52 Weeks to Better Genealogy, Challenge #22: Find-A-Grave

Here's your weekly challenge: Find-A-Grave

This is a lot of fun. Don't miss this one!

Visit my Examiner.com page for full details. Click here.

Amy Coffin of the We Tree Blog authored these helpful challenges. They are hosted on the GeneaBlogger website.

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I have not received any compensation from Amy Coffin or GeneaBloggers for writing this post. I am on the GeneaBloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy – Challenge #21

This weeks challenge is: State or Provincial Archives

For this weeks challenge, authored by Amy Coffin of the We Tree Blog and hosted on the GeneaBloggers Website, view my Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link. Click here.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation from Amy Coffin or GeneaBloggers.com for writing this post. I am listed on the GeneaBloggers Blog Roll because I find the website to be a valuable, shared community resource.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy – Challenge #20

Here’s your weekly genealogy challenge: Federal Land Records

View the entire description of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link. Click here.


Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has put together the helpful 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series. These prompts are hosted on the GeneaBloggers website You may be interested in seeing posts about the challenge from other Genea-Bloggers. Both sites have been voted among Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Websites this year.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I am listed on the Genea Bloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series - Challenge #19

Here’s your weekly challenge by Amy Coffin: Genealogy and Military Records

View details of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link. Click here.

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has put together the helpful 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series. These prompts are hosted on the Geneabloggers website. You may be interested in seeing posts about the challenge from other Genea-Bloggers. Both sites have been voted among Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Websites this year.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I am listed on the Genea Bloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Don't panic! It's not too late to send Mother's Day eCards.

We all know that feeling of a weekend or occasion sneaking up on us ! Ugh. Those of us who are into making family memories meaningful are especially distressed when something of family importance "falls through the cracks!"

Well, it’s not too late to send a free eCard to your mother, mother-in-law, grandmother or someone who is “like a mother” to you. I use eCards all the time now. They can be scheduled ahead (when you ARE thinking about it), or they can be sent at a moment's notice.

So warm your loved one's heart with an eCard from Smilebox. My friends sent me Smilebox greetings at Christmas time. They were among my favorite things I received online. I signed up right away. Smilebox eCards, indeed, create smiles and warm hearts. You have to see them to believe them.

You may want to send one, in addition to other thoughtful Mother’s Day gifts or cards--whatever you choose. Click on the little smilebox in the right column of my blog (under my Examiner badge) to visit the site, and create amazing greetings with your photos and videos with music. Email them free.

Have an enjoyable Sunday, everyone.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” I have an affiliate relationship with Smilebox. I chose only affiliates that I believe will be a valuable service to my readers.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Challenge #18

Here’s your weekly challenge: Social Media

View the entire description of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link. Click here.

Amy Coffin of the We Tree Blog has put together the helpful 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy series. These prompts are hosted on the GeneaBloggers website You may be interested in seeing posts about the challenge from other GeneaBloggers. Both sites have been voted among Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Websites this year.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I am listed on the Genea Bloggers Blog Roll because I find it to be a valuable, shared community resource. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Challenge #17: Label Your Photos

Memory Lane Monday


Our weekly genealogy challenge ties in perfectly with Memory Lane Monday.
Here’s your weekly genealogy challenge: Label Your Family Photos

As I pondered this weeks challenge, authored by Amy Coffin of the We Tree Blog, my mind raced back a few years. When my mother passed away in the year 2000, I became acutely aware that I wanted my photos to be easily accessed. Memories of the past, accessed through photos, seem to add stability at such a time as the passing of the loved one.

I had kept some scrapbooks of children’s photos and some of my family photos in albums, but hoards of photos had been developed and quickly put in a box year after year—awaiting a “better time” to organize them into albums. By the time my father passed away in 2001, the photos had been carefully placed in matching photo albums. There was no time for chronological order, but, at least, they all had a “photo home” of their own. Labeling will be a logical next step. I’m glad I at least put them in a more retrievable place, however, because they were a source of comfort, helped us remember the good times, and were thought-provoking which stimulated gratitude in my family and friends when my father passed away.

After filling about 17 albums and running out of storage space, I decided to use the computer to download pictures there, label them and burn them to a disc for backup. My goal now is to select pictures from those stored on my computer and burn a family history CD to be given for Christmas gifts for family members each year. I will have a CD of pictures from October of one year to October of the next year to allow myself time to complete the CDs without pressuring myself too much before the holidays in November and December. It’s like a slideshow with titles and music. The family loves it, and I feel satisfied

that the memories will live on.

Labeling pictures can be a family affair that creates a memory of its own.

I mentioned in this weeks Examiner article that I recall some very precious moments while sitting at the small kitchen table in the quaint Utah apartment of my elderly grandmother. Going through a stack of pictures to label them so that people and places were not mistaken nor forgotten was one of the most special moments of my lifetime. Not only were the details of the pictures recorded, but the twinkle in my grandmother’s eye and the sound of her chuckle were indelibly etched in the memories of my heart. I was especially awestruck when I saw a family home made entirely of railroad ties. This added a new perspective to me when I began to understand more fully some of the conditions that existed in my

grandmother’s life and my father’s life, as well.

So, back to the challenge. At a minimum, we can label photos with first and last names, location (if known) and date or approximate date (if known). Becoming familiar with scanning devices and / or digital computer programs may be something you want to put on your genealogy “To Do” list. Give it some thought and decide what you'll do.

We owe our thanks, once again, to Amy Coffin of the We Tree Blog, for authoring these challenges.

View the entire description of this week’s challenge, by using my Examiner.com, Phoenix Genealogy Examiner link. Click here.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post from Amy Coffin. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”