myHERITAGE HAPPENS

In Barcelona, Spain, on Friday, September 16, 2011, we boarded Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas for our twelve day cruise. All passengers needed to be on board by 4:00pm. We spent the afternoon getting used to the ship, waiting on luggage to arrive at our rooms and, of course, attending the mandatory  "Guest Assembly Drill." I learned quickly that arrangements for dining had changed a bit since our last cruise. "My Time Dining" was a new feature. Instead of choosing a 6:00 or 8:00 dining time, you were allowed to pick your own time. We thought this was wonderful as we liked to eat more around 7:00, or whenever we wanted. This turned out to be a major learning process for us because we found out they wanted us to make reservations for a time each night, and not just show up when we wanted. It took a few nights until it was understood though and in the meantime we spent to much time in lines waiting to be seated. Most nights we had a table for two, but ta...

I am following  Tonia's Roots    (You can read the kick-off post about 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog  here .)  as she brings several GeneaBloggers through 31 weeks of working towards a better blog, prompts written by Darren Rowse.  I was a couple weeks behind  due to being on vacation, so I have been playing catch up! I believe with this post I will be caught up, so these posts will occur once a week again as they were meant to. Here is the challenge this week from Tonia~ Action Item Write a problem-solving post and leave a link in the comments. I had major burn out when I spent a couple of months solving my domain name nightmare. I have been thinking on what problem I could solve. I wasn't thinking to deep as my brain just isn't at a place to work on any major problems. I think it has been fighting me all week in regards to writing and working this challenge. I decided to use yesterday's post as my "solving a problem" post. I had ...

Today would have been my mother's 75th birthday, had she lived long enough. Instead, mom passed away from cancer more than a decade ago. I read a blog post the other day over at Legacy.com that explained what  Susan Roper does on her father's birthday each year. She buys 100 Hershey's candy bars and gives them out randomly to people in memory of her father. I think this is a wonderful idea! I only wish I had thought of it myself! In my mother's case, one of her favorites was peppermint patties. I could see myself handing those out.  Susan had a reason for using the "100" count.  I need to decide on an appropriate number to use for my mother...I know, 64! That is how old she was when she passed. It's never to late to start, right? Happy 75th Birthday Mom! (Perfect post to mark my 600th blog post!) Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!  Copyright © 2011 By Cheryl Palmer All Rights Reserved

I saw this announcement from Thomas MacEntee at GeneaBloggers about the opportunity to win a free "ObitKit- A Guide to Celebrating Your Life!" and instantly decided, I want to win one! The ObitKit  is an upbeat, detailed book which helps give you ideas and put together your life story. In order to enter, you need to write your own obit and post it on your blog. I have long felt that I would like to write my own obituary because I don't feel others would know dates, places or even enough about me to write one that included everything I felt it should. As a family historian, I look at making sure I have the correct names, dates and information above all else. As long as I have felt that I want to write my own obituary, I have never attempted to do so. That is until tonight. I found it is much more difficult than you might think. At one point it seemed I was writing my life story, and needed to makes cuts and shorten everything up.  Suddenly, it dawned on...

It was 5:30a.m. and we were standing at the US Air terminal. Although I was excited about this trip, I wasn't looking forward to the flights. It was going to be a long day, about 18 hours before boarding for the cruise. This includes layovers and changing planes. I don't sleep on airplanes. It is not that I don't want to, I just can't. No matter how hard I try (maybe that is the problem, I try) it doesn't happen for me. I can sit there, close my eyes and rest them, but there was no sleeping for me. We took off that morning right on schedule. Leaving San Francisco, we were headed to Charlotte, North Carolina. This was approximately a four hour flight. I brought my Nook, some magazines and puzzle books. Have I ever told you I love Sudoku puzzles? I spent most of my time on this flight working puzzles. In fact, I need to purchase a new Sudoko puzzle book as I have completed the one I have. I have been known to do Suduko puzzles on my phone too, always have to be doin...

San Francisco, California. November 2010. Digital photo. Held by Cheryl Palmer. [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] 2011. This event is now history. As in, it happened, it is finished, completed, done. It is my history and a trip I would like to document for my ancestors. This is also a perfect place for others to read about our trip. So, here we go with Part 1! Originally, we planned to take a cruise which included a stop in Egypt as we both wanted to see the pyramids. That is the cruise we booked several months back. A few months passed and we were informed the cruise ship would not be stopping in Egypt any longer because of the civil unrest that was ongoing in that country. They moved the stop to somewhere else, I don't even remember where now. We chose to change the cruise we were originally set up for and ended up booking the cruise we just took. Taking an extended vacation took some planning, as it does for most people. In some ways it may actually take a little less planning f...

This is a meme that Geniaus has complied and I am going to participate. Here it is in Jill Ball's own words! Thanks for the fun! The Ancestors' Geneameme Many genealogists took up my challenge in the recent  Tech Savvy Genealogists Meme  so I thought I'd put together another  Geneameme  (new term just coined). Once again this is the result of a quick personal brainstorm, I have tried to make the statements generic so that the meme has international relevance.  I invite anyone with an interest in genealogy to participate. If you don't have a blog and wish to participate you can  send your responses to me in an email  and I will pop them into a blog post on the  GeniMates blog . Please let me know when you participate by a comment on this post or by  email  and I'll collate  a list of responses  on this blog.   It would be appreciated if genealogists would let the meme run its course before copying and republishing it wi...

