Sunday, January 06, 2013

It's a Major (Liebster Blog) Award!

I've been awarded the Liebster Blog Award! (Liebster means "favorite" or "dearest" in German, apparently) The premise behind this award is that when you are nominated, you are supposed to answer 11 questions about yourself (chosen by the person who nominated you), and then nominate 5 bloggers with less than 200 readers and provide 11 questions for them to answer.

Normally, I would ignore this request because (1) it's kind of like spam, and (2) I'm limited to 5 blogs and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by leaving them out (because I have WAY more than 5 favorite blogs)!

But since my dear friend Laura is the one who nominated me, I'll play along. Here are the answers to her questions:

1.) What is your favorite saying and where did you first hear it?
I don't really have a favorite one. I guess if I had to pick, it would be "Sometimes you just gotta say ... what the f***" - Joel Goodsen, Risky Business.

2.) Do you remember your first dress-up occasion? What did you wear and why?
The first time that I can remember getting all dressed up was for the Little Miss Valentine pageant at my elementary school. I was in first grade and all the other little girls were wearing cute poofy dresses with little hearts all over them. My dress? Navy blue with big white polka dots. I got first runner up - Little Miss LaBelle. (That was my elementary school). I got a trophy, a sash, and a tiara (see? I really do deserve to wear one!). I cried because I didn't get a goodie bag with candy in it. That was really all I wanted.

3.) Have you been affected by a natural disaster? What was your experience?
When I was in high school in Atlanta, we had a tornado warning and the school sent everyone home early. My sister didn't make it to the bus before it left and had to stay at the school. I was home alone. I prepared pillows, blankets, a radio, and a flashlight down in the room under the basement stairs where we kept all the home-canned food. I was waiting it out when I looked out the window and the sky was a greenish black color and it sounded like a jet was landing on the house. I ran downstairs and locked myself in that little room and didn't come out until I heard my parents come home.

4.) What do you see when you look out your kitchen window?
A giant oak tree and the back of my neighbor's house. Yep, they STILL have their porch light on (it has been glaring into my yard non-stop for the past year).

5.) Are you more comfortable speaking or writing and why?
Definitely writing. I tend to think better with my fingers for some reason.

6.) What did your childhood home look like?
It depends on which one we're talking about. There was an apartment and a house in Portland, Oregon. Then there was a 2-bedroom apartment in Marietta, Georgia. Then a 4-bedroom house in Atlanta. 

7.) Were you ever fired or laid-off? How did you deal with that situation?
Yes. I was laid off from two subsequent jobs when both companies were purchased by other companies. It actually turned out to be a positive thing for me because I got good severance packages with both, and I got a new job right away both times, which provided double paychecks for several weeks.

8.) Do you enjoy your birthdays or do you lament the passing of time?
My birthday is so close to Christmas that I really don't even pay attention to it anymore, mainly because no one else does.

9.) Which is your favorite holiday and why?
I don't really have one, but I have the most fun at Halloween.

10.) Growing up, what your favorite television or radio show?
I think my family can vouch for this ... Charlie's Angels. Who didn't want to be a Charlie's Angel?

11.) Different times of life are satisfying for different reasons; which has been the most satisfying for you and why?
I would have to say that the time since my daughter graduated from high school has been the most rewarding and satisfying for me. I've been able to focus on the things that I want to do with my life, and have succeeded in finishing my degree and am well on my way toward achieving my genealogy certification.

Now ... here are the 5 blogs I'm nominating:

Sweet Tea, Tart Lemons & Memories
A Southern Sleuth
Climbing My Family Tree
Documenting the Details
Nuts From the Family Tree

And the moment of truth ... the questions! (P.S. I totally stole these from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Man blog)

1. What is your favorite time of day and why?

2. How and when did you first discover your passion, whatever that passion is?

3. Hopefully, you’re familiar with The Breakfast Club for this question. When you were in high school, in which social group did you best fit?

4. Where do you write your posts and why did you choose that place?

5. What always makes you laugh and why?

6. If you could appear on a televised talent show, what would your talent be?

7. Which flower reminds you of happiness?

8. What is your favorite book and why?

9. It’s important to eat your vegetables, but which vegetable do you always resist/avoid eating?

10. What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?

11. Who is the one celebrity, past or present, you would like to meet — and what would you ask that person?

Now I'm off to notify my nominees!



