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Saturday, January 26, 2013

2013 genealogy goals...with the added suspense of "will they happen?"

Here we are again. A new year with hope and promise for being productive on the horizon. We'll see. Last year I was not very productive with my goals {sad face}. Let's take a look.

Genealogy Goals for 2012

1. My grandmother's 80th birthday is in July and I would like to create some type of "life to this date" memento for her and her guests.
2. Finally order the two Sicilian films from the LDS that I have very much procrastinated on.
3. Research first hand accounts of migration from Virginia to Kentucky to Missouri. Many of my family lines made this trek, and while I have no way of knowing what precipitated their moves specifically, perhaps I can find some explanations in the accounts of other migrants.
4. Determine the origins of my Tosh, Bodine, Creed and Reece family lines.
5. Begin a study of occupations of my ancestors.
6. Actually write some posts for my Civil War Remembered series (and yes, this may mean "backdating." It's my blog and I can backdate if I want to.)
7. Change my blog layout. I'm bored.
8. Attempt to track down living relatives in order to locate photographs, stories, journals or just to share what I have.

Hmm. Well, I attended my grandmother's birthday party. And I did change my blog layout. I did do some specific research on the lines listed and made some dents, but nothing spectacular. But man those goals sure sound great!

So on to 2013.

Genealogy Goals for 2013

1. I am declaring 2013 the year of  3rd great-grandparents. I have loads of them (32 to be exact) and this year will be dedicated to finding more "meat" on each of them. I already know a lot about some of them, like Philip and Bertha Kuhn and Marcellus White. But others have little to no information. I intend to look for information outside of just the census and add some meat to the bones. I will also focus on ensuring that the information I DO have on them is organized. Here are all 32 in all their glory:
2. I plan to continue my Civil War Remembered series
3. I plan to create a page of WWI resources. I'm fascinated by this war, even though I only had one ancestor participate.

There you have it. Very broad, but I like it that way. It's a true nail biter...will they happen?
  

12 comments:

Wendy said...

I like the idea of focusing on one generation of grandparents.

Unknown said...

I'm kinda jealous of people who know all 32 of their 3rd great grandparents! But even if we don't meet our goals, its good to make them, helps to focus us a bit. Although personally I think I'm still working on goals from 2011 lol!

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

It's great to hear that you are still working on 2011...it makes me feel so much better because I am too!

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Thanks, Wendy. Now I have to determine how I'm going to keep track...probably my favorite: spreadsheets!

Elizabeth Handler said...

I look forward to seeing what you find out about your 32 3rd great grandparents. In addition to a spreadsheet to keep track, you may want to come back to this post after you write about each of these ancestors and update it with a link from this post to that ancestor. I did that with the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Heritage Pie Chart that Randy Seaver suggested early on in my blogging career.

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Great tip, Elizabeth! I'll definitely do that.

SallySearches said...

I have decided to not to take my 'resolutions' to heart: too much pressure! But I have posted a list the past couple years, which at least keeps me semi-focused on what I hope to accomplish. Good luck with yours :)

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Yes, I think this is more of a list, too!

Nancy said...

I think people who set really specific goals are so brave. Good for you, Heather. I think the goal to find an ancestor is so uncertain (for me). Sometimes we can look so diligently and not find him or her. Other times, it's easy. I wish you all success in accomplishing every goal this year, Heather!

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Well, they are specific...kind of. I really just intend to search for more information and if I don't find it, I don't! I'm only hoping to provide a little bit of focus so that my genealogy ADD doesn't spin out of control.

Anonymous said...

Heather, thanks for sharing this! My genealogy research has been on the back burner for a few months now... making a 2013 to do list might be a good way to get back on track. Good luck with yours, look forward to hearing about your progress!

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Thanks! I think of them more as "guidelines" that way I don't have any guilt if I don't get them done. Best of luck getting your research back on track!