I can hardly believe how much time has gone by since my last post!  My apologies as I know all of you are sitting on the edge of your seats in anticipation.  But seriously, I’ve been keeping myself quite busy.

Here’s the rundown!

Client Research: I currently have several clients that I am researching for and have enjoyed the challenge that each one has presented.  The first is a long-time family friend who has asked me to research her grandparents origins.  Her grandmother was adopted and little is known of her origins.  It will not be easy, but I’m on the case looking at ship passenger lists, newspapers, and even baptismal records from the local Catholic church.  Such a challenge!  My second client is working on a lineage application for the Ohio Genealogical Society’s First Families.  In her case, it is a surprise for her husband.  The challenge of this research is that though we were able to find many records for each generation we have come up against an ancestor who lived in four different states throughout his life and we’re not quite sure who his parents were.  I’m still on the hunt and working with the client to find the record that will reveal itself.  Hopefully we will find that he served in the military and could request his Civil War records.  I’m crossing my fingers!

Conferences: I went to the Indiana Genealogical Society Seminar (at the Allen County Public Library!) and enjoyed presentations by J. Mark Lowe and had lunch with Amy Johnson Crow and Linda Swisher.  It was a great day trip.  Then in May I was fortunate to be able to set up a booth at the Ohio Genealogical Society’s conference and met many fantastic genealogists.   It was fun to meet so many people and get some feedback on my family tree designs.  It’s nice to know that they are liked by so many! This month led me to Midwestern Roots in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Yet again, I got to chat with many of my favorite people… especially Thomas MacEntee.  He’s such a genealogy ninja.  Love him!

Artwork:  I was hired to design a logo for a fellow ProGen student. I redesigned the logo for The In-Depth Genealogist and my IDG partner’s logo this past month.  It now reflects her busine ss focus a little better.  I’ve done a few family trees for people, but hopefully that work will pick up in the next few months as Christmas approaches!  Check out my shop to see what I have.

Volunteer Positions: I’ve taken on a role as a Trustee for the Ohio Genealogical Society and will be volunteering with the society for the next two years.  It has a lot of promise and will certainly be a fun thing to be involved in.  I continue to be involved with The Morse Society as their Website Chair.  We revamped the front page and are in the process of posting all of our past newsletter articles so that our members can read them all.  It’s going to be a great membership value.  I know I am looking forward to reading them!

Presentations: I’ve got a number of great opportunities to give presentations in the coming year… of course I am quite excited about the Legacy Family Tree Webinar I will be giving on September 3rd.  It will be “Getting Started Researching Your Jewish Ancestors”.  It’s designed for those who don’t know much about Jewish people and tries to take away the “scariness” of embarking on this research.  Don’t be intimidated!  I’ll give you some great tools to get you started on your Jewish research.  I have started a genealogy club at my day job and it has been a lot of fun.  Not only am I sharing what I’ve learned so far, but I get to hear about other people’s interesting families.  Cool!

Writing: I started a Jewish Gen Newsletter… I have only managed a few issues, but I do hope to get back to it soon.  If you’d like to sign up for it, go here. I am also still working on the Jewish Genealogy class that I have been commissioned to write.  If all goes well that will be done by the end of November.

Editing & Publishing: This year I’ve edited and published 8 issues of our digital magazine, Going In-Depth.  Each one is a labor of love. I’ve also worked with Cindy Freed and Shannon Combs Bennett to get their books published.  It can be a time-consuming project, but it is so amazing to see their books become reality.  Seriously awesome.  Their books are “Ancestors in a Nation Divided: A Guide to Researching Your Civil War Ancestors” and “A Genealogist’s Guide to Richmond, Virginia”.  Shannon has another in the works that I am currently editing.  It’s going to be great. I’ve also been hired as the newsletter editor for the Indiana Genealogical Society.  It’s a bimonthly publication and 20+ pages each time.  I enjoy seeing what all the local society’s are doing and it gives me ideas of what presentations are in demand.

Personal Genealogy Education: I’ve been reading a lot of great books lately, but mainly I have been focusing on improving my skills as a Professional.  I’m nearing the end of my ProGen 20 class and I must say it has really taught me a lot.  Not only have I been made aware of my own short-comings, but also what things I am doing well.  I will always be learning, but my confidence in my ability to adapt and learn has grown.  It’s a great experience.

Personal Stuff:  I don’t generally share a lot of personal stuff, but this is too good not to share.  My sister had her first child!  He’s a darling little guy named Dean and is all smiles and such a joy to be around.  Yes, I admit that I am smitten.  In other news, October brings the 2 year wedding anniversary for me and hubby.  I’ve also been in my house 11 years now!  Cannot believe that what I thought would be a 5 year home has been my place this long.  Not sure if we’ll still be in the house in the next few years, but it has certainly grown on me.  Last of all, I turn 40 at the end of this year.  Yup. I am declaring it.  I think I’m okay with it, but we’ll see once December rolls around.

My Day Job: I’m still working as a Traffic Engineer too! Working full time in addition to all the stuff above is tough.  I will admit that most days I’m pretty tired by the time I go to bed.  But I enjoy it all.  I like the engineering work and the people that I work with.  This year marks 17 years since my college graduation and I can hardly believe it.  Did I mention I’m turning 40?  Yea, maybe I do feel it after all.

So there you have it.  I’m a busy gal, but I’m loving it.  I love the quality time that I now take with my family and all the wonderful stories I hear of other people’s family.  It’s pretty awesome to connect with so many people on a personal level.  Not to mention that I feel more connected to my ancestors than I ever did before.  Life is good.