I’ve been in countdown mode for quite awhile and it’s finally here! I’ll be attending the MGM today at the Allen County Public Library and I’m super excited to be meeting so many bloggers who share a passion for family history research!
I think part of the reason I’m so excited about today is because I wasn’t able to participate like I had hoped at the RootsTech convention due to illness. What I thought was food poisoning at the time turned into a month-long hopscotch from test to test that resulted in several days of thinking I had cancer only to have a biopsy reveal that I have sarcoidosis in my lungs along with painful swollen lymph nodes throughout my torso.
I’m looking forward to making some new friends as well as getting some research done. This will be my first trip back to the library in months and I’m actually a little nervous about it! I had hoped to make a very detailed research plan for the day, but that didn’t happen. Before my illness, I was deep into research on my Smith family and even though I thought I renewed my FHL microfilms in time, I believe they may have been sent back and not all have returned to the ACPL yet. When I started getting back into research during my recovery last month, I re-opened my Stephens research so I’ll be bringing that along for the day as well.
So my goals for today:
1) Hoping that the microfilm with the index to deeds for Mercer County is in. Look for Smith deeds that can help me connect my Russell County John M. Smith to Mercer County.
2) Use the ACPL computers to access Fold3 to look for a pension file for Andrew Jackson Stephens. I have the file number, just need to see if it’s been scanned yet.
3) Spend some time looking for information on Andrew Jackson Stephens in Pulaski County. Is he related to my Russell County Andrew Stephens? I haven’t done any research with Pulaski County records, so it has the potential for lots of new information for me.
4) Make lots of new genealogy friends and enjoy a day of genealogy research – doing my very best to forget about illness and work and instead get re-energized about doing genealogy. After all – Spring break is a week away and I’ll just happen to be in the city with the 2nd largest genealogy library in the world!!!
Lisa,
We’re so glad to hear you may be on the mend! We were all so sorry you had to miss the Kentuckian dinner at RootsTech! Sounds like you are feeling better…..will we see you at NGS in May? Have fun at MGM!
C
Looks like the Midwest Meetup is a success! Hope you are making the most of your time at that wonderful library, too!
I was able to stay about 3 hours before I felt like I’d better get home for pain meds and a nap before the dinner. Unfortunately, my doctor changed my pain meds yesterday and I had some unexpected side effects that kept me from the dinner, but it was great to be back in the library doing good “old fashioned” research and it was great to meet some new people!
I enjoyed meeting you at the library on Saturday! So glad you were feeling well enough to join us. Hope you had some research success, too. Hope you continue to get better and better!
It was great to meet you too! I’m planning to build up my “research stamina” slowly until summer when I hope to be 100%++!!