I’m excited to share a series of decluttering blogs with you. For those who are eager for even more insights, I invite you to explore the latest addition to my website: ‘Decluttering for a Healthier and Happier Life.’ Dive in to transform your spaces!” It’s a familiar scenario for many genealogists: you start the day full of motivation to explore your family history, only to hit a roadblock that diminishes your initial enthusiasm. The solution to this common issue is to build effective research habits rather than relying solely on willpower. You already perform many tasks habitually each ..read more

This is the first page of my family history book. It’s a work in progress, and I’m adding pages as I have time or if I have a particular story I’d like to write about. The program I use is FOREVER Artisan 6, and I’ve been using it for many years. FOREVER Artisan is not a subscription but something that you purchase and load onto your computer. Like all things, there is a learning curve. You can use predesigned pages or start your pages from scratch. The freedom to experiment has enabled me to create truly unique and personal projects. I wanted to share a couple of pages that I’ve done for my ..read more

“In the coming weeks, I’m excited to share a series of decluttering blogs with you. For those who are eager for even more insights, I invite you to explore the latest addition to my website: ‘Decluttering for a Healthier and Happier Life.’ Dive in to transform your spaces!” Crafting effective to-do lists is crucial for ensuring the timely completion of genealogical research and organization, but it involves more than jotting down items haphazardly. Proper list creation is key to maximizing its utility. Choose the Right Tool Preference between traditional paper lists and digital tools varies b ..read more

You know how interested I am in DNA, so Cali has to be interested, too, right? Well, maybe not so much. (Never fear… Cali never does anything she doesn’t want to do. She truly runs the show at my house.) In October 2022, I tested Cali’s DNA at Wisdom Panel, which I purchased from Amazon. If you want to read about those results, you can find them on the blog HERE. When I was at RootsTech in Salt Lake City earlier this month, I was checking out the AncestryDNA booth and decided to purchase one of Ancestry’s DNA kits for dogs. This test isn’t available in Canada but is available in the US, UK ..read more

I’m so happy to announce that I’ve been chosen as a panelist on Mondays with Myrt. I hope you will join us this coming Monday, March 11th, at 9 a.m. Pacific. We will discuss genealogy and DNA, and I’m sure there will be some laughter and some tears. Check out this Link to learn how to join and when it will be in your time zone. You’ll also learn more about my fellow panelists. Our first 2024 series runs for six weeks as follows: 11 March – RootsTech Rehash, Genealogy PI, special guest. Upcoming Mini-Myrts “Growing my Family Archive Project.” 18 March – Across our desk ..read more

I can’t believe it’s been a week since RootsTech. If you missed being in Salt Lake, you can still enjoy the virtual event from the comfort of your home by visiting the site HERE. Be sure to enter March 6-8th, 2025, in your calendar to prepare for RootsTech next year. I’ve been busy reviewing all the interviews I did at RootsTech, which you can find on my YouTube Channel. If you subscribe and ring the bell, you’ll be notified when new videos are added. (There are quite a few more to come.) The first thing I enjoy about going to Salt Lake for RootsTech is meeting old and new friends. There is n ..read more

We have a winner of The Family History Hound Ninja RootsTech Giveaway. What are they winning? A one-year subscription to Photomyne valued at $40 US (stay tuned for a demo video and blog about this tool) A one-year subscription to Cite-Builder.com valued at $19.59 US (stay tuned for a demo video and blog about this tool) A one-year subscription to Legacy Family Tree Webinars valued at $49.95 Vivid-Pix RESTORE photo software valued at $49.99 US The total value of the prize is $159.53 US And the winner is Rose H. I will be notifying Rose of her win. Thank you to all who entered. Subscribe to m ..read more

My trip to RootsTech starts in less than a week, and I haven’t packed, but I’ve done a few things you might like to do to plan your trip or online experience. In case you didn’t know, RootsTech is the largest genealogy event in the world. It is held in Salt Lake City and is live and online from February 29th to March 2nd. Three million people signed up for RootsTech in 2023, so I’m sure that number will be even higher this year. This is the total number, but approximately fifteen thousand attend in person. So, if you are going in person, it’s essential to plan. The theme for this year’s event ..read more

The Family History Hound ninja is back for RootsTech 2024. The Family History Hound is doing her best ninja impression in the RootsTech Expo Hall and looking for a prize. The prize is a surprise, so you won’t know what it is until we draw on March 4th and notify our winner. Follow us on our Hound on the Hunt Facebook page, FamilyHistHound Instagram page, or our YouTube channel to learn about the things I’m adding to the prize while I’m at RootsTech. But I promise it will be worth $100 US at the very least. Note that if you see related posts to other contests below, these contests are currently ..read more

Created using DALL·E with the prompt “make a picture of a lady genealogist looking at her family tree.” A few weeks ago, I was exploring some of the uses I’ve found for artificial intelligence and genealogy. You can find Part One HERE and Part Two HERE. In post One, I explored how you can expand the profile for your ancestors at MyHeritage, so now, let’s look at what can be done at Ancestry. In fact, I will use the same ancestor, my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Alice Clark, as I used in Part One. To do this, go to your ancestor’s profile and choose Lifestory. Lifestory has been around for man ..read more