New Year, New Changes!

So, a new year is upon us - 2016 will hopefully bring much promise for more fun discoveries on the ancestor front!

Also, I plan to give my blog a bit of a make-over. I feel I need to create a more fun, light and airy look to my blog. I think the current theme has served its purpose, but it's time to give it something a little more youthful. Please keep a look out for some new design changes! Again, I design all of my backgrounds and banners with Photoshop, so this will take some time!

Some new and exciting things for the upcoming new year in my life:

Europe - Did I just say Europe??!! - Yes, I am embarking on a nearly 20 day trip to Europe next May 2016. I have my passport, 100 Euros in my pocket, train tickets booked, flight booked. Sadly, it will not be primarily for ancestry searching, but I will nevertheless be stomping similar grounds that my ancestors walked many years ago, especially in London, which will be our first stop.

Joining Online Societies aimed at Younger Genealogists - I view myself not quite the cookie cutter genealogist. I like to tell a story on my blog rather than give the very minute (and mundane) details that some genealogy bloggers tend to get lost in. I want to find like-minded "younger" genealogists who can tell a great story about their ancestry findings and blog about it without making me yawn through the first paragraph.

Do Some Clean Up & Download Important Documents - I hope to spend this year to do some continued clean up work on my family tree that got a little out of hand over the last few years. I also intend to download some important documents from Ancestry.com so I can keep copies of them offline as well as online. I have read it is very important since many important documents can easily be removed by whoever uploaded them. However, most documents that are uploaded directly by Ancestry.com will likely never be removed, but those are still important to download, as well.

A Travel Blog!! - I have designed a new blog, one for travel. I am looking forward to keeping this blog up and seeing where it takes me. It will mostly focus on California travel and, of course, any travels that lead me out of California. I will post the link on here once I get the blog on its way!

What are your New Year Resolutions regarding your genealogy?

Ancestry.com - DNA Testing - The Importance of Testing your Oldest Relatives

Grandma Annette's baby bootie hand-stitched by her mother, circa 1928

About a week ago, I sent out my grandmother's saliva (or spit, gosh, no matter how you write it, it still doesn't sound good) to Ancestry.com. I realize that with the onslaught of Thanksgiving and Christmas DNA purchases, hers will be one of 100's, if not 1000's, of tests that Ancestry.com will have to weed through. However, I am very excited what this one particular test will show us!

There may be nothing new that the DNA test will reveal or there may be only more questions than answers - either way, testing my oldest living grandparent was something I wanted to accomplish before she may leave this world (She had many close calls this last year, so I know it's only a matter of time). 

My grandma Annette will be 87 this upcoming January 3rd, and she is not going without a fight. If anything, she's even stronger now that she was a year ago. It's amazing to watch her pick up things off the floor easier than I can. She can still give a strong hug, walk without very little assistance, and if you ask her opinion, you may just wish you hadn't - but she's an old-school dame and still has a lot of spunk! 

Back to topic, I am excited to share her results with her when they come in and hope to bring to light some interesting twists regarding her DNA, which will go back 4-5 generations, which means, her results can go back 2 more generations than my own! 

I cannot stress the emphasis on getting your oldest relatives tested. Test them even before testing yourself. You can always get another for yourself, but your grandparent or great grandparent may only have so long to offer you a deeper glimpse into their past; your past. Especially if this relative is a male - males may provide more information on the surname that he carries. 

I am also getting my father's DNA tested. There are some parts of my Dad's side of the family that are still a bit of mystery for me (such as his link to Native American lineage that did not show up on my DNA test - I actually had more African lineage show up on me than Native American - hmmmm....) 

So, again, please get your older relatives tested. In the grand scheme of things, it will be way worth it!

Throwback Thursday - When I was a Wee Tot

Well, I don't have too many photos that I show of myself on here, but thought I'd share a few of me from the 1980s, when I was a tiny little girl (yes, I have been pretty much tiny my whole life, all 5 feet of me!).

As I grow older, I am finding so much of my childhood slipping away and it can be a scary thought. Driving through my old town I grew up in, I see buildings that are no longer there. I see stores and restaurants that are no longer there. Yet, I do see many places that seem untouched from certain times in my life and it can feel a little eerie to see them and feel as if I am stepping back in time.

These pictures capture that time where many things that were around me seemed like they'd always stay that way, but slowly, they started to disappear.

