily they had a sale going, but still spent a pretty penny.  It is so worth it to me though.  Some of the people I have interviewed are now gone and just hearing their voice brought a huge smile to my face!
I have been busy teaching classes and I am turning in proposals to speak at NGS.  That is a huge step for me.  I am going to start taking classes again through Heritage Genealogical College.  I joined APG and our local chapter is doing the Progen course.  I am a very busy person.  On top of all of that, we have my step children half the week and every other weekend my niece and nephew.  I am helping my cousin earn girl scout patches and at work I have a lot of responsibility.  I read before I go to bed and I am starting a bible study.  I make sure there is time to spend with my Adam and of course my Sierra puppy dog. Phew... wonder what I will be doing tomorrow!

Keeping on task

Well I haven't sent the letter to the son in Arizona, but I am going to next week.  This week just got away from me.  Also, I'm tired of getting film for these church records that don't have what I want on them.  It's mostly my fault.  Thanks to my grandparents I am ordering copies of the 2 I need from the original source.  I am also going to write to the Tioga County Pennsylvania Historical Society and ask if they can take digital pictures of the bible records of my ancestors.  I'm so excited to get this ball rolling!!  On top of it all, I am taking care of the house the best I can, meeting with clients, working full time with added responsibilites and creating 2 more classes.  Ugh. But I love it!

Updates on my genealogy

First I want to start out by saying that I already accomplished one goal for this year.  I sent my paperwork in for the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War and I am now a member!!! I am so excited. 
I had a big breakthrough in my genealogy as well.  For about 70 years there has been question as to whether my grandpa had half brothers or sisters.  We weren't sure if his father had children with his second wife.  We didn't even know anything about her except her first name.  then after years of searching www.familysearch.org put some Montana marriages online and I found their marriage certificate!!! It listed her maiden name and all sorts of information.  Then I was able to see if I could find a second marriage for her.  My great grandfather had died in the war.  Sure enough, I found it!  From there it all took off.  I found her in the Social Security Death Index.  I was able to contact a volunteer through www.raogk.org who looked up an obituary for her.  It listed 2 sons from her second husband, one of them was deceased.  I was able to find the second son on www.whitepages.com.  I have a letter typed up and am planning on sending it tomorrow!!!  Also, I have started entering all my facts into my genealogy software.  It's getting close to being ready for me to print.  :-)  I am so happy with my progress!

Monday Madness

Well my film turned out to be the wrong one!  I now have the right one on order (or at least it better be!)  Tonight I am going to make sure all my papers are ready to be sent in for DUVCW and send them off hopefully tomorrow.  So again I'm in the boat of hurry up and wait.  I do need to get my "facts" entered into my genealogy program so that is perfect while waiting. 

Genealogy Update

I got in a film today that I have been waiting on for a couple months.  It's church records of my family members from the 1730's!!!  It's actual baptisms and marriages, etc.  I can't wait to look at it.  I am also ready to turn in my lineage papers for the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War so I'm very excited about that too.  It's my first lineage society to join.  I'm looking forward to lots of good things this next year and I am going to make 2011 a great one!
I am also starting my own little side genealogy business.  Nothing fancy, just kind of for fun.  I get asked quite a bit for some help and they are willing to pay so I decided to make it official. 
digintoyourfamilyhistorywithtiff.weebly.com
Exciting stuff!!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, Day 9: Grab Bag

Hmmm... What to write about today.  Well my Christmas shopping isn't even close to being done.  My cards are not even close to being sent either, but the funny thing is by next Friday, both things will be almost finished.  I had planned on having my genealogy book for my "Wright" side ready for Christmas this year and then back in August I found some incredible leads and about five generations further back and well... I'm aiming for February.  I would like to have them done for my grandpa's birthday, so we'll see.  :-)  Otherwise, this year was full of big events and life changes for me so I'm glad it's almost a new year.  We'll see what it will bring. :-)

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, Day 8: Christmas Cookies

I briefly remember putting out Christmas cookies at my grandma's one year but this wasn't really something we did for too long.  It wasn't really tradition from what I can remember.  One other time I remember putting out cookies was when I was in sixth grade.  Since I don't have much to write about cookies I will insert this Christmas story here.  My mom had back surgery for scoliosis that year.  She ended up spending almost 2 months in the hospital from that surgery.  On Christmas Eve she was still unconscious and she ended up biting through her tube that was helping her breath.  It slipped down into her lung.  She died on the table but they brought her back twice if I remember right.  Either way, my brother is 5 years younger than me and was still in the believing age so it was up to my step brother and I to get everything around while my step dad was at the hospital with my mom.  We made sure the presents were out, made everything believable and took bites out of the cookies, drank the milk.  She pulled through but that is all I remember about that Christmas.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, Day 7: Christmas Parties

There's not much I can write about Christmas Parties.  We have one at work that I attend and we usually have fun things to do.  We always take a group photo around our humungous tree we get.  Last year we played some games and this year we are doing a dinner mystery.  I remember a couple times growing up we would have some of my step dad's coworkers over for dinner around Christmas.  I remember a couple times going to a Christmas type play, usually at a church.  I went one year with my best friend in high school, his family and church.  I'm sure we also had Christmas parties when I was in girl scouts but nothing really stands out.

