How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

So since I was writing about the Bryant family home recently, it made me go back and review what I knew about my great grandfather Frank Bryant. He was married twice in his lifetime. First, to my great grandmother Ophelia Jones. After Ophelia passed away in 1939, he remained single for a couple of years until he met and married a Sylvia Sheppard of Portsmouth, VA. Frank and Ophelia were married in Carteret County, NC on November 4, 1911. I was able to obtain a copy of their marriage license from  the North Carolina State Archives some time ago. You can view a copy of it here.  I couldn't find the marriage license for Frank and Sylvia however until just now. It turns out they were married in Florida! Who knew? I made the assumption that they would have been married in either North Carolina or Virginia. Nope. It was Duval County, Florida. Source Information:  Ancestry.com. Florida Marriage Collection, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, ...

Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:   Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 25 (June 18-24) – The Old Homestead: Have you visited an ancestral home? Do you have photos of an old family house? Do you have homesteading ancestors? I have visited and been inside the home that belonged to my maternal great grandparents, Frank and Ophelia Bryant . The house is located at 1400 Fisher St in Morehead City, NC. The land was initially purchased by Ophelia's parents Alexander Hamilton Jones and Rosa Mitchell Jones in the early 1900's. Ophelia and Frank married in 1911 and by 1920 were able to build the house they would raise 7 children in. This is that house. 1400 Fisher St, Morehead City, NC Bryant Siblings  There is something special about being in the spaces our ancestors once lived...

As I mentioned in my post,  Something About Me Saturday: I Went To A Fencing Class This Week , I finally took a stab (pun intended) at getting back into the sport. I fenced while I attended Binghamton University from Fall of 1990 through 1994 but stopped once I graduated. What I loved about the sport then and still do now is how it makes me feel. When I fence it allows my inner warrior princess to come out and do battle. There had been something missing in my life that I couldn't quite figure out what it was until now. It's the feeling of being strong, independent, fierce. Perhaps I will go so far as to say, a bit bad ass!  Well, this warrior princess fenced again last night and as a result, today I'm not feeling so bad ass. (Smile)  That's okay. Today I rest to fight another day.

Mary Horton's China Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:    Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 24 (June 11-17) – Heirloom: What heirloom do you treasure? Who gave it to you? What heirloom do you wish you had? Pictured above are pieces from a set of china I received upon my grandmother Mary Bryant Harrison Horton's passing. I love this set! It is decorated with beautiful pink carnations and gold trim. If I am having a family gathering, I try to use this set. It's a way for us to share the occasion with my sweet grandma.  Another heirloom I treasure that once stood atop the piano at grandma Mary's house is a statue of two hands holding a dove. I featured a picture of it on this blog before in this post,  Sentimental Sunday: These Artifacts Are My Time Machines.  In t...

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

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Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:  Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 23 (June 4-10) – Wedding: June is time for weddings. Write about a June bride in your family or highlight a favorite wedding photo. Maybe there’s a serial marry-er in the family — that could be a fun post! So of course I still haven't quite caught up.(Sigh) Oh well, I'll just keep doing the best I can. June thus far has been a crazy busy whirlwind of activities for my kids. I am so proud of them both. My daughter is in the process of moving up a level in gymnastics, which means this mom's taxiing her to an additional practice each week. My son just had his spring concert. He plays the viola and it was just wonderful to see how much he had improved from the beginning of the school year. You can see a pictu...

Well, I decided it was about time that I do something about my activity level. Blogging and researching aren't exactly what you call aerobic exercises. I recognize that I am getting older and although I have made changes with improving my diet, exercise is something I have to really get back into the groove of. So I attended a fencing class this past week. It was the first time I fenced in about 14 years. I've written about my fencing days here on this blog before. You can check out my post,  Looking Back While Looking Forward. Boy, did I feel it in my legs! A critical part of fencing practice is doing foot work.  This video will give you an idea of some of the movements I was practicing. The neat thing I found was that my stance was still pretty good. I am not a fan of jogging but I know I have to get back to it. I found myself getting winded during practice so I know jogging will definitely help with building my stamina back up. The cool thing was that...

Our Viola Player after his Spring Concert. Very proud of our boy! **I am aware it's now Thursday as I click publish. I thought I had done so earlier. Oops :)