Bring on the 1940 Census!

http://www.1940census.net/

2012 will bring us the 1940 census! Yahoo! I can't wait! While we all sit and twiddle our thumbs waiting for April 2, 2012, I thought that I would direct you to a couple of posts that are interesting and informative about what to expect with the 1940 census. The first one is by Randy Seaver, who posted a Q and A session about the 1940 census with Julie Hill of Archives.com. The second article is from FamilySearch. I saw this small post in the Daily Herald Newspaper, December 24, 2011.  It talks about the role of FamilySearch with the 1940 census. Also check out the 1940 Census website. We will be hearing lots about the 1940 census in upcoming months. A good number of us have relatives that were alive in the 1940's and they should be in this census. More family history information! More clues to work with! As I said before, Yahoo!

Happy Birthday Crystal!

Crystal Dawn Melick 1983-1987

Twenty-eight years ago today I became a mother! It was one of the most significant days of my life and I will never forget those incredible feelings of love that I felt for my new little one! I always knew families were important, but at that moment, nothing else in the world mattered. It was a good thing that I didn't know that only a short 3/12 yrs. later, Heavenly Father would call her home. Today, her memory is very much in my heart! I'm grateful for the very brief time that I had with her. I'm grateful for the journal that I kept of her life. I know that with that journal I can always turn back the hands of time, very briefly, in my mind. I'm grateful that the pain of losing her has dimmed and the memories of her life have grown. I'm grateful to know that I will see her again one day.

Merry Christmas!  May you enjoy the Christmas season with YOUR family!

December 2011

Who Am I?

As I work on my family history, I become more aware of certain traits or predispositions that I have! For instance, I have always loved rye bread, dill, beets and potatoes! For a long time I had no idea why I really gravitated toward these things. Is it the carb factor? Well, it could be! I prefer to say that these traits are a present from these people in my life:

Ray Brunski with Crystal
Photo Credit: Rayanne B. Melick

and the next generation back:

Anna and Peter Brunski, 50th Wedding Anniversary
Photo Credit: Rayanne B. Melick

and one more generation:

Frances and Joseph Statakaitis
Photo Credit: Rayanne B. Melick

and back:

Ray Brunski with Lithuanian ancestors
Photo Credit: Rayanne B. Melick

See where I am going with this? I am a product of my past! I figure that these are my Lithuanian genes speaking! Thanks Grandma Brunski for leaving some recipes for me! I realize that many cultures have recipes like these, but these are my link to my Grandma! These are also big in Russia and Poland from what I have discovered in research.

Potato Pancakes

6 medium potatoes

1 onion

Grate the above very small

Mix with:

2 T. flour

1T. salt

1/2 T. baking powder

3 eggs-beaten

Mix together and deep fry.

Beet Soup

2 fresh beets, boiled, skinned, and chopped

4 potatoes, chopped

1 big onion, chopped

Boil the above ingredients together

Add 1/2 c. vinegar and 1/2 c. sugar

Mix together

Top with a spoonful (or more) of sour cream

So the whole point of this post is this, you weren't created in a vacuum. You are a product of many influences.  What is memorable about your family? What traits did they pass to you? Embrace and Enjoy them!

Have You Visited a Family History Center Near You?

Have you ever visited a Family History Center that is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (sometimes referred to as "Mormons"? I'll bet that if you haven't, you don't know what you are missing! The Family History Centers can provide very valuable information to you. You don't have to be a member of the LDS church to go there either.

As you can see from this screenshot of the FHC desktop, there are three broad categories of help at a Family History Center. The first one is Genealogical Resources. There are premium programs that are offered at the FHC. These are subscription sites such as Ancestry.com, FindMyPast, Fold3, and others. These sites and others like them are available for you to use at no charge. The second category is Classes and Workshops. The FHC has access to over 300 classes and workshops that can be shown anytime. The third category is One-on-One Assistance. There are volunteers that are willing and able to help you with YOUR research. Imagine having someone to help you every step of the way. Pretty cool!
There are over 4000 Family History Centers in the world, including more than 80 in other countries. Want to find a center near you? Click here for help. If you are even the least bit curious about your family, come visit a Family History Center.

Legacy Family Tree Webinar Schedule

I personally love Legacy Family Tree's webinars! It is so easy to open up my iPad and listen while I am doing those mundane things that have to be done. If you have never listened to one of their webinars, now is the time to take action! You will be surprised at all of the different topics that they discuss. Below is their schedule through February 2012.

legacyfamilytree.com

Copyrights and Genealogy

GeneaBloggers

As I share more and more of the genealogy research that I am doing, I have become more aware of copyright laws and how they pertain to the various sources that I have found and shared. I am one of those people who loves to dig and find answers on the Internet. So naturally, it was time to start digging! I didn't have to dig very far either. One of my favorite podcasts to listen to is Geneabloggers Radio on Friday nights. It is hosted by Thomas MacEntee. I don't know how I missed the podcast on November 4, 2011 entitled Copyright and  Genealogy...Yours, Mine, and Ours. I listened to it yesterday and it was eye opening! Most of what I thought I knew I found wasn't necessarily true! So, here's a shout out to Thomas MacEntee for putting this podcast together. His guests were very informative! Give it a listen so that you can hear what Dick Eastman, Jonathan Bailey, and James Tanner have to say about the subject.

Happy Dance!

 THIS...

New York State Flag (50states.com)

NOT THIS!!!

Pennsylvania State Flag (50states.com)

Today I am doing a happy dance! Every once in a while I am rewarded for the hours of fruitless searching that I do looking for my family! Today is one of those days! I was searching to see what new records FamilySearch had posted lately for New York. I have a couple of great uncles that came through Ellis Island and decided to stay in New York instead of continuing to the coal mines in Pennsylvania. I noticed that there were some New York Marriage records that were new...at least new to me! I searched for the great uncles and didn't find a thing about them even though I know they stayed in the Brooklyn, New York area. So, I did what I always do when I'm fiddling around in databases that I've never searched. I put in the surnames of my four great-grandparents! I didn't get any great matches, but got the message that below are some possible connections. Two down was the marriage record for my great aunt! I have never been able to find any information on her! I was always told that she married but died in childbirth a couple of years later in Pennsylvania. Nope! She was married in New York! The marriage record gave a full name (didn't have), parent's full names (didn't have), and her birthday (only had a possible year), plus information on her husband! Happy day! It is times like these that make all of the dead ends worth every minute!

BYU Family History Classes for 11 December 2011

Friendly Little Reminder!

BYU Library

This is a little reminder to everyone that attends or wants to attend BYU Family History Library Sunday Classes. You need to register for the free classes so that adequate space can be allotted for each class. Please register by doing the following:

1. Send an email to byu.fhl.training@gmail.com
2. Include in the body of your email:
    Your name
    Date of Class
    Title of Class
    Instructor's Name

Hopefully you have discovered how informative these classes are. If you have, spread the word. If you haven't, set a goal to attend a class!

Genealogy on Pinterest!

It seems that the newest addiction in my neck of the woods is Pinterest, which in an online pin board where you can post seemingly almost anything. I have seen lots and lots of pictures of crafts, etc! Yesterday I decided that I would do a little more searching on Pinterest to see if I could find anything genealogy related. Lo and behold, genealogy is even on Pinterest! Just search "genealogy" from the search bar in the top left corner. You never know what will spark the hidden genealogist in you (or at least the crafting genealogist in you)!

pinterest.com