A Look Back Over 2014 And Goals For 2015

It’s that time of year again when we start to look back over what we have accomplished and what we would like to make better in the year to come.  Last year I didn’t post any genealogy goals for 2014.  I was expecting our 6th little baby and having a few health issues.  I knew that I would have my hands full in 2014!  LOL

Back in 2013 these are the goals I posted for that year.

I have made some progress on some of my Irish brick walls.  I spent a lot of time working on my Stinson line and going through the Ontario Catholic parish records on FamilySearch a few years ago.  I was sure I had finally put together the right family for my 2nd Great Grandmother Margaret Stinson.  Then in 2014 I made 4 DNA matches with descendants of her sister Jane Stinson and brother William Stinson.  It was wonderful to have that DNA matching as extra proof that I was on the right track.

I’ve tried to make it a habit to document my research using a research log.  I’ve had mixed results with this!  I have been using the research log that is part of RootsMagic and I really do like it.  However I find it very frustrating that it can’t be open at the same time your working on a person.  To often I find that after entering data in RootsMagic for a person, I forget or get distracted (by records or children!) to also open that research log and add it there.  I’m considering going back to using Evernote as my research log.  This way I can have both open at the same time to cross reference.

How have I done on getting caught up on the data entry backlog?  Welllllll….. If  I’ve made some progress on that, the backlog keeps growing.  I have a lot of information I have saved to enter on my Colonial American lines especially.

I’ve kept trying to learn about working with DNA.  In addition to the Family Finder test I was gifted a few years ago, this past summer I also tested with AncestryDNA.  While I don’t think Ancestry has good tools for working with your DNA, it desperately needs a chromosome browser!!  I have made some very good matches there.  Some of my cousin matches at both sites have become great friends that I enjoy sharing data with.

My blogging has not been very consistent here unfortunately.  I have managed to keep blogging steadily on my other blog Homestead Acres.  That blog focuses more on our family’s activities, recipes and gardens.  I am hoping to make more time to share here.  The problem is that I spend my extra time researching and often it’s hard to find more time to write about that research!  I’m going to try to join in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks meme this year.  I looked at it last December, but with a new baby coming I knew I would not be able to keep up.  I’ll be sharing about my plan for that soon.

So what are my goals for 2015?

I have a lot of hopes for this coming year, but I won’t be upset if I don’t make a lot of progress.  Spending time with our children always takes first place.

  1. I want to keep working on my “brick walls”.  I have a few Irish lines that stop short with their arrival in Canada.  I also have some brick walls on my Crowell, Davison/Davidson and Stewart lines I would love to make more progress on.
  2. I’m going to try to join in the 52 Ancestors meme and hope that I can make a good post each week.  I would like to use this time to go over my research that I’ve already done and make sure everything is sourced properly.  While doing this check new databases for additional information that may have come online since I last worked on these families.
  3. I’m going to join in my version of the Genealogy Do Over and I’ll post more about that soon to.
  4. I would like to expand my family DNA testing.  I’ve already ordered another DNA test and hope to test a few more family members this year.  Doing this will help so much with triangulating (grouping) my matches.
  5. I would like to test out a few more genealogy programs.  I’ve used RootsMagic as my main database for a long time.  I LOVE the program, but there are a few things that it can’t do that I want.  I also use Linux as my main operating system.  Maybe it’s time to have another look at GRAMPS.  Could I really leave my beloved RootsMagic?  I don’t know but a few little things are starting to bug me about it.

How was your 2014?  Do you have any special goals for this coming year?

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