I am following  Tonia's Roots  as she brings several GeneaBloggers through 31 weeks of working towards a better blog, prompts written by Darren Rowse.  I was a couple weeks behind  due to being on vacation, so I am playing catch up! Here is the challenge from Tonia~ This week’s task is to find a blog buddy.  Let’s face it; blogging is often a solitary endeavor.  Bloggers who work together, often have more success.  Blogging buddies can be one-on-one relationships or small groups. 9 Reasons You Need a Blog Buddy You can proofread and critique each other’s posts, before pressing “publish.” You can share link love. You can promote each other’s posts via social media channels. You can help each other stay motivated. You can trade guest posts. You can brainstorm together and bounce post ideas off each other. You can critique design and other non-text elements. You can help build blog comments. You can hold each other accountable. Bloggi...

For this "Those Places Thursday," I would like to share a new bit of news regarding Sweden and the Swedish TV show I applied for. It came to my attention this morning that the website for the Swedish TV show, "The Great Swedish Adventure" , aka,  "Everything for Sweden" has been completed and is up and running! I am sure most of you will remember or realize that this is the show I auditioned for. I made all of the cuts clear through to the live audition when they flew me to Burbank, Ca. That was the final step for a place on the show... but alas, another fine lady out did me for one of the 5 women's positions on the show. I have been anxiously awaiting, hoping to have the opportunity to watch the program here at home. The website shows all of the contestants, who they are, where they are from and what they do. Five women and five men. I would like to thank Kirstin Highfield, one of the 10 contestants, for sharing this information with us! It look...

(...this was not our plane however...) Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!  Copyright © 2011 By Cheryl Palmer All Rights Reserved

I am following  Tonia's Roots  as she brings several GeneaBloggers through 31 weeks of working towards a better blog, prompts written by Darren Rowse.  I am a couple weeks behind  due to being on vacation, so I am playing catch up! What pages are important on your blog? Spend a few minutes identifying about 10 pages or posts on your blog that are the most important or most powerful in helping you achieve your goals as a genealogy blogger.  Some of these will be unique to your blog, but there are likely some commonalities for all of us. Your Front Page This one is pretty obvious.  Most traffic is going to come through your home page.  It’s probably the page you promote on social media profile sites or the page that others link to when they mention your blog.  It’s also a page that visitors are likely to click on if they land on one of your older posts.  We’re not talking about a complete design overhaul today; rather we are looking for s...

I finally attended a Family History Expo ! I can cross that off my bucket to do list. It started this past Friday, October 7, at what I thought was a unique time. Registration was at 1:00 p.m. I loved it! Holly, if you are reading this, I am sorry I forgot to let you know, but I did love it! By starting at 1:00 in the afternoon and ending at 9:00 pm that evening, I personally was able to avoid what has been lately termed as "the traffic jams of L.A." That alone was wonderful! Keynote speaker was M. Bridget Cook . I really enjoyed her upbeat attitude and loving, gentle personality. I felt I could have sat and listened to her all day! I also felt as if I had heard her before, or that she was an old friend. (Maybe I have heard her at a spiritual seminar in my other life but my aging conditions hinder me from truly recollecting this...) She spoke about "Handling and Healing the Skeletons in your Genealogical Closet." She was a perfect speaker for this subject! I l...

Today is the day! I'm finally attending this event! Registration begins at 1:00pm this afternoon in San Mateo. The Keynote Speaker, M. Bridget Cook, will open at 2:00pm. She is a national best selling author and teaches how to write "your own legacy". Her work has been seen on Oprah, Dr. Phil, Good Morning America and in People Magazine. (I thought I had seen her before!) Today her Keynote Address is entitled, "Handling and Healing the Skeletons in Your Genealogical Closet." I live close enough to this event that I will be commuting to it each of these next two days. There will be 28 classes to choose from this afternoon alone. I am having a tough time deciding which to attend! For instance, I would like to sit in on Bruce Buzbee's Personal Historian 2 session, (Roots Magic is one of the major sponsors), but Arlene H. Eakle, Ph.D., is giving a session on Pennsylvania ancestors and documentation which also interests me. Lisa Louise Cook, Stephen Morse,...

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, September 18, 2011. Digital photo. Taken and held by Cheryl Palmer. [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] California. 2011 Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you success in all of your genealogical treasure hunts!  Copyright © 2011 By Cheryl Palmer All Rights Reserved

California's Third Family History Expo is this weekend and I am looking forward to it. I have tried each year to make this event, however other things have apparently been more pressing. Finally, I can attend!  Here is the press release from August 8, 2011 with the details, I hope to see you there! For more information: ShyAnna Chambers, Executive Assistant expos@fhexpos.com 801-829-3295 Learn the Tech to Trace Your Roots, Northern California Family History Expo Learn the tech to trace your roots at the Northern California Family History Expo, October 7-8,  2011 at the San Mateo County Event Center, 2495 S. Delaware Street, San Mateo, California. “Family History Expos is the place where ol’ dogs learn new tricks and young puppies learn old  ones,” founder and president Holly Hansen said. “We want to assist in the journey of tracing  your roots with the best results.” The Expo opens for registration at 1pm on Friday with a keynote address by M. Bridget Cook ...