Busy in June

The You Go Genealogy Girls are busy like everybody else.  You Go Genealogy Girl #2 is visiting a cousin in south central Nebraska.  I am trying to get everything ready for another excursion.

Heading Lil' Red to Wyoming on Thursday morning.  I will be speaking at the Family History Expo http://www.familyhistoryexpos.com in Casper, Wyoming on June 27th and 28th.  It will be held at the Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Centre at 123 West E in Casper.  Since I am notorious for getting lost, I hope I can find it!

If you would like to attend a first class, two day conference pertaining to genealogy, this is your opportunity.  You can register online and view a schedule of events at the the Casper Expo web site.  There will be classes about Scandinavian and German records, how to use Flip Pal, organization of your genealogy, immigrants, naturalizations and much, much more.

Ruby --- You Go Genealogy Girl #1

We are home and planning a busy summer...of conferences

The girls finally arrived back in Nebraska this week after a tiring but fairly successful trip to the Family History Library. Both of us have mounds of papers and digital scans to work at getting organized, some of which will wait until fall when life slows down a bit. We should consider our trip at another time of year when we can come home and hibernate for the winter with all our precious finds, but we will get through it all and organize our treasures as soon as possible. Girl #1 has started going through hers and I simply organized mine so that when I get time to work on my papers I won't be lost as to what is what and goes to whom!

I acquired a wonderful little "bug" while in Salt Lake, so as we made our way home the trip was slightly longer with extra stops but we made it and even managed a couple shopping stops with purchases to add to all our baggage and junk. Both of us came with several new books for our libraries!  Now that we are home we can turn our thoughts to the busy schedule of travel, vacations and conferences coming over the summer.

Civil War Conference, July 8-9- Alliance, Nebraska

  Number 1 will be speaking at several of the Family History Expos during June and July and she will travel with Holly Hansen and Arlene Eakle to those venues. Family History Expos offer educational genealogy classes at reasonable prices and many are planned in various communities allowing for easy access to them. I will vacation with Go Hubby, help with the planning for our local conference and work on my lectures that are upcoming. Both of The You Go Genealogy Girls will be  among the presenters for the two day Genealogical and Historical Civil War Conference that will be held at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center in Alliance, Nebraska on July 8-9. "Remembering the Civil War...150 Years Later " has been in the planning for many months, with noted academic speakers and genealogy specialists as our featured speakers. We are offering 23 programs and classes over the two days with attendees able to take in every class if they choose. This will be a very special conference for Nebraskans and visitors from surrounding states. The girls are looking forward to a wonderful time during this outstanding conference which will be sponsored by our genealogy/history Society, The Heritage Seekers, and our beautiful new Knight Museum and Sandhills Center.

Join us if you can for any of our conferences, we would love to have you!

For information on the Family History Expos, click here.

For information and a downloadable 4 page brochure on the Civil War Conference in Alliance, Nebraska on July 8-9,  click here.

You Go Girl #2--Cheri

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The year of 2010 has been a great and fun year for The You Go Genealogy Girls. During this past year we have been able to pursue our love of genealogy in many different ways and were privileged to get to meet so many new friends along our well traveled roads. We got to meet and make lots of new friends this year while we attended some great Family History Expos and during our annual research trip to Salt Lake. Every museum, library and even some of the cemeteries we visited brought wonderful new discoveries and we even made new friends in each of these places too! Thanks to everyone who helped make our year such great fun and for adding to our list of "new best friends". We love you one and all and thank you for being our friends and faithful readers. We hope to see you all again soon and to have the opportunity to meet many new friends too.

The Lord willing, us sisters-in-law (also known as the You Go Genealogy Girls) will be on the road again in 2011 to pursue finding even more treasures and knowledge. We feel so lucky to be able to do what we really love and being able to do it as a team surely does make it even more enjoyable. Those newly discovered ancestors should appreciate the excitement and love that two of us at a time exhibit when we manage to bring them into the light. Two silly old Grannies jumping for joy in the dark recesses of a court house or library must be quite a site as we have been known to celebrate and exhibit unruly behavior. We may have to tone it down a bit in 2011 and act more our age......or maybe not!

Our wishes are that each and every one of you will have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year with your loved ones. This is such a special time to make new memories and also to remember those awesome people who went before us and provided us all with the opportunities we have in this world.

