Anyone Going To The Southern C.A Genealogy Jamboree?

I am trying to save enough money to be able to go to the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree for 2009 that will be held in Burbank, California on June 26 - 28.  (Get more information on their blog)

I am really excited to be going and so excited to meet new people and people who I know online. But I have to admit, I am still a little nervous to be going to my very first genealogy conference by myself.  I'll will most likely be able to stay with family overnight, which will cut down on expenses.  

But, I am nervous about being by myself for some of the time in Burbank, which is not an area I know very well.  I guess I just don't do a lot of stuff far away from home by myself.

Is there anyone else out there who is as nervous as I am?  I know I shouldn't be nervous, because I am going to meet so many wonderful people.  But I guess I just can't help it.  My fears will melt away once I get there.

So is anyone else planning on going to the Jamboree?

Wow - Grandma Doerflinger Was An Amazing Woman

Today, my mom and I were watching a show about the amazing heroic things that people have done.  My mom and I started discussing some of the heroic things we've seen and heard about.

"It is ordinary people that seem to do some of the most heroic things.  It is like how Grandma Doerflinger lifted a car because there was a man trapped underneath it," she said.

"Excuse me?" I said in disbelief.

"You've never heard that story?" she asked.  Then she started telling me the story.

It was 1940 in Santa Monica, California.  My grandma was home alone with her three children, all under the age of five.  Her husband was working at McDouglas Airplane Factory.  A family friend as over, fixing the car.

My grandma had just gotten the twins (my uncles) down for a nap when she decided to offer some lemonade to the family friend who was working on the car.  When she approached him, he was adjusting the cinderblocks that was lifting the car from the ground.  After some small talk, he slipped himself underneath the car and continued his work.  She turned to return to the house when the cinderblocks slipped and the car came crashing back down on top of the man working on the car.

My grandmother screamed for him, but when he didn't answer she began screaming wildly.  An older gentleman who was walking by the house ran over to my grandmother to aid her.  She then bent down and lifted the car while the older gentleman pulled the family friend out from under the car.

The story goes that for two weeks my grandmother had to stay in bed.  She couldn't move and had severely pulled about every muscle in her body.

The family friend was lucky to survive and only suffered from some broken ribs and a concussion.

I honestly find this to be a rather heroic act and something that she certainly didn't have to do.  It was such a selfless act and it gave me an insight into the grandma I never knew.

"I'm An American!!"

I was talking to my aunt today about my latest genealogical finds.  It included discovering that one of my ancestors was born in France or Italy.  My aunt made a joke that I must be Italian, because I talk so loud and I move my arms so much.

Then my little cousin, Audrie, looks up and goes, "You're Italian?". 

"I just might be," I said.  Then she went quiet and my aunt and I continued our conversation, talking about how we are mostlikely English and how I am Welsh.

Then Audrie looked up and goes "What is Welsh?".  So I explained to her that Welsh people are people that come from a country called Wales.  She looks up at me and goes "People don't come from Whales and they can't breathe underwater."

"No, baby, I'm talking about a country that is called Wales.  It is next to England.  I'm not talking about the animal."  She gave me a nodd but she still looked skeptical.

Then, we somehow got on the topic that America is made of people of lots of races and cultures.  She looks up and goes "No...everyone is the same,". 

"Baby, the cool thing about America is that everyone comes from different places.  Like you, you're Mexican and English."  That seemed to make her extremely angry.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she screamed.  "I'm an American!!!" she said and then she stormed off.

Getting Started in Genealogy

It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while, someone asks me how in the world one gets started in genealogy.  It seems to be the million dollar question (in the genealogy world at least).  Luckily, I got some answers for you:

1.) Start with yourself and work your way back, starting with the three basics: birth date and place, marriage date and place, and death date and place.  Once you've finished writing your birth date and place for yourself (include marriage date and place if that applies to you), start with your parents.  Then move on to your grandparents, etc, etc.

2.) Ask your relatives about what they know about your family.  Usually, they can give you information that you might not of known about.  Write down any dates and locations, even if they are only estimates.  All of the information you gather will serve as a guide for when you finally jump into the research pool.

3.) Put all of that information that you've gathered onto a Pedigree Chart and on some Family Group Sheet (You can find these sheets at a TON of websites, but the links that I included go to the forms provided by Cyndi's list).  By putting your information on these forms, you have it all organized.

4.) Start researching information about the censuses, birth records, death records, marriage records, etc. in the area you are researching.  Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to memorize it or to look at all the records that are available - the point of this is just to get an idea of what you can search and what records your ancestors might be found in.

5.)  Now, it is time to go out and start proving that information.  If you are ready to invest some money, then try to buy a subscription to a website like Ancestry.com or Footnote.com (I recommend Ancestry.com when you are just starting out).  If you don't want to invest money just yet, try the message boards on websites like Rootweb.com and Genealogy.com.  Try going onto free websites like FamilySearch.org.

So now that you have some easy steps, go ahead and try to get your feet wet in genealogy.  Just be careful though - this will become an addiction.

My Switch To Binders

Many of you know that I have been a fan of using binders to organize all of your paper files.  However, after lots of thought and reading DearMyrtle's Organization Checklist for January, I have decided to make the switch.

The switch will not be happening all at once - I don't get my school grant money until next month, so money is very tight right now.  While I have most of the supplies I am going to need for using binders, I need more.  I have a lot of page protectors, oversized dividers, and a few more binders to buy.

But I am so excited to make the switch.  I will still be storing the binders in my filing cabinet until I can find a cheap bookcase at a yard sale.  But the minor setbacks are not enough for me to keep using file folders.

And honestly, I've been considering the switch for a while.  For some individuals, I have to much information for a single file folder and for some surnames I have way too many file folders in the hanging file folder.

I can't wait to tell you guys how it goes!  Wish me luck!