Looking back and looking forward, what are you most proud of in 2012? What are you aiming to accomplish in 2013? Share your thoughts, reflections and goals in the comments!

A tool for genealogists to guide them in starting their family history project or help them organize what they already have going on!

I have had the pleasure of working on product development for this Family History Research Planner which uses the system that The Historium designed for keeping all of our research organized and systematic.  I really hope that this planner can help aspiring family historians overcome whatever fear and hesitations they may have and really enjoy learning about where their family came from.

In the genealogy and history community, there is a lot of pressure to be accurate and cautious to avoid mistakes.  While this is understandable, since it is easy to jump to conclusions, it is also intimidating for people who are just learning the ropes.  Sometimes intimidating enough for them to just give up.

If this sounds like you, I would highly encourage you to go to the LeafLines website and decide if this planner could help you to get a foot in the door.   The idea is that anyone who has a past and wants to learn about it, ought to be able to do so.   At least that is what I believe!!

What has stopped you from starting your genealogy project? If you are actively researching your family history, what were your fears and hesitations before you started?

Downtown Carver, Courtesy of the City of Carver

The City of Carver was named by Governor Alexander Ramsey after the British Explorer Jonathan Carver who passed through the area in the 1760s.  In 1851 the present cite of the city was settled by Axel Jorgenson who established a hotel on his 415 acre parcel.  A short 3 years later, a company (which Ramsey was a part of) called Carver Land Company comprised of St. Paul real estate investors, bought the land from Jorgenson.   By 1855 the city had a well established business district , 35 buildings and a ferry.

Carver Fun Facts

• Gold was discovered in Carver in 1858, and a small “gold rush” ensued.
• After the New Ulm Massacre (Don’t know what this is? Find out here.) many of the displaced settlers arrived looking for food, shelter and protection in Carver.
• In 1893, Carver got it’s first telephone services.

Carver Hotel, Courtesy of the Carver County Historical Society

So how did this bustling center for commerce wind up being  a small town?  Prohibition saw to the closing of many of Carver’s saloons, which was a large industry in the city at the time, and following the repeal of Prohibition, The Great Depression began.  The economic hardship struck Carver hard, closing many more businesses.  Perhaps it is this same economic collapse that caused the city to be such a gem with many of its historic structures still standing today.

(Source: http://carver.govoffice.com/vertical/sites/%7BF5D0C336-35D5-4069-816C-62C658FA0FFA%7D/uploads/Carver_Historic_District_2011.pdf)

Sherburne County Historical Society

I’m a bit shocked that this was my first time visiting the Sherburne History Center, but it was! I was stunned by the beautiful facility, and the staff was very friendly and helpful.  Their materials were very well organized and easy to find.

I can’t say enough good things about this place!  I’m sure I’ll be back there again soon to collect more information.

Have you ever visited a local historical society?  What was your experience?

Google’s Doodle celebrating it’s 14th Birthday.

It’s Google’s 14th birthday. Gosh, it couldn’t have been 14 years could it? Google has become such an integral part of our daily lives that it has actually become a commonly used verb. Have a silly question? A random factoid to check? Just GOOGLE it!

Do you remember the first time you ever used Google?

I do. I was in one of my first “Technology classes” (mostly an excuse to play SimCity for an hour), and we had a project… I can’t remember what the project was, but I do remember using Google to search for information. I also remember using Dogpile.com but in retrospect I suppose that doesn’t seem nearly as monumental as the first time I “googled” something!

Where were you when you first used Google?

I remember where I was.  I had just walked into Spanish class.  I had only been there a couple other times.  I didn’t yet know my class mates, didn’t yet understand much about my teacher.  Someone ran in the door, panting, a boy… “They bombed it!” he yelled.  “They what?” the teacher asked skeptically.  “They bombed it!  The World Trade Center, it’s on fire!”  He was wrong, of course, technically.

