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A few years ago I started researching my family history. I had always been fascinated with different periods of history and stories about my ancestors. As a matter of fact I spent hours as a child studying old family photos and asking older family members questions. If we had a day off from school, I wanted to spend it finding out even more, sometimes visiting local old cemeteries to see if I could find more information. As a got older and started a family, my genealogy research hobby has often taken a back seat to real life. A few years ago I started making a family tree on Ancestry.com so I had a place to keep all of my information I had gathered throughout the years. If you’ve ever caught the show Who Do You Think You Are on TLC (originally on NBC), you can see the powerful effect knowing where your roots are and where you came from can have on a person. Knowing your ancestor’s story makes you feel connected to some part of you that you didn’t know and really think about the kind of life your ancestors lived and the things they may have had to overcome for you to be here today. So Who Do you Think You Are?
My search hasn’t been an nonstop, ongoing effort. I did some research on Ancestry.com for a few months back in 2010 and 2011, but then we were busy with our new home. I kept telling myself that I needed to get back to my research, but I just wasn’t doing it. Because it was a hobby of mine, I guess I didn’t feel the rush.
Cozy Country Living had taken up any free time I may have had the last few years, but I lately I’ve been taking a good hard look at my life. I absolutely love all of the work I do on Cozy Country Living, but working from home and having your own business sometimes creeps into every aspect of your life. That’s fine, but I believe that you must make a decision to make time for other things that are important to you as well. Setting aside time for your hobbies is so important for your well being because they are a creative outlet. It gives you a little bit of a break from busy, everyday life.
When I was at the Food Blog Forum Conference this past February, guest speaker Elsie Bauer from Simply Recipes (delicious recipes by the way- check her out!) talked about the importance of doing things that make you happy. Burn out can happen to any of us, with any job and making time for even the simplest of things that bring us joy, happiness or fulfillment in our lives will only make us better. She asked us to make a list of 10 things that we loved to do that we haven’t made time for in a while. Then actually make time for them!
To be honest, I couldn’t come up with ten! As a thought about it for awhile, I realized I had to dig deep. I had to get past all of the things I have to do each day for work and for my family and really think about things I wanted to do. Things that made me happy as a person. Things for me. Boy, I hadn’t done that in forever! I had also not made time for any of those things in forever.
Over the past few months, I have really made an effort to make time for those little things that make me happy. I made time for this one hobby of mine – researching my family history and taking time to learn more about my family that’s still here. My grandmother, my aunts and uncles… their stories are the keys to my family’s past!
When’s the last time you just went over to a relatives house just to visit, just because? To have a cup of coffee or tea and just talked? When a visit didn’t include a birthday party or bringing someone a bowl of homemade soup to feel better while they were sick? For me it had been awhile. Too long.
A few weeks ago, I caught up on my work for Cozy Country Living, got my housework done early, grabbed a notebook and my youngest daughter after my older children got on the bus and headed off to my grandma’s house. I love going there. I spent so much time there when I was a child and my grandparents were such an important part of who I am. I wanted to know more about who made my grandma who she was.
Going over the notes I already had, I noticed that I didn’t have very much information about my grandmother’s paternal lineage. I found out that she didn’t really know that much either. I spent the afternoon enjoying sweet stories about my great grandfather and wrote down a few names I had never heard of before. When I got home my search began once again on Ancestry.com.
Now, to have total access to census records (a wealth of knowledge!), birth and death records, immigration records, newspaper articles and other member’s research and if you’re lucky- some uploaded photos, you really need to have the World Explore Plus Membership. This can get expensive if you purchase a year, but I don’t do that. I purchase a month (cancel anytime membership) at a time, when I know I am going to really be spending a lot of time on it. Everything you add to your tree will remain on your account, even after your membership ends. You don’t have to worry about losing anything! This type of membership also grants you access to Newspapers.com for articles which you can save to your Ancestry.com tree or clip to save in your account and to Fold3.com which gives you access to several military records.
If you have never used Ancestry.com before, Try Ancestry.com and get 14 Days FREE!! Definitely take advantage of this great offer. That’s how I started a few years ago and I loved it! If you don’t like it, you can cancel right before the trial ends. It’s that easy. Once you add a little information into your Family Tree, you will start to see “leaves” appearing. These leaves are little hints or records for other matches to your ancestor! I’ve been nothing but intrigued with all of the information I have available, right at my own fingertips. It’s also nice to keep all of your research in one spot too.
If you share my love of history and the importance of family and where you came from and who you are, start your own journey. A journey into the past and a journey that may lead you to places you never imagined. You may find that you never really knew who you were!
I’ve already found some really interesting things about my grandmother’s paternal side that I cannot wait to share with her! Even a great grandfather who served in the American Revolution! I’ll be posting more about my interesting finds sometime in the near future, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, sit down with the important people in your family, set out on a path of discovery and Start Your Free Family Tree!
Happy Researching! 🙂
*Linking up at Living Well Spending Less
So fascinating that you shared this because I’m in the middle of digging up info about my dad’s family. He has an interesting story- adopted as a baby back when the records were super tight. He has a wonderful birth family, but has always been curious about his biological roots. To make a long story short, we recently were able to finally get his birth certificate and between that and some things the adoption agency told him when he was in his lower 20’s, I’m trying to piece things together. (He’s almost 81 now.) It’s so fascinating and addicting!
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It is fascinating, isn’t it?! How wonderful that you are finding some of the things you are looking for. I get completely caught up in my searches and yes it is so addicting! Genealogy research is a great way to spend a rainy day and I’m hoping to spend a little more time on it this weekend. Good luck with your search!