(This blog post was written as part of the A – Z blogging challenge given by 10 Minute Novelists. Therefore it is somewhat of an introduction of my blog and genealogical work, very familiar already to my  blog readers whose support I appreciate greatly, hope you enjoy this as well.)

Everyone who knows me, knows I am into genealogy! Yesterday, I joined a facebook group called “Genealogy Addicts Anonymous”!  Seriously.  Not one of us who joined this group wants to give up genealogy, we just want to join together with other ancestry obsessed!  I belong to four or five other genealogy groups online as well–like Genealogy Bloggers, Genea Bloggers, Irish Genealogists, Scotland’s People, Italian Genealogy, and more. Besides my own blog, I write for “Worldwide Genealogy~A Genealogical Collaboration”.  My blog is featured in a Netherland blog as well, as I occasionally write about my Dutch ancestors.  It’s fun, it’s informative, and we hope our work will leave our families something to treasure. Now that I’ve added stories about my ancestors through my blog “Heart of a Southern Woman”. I hope it just adds joy to the facts I’ve found in my research.

 I keep my main family trees on ancestry .com, with a backup on Family Tree Maker on my computer. My main tree, “Old Virginia Families” has over 23,000 people in it now! I have actually got 26 other family trees I have started on ancestry as well. These include, one for my husband’s family, and the rest for cousins! This has been my hobby/avocation for the last nine years.  It is absorbing, intriguing, and makes me feel like a detective at times. Yet, I have several “brick walls” still,  places where I can’t find the next generation. Lots of times, a group of us have gotten together to pool our skills, but we still can’t always find that elusive connection!

 A lot of people ask me questions about my work, other than who did you discover in your family tree this week? (one of my favorites) Questions like have you found anyone famous? Yes– how exciting is that! How about anyone historical? Yes, and yes!  Have you ever found someone in your family tree in jail? The answer is yes, I was shocked!  These finds thrilled and surprised  me! I had no idea I could trace my family back to Jamestown and the Mayflower! That I had ancestors who were the first in New Jersey! No idea one of my cousins married the daughter of Daniel Boone–after saving her from the Indians! Can you believe I am kin to the Plantagenets, the Tudors, and royalty in Scotland, Denmark, and Russia for heaven’s sake!  You can find all these stories in the index of my blog.  I actually did trace my granddaughter Eve back to Eve of Adam and Eve! No wonder I am kin to everyone, I guess we really all are!

 As for you  metaphysical folks–I’ve found some interesting phenomena in my family tree. In fact I wrote a five-part series about it in my blog, which you can find if interested at Interesting Phenomena in our Family Trees–in Our Lives–Coincidence? Happenstance? Serendipity? Reincarnation? Six Degrees of Difference?”

 One of the most fun things I have done in my life, was to get my dna done for genealogical purposes! Oh my gracious, it opened doors and introduced me to a hundred cousins I never knew before! I have attended at least two family reunions, with a third planned, for family I met through my dna or genealogical research alone, who are now good friends and actual family! The heart just grows you know!

 DNA also gave me my ethnic background, and verified what I already knew from my research–I am a melting pot American!  Scottish, Irish, English, Welsh, French, Dutch, Danish, Russian, Italian, Iberian Peninsula, Caucasus and more! LOL What fun is that, kin to the World!

This journey of genealogical research has turned into a lifetime’s adventure and more fun than I ever dreamed possible! What do you know about your own ancestors?