Ring in the New 2012 Genealogy Goals

As we turn to the first page of our shiny new calendars, I am toasting the health and happiness of my friends and family in 2012, and looking forward to all that a new year brings. New opportunities, new friendships, and the reminder to be grateful for our many blessings (yes, Dad, I am making my Gratitude List!). The best part about blogging is meeting people who share a passion for genealogy, research, families, and even technology.

Amy Coffin and I had a great few hours considering how much we did (or didn’t quite) get done in 2011, and now we’re stepping into 2012 with a short list of we-can-do-it genealogy goals. You can read about Amy’s list here, and her 2011 progress report here. You can see my 2011 report and compare it to my initial goal list and January 2011 update.

My Genealogy Goals for 2012:

Research Goal — I want to do some colonial era research on my grandmother’s line to learn more about the early family roots. I confess my motivation here is to find an ancestor somewhere in our family tree that might interest my sons enough that they get bitten by the genealogy bug. I don’t know what I’ll find, but I’d like to know more about these shadowy ancestors.

AND, I want to work with my Chamblin/Chamberlain/Chamberlin line and try to make some progress with the Real Sam Chamblin.

Oh, one more research goal (but this one should be fairly easy) — I learned that my great-grandfather’s grave right here in Southern California does not have a marker; I need to confirm his birthdate and take care of this omission. That’s really three goals, but as researcher’s know… you never want to run out of objectives!

Organization Goal — It’s time for a little Blog Beautification. I have some ideas in mind to get my blog posts reorganized for easier access and more content I’d like to write and post.

Writing Goal — I would like finish the transcriptions for Aunt Mercy’s beautiful genealogy book, and work on the layout and design of this project. This is beginning to be a top priority because the interested family members are getting older (me too!) and I really want to put this book in their hands.

2012 is already shaping up to be a busy year for genealogy, and I am looking forward to making even more progress on my family research and with my writing. Three goals seem pretty manageable, and even though I wasn’t able to fully complete my 2011 goals I am pleased with my progress, and I’m sticking with the magic number 3.

Drop a note if you’ll be joining us with your Blogging Buddy in working toward  your 2012 Genealogy Goals. If you don’t have a buddy (yet), leave a comment and join in anyway. You don’t even have to share your goals; but write them down for yourself somewhere. It helps!

Happy 2012, genea-friends.