Teaching History

Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go to the local national cemetery to take pictures of the graves of the loved ones of those who requested it.  I was excited to go, but I didn't think it would touch and move me as much as it did.  To make it even more special, I took my two girls (and my mom) with me and was able to give them a little history lesson.  They got involved with helping me find the graves and felt like they were doing the biggest service helping someone else.  Words cannot describe all the feelings that were going through me that day.  To make it even more heartfelt, I come from a strong military family and I was surrounded by those who fought and and many who died for our wonderful country. I felt blessed to have had the honor to take pictures of the graves that I did and I look forward to taking my children on the next adventure there.


I encourage you all to check out www.findagrave.com if you are interested in doing the same thing.  It means a lot to many people and you will take something away with you in return.

Find-A-Grave

I know that some of you won't understand, but I am excited to share that I accepted my first "mission" to find the grave of someone's family member.  I signed up a few days ago after coming across the website findagrave.com during my ancestry research.  This website is awesome as it allows you to find photos of the headstones of your ancestors based on burial/cemetery records.  Now, if your ancestor's photo cannot be found, you can submit a request for a photo to be added.  That request is then sent on to members of the website in the area that have signed up to receive requests to go to their local cemeteries and take photos.  You may think this is morbid, but as someone who has family members who are buried out of state, or some who you never met but feel a kind of connection to, this is important information to have.  Sometimes, the photo of an ancestors headstone is the only photo that you will ever have.  


I will tell you, when I saw that someone had taken a photo of my dads headstone and I found it on that website, I almost cried.  Even though it is within driving distance and I do go there from time to time, the fact that someone took the time to take a photo of my loved-ones headstone is beyond measurable.


So, this weekend I will be heading to Tahoma National Cemetary to take some headstone pictures.  I will do so with pride, knowing that I will be making a difference in someones life.


I encourage you all to do something for someone else.  It eases the heart :)

James Mecham and the Civil War

As some of you already know, I have gotten into researching my family on Ancestry.com.  It has become somewhat of an addiction of mine as I feel like I really get to know some of my ancestors through the information that I find during my research.  This research has led me into a new direction.  I am writing a book.  That's right...you did hear me correctly.  I am writing a book.  The basis of the book will be the letters that my 4x great grandfather, James, wrote to his future wife ,Amanda, (my 4x great grandmother) while he fought in the Civil War.  We have the original letters as well as a lot of other personal items that belonged to them, and they make you feel like you really get to know him. We also have some letters written by 2 of Amanda's brothers, Charles and George.  I have been able to get their military records and do some extensive research on them.  What I am working on now is the specific battles and officers that James, George, and Charles mention in their letters.  James also explains that his brother, Sylvester, was killed in the Battle of Chickamauga and is buried in a mass grave on the battlefield.  I believe that this book will give a lot to people that they may not have had before, including a first hand account from a soldier laying on the battlefield while the bullets fly overhead.

                                           James Mecham

My hope is to have this done within the next 1-2 years.  Hopefully closer to one.  I will be traveling next year to the various battlefields and locations that James mentions in his letters so that I can get pictures.

I will be updating about this progress as I go along.  I hope you enjoy.

I know I say it all the time, but to say that life is hectic is an understatement.  I recently had surgery and am still recovering from that....it's a longer road than I thought it would be. School is coming to an end (for my children, not me).  And life is just barreling on as I stand there and watch.  


I don't remember if I've mentioned this yet, and I honestly don't feel like checking at the moment, but back in February I was diagnosed with Celiac.  That has also added to making life crazy.  TALK ABOUT A LIFE CHANGER!  Everything seems to have been turned upside-down!!!  With a diagnosis like this, you have to change your eating habits, read every single label, buy new kitchen utensils and cookware, be careful when you eat out and watch where you go, explain to all your friends why you suddenly can't eat all the things that you have been for years....I know it may not sound like all that much...but it can get overwhelming sometimes.  Not to mention that my doc officially took me off caffeine, so I can't even have it every now and then.  Do you know how hard it is to get up at 5am to get ready to sub at a middle school without a cup of coffee?!?  


Fortunately I have been able to fill  my time with my love of crochet.  I've finally done what I've been talking about doing and opened my etsy shop.  No sales yet, but I am confident that I will get one soon.