We will resume writing in 2011 and see you all very soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The You Go Genealogy Girls; Ruby and Cheri



You Go Girl #2- Cheri

It's Official, We Are Now Famous!

The "Girls" are now officially famous in the world of genealogy. Today, our blog was quoted by Arlene Eakle in her Virginia Blog! Arlene will soon be teaching classes again when she will be a presenter at the upcoming Atlanta Family History Expo. I recently told about Arlene and some of her classes at the Expos. Thanks to Arlene for shining the spotlight on The You Go Genealogy Girls but her lectures brought about our entire blog post. The knowledge that she holds and imparts to those taking her classes is truly a labor of love. Many genealogists share but not many with her busy schedule and demands on their time spend so much time helping others to learn. She calls it Vanity Runs Amouk, hardly so, as she deserves the accolades!

The Atlanta Family Expo will soon be in full swing so if you are even close to the area and love genealogy you should plan to attend. All the classes presented are very good and the fun of the conference and meeting new friends is a wonderful experience. Arlene will again give her lectures on Southern Research, some of her best! Lisa Bratton will present a class geared toward researching a historic slave family and Leland Meitzler will offer "Finding Your Civil War Era Ancestors". Many others will be presenters for this Expo and several of the classes will center on the Southern area. Wish I was going again just take Arlene's classes and to brush up again and to pick up some new guidance as she delves a bit deeper into Southern Research.

My recipe for learning includes some suggestions for everyone now that Winter is upon us and today it really feels like it is here with snow in the forecast. Brrrr....The time has changed and with more dark and quiet evenings we can surely find more of that time for quietly sitting and reading; to study the important historical aspects that certainly affected our ancestors. I do look forward to winter only for the slowed time that comes with it and the additional time to learn more about genealogy!

Get in the car or on a plane and visit an Expo in your area. If you can not do that then at least set aside some personal learning time for yourself on these cold evenings. Sit back with a hot cup of tea, a good book, or a class syllabus, this is the perfect time of year to relax and energize your genealogical batteries with knowledge. Order "Genealogical Resources of the Civil War" by Dollarhide through Leland Meitzler's Family Roots Publishing Co., or Arlene Eakle's "Tennessee and Kentucky, Twin Gateways to the South" from The Genealogical Institute, Inc. They are the next best thing to attending a Family History Expo in person. How lucky we are to be experiencing this wonderful place and time in history when knowledge surrounds us within many venues. Your computer, a book, a museum, or even a conference: pick one or all and never stop the learning -maybe you too will become famous!

You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

Arlene Eakle's Southern Research Classes

Arlene Eakle was one of the premier speakers at the Kansas City Family History Expo recently. This lady is such a joy to know and any time that you can sit and visit with her, you go away feeling as though your knowledge base has just widened, even if "learning" was not the original subject of the conversation! She is more than willing to answer direct questions to help anyone further your quest for more records or ancestors.

At Kansas City, she offered a fantastic array of classes which centered around researching in the Southern States including:

"What is the South?..and Why is it Different"
"Birth, Marriage and Death Records in the Southern States"
"Migrations of the Southern Church Groups to the Midwest: Routes and Sources"
"Want Land, Will Travel. Southern Land Records: State by State".

I was particularly interested in all her classes as I do research in NC, MS, TN and VA; her areas of expertise. Even someone who does not research those areas could have gleaned at the very least- a good history lesson! The Family History Expos always have a great selection of speakers including Gina Philibert Ortega, Leland Meitzler, Ron Arons, Lisa Alzo and many others but if you are lucky enough to attend one which features Arlene as a speaker, you will not go home without new ideas and great directions to further your research.

She always has a booth on site too and offers a very good selection of her own published books as well as some good books by other authors in the genealogy field. Some of her newest titles are "Genealogy in Land Records" and "Tennessee Research" and I was lucky to have purchased several of her titles as well as other great books at the Expo.Winter needs to hurry and come so I have more of those quiet evenings of reading!

Look for Arlene Eakle at the California Family History Expo in October where she will again present some very informative classes. Dr. Eakle also writes several blogs and started the Genealogical Institute Inc., in Tremonton, Utah.You can reach her or get links to her blogs HERE. The Family History Expo Channel offers several interviews with Dr. Eakle as well as with several of their other presenters.

by: You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

Arlene talks about Virginia research:

Vacation Is Over--For Now!

