The Return

I started this blog almost five years ago. Over the past two years it’s pretty much turned dormant due to my family life. We’ve had a lot of big changes, which is what happens when you live life, right? My oldest daughter has been living in Cambodia for the past 18 months. My oldest son is now an army cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point. And this past summer the rest of us moved from our long-time home in Utah and re-established ourselves in the Boise area. My husband is a Boise native, and his whole family lives here. As anyone with strong family ties knows, there’s a big pull to want to be together. My younger kids are loving the close relationships they are enjoying with their grandparents and their cousins here. As I age, I’m realizing that meaningful relationships are what bring me joy and peace each day.

So how does this relate back to genealogy? Well, my hobbies have taken a back seat for a while. I’m ready to reclaim my space, and I keep thinking about what this blog has become and what I want it to be. When I first started blogging, I was excited to teach people about family history in Scandinavia. I still am! But I feel like my content became too instructive and too impersonal. If I’m going to breathe life back into this project, it’s time for a makeover.

So here are my new goals. I hope that by writing them down it will make me more accountable. Some of the topics that will be covered will include:

• Stories of my ancestors. That’s why I named this blog what I did!
• Places that I feel connected to, especially cemeteries and churches.
• What I’m researching. I’m doing a lot of client work, and I want to tell what I like and don’t like about my projects each week.
• Interesting records I find.
• Things I’ve learned that have been useful in my genealogical research.
• Frequently asked genealogy questions.

I want to write what I’m passionate about. I know that seems trite and over-used, but that’s the only way I will keep this moving along. My posts will likely have a more conversational tone, like this one you’re reading now. I hope it’s a more engaging read, and I hope it makes you readers think a little more about what you’re doing and why you’re sticking it out when your ancestors just seem like they don’t want to be found.

If there are topics you want discussed or questions you have about genealogy, let me know and I would love to give your questions some real responses. Meanwhile, let’s all keep looking for cool records. And let’s work on having meaningful relationships with those in our lives, both living and dead.

Happy hunting!

Love, Jenny