My cousin Melissa and I at the ranch, circa 1987 (me, age 5 and Melissa, age 4)

Krissy and Scott, playing games after swimming, circa 1986 - The brown shag carpet, the bunk bed, the bedding, the games and the small TV! All this evokes an era that is mostly lost to any kid born after 1995 or so. The carpet used to feel so plush between your toes. I think my brother and I were playing Chutes and Ladders, along with having an Etch-a-Sketch. I remember my brother used to like playing Battleship, and I always got confused with it, but always had fun moving the little pegs and seeing things light up on it.

Easter 1990 - At Golden Hills Church (before it became a church, worship was held at a storage unit on Sunset Dr in Antioch) - I am in the front, with a light pink dress, next to my cousin Tiffany to the right and Melissa on the left.

Krissy touching the birthday Pinata, Scott's 10th Birthday, August 1989 - I was 7 years old and wow, I had some killer abs back then! My brother's party was Batman themed, which was the hit movie that Summer (yes, the Michael Keaton Batman!) One of the items that we had until not too long ago was the big screen TV in the background. We gave it up around 2006. It lasted a long time, nearly 22 years! I used to love how my mom did the streamers for our parties. She really knew how to prepare for a good party! We always had so much fun decorating the night before, and then preparing for everyone to come over the next day, tip toeing around the house, making sure to not mess up the freshly vacuumed carpet or soil the kitchen - the calm before the storm :)

Happy Birthday, Christina [Orth] Herr - November 17th 1876

Last Tuesday, November 17th, would have been my great, great grandmother's 139th birthday. She was the mother of Lydia Herr, grandmother to Annette Roehm and great grandmother to my mother, Carole Connors.

George Orth and Maria Delger Orth, Christina's parents

Christina Orth was born November 17th 1876, in Odessa, Ukraine. At the time she was born, it was considered a part of Russia. The Orth family has been hard to find a paper trail on. What is interesting is Christina is not even listed on the passenger list to New York from Hamburg that the rest of her family is on. At this point, it is unknown if she left before or after them to America, but either way, she got here! I will need to review a few census records and her death record to see what it states as how long she'd been in America.

There is little known of Christina's childhood in the Ukraine. Her parents were also German's from Russia, so they did not have any Russian in their ethnicity despite being born in that country.

There is a rumor (unconfirmed) that Christina met her future husband, Jacob Herr Jr, at the Chicago World's Fair (aka World's Columbian Exhibition)  in 1893. If this were true, it would seem to make sense, as they were married and had their first child by 1896 and this would have given them enough time to meet one another and have a formal courtship, although both were very young. Even if this is not how they met, it is a little romantic to think that's how it happened!

The photo below is the youngest photo we have of both Jacob and Christina Herr from about 1896-1897, holding their first born, Lydia Herr (my great grandmother). Christina's clothing is very practical. It's a dress, but it's hard to place of what time frame. It is embellished with lace at the top and a brooch in the center of the neck. She is also wearing earrings. She has an interesting looking belt across her dress which is hard to make out why she has it, but it could be for maybe an expanding belly and she could have been pregnant with her next child when this photo was taken.

Jacob Jr. once asked Christina if she'd like to go back home to visit family in Russia by boat, and she said "No". The ship she was on when coming to America (around the age of 13) made her so sick because it rocked back and forth so much, she said. They had to be at the bottom of the ship, in the steerage area.

Christina and Jacob would continue to have 12 more children, until the last one was born in 1921. Seen below, Christina is holding her first granddaughter Doris (Lydia's first born), with her own two younger sons Soloman and Orville Herr in 1916. In this photo, her hair appears to be a light brown. Her clothing had style looks different in this photo and is more befitting of the Edwardian era. It looks like she is wearing a cameo on her neck and that there may be some lace on the neck line of her dress. In this picture, she would have been 40 years old.

This photo is of Christina [Orth] Herr holding her grand-daughter Doris Roehm, circa 1917, However, part of me thinks this photo was taken in the 1920's. She looks older in this picture than the one above. She may actually be holding Lydia's other daughter, Joyce, who would have been about this age in 1920.

Here is another photo of Christina holding her grand-daughter and her grandson is to the right. That may be Alwin Roehm to her right and she may possibly be holding my Grandma Annette, circa 1930-31. Her younger sons would be sitting on top of the car.

Donald Babitzke, Alwin Roehm, Douglas Babitzke, Doris Roehm, Christina [Orth] Herr, Sophie Babitkze, Louise Babitzke, Annette Roehm (dark hair), Izetta Roehm, Hank Wolf and Yvonne Babitzke, circa 1936-37, on the North Dakota Prairie.