Courtesy of Wikipedia. From top to bottom: the World Trade Center burning; a section of the Pentagon collapses; Flight 175 crashes into 2 WTC; a fireman requests help at Ground Zero; an engine from Flight 93 is recovered; Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.

The teacher turned white, not sure whether or not to believe the boy, she skeptically waved at him to take his seat.  Within a couple of moments the gasps could be heard from down the hall, students left classes, desks empty and books open and resting upon them.  Everyone was in shock.  The students from three classrooms gathered in my Spanish class, and after some whispering among the teachers, the television was turned on.  A heavy and tense silence washed over every person in the first moments we saw the images.  Tears trickled down faces; fingernails dug into book covers.

In that moment, even though we didn’t know each other we all knew we shared the same thoughts, the same fears and the same questions.   In that moment, we were more alike than we were different.  We were united by our horror, our fear, our pride. It is a feeling I hadn’t felt before or since: we were united as Americans.

Where were YOU on September 11, 2001? What is it you will always remember about that day? Please leave your story in the comments.

1.         A big part of being happy and satisfied with what you are doing is being happy and satisfied with who you are.

“Joy is not in things; it is in us” – Richard Wagner, German composer, and theater director.

It is impossible to do what you love if you cannot find happiness in just being.  The road to realizing your ultimate dream is fraught with frustrations, shortcomings – and to put it bluntly, utter failures.

2.         Which brings us to No. 2: Get over your fear of failure.  I know you are afraid of the complete and utter humiliation that attempting to achieve your dream and failing could bring.  I am.  Everyone is.  It is a natural part of the human psyche, no one wants to fall flat on their face.  But to grow, and to achieve what looks impossible now, you need to channel the 7 year old you.  Remember that first time your parents took the training wheels off your bike? Remember how terrified you were? The butterflies zooming around in your stomach? Remember your dad promising he wouldn’t let go, and then one, two, three… he did.  Now, I don’t know what happened to you.  Maybe you zoomed a block or two down the street.  Maybe you fell over.  But, for most of us, it wasn’t the last time we got on a bike.  Back then, we didn’t know how to let failure dissuade us, we were going to learn to ride that bike.  Period.  “Like riding a bike” is a phrase we use to describe anything simple, memorable, easy to accomplish, learn or recall, which is interesting, because when you think about it, riding a bike wasn’t the easiest thing… it is not instinctual, it takes determination, practice and fearlessness.  So, I’d say, doing what you love, that is like riding a bike.  Own it, make mistakes and learn from them, keep at it, and eventually, you will be there—if it is something you love, if it amplifies that joy inside of you—it is so worth it.

3.         Now that you have looked inside you and realized the internal challenges you have to overcome, you have reached the fun part:  goal setting.  One of the most important parts of accomplishing your dream is to know what that dream is.  A bit of insight I have picked up, no amount of career testing or counseling can tell you what you want to do.  Don’t bother.  The only one who can figure out what you would love to do for the rest of your life is YOU. Take one night a week and turn on some music you love, close your eyes and just imagine your life.  Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you with?  Are you happy? What would make you happier?  Try to visualize those things.  Each time you practice this, try to start where you left off, each time, picture yourself happier, until you couldn’t imagine anything better.  Keep notes, a record so you can reflect on what you come up with.  When you reach your “happiest” vision, you have your goal in front of you.  It may be hard to put it into words at first, write down everything about what is happening there, figure out which parts you can work towards achieving.  When I did this, I saw myself with a very flexible schedule, working with people and helping them get just as excited about history as I am.  When my husband spent some time reflecting, he saw himself developing recipes in a kitchen, letting those creative juices fly.  Before that, I had no idea he wanted to be a chef, at the time he was working as a server, and outside of making me a couple omelets, I had no no way of knowing that he felt so at home in the kitchen—now he is a chef at a growing restaurant chain, and may I just take a moment to say, WOW, can that man cook! (I know, ladies, I am a very lucky woman!).  A dream doesn’t have to be completely concrete.  Mine is ever-evolving, and that is the way I like it, concrete dreams leave no room for learning.  This goes back to the fear of failure, you cannot fail at accomplishing your dreams, spend a little time every month or so to assess your progress and decide if you need to make adjustments.