What a busy last two weeks! I have been on the road again but this trip was not with the company of You Go Genealogy Girl #1 in the drivers seat. On July 25th I headed east towards the Family History Expo in Kansas City. First stop was an overnight at the home of Girl #1 in North Platte, Nebraska. We shared some notes, updated our I-Touch family apps and visited about the upcoming Expo. Tuesday morning I headed to Hastings, Nebraska to visit with my cousin, Joy, for a day. She and I do not get many chances to be together so it was a really fun visit for me. We went out to eat, toured Hastings and took some photos of the old historical buildings in downtown. She showed me the way to the highway that I would leave on the next day before we returned to her house. We played on her new piece of body inversion equipment and then had some wonderful berry pie. Hanging upside down definitely gives one a new look at the world. We thankfully saved the pie until after play time! The evening went by fast while we played on the computer, looking up some of her ancestors on various sites. She wants to start doing some genealogy and she enjoyed finding some of her unknown great grandparents--a good start for her future research. She has a large garden which can be seen from her kitchen table window and the morning I left there we had pie for breakfast(acting like we were kids again!) I loved watching the birds and seeing her beautiful garden flowers. Wish we lived closer as our short visit brought back many of the fun times we had growing up together.

Wednesday, July 28th I arrived in Topeka, Kansas at the home of our son and his family. There I got to spend time with the grandchildren and do a little research at the small library of the Topeka Genealogy Society. It was a really nice facility and jammed full of good books and held a large variety of genealogy periodicals. I was quite surprised at their holdings given a fairly small building that houses the collection. My son accompanied me there and we even found some good family info which I did not have! On Thursday, son Jason, and I packed up and left for Kansas City to attend the Family History Expo on the 30th and 31st.

Bright and early on Friday, we checked in and prepared for the full day at the Expo. Our first stop was setting up in the Blogger area. I was an "honor blogger" for the expo and we handed out bags of jelly beans and business cards for the You Go Genealogy Girls while we blogged and twittered during the day. It was a very busy day indeed. Meeting all the other wonderful bloggers, attending classes, buying books, and getting acquainted with many of the people from the world of genealogy. It was such a fun day and the lectures were packed with awesome research aids and helpful information. Saturday brought another busy day too. We both attended some different lectures and a couple classes together. We came home with pages of notes to be organized and put in our syllabus for future reference. Jason is a history major and really enjoyed the two days. He was surprised at what Mom really did with my researching as he thought it was just gathering names and vital records. Genealogy took on a whole new aspect with him and he picked up some very useful information for his field of study. With respect to the study of history, he was thrilled to have a different perspective on researching other than the common college classes offer. He is ready to attend another Family History Expo. We had a wonderful time together, the first real Mother and son outing for the past several years!

As the Expo ended we again packed and headed back to Topeka, Kansas. I spent a couple more days with family there. We did a bit of shopping but mostly stayed in where it was cool with temps of 106° and heat index of 115°. I had planned on some time at the public library but stayed home with the kids due to the devastating heat! Tuesday, Aug 3rd was the day that all the family packed up to head to my home in Alliance, Nebraska. Everyone was meeting again at my house to gather up some of their kids who had been visiting family in Wyoming and Alliance. My grand daughter, Katelynn who is 10 rode back home with me. We drove 7 hours back to North Platte, Ne., where we spent the night again with You Go Girl #1. She was anxious to see all my new books and get copies of my notes from all the Expo lectures. She and I spent a fun evening discussing genealogy while Katelynn played with her cousin, Tyrah who was staying over with her Grandma. The girls had great fun and it was nice because they do not get to see each other very often either. (The You Go girls really are "grannies"!)

Wednesday when Katelynn and I got home, the rest of the family was already there and packed-ready to leave for several days of camping. We got out of one vehicle, hugged the dogs, changed luggage, unloaded most of the books, and piled into another vehicle for the trip to the lake. Are you tired yet?--I was! Off to the lake we went, boat and camper in tow. Son, daughter-in-law, seven grandchildren, two Grandfathers, other in-laws and more kids! Needless to say, the few new books that I took along to read while I was relaxing never saw the light of day. Fun in the lake for the kids, cooking out, fishing for the guys and sitting around camp took up the last four days of my vacation. It was fun having family here as we do not get together very often. However--

This You Go Girl missed having a constant internet connection while traveling. At my son's house where there was a 3G connection, I had to share with others and sometimes could not get online and I had no internet while at the lake. I was having serious genealogy withdrawal, new books were waiting at home, and the heat was not helping my mood.