Lydia [Herr] Roehm, mother Christina [Orth] Herr, Joyce [Roehm] Wolf, with her daughter Doris Jean Wolf, circa 1938-39 - Wishek, North Dakota.

Izetta Roehm [Purviance], Sophie [Herr] Babitzke, Christina [Orth] Herr and Christ Babitzke in Wishek, where the Babitzkes lived.

Lydia [Herr Roehm] Murphy with her mother, Christina [Orth] Herr, inside Sophie and Christ Babitzke's home in Wishek, ND, circa 1959-60.

One of Christina's last photographs, circa 1961-63, in Wishek, ND.

Christina died on October 1st, 1966, just a little over a month shy of turning 90. Before she died, she lived with her youngest daughter, Sophie Babitzke. 

Christina, I hope you had a wonderful birthday! 

Music that invokes feelings of coming to America or living in America long ago

I am sure, as genealogists, we often like to put ourselves in the shoes of some of our relatives and imagine what it must have felt like to arrive on American soil; how they lived out their first few years in a new country and experience new technologies, scenery and culture that was all around them. They may have felt alienated and yet excited all at once.

Lots of music from today's movies and Broadway shows can help illustrate the era when our relatives came to America. Some movies indirectly give us the feeling, such as "Titanic," where we see how the many immigrants lived in the cheapest quarters on board the ship. We can get a glimpse of how they may have dressed, entertained and lived in such conditions. And, well, if your family was well off enough to enjoy 2nd class or 1st class accommodations, then we also get a very good idea of what that was like, too.

That is just one example of how movies and Broadway shows can give us an idea of the immigrant experience. There are many more. I thought I'd share a few YouTube videos of some songs/snippets that give us a "feeling" of what it was like to be in their shoes:

"Ragtime" 1997-1998 Broadway Cast Musical -

"An American Tail" - Main Title

"A Little Princess" - Breakfast

"Little Women" - Under the Umbrella (not an immigrant movie, but the feeling of the American spirit can really stir you listening to this soundtrack, or gain a feeling of what it was like for our relatives living during the American Civil War)

"Fried Green Tomatoes" - Theme (A great soundtrack that instantly pulls you into a nostalgic era from the 1920's-1930's - again, not an immigrant experience, per se, but evoking a certain time period that your relatives lived in)

"Forrest Gump" - Theme (This soundtrack evokes a feeling that you are stepping back in time - Alan Silvestri did a wonderful job of adding such a light touch to the notes played on the piano, just like the feather that was flying away in the movie)

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I hope some of these soundtracks add a little depth to your research. Sometimes listening to these help me along my way, inspiring me a little to go in different directions because of the mood the music puts me in. 

Music is so powerful in our lives and how it shaped our ancestors lives is also important. 

Running on Empty

I realize I have been gone for the last month and a half. I have good reasoning.

On October 22nd, my mother was diagnosed with bladder cancer and, in a sense, my world stopped. Cancer does not run in our family, or so I thought. Lately, more and more stories from our family histories are popping up with cancer being involved. My mother's dad supposedly had cancer on his lips (it doesn't surprise me -  he was a very freckly, white, ginger Irishman living and working in the hot California sun)

I truly hate the word cancer. Until now, I have been so very lucky to not be directly hit with it in our immediate family. Some relatives have had benign tumors, but not cancerous tumors. 

My mother has stage 1 bladder cancer. It's not invasive to the muscle in the bladder, but it has invaded quite a few deeper tissues in the bladder.

She had surgery on November 4th to have the tumor removed and she is still experiencing pain from the removal of the tumor and also some side effects from the chemotherapy they gave her right after surgery. 

So, I will try my hardest on here to continue posting, but at this time, my heart is heavy with fear and hope. I am not sure where my mother's future stands and it scares me, but I have hope she will get through this and give it her strongest fight. 

I'd like to give cancer a few expletives at this very moment, but I will refrain. 

I will promise to come on here to let off some steam.... but some good steam :)

Matrilineal Monday - My Mother on her Honeymoon in Paris, 1978

My parents first went to Rome, then Paris and then made their last stop in London. 

They were married September 16th, and the next day, boarded a plane to Europe. A first time for them both. 

I will be going to Europe next May, 2016 for my first time! Looking at these pictures makes me even more excited to go!