2012 Coming to an End

As 2012 comes to an end, it is natural to think about the new upcoming year and what to do to make it better.  I don’t want to call it my resolution, but instead, my action plan.

So here is my action plan for next year.

1. The Luna line – I had tried to get this line as complete as I could so that I could use it as my entry for the National Genealogical Society Family History Contest.  However, I was not able to complete that for this year.  My action plan will include 1) writing to the Mexican government to get birth, death and marriage records for several members of the Luna family.  Also on my action plan is to 2) Interview my Aunt Jessie who last March turned 100 years old.  This needs to be done first and I will need to talk to my cousins (her daughters) to set it up.
2. The Sanchez line – Well this research was pretty much completed by my mother.  I plan on 1) getting her permission to post some of the family research that she did.  I don’t know much about her research and the stories she has, but I am looking forward to learning more about it.  I also want to 2) create profiles on this family as well and post them here.
3. The Stanard line – This family line has come to a complete stop.  Well that is, I haven’t been able to progress any further with it.  There is a rumor around the family that there is an old family bible that has dates for other family members and I have been told it would further the tree.  So, my action plan for this family is to 1) Continue to look for that Bible and have my husband look for it too when he is visiting his mom’s house.  I also need to 2) gather my notes on busting through brickwalls and apply those techniques to the walls I have now.
4. This blog – I do have an action plan for this blog as well.  Now that I am not rush to finish the NGS Family History Writing contest, I will be 1) posting more profiles from the Luna family line.  I also will be 2) posting more about the Stanard line as well.  I also want to 3) update the editorial calendar to make sure it accurately show my posting schedule. 

I don’t like resolutions because they are easy to break.  This is why I use my action plan.  I like the way it sounds, like its do-able.  So, what are your plans for the new year?  Any changes you want to make?  Post a comment and let me know.

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone of my readers a safe, prosperous, and a very Happy New Year!!

This image used with permission. Original image by http://dryicons.com

 

Municipal Divisions of Zacatecas, Mexico

Well with me just posting my Research Guide for Zacatecas, Mexico; how can I not post the map that shows the municipal divisions within Zacatecas, Mexico.  This map along with my research guide would be helpful to any genealogist who is doing research in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Municipal Divisions of Zacatecas, Mexico

Zacatecas, Mexico – Research Guide

As part of an assigment I had from ProGen15, I had to create a Genealogy Research Guide.  In working on this assignment, I decided to create one for the State of Zacatecas, Mexico which is where my paternal grandparents are from.  I recieved a lot of constructive feedback on this assignment and have incorporated as much as I possible could.  So without further ado, here is my Genealogy Research Guide for Zacatecas, Mexico.  Make sure you have Adobe Acrobat reader to view it.

Genealogy Research Guide for Zacatecas, Mexico

Monthly Aspirations – March 2012

Well this month starts another chapter in getting the information for my submission for the NGS Family History Writing Contest.

This month is my interviewing month.  This is the month that I planned on interviewing several family members.  The first on my list, is my Aunt.  She will be 100 years young in April and I am anxious to interview her.  Although she does speak English, I will have my dad, her younger brother, there at the interview.  I know that she is more comfortable not only having my dad around, but also speaking Spanish.  I am hoping that she reveals a lot of stories of her immigration to this country and of my grandparents when the family was first starting out.

The other items on my aspirations list is the following:

 

Indexing:  I have signed up and been approved as a 1940 Census Ambassador.  I am excited to help create the index list for the 1940 Census.  You can help too.  Just click on the badge above and sign up to help.  We need all the help we can get to get the index to the public sooner.

Brickwalls:  Last Saturday I broke through my brickwall that I had with my submission for the writing contest.  You can read about it here.  Now that I know my grandmother’s correct full name.  I need to research her possible parents and her possible siblings.  In order to do this, I will need to pull some microfilm from the Family History Library and go through them to find the siblings baptism records.  I also need to still search for and find the baptism record for my grandmother as well.

So those are my aspirations for this month.  What are you planning for the month of March?

Saturday Update – February 25, 2012

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending John Schmal’s Researching Your Mexican Roots: Following the Paper Trail at the West Los Angeles Family History Library.  In this class, I learned the highest priority items needed to start a search in Mexico.  It was a real eye opener.  I also learned a few facts about the Mexican state of Zacatecas (where my grandparents were from) and it helped in breaking down my brickwall on my grandmother. I was so very happy to have been searching some of the records on the Family Search website and found my grandparents marriage license!

This marriage license was a treasure trove of information, some that I had and it was verified and some that was new to me.  It verified that my great-grandfather, Salome Luna, had passed, but I didn’t know that he had passed before my grandparents were married.  It also verified that my grandmother’s father was Esteban Robles, but I found out that my great-grandmother, previously only known as Pabla, was actually Paula Esparza.  So I have found my maternal great-grandmother!

This information has led me to search for any event for Esteban Robles and Paula Esparza.  I found two more children that were born to an Esteban Robles and Paula Esparza.  There is a possibility that these two boys are my grandmother’s brothers.  The only way to find out is to order the film and look at their baptism certificate and see where they were born.  If it turns out to be her brothers, it will also tell me who my great-great-grandparents are as they are usually listed as well.  I will be ordering those films soon!

This is the same family that I am working on for my entry into the NGS Family History Writing contest.  Although I was able to break through my brick wall, I wasn’t able to interview as much of the 3rd generation that I had planned.  I will have to add that to next month to make up for it.  All in all, it was a spectacular weekend with a great brickwall buster to boot!!!