Do we share any ancestors? 
Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Friday, January 04, 2013

What's My Learning Style?

Last night I was playing catch up on my blog reading when I came across this post from Lorine over at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  This post from Midge over at the Granite In My Blood blog discusses Project-based learning versus Problem-based learning, and was the inspiration for Lorine to discover her learning style.

Incidentally, reading Lorine's post made me realize that for whatever reason I was not subscribed to Midge's blog - a problem that was immediately remedied. (Sorry, Midge!)

Well, thanks to Midge and Lorine, I had to find out for myself.  So I went and took this quiz.  Turns out, my learning style is pretty much all over the place.  Note the glaring absence of any Body-Kinesthetic learning.



Sadly, my research style is no different.  All. Over. The. Place. (but always in a chair!)

So what exactly are my strongest learning styles?  Linguistic tops the list at 67%.  What does this mean?  I learn best from written or spoken words.  Okay.  I can see that.  

The next strongest category is Logical-Mathematical.  Essentially, this means I "ask questions, find solutions, and reflect on the problem-solving process."  I guess.  I'm not really sure I spend time reflecting on the process ... I'm more likely to say "okay, solved that one. Next!"

What surprised me was the 56% in the Interpersonal category.  I never considered myself "in tune with the people around me and their motives, emotions, perspectives, and moods."  Never.  I mean, I've gotten pretty good at telling when my boss is ticked off, but that's mainly so I can just steer clear.

Midge also discusses "concrete sequential" and "abstract random" learning styles.  I'm not sure which of these I am, but I'm going to guess that it's concrete sequential - or maybe that's just what I'd like it to be - but it's probably like everything else: a mix of both.

In any case, thank you Midge and Lorine for guiding me toward this insight.  I hope to put this information to good use in helping me study the way my brain wants to, so I can finish my Home Study Course!

Incidentally, this topic goes hand-in-hand with DearMYRTLE's recent blog post about collaborative learning.  Conference planners and speakers may want to start taking a fresh look at their setups with the mindset that everyone learns differently - and plan accordingly.  

On a side note - the first thing on MY agenda would be tables in every conference room ... but maybe that's just me (I have a hard time taking notes on my iPad on my lap in a chair squished between two other people who are also trying to take notes).  What?  It's still about the learning, right?




Do we share any ancestors? 
Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

My 2013 Genealogy Goals

2012 turned out to be quite a year!  I attended my first national genealogy conference (FGS) in August, which in turn motivated me to start working toward my certification.  I made several new friends and reconnected with many old friends at the conference too.  

I made it through the first 5 lessons of the NGS Home Study Course, so that's about 30% done.  I gave a presentation on social media to my genealogical society, and wrote two articles for the quarterly.  I was also tricked waterboarded elected as Secretary of my genealogical society for 2013.  Most importantly, I learned a LOT (genealogically speaking) about research, new resources, and citations.

Obviously, there is still much to learn, which brings me to my goals for 2013:

Learn
1. Complete the NGS Home Study Course by June.  This is by far my most important goal for this year.
2. Attend IGHR in June. I want to finish the NGS-HSC before I do this.
3. Attend FGS in Ft. Wayne in August.
4. Get into a ProGen Study Group by July.

Research
5. Perform a census survey/census search for each direct-line individual on my tree through my 2nd great grandparents.  (See this post for explanation)
6. Obtain DNA tests for my maternal uncle, my maternal grandmother, and my father.
7. Double-check source citations in RootsMagic for accuracy.  I'd like to get through my 2nd great grandparents on this one too.

Write
8. Blog at least twice per week.  I've really fallen off on this and I want to get back on track.
9. Add 5 new ancestor biographies to my website and update WikiTree accordingly.
10. Contribute at least two articles to society quarterly.

Other
11. Transfer website and blog to new host.  This will involve a complete redesign of my website, relinking of all my toolbox links, and transferring my blog to WordPress.
12. Join APG - probably the Second Life chapter.
13. Continue my indexing efforts for FamilySearch.  I'd like to index a minimum of 100 records per month.  (I know this seems low, but in light of goals #1-4, I'd like to actually be able to meet this!)

There.  Those are my 13 goals for 2013.  What goals do you hope to reach this year?



Do we share any ancestors? 
Please email me at lostancestors [at] gmail [dot] com