Well folks…I know I haven’t written in over three weeks! I’ve been so engrossed with Ancestry.com! Yes, I decided to try out their 14-day free trial offer at Ancestry.com to research my family tree. Of course, to just get started with the free trial offer, you still have to submit a credit card and request which plan you would like. I opted for the $12.95/month option, paid up front for a year. I figure…I can research all my family in two weeks, right? Then, I’ll cancel! Haha! I can do it!
Well, this has been like the most exciting project I’ve challenged myself to do in a long time! I have but only a few names and birth dates of family members, but it’s given me a place to start! I started with myself and sprouted my branches from there! It does get a bit complicated with the adopted, steps & half-members in the family. But then again…no family tree is free of any!
The US Census reports every ten years. Right now, I can only start from 1930 and move backwards; 1920, 1910, 1900, etc. Seeing how many of my relatives were born in Mexico, I am not able to access International records…unless I want to pay an additional $25/month. Uh…no thanks! There are enough family members born in Texas and I guess the buck can stop with them! The Federal Government only releases records every so often. So, it’s right under a year before the 1940 Census gets released!
I’ve worked many, many hours on this project…sometimes to my own sleep-deprived detriment! I’ve worked during the school day, while the girls are away. I work on it very little of the weekends as I have the girls to entertain. I work on it during the wee-hours of the night! Regardless, once you start making good headway and start finding all kinds of relatives, it’s really hard to stop! The very first time I logged on was at 10pm on a Thursday night. I didn’t get off the computer till 6am, Friday morning! I sat for 4 hours at the computer before realizing my legs and back were aching. I stood up and the blood just rushed to my legs! That was creepy! I decided to go no longer than 2 hours then alternate my position from standing to seating.
I find that once your on a groove, it’s difficult to find a stopping point. I’m afraid that all the information in my short-term memory bank will be lost! Sure enough…I was right. With that kind of information overload, one can easily get names and dates totally mixed up! I’ve written notes, but wished I was a bit neater and used a spiral for amble room for notes. I’ve learned as I’ve gone along…a good thing, I guess. I’m using another program called MyHeritage.com to log and track my work offline too.
And wouldn’t you know…not two days later, I received a survey from the US Census Bureau requesting we complete and submit information based on my household! Ha! Talk about a coincidence? Although, they are a year late, right? We weren’t living state-side the first half of 2010 so I’m not sure how or why we were selected now!?!? Hmm…I guess that’s big Government for ya!
Oh by the way, I was no where near being done on the family tree! So, I guess I’m stuck paying for the Ancestry.com service! Oh well…some things are just more important than money…
Well, this has been like the most exciting project I’ve challenged myself to do in a long time! I have but only a few names and birth dates of family members, but it’s given me a place to start! I started with myself and sprouted my branches from there! It does get a bit complicated with the adopted, steps & half-members in the family. But then again…no family tree is free of any!
The US Census reports every ten years. Right now, I can only start from 1930 and move backwards; 1920, 1910, 1900, etc. Seeing how many of my relatives were born in Mexico, I am not able to access International records…unless I want to pay an additional $25/month. Uh…no thanks! There are enough family members born in Texas and I guess the buck can stop with them! The Federal Government only releases records every so often. So, it’s right under a year before the 1940 Census gets released!
I’ve worked many, many hours on this project…sometimes to my own sleep-deprived detriment! I’ve worked during the school day, while the girls are away. I work on it very little of the weekends as I have the girls to entertain. I work on it during the wee-hours of the night! Regardless, once you start making good headway and start finding all kinds of relatives, it’s really hard to stop! The very first time I logged on was at 10pm on a Thursday night. I didn’t get off the computer till 6am, Friday morning! I sat for 4 hours at the computer before realizing my legs and back were aching. I stood up and the blood just rushed to my legs! That was creepy! I decided to go no longer than 2 hours then alternate my position from standing to seating.
I find that once your on a groove, it’s difficult to find a stopping point. I’m afraid that all the information in my short-term memory bank will be lost! Sure enough…I was right. With that kind of information overload, one can easily get names and dates totally mixed up! I’ve written notes, but wished I was a bit neater and used a spiral for amble room for notes. I’ve learned as I’ve gone along…a good thing, I guess. I’m using another program called MyHeritage.com to log and track my work offline too. And wouldn’t you know…not two days later, I received a survey from the US Census Bureau requesting we complete and submit information based on my household! Ha! Talk about a coincidence? Although, they are a year late, right? We weren’t living state-side the first half of 2010 so I’m not sure how or why we were selected now!?!? Hmm…I guess that’s big Government for ya!
Oh by the way, I was no where near being done on the family tree! So, I guess I’m stuck paying for the Ancestry.com service! Oh well…some things are just more important than money…
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