Happy Anniversary/Valentine’s Day to Tiburcio and Vicenta Luna

Happy Anniversary and Valentine’s Day to my grandparents, Tiburcio and Vicenta Luna.

Tiburcio and Vicenta Luna (Used with permission)

When I obtained a copy of my grandfather’s Immigration file from the INS about 10 years ago, I found out that my grandfather had married my grandmother on Feburary 14, 1918. 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Anniversary Grandpa and Grandma!

Monthly Aspirations – February 2012

For my February aspirations, I will be starting to focus on the 3^rd generation of my NGS Family History Writing Contest submission family.  Although it includes my aunts and uncles, my focus cannot be my dad (according to NGS contest rules).  Instead, I will be focusing on one of my uncles.  Although I have some information, I need to get my copies of documents, verify the information I do have and also interview my aunts and uncles. 

So for the month of February, my focus will be to verify the information I have on my dad’s siblings and to fill in any gaps I may have.  Wish me luck!

Saturday Updates – 14 Jan 2012

The updates are as follows:

Contest –  I looked at my family group sheets and the pedigree chart for this research line and realized that I have some on most everyone except for my grandmother, Vicenta Luna (Robles) who is the brick wall in this family line.  I don’t know who her parents are or if she had any siblings.  So this week I focused on her.  I created a timeline for her and after analyzing the timeline, I realized that all I have is her birth, marriage and death date but no original documentation to back it up.  Her birth date came from the California Death Index which may not be correct.  Her marriage date came from my Grandfather’s (her husband’s) Immigration Record.  It was filed two years after her death.  Her death info also came from the California Death Index as well.  I also noted that there is a different spelling of her name on the Death Index as opposed to the spelling on my Grandfather’s Immigration documents.  So, when I search for any documents for her, I couldn’t find a thing.  I believe that when you have a brick wall, it means that some piece of information that you have is wrong.  It could be the dates or places of birth or death.  So I decided to get a copy of my grandmother’s death certificate.  I figured that working backwards, the death certificate would be a good place to start.

Well that is all that I was able to focus on this week.  I am hoping that the death certificate will bear some fruit that will be useful in my research.

Have a great weekend y’all!!!

Saturday Updates – 07 Jan 2012

Good Morning y’all!  Its my day off and its a wonderful, beautiful day here in Southern California.  Here is my list of updates for this past week.

Volunteering – I have signed up and committed to index 100 pages by May.  Well, on Monday, my day off, I completed 21 index pages and I am off to a wonderful start.  I may even surpass my original 100 page goal!  Woo Hoo!

Contest – I determined which generations of my Luna line that I want to use for my entry into the NGS Family History Contest.  This is a big step in getting this submission and the subsequent research going. I’m feeling very positive about this entry.  The story from this line has grabbed my soul and I feel that it is a story that needs to be told.  I hope I do it justice.

Editorial Calendar –  It is one of my resolution to keep up with the posting that I have made a commitment to for this blog.  One step in that direction is to update my editorial calendar and genealogy calendar with all of the blog posts, genealogy classes, webinars, and events that will take up my time.  This allows me to plan my time and when to write the posts that are needed for this blog.

During all of these things that I have done, I also have a life as well.  Although I moved on the 1st of December, I still have boxes to be emptied and items to be organized and put away.  Well this is what made me so tired and why this post is late.  This reason may cause me to be late again, but as more and more boxes are emptied, and items are organized and put away, it will happen less and less.

Have a great Monday and a wonderful week!

Tricia

Monthly Aspirations – January 2012

I am sorry this is a few days late, but better late then never.  Yesterday I sat down at lunch and worked on what I would aspire to complete this month.  Well I pretty much ended up planning my monthly aspirations for the rest of the year.

When you make a goal or resolution, one way to complete it is to break it down into smaller projects.  This helps to keep it managable and keep you focused on getting it done.  So, one of my goals for 2012 is to enter and hopefully win the NGS Family History Writing Contest.  You can read about my goals for 2012 here under contest.

The prize of this contest, as it is listed on their website, is as follows:

• The person who compiles the most outstanding family history will receive an expense-paid trip to the next NGS Family History Conference. The benefits include travel to and from the conference, hotel accommodations, conference registration fee, and a complimentary banquet ticket.
• Manuscripts meeting the requirements will be submitted to the editors of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) for consideration and will be placed in the NGS Library.  (Read more about the contest here.)

It would be wonderful to be able to win this prize and possibly be published in the NGSQ!  So I will be submitting my entry before the December 31, 2012 deadline and hopefully win an expense paid trip to the NGS Conference of the States in Las Vegas, NV in 2013!

With this contest as one of my goals for 2012, I definately needed to break it down into smaller projects.  So part of my Monthly Aspirations for January 2012 is to complete the following:

• Prepare and organize the information I do have on my Luna family line and determine which generations I will submit.
• Analyze the information I do have and determine what information I still need to find out.
• Prepare a research plan that lists what I still need to find out and determine the time frame to get it done, the repositories to visit and the people I need to talk to.

In addition, I also have the following monthly asipriation that are not related to the NGS Family History Writing Contest.  They are as follows:

• Writing – Keep up with the Editorial Calendar that I posted about last year (read it here), and post the scheduled items as I had listed on the calendar.
• Indexing – Index a minimum of 10 pages this month.  This, hopefully, should be easy to do.  If I keep to the 10 pages a month goal, I will accomplish my goal for 2012 of indexing 100 pages by October!
• Research on how to breakthrough brickwalls.  Watch webinars, read books, talk to other genealogist who broke through theirs, but I need to break through my Vicenta Luna wall!

So, this is a lot to complete this month but I am confident that I will get it done.  I hope you get your to-do list done this month!

Tricia