Well, it's time for me to wake up my children so they can get ready for school.  


Ta-ta for now!

Check this out...

I just entered to win a Diamond Candle at Give Oh Giveaway!!  If you don't know what it is, it is a soy candle with a ring hidden in it.  The ring is worth anywhere between $10 and $5000!!!  With my luck, if I won, it would be a $10 ring...but that's okay!  It's still fun and the candles look amazing!  No, I haven't had a chance to actually smell them yet, but you can bet that I will be ordering one, even if I don't win :)  So, head on over and enter for your chance to win!


Happy Winning!

Well, it's been a while since I posted.  Life has been hectic and kept me on my toes.  Spring break was a few weeks ago, and while I had all these plans to get stuff done, they were a bit overwhelming and I didn't even come close to completing them all.  That's okay though...it's life.  At the end of spring break, my youngest stepped on a nail...while running! The poor thing had to miss another week of school after already being off for spring break.  She was so happy to return this week! 


I'll be having sinus surgery in a few weeks, so when that happens, you may not see me for a while while I recover.  Apparently I'll be staying in the hospital for at least one night.


In my last post I mentioned my ancestry search.  I'm telling you...if you haven't had a chance to check into your ancestry, DO IT!!!  It is so amazing to discover information that you never knew before.  I have so far found a relation to royalty in England, as well as a relation to the captain of a slave-trade ship; who was later knighted by the Queen of England!  Even the little things, like an emmigration date, is interesting to me.  At least give it a try!


Other than that, I am now the newest member of Vocalpoint.com.  I am excited to receive my first product to try and review!  Check them out if you're interested :)


Ta-ta for now! 

A little of this....

I'd like to say that my life is super exciting and that I have done so many things since my last post, but the truth is that I haven't.  I know that sounds lame, but it is what it is.  I have gotten quite a bit of new information from Ancestry.com, which is very exciting.  Tomorrow I will have access to the information made available from the 1940s Census, and you don't know how happy that makes me.  This will give me just one more piece to my family's puzzle.  Other than that, I've been working and creating more wonders with yarn. 

Speaking of yarn, I FINALLY got my Etsy store set up.  Unfortunately, there isn't anything listed in there yet.  That's because I haven't had the time to do that.  I am hoping to be able to get to that this weekend as I have quite a few things to post, and a few more things that I am working on that will be ready in the next week or so.  I wish I could keep them all, but I just can't :)

The other thing I can't do is keep writing.  Unfortunately, I have statistics homework to do and against my wishes, it just won't write itself.  

Until the next time...

Ancestry

This may seem a little different, but lately I have been hooked on researching my family's ancestry.  Let me tell you, I am hooked on using Ancestry.com.  In fact, I am officially an Ancestry Ace :)  This means that I'll be one of the first on the site to have access to the new information becoming available with the release of the 1940 census!  I am so excited about this as it means that I can now find even more information about my family, possibly some new tidbits that I didn't even know about.  If you haven't had a chance to research your history, I HIGHLY recommend it!  For me, it has been both mind-opening and addicting!  And lets face it, there are worse things I could be doing.  If you want more information, check it out here: http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census  I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Long time!

Well...it's been a while, but here I am.  I am going to make an honest attempt to keep up on this blog again.  


As of today, I am not only caffeine-free, but also gluten-free!!! And I have been doing this for about a month now!  Let me tell you, it wasn't easy!  I went into my doc to discuss some other issues and he informed me that due to some recurring hits in my bloodwork, that he wanted me to cut gluten, caffeine, and artificial sweeteners (which was fine because I didn't consume those anyway).  Cutting the gluten from my diet has been one of the hardest things I have ever done....yes, even harder that quitting caffeine!  Though the withdrawal headaches/migraines SUCKED!!!  


With that being said, I am finding that it isn't so bad now.  I miss bread, but I am going to be doing some baking this week, so hopefully that will help to curb some of my cravings.  My hope is to use this blog to just catalog  my journey and share my story.  With it you will probably get some tidbits about my crocheting, and maybe a little bit about school.  Speaking of school, I am in Advanced Statistics and Psychometrics right now and let me tell you, I HATE IT!!!  


Well, that's it for confessions for now!!!