Having Fun Discovering Your Roots

Read an article in The Costco Connection (dated Nov/Dec 2009) titled: Discover Your Roots - Going Online to Trace Your Family Tree, by Paul Lima.

http://www.costcoconnection.ca/connectioncaeng/20091112?pg=35#pg35

The main outline of the article described how to get started and offered a few suggested sites.
I really liked Paul Lima's get-started list:

1. List all of your known relatives.
2. Interview your relatives, beginning with the eldest, and collect the names of all of their known relatives and place of birth and death.
3. Conduct research into family names on the internet.
4. Use Internet genealogy message boards to connect with others tracing similar family names.
5. If family information is not online, review records in church parishes located where relatives were born, married and/or died.
6. Document and organize what you find.

 I've always been interested in wanting to complete a family genealogy project - and do realize that this isn't something that can get completed over a weekend... hence why I've probably been putting it off. But time isn't sometime I can just retract and so making this a priority in my life (while I still have important key people around) probably needs to be brought forward.

I've also just recently embarked on a new business adventure - which kind-of fits in perfectly with this type of project. I'm a new consultant for Heritage Makers (www.kreativescraps.ca). HM is an online digital scrapbooking website (tool) that would allow me to meet all of my Family Tree needs; by allowing me to Tell My Story in my very own Heritage Story Book.

Coming back to The Costco Connection (dated Nov/Dec 2009) titled: Discover Your Roots - Going Online to Trace Your Family Tree, by Paul Lima - I'd like to provide a listing of some of his suggested genealogy website of choices:

www.1930census.com General reference for US Federal Census

www.ancestry.ca Canadian family history records online

www.archives.gov The National Archives and Record Administration (US)

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html Library and Archives Canada, with excellent advice for beginners

www.ellisisland.org American Family Immigration History Center @ Ellis Island; site includes genealogy and passenger search tabs


www.familysearch.org Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints genealogy records and resources

www.freebmd.org.uk British ancestry site with parish birth, marriage and death certificates from 1837 on

www.immigrantships.net Volunteers focused on transcribing passenger arrival records and publishing work online

www.genuki.org.uk Census figures from ever country of England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and other resources

www.loc.gov Online home of the Library of Congress

www.myfamilyinc.com Includes Genealogy.com and Ancestry.com, with more than 7 billion names and 26,000 searchable databases

www.ourroots.ca History books about pioneer towns and profiles of citizens

www.pier21.ca Canada's equivant to Ellis Island

www.rootweb.com Part of Ancestry.com


www.shipslist.com US

www.usgenweb.com US

Your Life is A Story, why Not Bring It To Life?!
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http://www.heritagemakers.com/templateGallery.cfm?page=2&sort=communityShareDate&series=0&category=heritage&membershipType=all&searchQuery=

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How the LOA Saved our Dog! :)

Here's the scoop, in the recent past I haven't really been living the LOA (Law of Attraction) simply because I allowed myself to succumb all of my mind-chatter and its stories.
They're very convincing, you know?! lol...

However... in the more recent past, like this past week - I was like (in my head), OK that's enough! What you're telling me isn't making me feel any better and everything around me is screaming negativity! So my choices were either a) continue digging in this hole, which obviously wasn't leading anywhere; or b) just stop digging and re-orient myself.

As some people know, I don't always put my words into actions right away again cause I allow myself to procrastinate and mongol over things sometimes for too long.

This week however I just stopped. I didn't think about it, I just stopped.

So what's been going on... hummm... well alot! :)
But first here's a short story:

I've never had a pet growing up, cause we'll ...we just didn't have one. And so I'm not the type of person who felt the need to have pets. ....blah blah blah... fast forward to now...

I have 4 wonderful grown-up children and we've had a dog for the last 8 years! He is part of the family, so I might as well say I have 5 children! wink wink... hey I still have to feed him and clean up after him, so I counts! lol

About a little over a year ago, our dog started this thing above his neck. It's like a big ball (covered in fur) growing beneath his skin, it was hard, however didn't hurt or bother him - it was just there. So, last year at his check-up the vet took a look at it and told us we need to get him operated on, to get it removed, and it was going to cost us over $1000.  

Discussions and decisions needed to be made, and at that time (last year) - we just couldn't do it (pay the $1000) so we opted to do nothing. Besides it wasn't bugging him, it wasn't hurting him (when we touched it), the only indicator that it was there and that something was 'incorrect' was the fact that we could see it - the lump.

Fast forward to ....about 3 weeks ago. Lump is now bleeding a little and kind-of looks like there's a crack / open scar on this "ball" sticking off the top of our dog's neck. So we call the vet and have him brought in for a check-up, again.

Again the vet reminds us that they told us a year ago that this needed to come out... ya ya ya I know, heck if I had money growing on trees, it would of got done a year ago! So in my head - I'm focusing on the lack of money. Anyways, vet checks the dog tells us again the same story... and we have him booked for the end of the month. In the meantime, she prescribes him some steroids and antibiotics. And schedules a follow-up visit in 10 days.

So the 10 days later comes around (yesterday) and my hubby goes in with the dog to see the vet. She again proceeds to tell him that we need to move ahead with the surgery...blah blah blah. So she checks the dog, and decides to shave around this 'lump' to get a clearer view.

** Warning gross part here: during these 10 days, the opening that the blood originated from cracked open even further and was now really visible. During this time, stuff was gushing out at times where we needed to wipe him down. It was also emitting a smell... and it wasn't purtty! ;) **

Once she was done checking him, she (the vet) left the room to go fill out some paper work. My hubby then proceeded to tell me that the dog's lump-thing was bleeding a little so decided to wipe it clean, and that's when the dog started doggy-shaking (like he was trying to get something off of himself) and ...ended-up shaking the gunk that was filling this 'lump' out!

Yes, he (the dog) rejected this stuff out of himself, and plop out it flew! Yikes, and ...yuck! Glad I wasn't there to see this, that's a blessing in disguise! :)

So my hubby calls the vet back in to explain what just happened. And she proceeds (in awe!) to acknowledge that never in her 30 year career has she ever seen or heard of this happening!

...The surgery is no longer needed. Can you believe that?!

Now we just need to keep the area that has this hole clean and covered till he can get back in to get it stitched-up! Yes you heard me correctly - the whole thing got naturally resolved!! Yay, I love the Universe!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

So what does this all mean - what was the moral of this / my story?

For me, this meant - STOP worrying about stuff you can't do anything about and allow nature to do its job! Don't keep wondering about the how this? how that? what about this? what about that?... and to just ...allow life.

Become a spectator in your own life - and enjoy the ride!  :)

I was focusing on the wrong things, giving power to the wrong areas of my life.
Once I shifted, and STOPPED believing my stories, things changed - I changed.

"If you don't like something change it, if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." ~ Maya Angelou