Oh my gosh, where have I been the last several weeks? I've barely been on Blogger, that's for sure! I have to say, I've missed it. 

Pirate and I just got back from a week of sunshine, sand and water. It was wonderful.We came back to the harsh, chilly reality of winter - but the comfort of being home and together as a family makes it all better!

I thought I'd share a few warm, sunny pictures of our vacation with you while I try to get back in the swing of things and start blogging again.

Pirate's first time in the ocean, she didn't want to get out!









Thanks for sticking with me! I hope wherever you are, you're having a safe and wonderful week.




I love genealogy. I love trying to piece together the puzzle of how my family came to be. 

I know that I've grown up in the internet age where uncovering key details is a matter of knowing what and how to search; and the farthest I have to travel for information is to my kitchen table.

I can utilize Google to no end, search databases and forums, Ancestry websites abound, public records are easy to see, and there are even families with their own family tree blogs. 


I think today's searching is about being creative and relentless. It's nearly impossible to not take technology and how easily accessible information is today; but every speck of info that is out there was typed up and uploaded by somebody.  


I was on familysearch.org today when I saw something asking for volunteers to "make more of these records searchable online, so everyone can find their ancestors. This same volunteer indexing effort made the 1940 US Census available for searching within five months of its public release. Indexing is a fun challenge that rewards both the volunteer and the future researcher." {GO HERE!} It gives directions of how people can help from home just using the internet. I'm actually excited about the possibility of actually being involved in the genealogy world this way.

Anyway, I thought it might a pretty unique and worthwhile experience. Check it out!