What is a Genealogist

Saw this long time ago on the internet author unknown
What is a Genealogist

A full time detective
A thorough historian
An inveterate snoop
A confirmed diplomat
A hardened sceptic
An apt biographer
A qualified linguist
A part time lawyer
A studious sociologist
An accurate reporter
An hieroglyphics expert
AND
A complete nut!

Genealogy Organization Week One

I have gone thru week one already but will tell you what I did so you can start if you like to get organized.
Week one I did the following . I cleared off my computer table ( which for now is my dining room table.. someday I want a real desk ) I made piles of every thing I have to be file, pictures were put aside for now. I will try to not look thru them for now. I have so many pictures but I am boxing them up.
I have gotten my office supplies together. You will need pencils, pens, page protectors ( tons of page protectors) I like the ones that have an edge with the holes so the papers you put in do not have to have holes. Over the years I have bought both kind and trust me these are the ones you want. You will be filing marriage certificates and death certificates, newspaper articles, stories and you do not want to put holes in them. You will want 3 ring binders ( for now one for mother's side and one for father's side but as you get more and more info you will need more than one for your research) , divider tabs ( get the kind with the larger tab so you can read what you write. I have bought both clear and colored and tho colored is pretty it is really hard to see through the dark purple divider. Ink for the printer and lots of paper to print on. Some envelopes both business size and larger 10 by 14 manila. A lot of correspondence will be on the Internet but there are times you need to request something by mail.
Set up your desk as you want. Maybe buy a new mouse pad. I have a short book case next to my table where I keep my binders and genealogy books. I have taken over the bottom half of our file cabinet for my family information.

My Aunt Alice Lives On In Me

My interest in family history started many years ago. My father had a twin sister who had the genealogy bug. Aunt Alice was her name. She would come to visit from California with her husband in their motor home. I loved when she came. In she would walk with her arms full of pictures, charts and graphs and tons of information of what she had found. They would travel the US visiting towns where our family had lived. She met many distant relatives. She love to visit with them. She would share family stories and search family bibles for information. She was very big on family reunions. Being that I lived in Minnesota and the reunions were in Washington I only made it once, but I remember how great it was. I have memories of my father's brothers playing horseshoes. Every one is gone now but I have the memories and the photos of that day.
She passed away several years ago but I feel she lives in on me. I have been working on my family history for over 10 years. My aunt Alice never knew all that we can find on the Internet today. Oh how I wish she was here to see it. One thing she did was pass on what she had in paper form with us and the Mormons genealogy center. She shared her pictures with several cousins so they are out there somewhere.
I love family research, the pictures, the family stories and visiting cemeteries. My favorite cemetery visit was in Boston. They have 2 or 3 old cemeteries. Somewhere buried there is a grandmother that lived about 300 years ago. I have in my papers her name. I know I will come across it as I work at getting my papers, pictures and stories together.
I have started to put my information on Ancestry.com From there I have heard from distant family. Because of the Internet and ancestry.com I have seen pictures of great great grandfathers I would of never seen if not for the Internet. This is the beginning of my genealogy blog. Hope that you will find it interesting as I share my stories and ideas I am using in my search.
My goals are to get organized and put together family books to show my children and grandchildren. By doing this I hope I can pass on the genealogy bug to one or more of them and maybe even one of you.
I have read many articles over the years on different aspects of family search. I plan to share with you in the next days what I am doing now and what I will be doing in the future to get my genealogy information organized so can move on with my treasure hunt of family roots.