That was then... ...this is now. Happy Birthday to my first born!

Let me start this post off by saying, no I am not pregnant. This old ultra sound picture is of my oldest who will be turning 11 on Monday. Gosh it went fast!  My mother has this saying that they're born and then you blink your eyes and they are starting school, then you blink your eyes again and they are graduating high school. I get it now, mom. You are so right! My son is the lovely jackpot my husband and I brought back from Las Vegas at the beginning of April 2004. Of course we didn't know it until a month after our return that we were pregnant. I was 31 and had always been on time getting my period. I didn't really feel different but I knew I had to find out what was up. This was right around the time when they came out with those digital pregnancy tests, where it says the words, "pregnant" or "not pregnant." I bought one and took it. I remember waiting for the result, saying to myself, "Nah, it can't be. Probably just stress from work

This entry is tiny but it provides important information regarding the whereabouts of my 3rd great grandfather Bristow Harris in 1865. This is from the North Carolina Freedman's Bureau Assistant Commissioner Records 1862--1870 database on FamilySearch.org. This bit was found in a section of entries that were recorded between March 1865 and November 1868. Before I go any further, here's a summary of how Bristow/Brister Harris is connected to me.  You can also read about him in the following posts:   52 Ancestors: #22-- Bristow Harris Or Was It Bristoe, Brister or Bristol? Amanuensis Monday: Deposition Of Bristow Harris Found In A Southern Claims Commission Claim I have to take a moment and mention that if you have the time to spare, a great project that you can get involved with is indexing the Freedmen's Bureau Records at FamilySearch.org. Here's the link for more information: https://familysearch.org/ask/salesforce/viewA

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting as frequently about my ancestors so far this year. Well we are only 14 days into 2016 so maybe I should cut myself some slack. After all, I did make it one of my resolutions to maybe slow things down a bit on this blog just because life had gotten quite busy. Busy is good. Busy is also tiring and today was one of those days I was feeling it. I found myself over at Target around 2pm starting to hit that afternoon slump that comes on when the morning caffeine has completely left my body. My brain grew foggier as I was trying to pick out the least girly looking bathing suit for my 8 year old daughter. She's not into pink, princesses or cartoon characters, so my choices were limited. I narrowed it down to two and got stuck. I had no energy left. I was done. I thought how on earth am I going to make it through the rest of the day. After Target, I had to go home and pack suits, towels, and snacks for each kid before picking them u

Mary Bryant Harrison Horton (July 22, 1922--August 7, 2001) I think this is the only picture I have of the inside of my aunt Eloise Bryant Grigsby's house when she lived in New York. Here's my maternal grandmother Mary seated at the piano. The love of the piano was inherited from her grandmother/my 2nd great grandmother Jonas Bryant who had a piano in her home. My grandmother's parents Ophelia Jones Bryant and Frank Bryant also had a piano in their home at 1400 Fisher St in Morehead City, NC.  Life has been rather busy as of late. Thought I should do a quick post to let y'all know I'm still around. 

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 52 (December 24-31) – Resolution. A resolution can be something that you resolve to do. It can also be the end or conclusion of something. What ancestor do you resolve to find more about in 2016? What ancestor have you resolved conflicting evidence about? So this is it!!!! The last one. Finally I've made it to the end. I'm seven days late but at last here's week number 52.  I have to send a huge thank you over to Amy Johnson Crow of the No Story Too Small blog for developing this challenge. It has been a great motivator for me to continue to get these stories about my ancestors written down. After all, I can't share them if they are just simply floating around in my head. I've enjoyed participating an

My paternal grandmother and me. Ethel Smith Murrell (January 6, 1911--July 4, 1996) Happy Birthday In Heaven!

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 51 (December 17-23) – Nice. Define “nice” however you want to :) Well I am not quite done with the 52 Ancestors 2015 Edition but I can see the finish line is just ahead.  I decided to share holiday pictures of the family and I. Can't forget to document the lives of the living. After all, one day we will all be one with the ancestors. Perhaps through these pictures our descendants will get a chance to see how we spent these special times together. Happy New Year, Everyone!