Finishing the Year Strong

It has been a busy genealogy year for me, I have had the opportunity to travel to conferences, visit cousins and various archives and museums in Canada. I have also made many new friends, connecting with people that have the same interest (PASSION) means there are people to celebrate my genealogy victories with!

2017

I am grateful for all the discoveries I have made this year; finding my 4th great grandmother’s surname Gertrude Cudlipp, military papers at LAC about William Jordan being ill in 1891, a photograph of Samuel Jordan at the RCA room in Kingston, a cousin I had lost touch with, a whole branch of my Jordan family was found after years of searching, being back in touch with another branch of the Jordan family (who found me because of my blog), and the numerous family photographs that have been shared with me by relatives. What a great year.

A trip to Ireland brought me face-to-face with a 3rd cousin who I have exchanged letters with for 10 years. On the same trip we visited a farm in Donegal where people with the Diver surname were living. The man of the house was willing to take the DNA test I brought and we have since confirmed a DNA connection between our families. After receiving the positive result I sent off a Y DNA test to see if the match is through the male line. Looking forward to those results arriving in 2018.

I have been working on journaling, I keep a diary but this journal is specific to my genealogy life, and I love having something to write in it.

DNA

It’s hard not to be swept up in DNA phenom, which has added a lot to my family tree. Relationships have been confirmed, but there has also been some confusion with a cousin not matching. I have found DNA a fascinating tool and I am excited to see my new matches in 2018. I wonder what the DNA companies will be offering us in 2018? My wish is for more tools to further help us figure out and group our matches.

A Goal Met

One of my goals this year was to start and complete a family history book. When attending the OGS Conference in 2015 I had visited Lynn’ Palmero’s table in the marketplace and was inspired by what she had done, her book looked amazing. I took her course at The Armchair Genealogist on using My Canvas.  I was hoping this course would be the motivation for me to start and finish a compilation of the research I had done. I am happy to say the Jordan family history book has been submitted for printing and I am waiting for the first copy to arrive on my doorstep!

Now that I have done one book using this program I hope to use the same format to create one for each of my grandparent’s families. The next family I will be focusing on is my mother’s Stewart family, which I hope to start in January.

What’s Up in 2018 for ME

What else do I have planned for 2018? A trip to Quebec City with a visit to their archives to further research my Jordan, Jeffery, and Norton, families.

As far as conferences go I plan to look into attending the I4GG Conference as I want to become more proficient in DNA analysis.

Blogging is also a priority as I enjoy sharing my discoveries and thoughts in this format. I will also be writing posts about my husband’s family so watch for those.

Who knows what else I will do next year, but I hope it will involve travel and more genealogy discoveries!

I am wishing all my readers a Merry Christmas and many new genealogy discoveries in the New Year.

Bring on 2018