Today, life is getting back to normal, family all headed home to Topeka yesterday and we got the camper home and stowed until next time. All my great Expo notes need to be organized and pictures need to scanned for Girl #1 who is working on an exciting new project. Salt Lake FHL findings are ready to be entered in Legacy, books need to be read, and papers need to be sorted--again. Starting tomorrow I will share some pics and findings from the Kansas City Family History Expo. Thankfully, vacation is over--for now!

You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

How To Dress For Conferences

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 in her finest! She was prepared for the recent Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado. Gadget bag, I-touch, blogger beads and computer. Maxine would have been jealous.

Cheri, You Go Genealogy Girl #2, is preparing this week to attend the Midwest Family History Expo in Kansas City on July 30-31st. You never know what "characters" YOU might meet at a conference or Expo. Ron Arons will present "Researching Your Criminal Ancestors". Be sure to check out the full two day agenda online and make your plans to join us in Kansas City. Only 10 days before the fun and learning begins!

"Maxine" TM Hallmark Cards

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You Go Girl #2, Cheri

Breaking News!

You Go Genealogy Girl #2, Cheri, has been honored with being chosen to be one of the Bloggers of Honor for the upcoming Family History Expo in Kansas City, Mo. I hope to meet many or you there and I will be posting daily updates from the Expo. You can also check our blog archives for some great pics, and conference pointers that You Go Girl #1- Ruby provided from the recent Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado.

This is a new press release from the Family History Expo!

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

July 8, 2010

Info at a Glance:

What: Midwest Family History Expo
LDS Feature Tour: July 29, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Free Keynote Address: July 30, 8:30 a.m.
Family History Classes: July 30-31 all day
Screening of “The Forgotten Ellis Island”: July 30, 8:30 p.m.

Where: KCI Expo Center 11730 N. Ambassador Drive, Kansas City, Missouri.

Register: Online at http://www.fhexpos.com or call 801-829-3295

Family History Expos Debuts in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, MO--Nationally acclaimed Family History Expos will make its debut Midwest appearance in Kansas City, Missouri, July 30-31 with a special feature tour on July 29. The Expo will feature more than 100 family history-related classes taught by national experts at KCI Expo Center 11730 N. Ambassador Drive, Kansas City, Missouri.

Keynote speaker Lori Cox-Paul, director of Archival Operations for the National Archives at Kansas City (serving the Central Plains Region) will address family history enthusiasts from throughout the nation on July 30, 8 a.m., at the Exhibit Hall Classroom. The keynote address is free to the public and will be based on the theme, “Finding Your Family: Turning the Spotlight on Resources from the National Archives at Kansas City.” The opening session is free and opened to the public.

“We’re so excited to bring our services to family historians and genealogists throughout the Midwest,” Family History Expos Founder and President Holly T. Hansen said. “This event is a dream come true. We’ve had so many requests to hold a Family History Expo in the Midwest and now watch out, here we come!”

Family History Expos has held events to teach patrons techniques and technology to trace their roots throughout Western states for seven years. Hansen said this event is a result of natural growth and progression. “Family history research is so exciting, healing, and enlightening. We want to help everyone become more successful in their research quests,” Hansen said. The Expo promises more than 100 classes for beginning through professional genealogists.

This event is sponsored by Family History Expos, FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, AGES-Online, RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, Generation Maps, and Mid-continent Public Library.

LDS Tour Precedes Expo

For the first time ever the Family History Expo will be preceded by a LDS Historic Sites Tour featuring tour guide Glen Rawson, Thursday, July 29, 8:30 a.m.—4:30 p.m.

This eight-hour tour will take participants back in time to experience history at historically significant sites like:

• Mormon Church in Independence Missouri’s newly remodeled center honoring the past and the present, with exhibits depicting experiences of Mormon settlers in Missouri between 1831 and 1839
• Community of Christ Temple
• Liberty Jail
• Far West
• Haun’s Mill
• Adam-ondi-Ahman

The cost of the tour, $65, is in addition to registration for the Expo. Please register separately for the tour at our website, http://www.fhexpos.com.

Enjoy a Moving Movie with Family History Expos

Forgotten Ellis Island: The Extraordinary Story of America’s Immigrant Hospital by Lori Conway will be the feature film Saturday afternoon in the Exhibit Hall.

