I Heart Organization! Part II

A couple of weeks ago I started re-organizing my genealogy files using Mary Hill's Family Roots Organizer System.  (You can read Part I here.)  I finished the project just before Thanksgiving, which was a good thing as I needed one of the tables for Thanksgiving dinner!

I really enjoy my new file organization.  I had filed everything by surname and now I have them filed by surnames, then families.  It makes it so much easier to find everything. 

My pedigree charts are filed at the beginning of the drawer followed by my color-coded great, great grandparents' surnames.  Normally, one would have 16, but I haven't found one of their surnames so I have 15.  I have placed a 5-generation pedigree chart inside of each surname file. 

Next, I typed labels for each family on my 5-generation pedigree chart, using color coordinated file folder labels.  I used the full sheet ones as I found those easier to run through the printer.  The Family Roots Organizer System uses manila file folders for this step.  I used colored file folders because I already had them.  The family file folders are then filed alphabetically per surname.  Each family file folder holds:  family group record, documents, notes, and anything pertaining to that family.

I continued adding files for families.  I added new surname hanging folders as I came across them.  The picture above shows my direct line families on the right.  The files in the middle are the collateral lines I have researched.  I continued this way until I re-filed my information.  I left a few items in their original surname files as I haven't collected much information on them.  I will eventually file those into this system.  Plus, my research lately has been saved in digital format whenever possible.

Once my surname and family information was filed I moved on to locality and help files.  These files are orange in color, which was my choice.  Again, because I already had the supplies.  Locality files hold the information for places I am researching.  Help files hold information I use in my research.  Examples of these files are:  writing tips, conferences, military research, quick sheets, handwriting helps, repository information and society information.  

But the best part of a new file system is this:

an empty in-box!!!

Thanksgiving-52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Week 48:  Thanksgiving.  What was on your family's Thanksgiving table?  Do you serve the same dishes now as your family served in the past.

Thanksgiving was a celebration of food in my family.  Roasted Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, 24 Hour Salad, Rolls, and Pie are my memories of childhood Thanksgiving's.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2011

This year for Thanksgiving the menu was very similar to the above except I substituted brussel sprouts for the sweet potatoes, substituted strawberry salad for the 24 Hour Salad and added green bean casserole to the menu.

Here is Mom's 24 Hour Salad Recipe: 

2 eggs
4T. lemon juice
4T. sugar
2T. butter

Beat eggs in small pan over low heat along with lemon juice, and sugar.  Stir constantly until thick and smooth.  Remove from heat, add butter, and cool.  When cold, fold into 1/2 pint of whipping cream, whipped.  Add:

2 cups oranges, cut up
2 cups pineapple tidbits
2 cups small marshmallows
2 cups seedless red grapes, halved

Store in refrigerator overnight. 

Heirlooms at the Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving Day, 2010



One of my favorite heirlooms is my china.  My gold rimmed china was gifted to me through my mother from a special aunt.  Mabel Ruff Glover was the wife of Francis Henry Glover, my dad's brother.  She was a warm, loving woman.  I have fond memories of visiting her in Ferndale and Troy, Michigan.

Mabel Ruff was born 26 March 1921 in Highland Park, Wayne, Michigan.  She died 15 April 1996 in Deland, Volusia, Florida.

One of the special parts of holidays is being able to have a part of my ancestors represented at the table.  My china is one such part.  Do you have special heirlooms that your cherish around the holidays?

 

L-R  Aunt Mabel, Me and Linda, my sister, 1958


Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Mr. and Mrs. Chase Agnello-Dean

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Agnello-Dean

Happy Birthday, Linda

My older sister, Linda, sometime in the 1950's

Today is my older sister's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Linda

My Favorite Season-52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

Week 47:  Fall.  What was fall like where and when you grew up?  Describe not only the climate, but how the season influenced your activities, food choices, etc.

Fall is, and was, my favorite season.  Fall in Michigan is a beautiful site.  The crisp air, beautiful colors, and food bounty makes for a lovely mix. 

