myHERITAGE HAPPENS

I haven't informed you of the classes I took on Friday and I would like to do that now! Did you know there were over 100 classes offered at Jamboree? Friday morning only, there were a few "Pre-Jamboree" Sessions which ran from nine until noon. I chose a session titled "Introduction to Genealogy-Advanced Beginners." Parmenter was the instructor. I thought this class was geared to intermediate genealogy, but I found it to be more for beginners. After registration, which started at noon, it was time to see some of the bloggers floating around and a chance to mingle before the classes officially started. On Friday, I took DearMyrtle's "Finding Digital Items in the Family History Library Catolog." It was very informative, and I especially liked the fact that DearMyrtle presented it and I was able to listen to her speak! I haven't had much success with Family History Library as of yet, but I am hoping a few new things I learned from Myrt will help me...

I am blogging to share my experiences researching my ancestors. I have been blogging for about 10 months and have found the rewards to be tremendous! I have been collecting family information for the past eight years or so. Unexpected and exciting connections with cousins who have found my blog have made me do the genealogy happy dance many times! Some of these cousins I wasn't even aware of. Others I may have been aware of, but didn't know their whereabouts. I have met, either online, or in person, several other bloggers. Bloggers are the most giving people! Through them I have gained information I wouldn't have otherwise. We all share the same passion for genealogy. This blog is also another avenue of organizing information regarding my ancestors that will someday, hopefully, be of interest to my descendants. I hope you enjoy the stories, photos and information that I share with you here. Maybe, you will even learn a thing or two, or decide to start your own blog! Enjoy! ...

My first full day is in! What an awesome day! I have met so many people, and even ran into a few people I knew! Can I first say that Geneabloggers are the best? Wow! Sheri Fenley and I are roommates for the weekend. I played chauffeur yesterday and drove us down to Burbank. We took our time and stopped whenever we wanted. We arrived in Burbank about 5:00. We enjoyed our ride down and chatted way the whole time. I do think though by the time we arrived we were more than happy to get out of the car! We checked in, unpacked, relaxed a bit and then went about to find where Jamboree was being held. We are not staying at the Marriott where Jamboree is. We then went looking for a drug store, and Sheri introduced me to Marie Callendar's Banana Split Pie! We bought some, but waited to eat it until we came back to our rooms and ordered room service for dinner. Darn good food too! We prepared for our day today and before we knew it we were out like a light, at least I was! This am we arri...

Harding's and descendants. Unknown date. Possibly Pleasanton, California. Scanned copy of original on March 30, 2009. Privately held by Cheryl [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] California. 2009 Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Preparations have finally started for me! I am attending the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree which is this week, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This will be my first major genealogy event that I will be attending, and I am really looking forward to it! I have started pulling all of my paperwork together, confirmations, reservations, schedules, etc. I have downloaded all of my pictures off of both of my cameras and charged the batteries. (I am so about pictures!) Today I tried to make a real commitment to classes for Saturday as another blogger will only be attending on Saturday and I would really like to spend as much time as possible with her! I had my schedule temporarily set up awhile back, but need to be more committed now. I thought about how many classes I had originally chosen to attend and realized that I would be attending so many classes that I wouldn't be spending enough time with the vendors! So now, with trying to finalize my plans, I am actually scheduling some ...

As of my last post, I hadn't seen DearMyrtle's June post listing for "getting organized." Since that last post, I have been extremely busy, and haven't had the time to blog, sure have missed it! And, I missed when Myrt's post was actually posted! So let's get caught up! This month DearMyrtle officially covers these topics~ Displaying ancestral artifacts Heirloom gardens Scanning old documents Although June is getting along in time, you can still catch up, so be sure to go to this link and read how to be organized this month, before next month's edition comes out! Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Snooty Fox Apartments, March 25, 2007. San Leandro, California. Digital Image. Privately held by Cheryl [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] California. 2009 Thank goodness I took a photo of the name of these apartments as I wouldn't have remembered it on my own. The Snooty Fox! What a name, huh? Oh, and what a place! This is the first place I moved to when I moved out from my parents home. I originally moved in a two bedroom apartment with two other girls. Eventually one of the girls moved elsewhere and the other one and I lived here, actually in two different apartments, for quite awhile. I felt so proud of myself that I was able to move out when I was eighteen, and had a career! The layout was grand. When you walk into the complex,(through the gate here and to the left) you notice all of the apartments surround a pool. Every apartment (within the square of the pool) had a balcony that looked out to the pool. This was the party apartment complex! Wow, were there some parties! I specifically...