*****Professional consultations are free for REGISTERED attendees only.

Register Early and Save

Register online at www.fhexpos.com or call 801-829-3295.

· Pre-registration (by Thursday, July 29, 6 p.m.): $65.00

· At the door: $75

· One day: $40

· Single class: $12

· Opening session and exhibits are FREE to the public

· LDS Historic Sites Tour, Thursday, July 29: $65 (in addition to the general cost of registration)

Christine Sharbrough

Event Coordinator

Family History Expos, Inc.

P.O. Box 187

Morgan, UT 84050

On the Web: http://www.fhexpos.com

Main Office: 801-829-3295

Direct Line: 801-792-2596

Email: christine@fhexpos.com

The Conference Experience

Recently I was asked about getting ready for the Family History Expo in Kansas City. I am pleased the reader is going to attend that Expo. There is really no mystery about getting ready to attend a genealogy conference. However, you do want to make it the best experience possible. Here are some unscientific tips!

1. Prepare ahead of time by registering. YGGG#2 and I recommend that you register for both days of an Expo. That way you get the most bang for the bucks. Make sure you have room reservations (if you are staying overnight) ahead of schedule. Most hotels near or where the Expo is held fill up fast. In addition, the Expo is usually not the only event going on in large conference centers.

2. Keep checking the Family History Expo web page for your specific conference information. Closer to the time of the event, they will have a link for the syllabus. It can be downloaded in PDF. From that you can either print out all of the 200 plus pages or you can print out pages for classes you wish to attend.

3. YGGG #2 and I print out the entire syllabus and put it in a 3 ring notebook. We can review it ahead of time and decide which classes we wish to attend. Occasionally we change our mind about a class. Somebody at the Expo may recommend one over another or you may just have a mood swing at the last minute. Yes, the syllabus notebook is a big one to lug around at a conference, but it's worth it. (See #10)

4. Most people I have seen at Expos don't carry these notebooks. However, many times I have been asked about the syllabus notebook. I take notes directly to the notebook during the lecture. People tell me they wish they had printed it off or at least printed off what pertains to each class they attend. Presenters will often make reference to something in the syllabus and that's when you see blank looks.

5. The syllabus is also given to you in PDF format on CD when you register at the Expo. If you take your laptop into a class, you can download the syllabus and follow along in that manner. Not all rooms will have tables, so you may be forced to juggle the laptop on your lap. At the time of registration you can also opt to purchase the syllabus for a fee. That means in both instances you may have approximately 30 to 45 minutes before the opening speech to prepare for your classes. That's exactly why we print off the syllabus ahead of time.

6. Take comfortable clothes. Be prepared for changes in temperature from one conference room to another. You should take a sweater or light jacket just in case a room is chilly. Comfortable walking shoes are a must as you may be walking a little distance between classrooms and the exhibit hall.

7. Take money! It is tempting to buy everything in sight. The vendors at any genealogical conference are there to entice you to buy. Some may have interesting displays and demonstrations. If you are interested in software, be sure to ask questions and attend any hands-on demonstrations they are presenting.

8. The Family History Expos have a booth Ask The Pros. It is free and you can get advise on genealogy problems and brickwalls. If you are in need of this advise, go prepared with your information. Be sure you know the sources you have checked as well as names, dates and location of events.

9. Genealogy conferences are great for making friends. If you go with genealogy friends, branch out and visit with people from other areas. Make new friends. Be prepared to exchange e-mails. At lunch time, set with somebody you have never met. At the end of each class the presenter will normally ask for questions. Don't be afraid to ask and don't be afraid of presenters. They started "in the beginning" like everybody else and are there to share their expertise. They also learn from you!

10. How do you get yourself and all your "stuff" around the conference? You will see anything and everything at conferences. People who don't print out the syllabus are usually seen carrying a file folder and notepad. If you have "baggage" consider a backpack or bag on wheels. After your first conference, you will know what works best for you. If you have a hand held devise, you can also take notes on that. If you have a Twitter account, they encourage you to tweet highlights. I usually take up two chairs in a non-table room ... one for me and one for my baggage which includes a notebook, laptop computer, iPod Touch ... and I go with the wheels.

It is great experience and we hope you will attend at least one conference a year. Broaden your knowledge, speak the language of genealogy for a weekend and make new friends. Most importantly apply what you learn to your genealogical research.