4.         Come up with an Action Plan.  This is not a “someday maybe I’ll do this” plan, this is an ACTION plan.  You must actually act on it! This step has always been the easiest for me.  I always say my husband is The Idea Man and I’m The Girl With The Plan.  But just because it comes naturally to me, doesn’t mean that anyone can’t learn it.  Look at your goal, and break it down into easy bite sized chunks.  Anyone would get overwhelmed by the concept of completely capsizing their entire life as they know it to run after a whim, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.  Taking small, easy to accomplish steps, without changing anything else in your life, will get the ball rolling in the right direction and allow you to test drive your dream to make sure that you are willing to make the commitment to do it every day.  So, what do you need to do to get where you want to be?

For me, I first knew that I needed to get out there, get researching and writing.  My Action Plan looked something like this:

 A. Volunteer for People I can Learn From Who Are Already Living Out My Dream.  I started by volunteering at the local historical society, they were happy to have someone enthusiastic and passionate on their team, and they had plenty for me to dig into!

 B.  Practice Those Skills I Will Need and Get Noticed.  The skills I was going to need were heavily research and writing oriented.  The second step for me was starting a local history blog, I focused on an area that I knew pretty well, Dakota County.  I started making a point of stopping at historical markers, asking questions of people who have lived in the area forever, and doing research at libraries and archives to answer questions I had about different events and landmarks.

 C.  Dip Your Toe Into the Water.  Next, after a few inquiries by people who were following my blog to do research for them, I launched a research service.  This was one of the most exciting and liberating things I have ever done, it was a huge leap down the path of accomplishing my ultimate dream!  Part-time or consulting in the field you want to go into is a good way to test the waters, see if it is practical to make a living with your dream.  Sometimes you need to think outside the box, outside of genealogy, consulting is not a popular way to work in the History field.  While there are many others who do it, and many who were willing to teach me and give me advice, a lot of setting up my own Historical Research company has been trial and error, again DON’T BE AFRAID OF FAILURE!

Those steps in the year 2010, set my course in the direction I wanted to go.   Your steps may look completely different, and that is great! It is your dream, try to think of creative ways to get there, don’t rely on common ideology of the “right way” to do something or get somewhere, because what you are doing—actively seeking out your dreams—is anything but common, why should your plan be boxed and held in those constraints?

5.         Finally, take a hint from Nike.  You are not going to get anywhere with a pretty multi-color list hanging on your fridge that you ignore day after day.  You have to take action.  One by one, tick off the items on your list.  If the goals seem too difficult to accomplish, break them down further, into mini-goals.  (i.e. “Start a Blog” could be, i. google search blogs on topic; ii. spend two weeks reading similar blogs; iii. create blogging mini-action plan: 1 post each week, promote on Facebook, actively seek out guest bloggers; iv. write first months blog posts; v. create blog on WordPress; vi. design and customize blog space; vii. enact blogging mini-action plan).  It doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be as simple as you need it to be to get it done!  The idea is, if you don’t move, nothing is going to change.

Most of all: Enjoy every minute! Life is a journey not a destination.  When you set out to accomplish the items in your plan, you have already begun to do that thing you love each day, don’t get caught up in what you are accomplishing.  Focus on that inner joy and be thankful that you get to do this thing that you love, and be proud of yourself for realizing it and working toward it.  You have already done amazing things by overcoming that fear and setting out to be who and what you want to be!

I assure you it has been for a very good reason! Not one I can reveal just yet, but suffice it to say in between my client projects, which are keeping me very busy, I am working on a big exciting new project, one I CAN’T WAIT to share with you!

I think you are really going to like it, so stay tuned for the big reveal in the next few months.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer and keeping cool!