Awesome Maps!

2 hour school delay this morning – yes! I love these unexpected chunks of free time when I don’t feel guilty for doing some genealogy surfing!

This morning, I was looking at some genealogy newsletters that I get in my email and I saw a hint to take a map of the area you are researching and to draw concentric circles 5, 10, 15, etc. miles out from the location of your ancestor to see when places on the map might be likely places to research for more information on an ancestor. In the article, it mentioned USGS web site as a great resource for downloading topographic maps – and what a goldmine I feel like I’ve found!

The area of Kentucky that I research is very hilly and covered with little creeks and branches from the Cumberland River. I’ve always intended to take a more detailed look at the County Map that I have to pinpoint the different waterways that have been mentioned. The waterways are always mentioned in the tax records to show the location of the land being taxed.  The maps I’ve found on USGS are excellent for this type of research and you can download them for free!

So now, my plan is to take a look at my County map to make a list of the towns around my ancestor’s locations and to download the maps that are available to put on my research wall. I think that till now, I’ve been a “can’t see the trees because of the forest” kind of person. I know I have the County map, but I’ve never taken the time to focus on which part of the county my ancestors are in – something I should have done loooooooooooooooong ago. This will be my opportunity to do that!

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Genealogy Room Disaster

Oh my goodness, the genealogy room was going great – almost every surface has new paint on it.

My son was working on adding coats of thick, black magnetic paint to an area of my wall and I was on a chair touching up the edges of the ceiling paint. When I got off the chair, I stumbled and grabbed a table for balance and guess what was on the table….the can of black, magnetic paint!

My carpet now looks like a Holstein cow…..

On the bright side, it looks like there may be some new carpet in my future! On the downside, this is not an expense we need right now.

Not really genealogy worthy news, but I had to vent…

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Happy New Year!

Ahhhh…..January 1st! A new beginning! A fresh start! For one day at least, I don’t feel overwhelmed with projects and “to do” lists because, for today, the slate is wiped clean and the possibilities are endless.

Too bad that feeling won’t last long!

BUT, I do have a few goals (I won’t call them resolutions) or projects for 2013.

#1) My first “goal” for this year is to put a serious dent into my citations. I continue to collect information for my family tree and I’ve been indicating the location where the information was found, but not anywhere NEAR the citation format that ‘d like to have. Right now, my footnote might say simply “Find-a-grave” or a library book call number. Time to update those sources into true citations!

#2) Project – I really do hope to create the interactive PowerPoint project for my family to enjoy. Obviously, I was unable to get that done this year, but I’m hoping for some significant changes in my job this year which could potentially give me significantly more time to work on my genealogy. It’s potentially too good to even mention out loud, so this change is in the whisper stages only!

#3) Organization - I have found that I often desire to work on my genealogy, but have NO desire to search for the files I need when I only have an hour or less to work. How wonderful would it be to have a place that I look forward to being in that has fewer distractions (yes, washing machine beep, I’m talking about you!) as well as having all of my genealogy stuff in an easily accessible location? I’d love a way to display my materials on a large scale because I’m just such a visual person that I often see connections or questions only when I see everything at the same time.

I have to say that I’m one of the luckiest women in the world because I have the best husband around! We have been married for 27 years and have 4 children. Our house has 5 bedrooms but two of our children are out on their own, leaving 2 “empty” bedrooms. For Christmas this year, I’ve been given the go-ahead (Along with a very generous pre-paid Visa card!) to make one of those bedrooms into my very own genealogy heaven!

My plans include a fresh coat of paint, with one wall having special paint to make it a magnet board – a twelve foot magnet board! All new furniture including my ideas for the ideal genealogy file system where I can lay out a project and not have to put it away until I’m ready to move on to a different family! I plan to have a counter-height cubbie system to keep my tools, files and magazines stored in while spreading various files across the top to analyze. I will spread my papers across the top for organizing, scanning, hole punching, writing on, or whatever is needed at that time without worrying about putting it all away because my family needs the kitchen table for dinner!

Pictures of ancestors on the walls, maps and charts and colorful dry erase boards to keep reminders and plans on. I plan to have large print-outs of groups sheets and 5-gen charts displayed for quick reference. I’ll have a system for easy storage and access to the rolls of newsprint that I like to use.

And everything in bright colors that I wouldn’t normally have in my more traditional rooms because I won’t have to please anyone but myself! My 3rd son is supplying the painting labor as his Christmas gift to me – a project which begins tomorrow! The room has no windows, so I plan to use color to make the room brighter. I’m buying the colorful canvas boxes to put in the cubbie spaces and I’m getting colorful binders for my single surname worksheets and files.

One of my Christmas gifts was a small, wireless speaker that has fantastic sound that I plan to use to listen to podcasts or music. I also got a nice flatscreen tv that won’t take up much space, but which will allow me to hook my computer into to watch web videos on various genealogy subjects. I’m even planning to have an area for “refreshments”. I have a small refrigerator that we got for college boys that will now be in my room and I’m planning space for making my favorite tea.

Shopping starts today! Any suggestions for my “genealogy heaven”?

Happy New Year to all my genealogy friends! Praying that you have many blessings in the coming year!

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