The Prince. April 21, 2009. Shadow Cliffs, Livermore, California. Digital Image. Privately held by Cheryl[ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] California. 2009 Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!

Plants. January 1, 2004. Chapel of the Chimes, Hayward, California. Digital Image. Privately held by Cheryl [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] California. 2009. Chester Plants was born June 27, 1929. He passed away on March 23, 2003. Geraldine was born March 14, 1929 and passed away on June 10, 1999. Chester and Geraldine were my brother-in-law's parents. Although they are not related to me, I wanted to share with you and memorialize for my sister's family. I didn't have the opportunity to spent much time with Geraldine, so I never really got to know her. I found her living in Denver, Colorado when she was about a year old, so maybe she was born there. Chester's Social Security was issued in West Virginia. I did have the opportunity to know Chester. He was a wonderful man and we got along very well. He loved to tell me stories about when he had motorcycles and how they would keep warm when riding, bundling up in newspapers! May you both rest in peace. Thank you for sto...

To my surprise and amazement and shock, I was notified today that Becky from Grace and Glory awarded me with this: "The Janice Brown Puckerbrush Award for Excellence!" I feel so honored! Thank you Becky! I am humbled beyond words. I borrow this explanation of the award (as Becky has also done) its origin, and purpose: The award was created in honor of genealogy blogger Janice Brown by Terry Thornton, author of "Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi", who explained that "Janice told us all about the word 'puckerbrush' in an article she posted August 27, 2007 at "Cow Hampshire". Terry elaborated a bit further in a comment: 'On any land allowed to go fallow and left untended, a wild assortment of wild plants grow – in some areas, this wild growth results in such a thicket of plants that it is almost impossible to push your way through the growth. So it is with the growth of blogs --- so many that it is impossible to read them all. Bu...

Sanchez home. March 25, 2007. Paseo Grande, San Lorenzo, California. Digital Image. Privately held by Cheryl [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] California. 2009 This is the last home my maternal grandmother lived in before she passed away. At this time her name was Betty Sanchez, she was married to Raymond Sanchez. They were married as long as I can remember. I do not have the information of when they were married. I am still working on a birth certificate for my grandmother. This home was on the pathway to the high school I attended. Many times walking home from school I would stop and visit my grandmother. When she became legally blind I felt so bad for her because she couldn't drive anymore. I vowed when I received my drivers license I would help to drive her everywhere! In the meantime, a bus stop, which was a house or two down from her home, provided transportation for her when my mother wasn't available. In the backyard was a wonderful apple tree, green apples! We enjoyed pi...

Flower. May 22, 2009. San Jose, California. Digital Image. Privately held by Cheryl [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] California. 2009

I received an email last night which gave me contact information for three more cousins once removed! Now, how exciting is that? Again, I have to thank blogging for this information, as it was through my blog that this gal originally found me! I was given addresses, and phone numbers for these three people. Also, two of them had email addresses. Can you imagine my happiness to read this email? My brain immediately moved forward, being rushed with questions I wanted to ask each of them. Slowing myself down was tough to do, after all I don't want to scare these cousins away! These three people are my grandfather's (Harding) sister's children (Norton's). I have no idea of their age, and or health. After I calmed down from my excitement, I knew I needed to drop an email to each of the two I had addresses for. The first email seemed to go through no problem. The second one, the address wasn't valid. I checked to make sure I had the correct one that was given me, which I ...