Genealogy Goals for January 2011

So I didn't get as much done over the Christmas break as I had hoped. But I did start a couple of things that I hope to finish in January. I thought I would share them here:

1) To scan all of the genealogy documents that my cousin Richard sent me on the Binns and Brooks sides of my family and enter the information into my genealogy database

2) To enter all of the Binns, Anthony, and Pye names references from the Wilkes County Georgia books I copied from the Library into my excel spreadsheet. Determine the major Binns family lines in Wilkes Co. GA

3) To read Christine Rose's Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures book

4) Get back to working with some cousins on James Godwin Sr and Jr (not necessarily father and son) of North Carolina, including putting all relevant documents online on the Wiki site

5) Continue evaluating some Family Finder DNA test results of some Godwin relatives

Here's a toast to typing up loose ends!

Photo courtesy of D Sharon Pruitt 

A Day in My Dream Life

Amber Starfire offered the following writing prompt today on her Women's Memoirs Blog: If you’re not feeling motivated to write, ask yourself, “What would my life be like if I was living the life of my dreams?” and write a description of a typical day. Then, write about one small step you can take toward living that life.

First of all I just want to come right out and say that I would love to be a Professional Genealogist in my dream life. And since I'm such a well-rounded individual who likes to partake in several activities at once, I would throw in writing and speaking into the mix (also I'm sure it might provide additional income as well). 

I envision myself as having my own little niche inside North Carolina records specializing in historical documents that can be researched at the North Carolina State Archives.  I also envision myself as having acute historical knowledge of the State and various cultural events including the people, places, school, and geography.  

I would be well-organized (ha ha only in our dreams right!) and have each week planned out. I would work on research and reports for a minimum of two clients a week.  I would write for historical and genealogy journals, attend conferences, and book speaking engagements. 

I would keep up with technology and of course all of my genealogy cyber friends. I would assist, foster, and mentor new genealogy recruits and I would keep a daily log of how much time was spent on each process much like Randy Seaver does on his Geneaholic Blog. 

On a personal note, I would hope that I have a loving and supportive partner that I would have some free time to spend with.  Maybe make their lunches for them, or coffee in the mornings.  Or a brief visit or surprise lunch date would be nice. Oh yeah and of course I would drag them to my conferences as well, so they would have to be a good travel companion. 

What do you think? Am I on the right track or is it "Just a Dream?"

Photo by John Norton, lowjumpingfrog's photostream