First, is the leaves changing colors.  The green leaves of summer turn to red, orange, yellow and brown.  They even have color tours that you can take to see the beautiful colors.  Leaves are also a good part of my childhood memories of Fall.  I remember gathering leaves in a pile and jumping in them.  Another favorite leaf memory is placing leaves in the shape of a house floor plan and playing in the different rooms.  A school assignment required collecting leaves and ironing them between wax paper.  Everyone knew where the unusual leaves could be found.

Fall weather is my kind of weather.  Warm, but not hot, days and cool nights.  The air can be crisp, but it is a great time to go to an apple orchard or pumpkin patch.  Windy days will cause leaves to swirl and an occasional rainy day can be found.

Fall activities centered around school, mostly.  I think of football games and homecoming.  I went to a lot of high school football games.  My dad was the defensive coach.  High School homecoming was a chance to get together with friends and float build.  One year we decorated one of our teacher's car as a ladybug.  We won first prize that year.  Homecoming culminated in a dance that every girl wanted to be asked to.

Other fall activities included going to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch.  I have fond memories of taking my children to the apple orchard.  Sometimes we would pick our own.  Other times we would buy a bushel of apples and donuts.  The kids loved the cinnamon sugar donuts prepared on site at the orchard.  Apple cider is another fall treat. 

Fall is the time to make soups, stews and chili.  Nothing tastes better after a day of football watching or leaf raking than a big bowl of chili.  Meat and bean chili is the norm at our house.  Other fall favorites include pears, squash, pumpkin, and anything made with apples. 

It would be hard to pick just one reason why Fall is my favorite season.  The weather, activities and food all come together to make it one of the most beautiful times of year here in Michigan.

Trescott Street-Those Thursday Places

Trescott Street, Harbor Beach, Michigan

My family moved here in 1968.  We lived here for five years.  A few improvements have been made to this house since we lived here.  The second story and porch were added.  The driveway to the right went back to a carport when we lived there.

I spent a good part of my teen years in this house.  A few of my memories of this house include:

• learning how to bake
• being picked up for my first date
• being walked home from a ball game by a boy and standing outside and just talking, really, just talking
• learning how to drive
• hopping across the creek to go visit a good friend, Ann
• hopping across the creek to play in the old school playground
• getting my shoe stuck in the muck as I hopped across the creek!
• running away from home and only making it one block before my dad picked me up
• biking from one end of Trescott St. to the other, which ended at the beach
• helping my mom clean, by scrubbing a lot of tile floors
• my brother, Neil, coming home from the hospital
• my sister, Linda's graduation party
• and, lots of family moments spent together.
 

I Heart Organization!

It is important for me to be organized.  Whether it is my house or my genealogy research, I am happiest when it is organized.  Clutter stresses me out.  So, when Legacy Family Tree offered webinars on genealogy organizational techniques I made sure I signed up for them.

Recently, Mary Hill presented a webinar on the Family Roots Organizer System.  This wonderful webinar was right up my alley.  Mary's system fits well with the way I organize things.  I can fit what I have already organized into Mary's system with a little tweaking of my files.

The Family Roots Organizer System is a simple and easy to understand way of organizing your genealogy research.  It uses a color coded system.  You organize your files in red, yellow, green and blue colors, using your grandparents surnames.  My current system already uses those colors.

The picture above shows my current system of organizing my genealogy.  I use the same four colors as Mary does but in a different order.  I will keep my order as it is what I am comfortable with.  Each file folders is organized by surname, using more than one as needed.  This will be changed as I work on the new organizational system.

I will be changing over to the Family Roots Organizer System in the next few weeks.  This is what I have done so far.

• Made a shopping list of supplies needed.  I needed to get colored hanging files, fine point sharpie pen, and file folder labels.  (A complete shopping list is available here.)  I added printer ink to the list.
• Put all supplies in one area, easily accessible to my file cabinets.
• I use Roots Magic as my genealogy software and had already color coded my family to match my colored file folders.  I just made sure color coding was on for printing of charts.
• Printed off family group sheets and 5 generation pedigree charts.  I had a current,  completed pedigree chart printed off already.
• Emptied out file cabinet drawers, you should see my office now.

This is as far as I have gotten.  Next steps will be moving my files into new folders and labeling them using the Family Roots Organizer System.  Check back to follow my progress.