Blogging Buddies and Genealogy Resolutions, report from the West Coast Partner

One of my favorite new holiday traditions is visiting with WeTree blogger Amy Coffin when she comes to town. This is the second season we have been able to meet and speak genealogy, and it is truly a highlight of the holiday for me.

Our conversation drifted around upcoming conferences and the cool new Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner until we really got to the interesting stuff of research and writing. When Amy mentioned her goal of finding her 16^th great-great-grandparent, it was a logical jump to put that at the top of genealogy goals for 2011. The scary thing is, while Amy was quick to think GOAL, I was merely thinking out loud.” Suddenly, we were at Goals and Objectives, and “hey, this might really get done this year!”

It always helps to have a buddy when there is a challenge at hand, and I was glad that Amy caught the ball and tossed it back to me to name Three Genealogy Goals for 2011.

One Research Goal

One Organizational Goal

One Writing Goal

While the first goal on Amy’s list was research, mine was all about writing family history. I recently borrowed the original parchment family genealogy researched and written by my Great Aunt Mercy Kinsel MacPhee. Until September of this year I had only seen poor photocopies made in the 1960’s. The original is a beautiful volume hand-illustrated in gilt and colored inks, and the owner would like to see it faithfully reproduced and shared with all the family. It’s a big job, but I need to see it through (or be left in Amy’s dust!).

My research goal is a continuation of one started years ago that has been drifting along without conclusion – establishing the Chamblin/Chamberlain/Chamberlin link with my maternal grandmother. With FGS slated this year for Springfield, Illinois, Chamblin territory, I want to get my research all lined up so that I can do any on-site digging that will help with this puzzle. I hope Amy is able to come to FGS so we can swap tales at theconference.

The organization goal is a tough one. This fall I moved from a PC to a Mac and in the transfer all my photos and documents were mixed up. I want to get everything nice and tidy again AND investigate new options in genealogy database programs now that I am using a Mac. I need to get my photos moved to an external drive and get my back up plan in place. There is a lot of work to do here, but the first step is just making a plan and moving forward. Amy’s scanning schedule is inspirational; maybe I’ll work up something similar.

Amy gives me too much credit for coming up with this challenge; it takes a buddy to make this work, and I feel pretty lucky she was there to throw out the first ball.

So, genealogy friends, what are you doing in 2011?