How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

As I mentioned earlier in the day, I am participating in The Book Of Me, Written By You  project created by Julie Goucher of the blog,  Anglers Rest . The prompt for week one is a recognized psychology test: Ask yourself 20 times "Who are you?" Each time you should give yourself a different answer. If you can go easily beyond 20 answers that is okay too. This is the sort of prompt that you can re-do at various stages of your life, perhaps after some changes or at the start of the New Year. This prompt is about how YOU see YOU. Who are you? I am... a mother an individual a lover of love and independence a person who regains her spiritual center in quiet spaces a writer a wife a realist someone who is working on her spiritual self a lover of history a family historian a friend I am grateful. I am someone who is starting to believe I am enough. I am at the starting point for the rest of my life. I am encouraged. I am learning that being ...

If you missed Part one, here's the link:   Wordless Wednesday: Pictures From Our Vegas Trip 2013 --Part one . It's been a couple of weeks since I did a Something About Me Saturday   post so I thought I better get back to doing it before I forget about it all together. On a similar note, I was excited to see a new writing prompt created by Julie Goucher of the  Anglers Rest  blog and shared by Thomas MacEntee of  Geneabloggers . I think this is a great idea. It is so important to document information about ourselves so our descendants will have good sense of who we were as people so I am looking forward to participating in this. Later today I will put out my answers to the first prompt here on this blog. Anyway, here's some more pictures from our Las Vegas trip. These were taken at Red Rock Canyon.  Cool looking sculptures at the visitors center. What did you say about "dry heat" mom?   All I know is that ...

I've had quite a bit of good luck finding newspaper articles that mention information on William H Goodrich and Morrision Goodrich.  They were brothers to the wife of my first cousin 3x removed, Oscar Dunn Jones. I wish I could say that I've had said the same luck finding out info on Ula Goodrich Jones. So far, I haven't found much, just a couple of articles where she was mentioned as being a guest at a get together or two. Anyway, let's get back to the brothers.  Lately, I've been wondering what it was like for these two talented brothers to grow up in the same household. Did Morrison look up to his older brother William and take up singing as a result. Was there a rivalry of sorts between them? Why did William choose to go to Europe to further his career while Morrison remained in Washington D.C. Like I said in the begininning of this post, I've had some luck finding the two brothers mentioned in several newspaper articles. These are regarding William Goo...

Views from the deck of the Voodoo Lounge Restaurant at the Rio Resort I wonder what my daughter had her eyes on. My family in silhouette looking at the fountain show at the Bellagio.

I'm back! (said in the tone of "They're here!" a la Carol Ann from Poltergeist.) Oh wait, you probably didn't know I was away. This has been the summer of travel for me. We just returned last night from a week away in Las Vegas and yes the kids came too! We had a blast. It was part business and part pleasure. Business --for my husband, who was shopping at a trade show and pleasure for me and the kids who went along for the ride. We stayed at the Rio and had lots of fun. For those of you who may be newer to my blog, I wrote a post in March of last year about how I truly hit the jackpot the first time I went to Vegas. Here's the link if you missed it:   Thankful Thursday: Thank Goodness I Hit The Jackpot In Vegas! Here's something to make you laugh. My husband is quite a character and can usually get anyone he meets to laugh a little. As we were checking in at the front desk of the hotel, he engages the guest services rep in the some friendly chit chat an...

Image courtesy of Microsoft Office Images. I think my 2nd great grand uncle, David Sampson, gave me a little nudge from the other side just the other day. I woke up and had his name on my mind and even though I'd been concentrating my research efforts towards my Jones and Goodrich connections lately, I took a chance. I decided to Google his name and I changed up my search parameters a couple of different ways.  Guess what? This article popped up from the Saturday Evening Post -Volume 189, Issue 1 -Page 38. First, here's a little background information on David Sampson. For many years he was the cook at a camping area south of New Bern, NC, called Camp Bryan. Apparently, he was quite the personality.  For more on Dave Sampson, you can read about him in these posts:   Dave Sampson a True Riverdale Character --Part one. Dave Sampson a True Riverdale Character --Part two My Speculation Regarding Dave Sampson's Parentage This Way Out! Dave Sam...

Emma O. Jones Apr. 17, 1864--Feb. 18, 1941 Bayview Cemetery, Morehead City NC Image courtesy of Find A Grave:  Picture taken by Mojo Warren. Emma Shepard Jones was the wife of my 2nd great grand uncle, William Henry Jones and the sister-in-law to my 2nd great grandfather, Alexander Hamilton Jones. Emma and William were the parents to eleven children, out of which at least three went on to go to college  --Oscar Dunn Jones Sr., James Edward Jones, and Caesar N. Jones. The following link shows what may possibly be a picture of Emma and her husband William:   Wordless Wednesday: Could This Be A Picture Of My 2nd Great Grand Uncle And Aunt

I spent yesterday with the kids at a local children's museum called The Discovery Center . They have a magical place outside called "The Story Garden."  I just love meandering through and watching my children interact with their environment. "I am king of the chair!" "Big chair, big whoop." They played a little golf. We took a look at the statues. "Peek-a-boo" We watered some flowers. Took a boat ride. Hanging out with Miss Spider   Time to go home.