YGGG #1 -- Ruby

Books About GENEALOGY

The Family History Expo Colorado has books and books and more books. The vendor room is fantastic! Genealogists collect books. Do we get around to reading them? Hope you do. I am going home with a few new ones.

Walking past the EasyFamilyHistory.com vending booth I spotted "Crash Course in Family History" Fourth Edition. Now who needs that if you are already doing genealogy? However, Paul Larsen has indeed written a very different book that will appeal not only to the beginning genealogist but to others who want to reference it for web pages, quotes and books.

Step One of the Crash Course is Identify Your Ancestors Using Family History. With a lot of colorful thumbnail pictures, quotes, web pages and sage advise, Larsen leads anybody interested in genealogy on the right path to identifying those ancestors.

Step Two is Add New Branches to Your Family Tree Using the Internet. Think you know everything about the Internet? I even picked up a few web pages that were unknowns to me when I browsed that section.

Step Three is Connect with the Lives and Stories of Your Ancestors. Do you appreciate your heritage or are you ashamed of it? Do you honor your ancestors or shut them up in the closet and throw the key away? Larsen takes you through timelines, applying history, plus a lot more.

I would highly recommend the book to beginners, even young adults and older children getting started on their ancestral quest. It would also make a great addition to a genealogical library. Consider it also for a nice door prize for a genealogy event of your local genealogical or historical society. Check it out!

YGGG #1 Ruby (still havin' fun in Loveland!)

A Learning Experience

Why attend a conference? Do you know everything you need to know? Doubt it. Even after years and years (telling my age?) I am learning. If I learn one thing from a speaker, it is a great experience. I always learn more than one thing!

You can also learn from other people. Maybe their ancestral path has crossed with yours. Or maybe they have used a certain state or county repository and can give you how-to tips. Just speaking my language ... GENEALOGY ... is worth the time and expense of attending a genealogical conference.

In my book the Family History Expos are the best! They aren't too big or too small. You get to know people who will smile and say hi in the halls. Then there is the opportunity to be stopped by someone you corresponded with 20-30 years ago. Yes, that happened to me this morning! What a great surprise. Wonder if our ancestors had anything to do with that!

YGGG #1 - Ruby (Hi, Cheri, you don't know what you are missing!)

Are we there yet?

I'm definitely in the right place. Driving to Loveland, CO yesterday I was like a little kid saying "Are we there yet?" Finally I arrived. It was a fun drive even though YGGG #2 was not with me. I think Lil' Red heaved a sigh of relief that all of #2's luggage was not on board!

Rubbing elbows with other genealogists is so much fun. Beau Sharbrough had a very interesting, humorous and yet meaningful opening address this morning. Did you ever stop and think about why you are doing genealogical research? If you have been it at as many years as I have, it's never time to quit. You will never have all the answers. But you keep trying. Beau reminded us that we are story tellers. Sometimes people don't want to hear our stories, but we keep telling them. I have found that young grandchildren are great sounding boards for hearing family history tales.

The Loveland CO Family History Expo is definitely the place to be. I am at the right place.

YGGG #1 - Ruby

Why Learn?

Genealogy is a learning game. You will never know everything you need to know. Basics are important, but as your research progresses, so must your knowledge. This can be geography, history, law and more.

If you don't know legal terms, look them up. There's great places to check on Internet, or you can always refer to Black's Law Dictionary found in many libraries. Don't know the history of states or counties. There's plenty to find on Internet or in books such as the Redbook, American State, County and Town Sources, published by Ancestry. This too can be found in many libraries that have genealogical collections. If you already own it, read it! One of my favorite places for maps is The Newberry Library's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Do you want to travel, do genealogical research and learn all at the same time? Want to meet genealogists, make new friends and converse with the experts? Plan on attending a Family History Expo in 2010.

I am leaving tomorrow for the Colorado Family History Expo in Loveland, CO. Check this blog often as I will be an Honor Blogger. I'm pleased to report to you about the latest happenings at the Expo. There will be well known speakers and popular vendors, such as Family Insight, Ancestry.com, RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, and Family Roots Publishing. If you are attending the Loveland Expo, be sure to stop by and say hi ... I will share my jelly beans!

YGGG #2 - Cheri is vacationing with Go Hubby. She is reading genealogy files while they camp and also making plans to attend the Family History Expo in Kansas City next month. We are going to be so well educated. We are also making genealogy memories in 2010.

YGGG #1 - Ruby