Irish Men are Considered the Sexiest in the World

In a recent poll by MissTravels, they have claimed that Irish men are #1 in the best looking department. To be honest, I find all men handsome from no matter where they are from. I really don't have a big preference of nationality, however, there are certain looks that I find attractive in each person of each race. I guess I just have a gold standard in my head.

This kind of survey piqued my curiosity on what some of us find attractive in the opposite sex (or same sex, however you look at it). Some of my friends find certain men attractive that I find mildly attractive.

However, one pattern I noticed recently is how much I have in common with who my mom and Grandma find attractive. My Grandma has always thought Andy Williams, Glen Campbell, Tyrone Power and several others very attractive. My mother also has loved these men very much, especially Andy Williams, whom she saw in concert when she was younger.

And then there is me. I also find these men attractive. Even my Grandma has always said how handsome her own father was. My mother and I also thought he was a handsome man. However, he was 100% German (maybe a bit Dutch, too, but I haven't confirmed that yet. ) Unfortunately, German men did not make the list, even though one very highly attractive Irish-German, Michael Fassbender, is half German/half Irish should give the German's some credit.

I am often wondering if certain genetic traits cause us to be attracted to someone of similar height, weight, facial features, etc as our ancestors found attractive many generations ago. What is the cause for us to feel an attraction to a certain person's looks that others may not find attractive? This seems like an age old question which I am sure their are multiple reasons behind it.

Another fascinating (and more far out) thought is maybe we could be attracted to some people based on a previous life we lived. Maybe we crossed paths but never cemented our love. Maybe one of us died too early. Or maybe it was ill-fated and was not meant to last in that particular lifetime. I often have felt meeting certain people, like a soul mate, can often feel preordained. - as if you have met in a previous lifetime and something about them feels very familiar, but you cannot pin point it. These far out reasons could also predetermine who we find attractive and who we do not, as well.

What are your thoughts on certain nationalities being more attractive than others? Should there really a debate about it?

I say, we love who we love. Looks and attractiveness are never going to equate how you get along on a personal level. If they have the full package, then you are very lucky, indeed, but love is love and looks will fade over time, so love someone for what they can offer, and not the superficial aspects of who they are.

(Genealogy) New Year's Resolutions

So, a new year is here. 2014 seemed to come and go so much faster than years before. I have a feeling 2015 will not be any less forgiving - darn, we're already going into our 2nd week of the year.

With that, I do have some genealogy related New Year's resolutions - ones that I hope I can stick to. Also, I feel having an itemized list will be beneficial for me - i.e. if I feel like I am running dry on blogging ideas or just need a little inspiration, I can always come back to this post to see what my hopes were for genealogical reasons (and blogging reasons, too)!

So, here's a go at it  -

1) My Irish Ancestors - I feel I am really neglecting this side of my roots, and I have quite a few tales to tell. Fact of the matter is, I need to hunker down and get more research done on my Irish ancestors. Things can often run dry in that area since many Irish records are still becoming digitized, but I will make it an aim to delve in this area a little more throughout the year!

2) My Father's Side - Recently, my Dad's sister has been writing me beautifully written accounts of her childhood (with memories of my Dad and the other siblings) and what she remembers of our grandparents and her parents and so on. These are priceless and I am protecting them like gold. They are all hand written, which to me, makes them even more special. I need to firstly digitize them so if they ever do get lost, I will always have a digital copy. Then, I would like to transcribe them into a word document. As for my blog, I would like to share more of my father's side. There is much to be revealed.

3) Use more Writing Prompts - I'd like to use more writing prompts to spice things up on here a bit more. I see quite a few websites that do a very good job of this and share their prompts with you. I aim to try some out and see what I can unearth in the process!

4) Network - I want to do a little more blog networking. I aim to give more comments on people's blogs or write a note of thanks for their knowledge. I'd like to see my blog in the future as a resource, in some ways, on certain genres of genealogy, especially the Black Sea Germans, which I feel my most comfortable with and have the most background in (which is why you see many related articles on them on here now and sure to see more in the future) - I am hoping my blog will bring in more Black Sea German researchers who are looking to share their memories or thoughts on the topic.

5) Noticing Interesting Patterns Interweave - Sometimes I find some interesting patterns during the migration of my ancestor's.  I'd like to focus more on these patterns and similarities as it's fun to point them out and make interesting connections. Some that I will focus on are two different waves of German colonization my ancestors were involved in - The Black Sea Germans to North Dakota and the Germanna Colonization in Virginia.

This is all for now - but maybe a year from now, I will be glad to have seen I met all of these goals.

Happy New Year to you all!

Destination Genealogy: The Sexton Family

My great, great grandparents on my mother's paternal side came to America by the Malta ship, which boarded from Liverpool.

However, prior to leaving, they were married on April 9th, 1871 at Southwark Cathedral in London, U.K. I recently found the photo (left) of the cathedral in a HDR effect and I thought it sure was an impressive photo of the cathedral. I could really envision my ancestors getting married here on that early Spring day, with the anticipation of coming to America ahead of them.

The following document is one I received from a recent correspondence with someone at Southwark, who was able to find the marriage record of Michael Sexton and Bridget O'Meara (O'Mara), with names of her sister, as witness. The interesting part is the record is written in Latin. I had to look up some of these words so I could decode them. 

It notes that Michael Sexton lived at 22 Vauxhall Square - which I believe is in today's term actually Vauxhall St., in Lambeth, London, near the Thames river. What is interesting is that by looking at a map, Southwark is very close to Vauxhall, so it was likely not a stretch for them to marry here.

One thing we're trying to still confirm is how Michael Sexton came to England and why? And, how was Bridget introduced to him? How did Bridget also get to London? Michael was was born in or near Limerick, as the Sexton's come originally from that area. 

Here is a map showing the proximity of Vauxhall and Southwark in London. 

They went up to Liverpool shortly after they married and boarded the Malta. This ship was to take them to Boston Harbour and and they arrived on April 28th 1871. 

For about seven years, they lived in Boston, MA. I have found one record that has them living at 83 Cove St., in Revere, MA, which is north of Boston, heading up the Atlantic coastline. 

The Sexton's had their first daughter here, Mary Helen Sexton, on May 17th, 1872, however, Mary passed away only 7 months later of Cholera. The Sextons did recover from this untimely death to have two more daugthers, who were born in San Francisco, CA. Somewhere along the way, the Sextons made the long journey out west to try their luck in the beautiful San Francisco Bay. Their two daughters, Agnes (born 1887) and Bridget Ann (born 1878), would meet their mates and settle as true Irish Californians. Agnes married a man with the last name of Forrest, and Bridget Ann married Frank Connors, Sr. Bridget Ann is my great grandmother.