Advent Calendar of Memories, Day 6: Santa Claus

This is my first picture with Santa.  I have a few more through the years.  I'm not sure when my belief faded, but Santa was always in our lives.  My step dad was one of Santa's helpers.  Yes Santa does need help.  We were taught the Spirit of sharing and caring through watching my step dad help Santa with countless families who didn't have enough for their families.  Sometimes they knew us, and sometimes they didn't.  Seeing the tears from strangers when they realize their family will have a decent Christmas was all I needed to have a great holiday.  It's that way for me now.  It is something I will never forget and I will pass on.

Advent Calendar of Memories, Day 5: Outdoor Decorations

Growing up I don't remember having outdoor decorations much until I was about 11.  Then my mom married my step dad and he liked to decorate for Christmas.  We had a light up santa and reindeer on the roof, lights from every corner, not quite the Lampoon's Christmas vacation, but sometimes close!  We had toy soldiers on the curbs. 
When we moved to the country, the decorations spread!  We had lights lined all the way down the driveway.  We still had the light up santas, reindeer and soldiers, but now we had these wooden decorations as well.  My step dad, Will's great grandparents had made a santa and reindeer and my mom used cardboard to make a pattern and they cut the pattern out of plywood.  At that point she painted them and they stood on the fence corner for as long as I can remember.  They may still be there now!  Since I have been on my own I have worked on building my indoor decor more than anything, so this year will be the first time I attempt any outdoor decor on my own and I plan on putting a few lights on our lonely bush outside.  :-) 

Advent Calendar of Memories- Day 4: Christmas Cards

We got our first Christmas Card from my grandma Kirby last week.  I normally get a handful and I think it's a nice way to keep in touch.  I like to send pictures in mine and I'm getting mine ready right now.  My holiday pictures are normally filled with my animals but this year I have 2 step sons, a wonderful man and of course, my baby girl Sierra.  We are having such a wonderful holiday season so far. 
For anyone who does send me cards there is one sure way to ensure I will keep it forever... make sure the card has a dog on it.  :-)  I keep all cards with dogs on them and scrapbook it.  I will keep letters and pictures out of them, but I got it in my head awhile back to learn how to declutter and so now it's habit.  I also may make little boxes out of the cards I don't keep.  My guy hangs his cards on his blinds so that along with the candy canes we got are hanging there. 
I love getting cards and just seeing how people have been over the past year and what they have been up to.  I now get electronic cards by email and that's ok too.  I will print some of them out.  Just keep in touch with your families!! :-)

Advent Calendar of Memories, Day 3: Ornaments

Well, I started talking about ornaments when I was talking about the tree, but I have some other things to add about trees that I thought of so I guess that works!!
When I was in high school we lived on a farm and we always had a real tree.  It was a tradition that we got the tractor ready and hooked up to our trailer.  We lined the trailer with hay and all of us loaded in bundled up and full of blankets.  Of course we also loaded up our dogs and made our 10 mile an hour trek to the Christmas Tree farm a couple miles from our house.  At the Christmas tree farm we walked around until we all agreed on a tree and then chopped it down.  We got hot chocolate and then we headed home.  Normally someone drove in a vehicle as well in case there were babies or anyone was sick or the little dogs.  Now the farm is gone, the tractor is gone and the Christmas tree farm is gone but the memories will always live. 
Back to ornaments though... Like I mentioned earlier, I get an ornament every year to symbolize something for that year.  We just decorated our tree yesterday and I was looking through my ornaments (some which are missing now) and just remembering what they stood for.  Some went back in the box but all the ones for my animals came out and my step sons were all too happy to hang up the one's for my baby girl Sierra.  (They also love to make her wear Reindeer antlers lol).  My grandma Wright and I go every year and pick out our ornament.  There are so many to choose from but her and I love to go and just browse to find the right one.  It's something I look forward to every year. 

Advent Calendar of memories, Day 2 Holiday Foods

Who doesn't like to talk about food??  In the past 10-15 years it has become tradition at my grandma and grandpa Wright's house to have chili and Oyster soup on Christmas.  Before that it was a full out meal like Thanksgiving, with turkey, ham, and all the fixin's.  One of my favorites that Grandma still makes is Cherry dessert.  It has a graham cracker crust, cherry topping and whip cream.  YUM.  I also love green bean casserole.  Sometimes my step dad would make Pisatchio dessert where you mix the pudding mix with whip cream and add mixed fruit.  That is pretty good as well.  One year we had Prime Rib with twice baked potatoes and asparagus with cheese.  It was sooo good! 
We always have a veggie tray, but we also started making our pickle things as we call them.  We take thinly sliced ham and spread cream cheese on it and wrap a pickle in it and cut it up.  Those don't last long.  :-)

