Redecorating, Reconnecting and Sunday Dinners

It has been a busy month!

We have been busy helping Clayton get settled into his new house. There was a lot of cleaning and painting but in the end it turned out great. He is settled in, working on his yard and getting Tori's room in order.

Clayton moving meant we can put our house 'back together'. We just have to figure out what that means. Two guest rooms? His and Her offices? One office and one guest room? So many choices and thank goodness no rush to decide.


Another Horton Mystery

During the last six months between promoting my calendar, Everyday Genealogy, the holidays, winter visitors, working with Pam on our four blogs and Clayton's new house I have not done much genealogy research. Then like kismet a brickwall came tumbling down.

Nancy Hanson Horton Smith Weber is my mother-in-law's grandmother. There are many stories and few answers about her life after she left her husband, John Walter Charles Horton, in Blackduck, MN in 1922. Her youngest son, James, was 10 years old and Nancy was 40 when she filed for divorce in her new home in Wisconsin Rapids, WI that same year.

Over the years I found various news articles about Nancy's life in Wisconsin Rapids along with her marriages to Mr. Smith and Mr. Weber but I never was able to put it all together. AND I never had a picture of Nancy. It seems like once I have a face to put to the name it helps me 'get into their skin' and figure out new angles to pursue.

The other night I was on the phone with my friend Pam cruising around Ancestry.com and there she was - NANCY! Another Horton researcher had created a tree on Ancestry and I recognized who it was. She and I had exchanged information years before and then lost contact. Happily we are now working together on the Horton family and I am motivated to uncover the last three years of Nancy's life.

Sunday Dinners with Tori and Clayton

Meanwhile I am busy finding recipes that Clayton and Tori can make for Sunday dinner. Their first was ribs and baked beans in the crockpot. Since they are both night owls I suggested they start the crockpot before they went to sleep. It worked like a charm! This week I am sending over a whole chicken with directions on how to bake it. Tori is doing great in the kitchen so I am sure she and Clayton will do just fine.


Take Care,
Pattie

Blogging - Here, There and Everywhere

Blogging... I never gave it a lot of thought. A friend of mine, Sue, once said she was going to become a professional blogger. I will admit I chuckled to myself. First, I could not imagine how there was any money to be made, and second how could someone write that much! Plus, it did not sound like it would be much 'work'.

Flash forward four years and I am now writing and publishing two of my own blogs. I am also working my friend, Pam, on publishing her two blogs. Each blog, while related to genealogy research, is unique and draws a different readership. Each blog requires an equal amount of work.


I found that 'just' writing a blog is not enough. Once you have written each blog posting it needs to be published. To do this the blog had to be set up so it will 'publish' to the newsfeeds when it posted. This involves deciding what type of 'feed' will be used, how / if it will be 'tweeted' making sure that it is readable on Smartphones, etc..

Last fall I learned a lot about websites, SEO and sitemaps while promoting and selling "Everyday Genealogy - 2011 Desk Calendar", so this has been a natural extension. I started the Everyday Genealogy Calendar blog to help promote calendar sales and now I have learned how to promote the calendar blog.

Now, the next part is making some money from all this blogging. It is time to start reading up on the good, the bad and ugly of running ads on the blogs, learning more about Google AdSense and I am sure many other things.

I wonder if there is an eBook that I can download from Barnes and Noble on the subject or a used book on Amazon I can buy? Oh yeah, that eReader, we will talk more on that later.

Here is the list of blogs written by myself and Pam Treme:

Everyday Genealogy: http://everydaygenealogycalendar.blogspot.com
A blog supporting the Everyday Genealogy Desk Calendar offering hints, tips and advice on genealogy research. Everyday Genealogy Desk Calendar

Technology Tamers: http://technology-tamers.blogspot.com
Pam and I speak at genealogy societies in Florida and we use this blog to promote our lectures. Our goal is to make genealogists aware of how technology can assist in their research and encourage them to publish their results.

My McKee Family Tree: http://alexandermckee.blogspot.com
This blog was created by Pam to share her in depth research of the McKee family. Her goal is to document all the McKee's that migrated to Southern Illinois.

Pack Peddler's Place: http://packpeddler.blogspot.com
My grandmother nicknamed me Pack Peddler when I was a child and this blog reflects my collection of ideas, family stories and genealogy journeys. And my love/hate relationship with my eReader!

Thanks,
Pattie