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, Day 1 The Christmas Tree

We have always had a Christmas tree as far as I can remember.  It was always a fun time to decorate it.  We would have snacks and have a movie in, usually Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  In the recent years it has been tradition for me to put my Christmas items and tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving, bake cookies (chocolate chip), put in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and decorate the tree.  Every year I get a new ornament to represent that year.  My dog Sierra also gets one.  :-)  I have ornaments from other pets I have had and I put them up.  If someone dies or is born, I try to get an ornament to represent that as well.  My nieces and nephews have come to know they are getting an ornament from me for Christmas.  I just thought it would be fun for them to have their own mementos and a piece of home for when they are on their own. 
One picture that stands out in my mind (and I don't have a copy right now to attach) is the picture of my great great grandparents (Wilson's) sitting in front of their Christmas tree.  You can barely see them, it's kind of like a shadow, but enough to tell it's them.  They are in front of a window with this Charlie Brown looking tree sitting on a little table (if I remember correctly).  It is slightly decorated but they look content.  I'm thinking they knew what the holidays were really about!
I have since added the image.  When I looked at the picture again it first looked like a house plant, but you can see the few things hanging from it, such as the bell.  :-)

Follow Friday

Well I have two thoughts for Follow Friday today.  To me follow Friday is recommending a website or another blog etc.  So for that part I am going to recommend you take a look at Midwest Genealogy Center's website (part of Mid-Continent Public Library): http://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy.  It is the most wonderful place in the world, but I am biased.  ;-)  On this site you can find tips for starting genealogy and continuing, forms that you can fill out online and save to your computer and many links to other helpful sites.   Not to mention the links under getting started about the online presentation.  Two classes were done by yours truly and another one on the way!! :-)  Check it out!
Next for follow Friday I am challenging myself to "follow" my lead yesterday and go home and do some genealogy.  Last night I spent about 2 hours working on my genealogy and playing catch up on entering my information on my computer software that I have recently found.  I want to spend at least an hour on this tonight (while watching a marathon of Criminal Minds, of course!)  While entering in this information I am creating quite a list of to-do's.  I have also created a goal to get this side of my family put into a book and printed out for my family by April!  I just have to do it!!!!!!!!!!

Monday Madness

Well Monday Madness fits today as I have been very busy!! I have so many projects started that I need to finish wrapping up.  The one I have mentioned before about my great-great granfather Earl Black is one of them.  I now have all of the documentation and paperwork together to send to the courts in order to get a court order for the mental health records, I just need to send it!!  I need to write a convincing letter.  It is my goal to have this done by next Monday!  Otherwise I had started participating in Nanarimo- which is to write 50,000 words in month of November.  I had a good start and then life got in the way!  When family is in the hospital, that takes up a lot of time to go back and forth as well as kids.  I still have 8 days to try and catch up.  I only have about 47,000 to go.  HA HA.  It was my goal to do this for my family history book.  I'll let you know over the next 8 days how I do.  :-) 

Sentimental Sunday

It has been awhile since I posted as life has gotten in the way.  I have been slowly working on my genealogy projects however.  I will write about those in the days to come.  For my sentimental Sunday I am going to write about my Uncle Ed.  He passed away last month.  I considered Ed to be the storyteller of the family.  He could tell you all sorts of family stories and I was lucky enough to get some of them on tape while he was still here.  How much truth is in them is still left to tell, but that is with any family story, as any genealogist can tell you.  I do know how proud he was of his children and family.  He talked about them often.  He also had a big love for his dogs!!  We shared lots of those type of stories.  I remember visiting Uncle Ed when he was married to Ozella in Springfield, MO.  They had horses and lots of other animals.  I especially remember they had 2 crows and they were in the house!  He let us help pull water out from a well and we took lots of pictures that are engrained in my memory.  He moved closer to our family and we seen more of him.  We helped him with his house repairs when he first moved in and I spent some time with his horses.  He then got to the point where he just couldn't do anymore.  What he did do was paint and write.  He was extremely talented.  In his later years however, he did become more lonely and he drank a lot.  I would spend time with him when he wasn't drinking and that's the Uncle I want to remember.  When I go back to transcribe his interview, I will share more stories, but for now I will leave it at this and just say, Uncle Ed, we sure do miss you!

Monday Madness and tombstone tuesday

Well I have been very busy so I have been posting in bulk, but posting still.  I'm still in the process of getting everything around to send off for the medical records for Earl Black.  I got all the certificates now, just got to get it all together. 
Tombstone Tuesday...

This tombstone is of an ancestor on one side and he is the furthest back I have so far on that line.  His name is Elisha Martin and he is the father to Margaret Martin Garner.  Her tombstone picture is the first one I put on my blog.  It's in Clear Creek cemetery in Gallatin, Missouri.  There is so much I would love to know about this family.  When did his wife die and where is she buried?  What happened to Margarets husband after she died?  Who is Elisha's parents and family and how did they come to live in Gallatin?  All of these start with just one tombstone.  Maybe someday I will be posting the answers. :-)