Tell Your Story
Writing a book is a prolonged exercise in perfectionism. One must strive for quality while resisting the urge to make it perfect. Why? Because perfection, which is highly subjective in this case, falls somewhere between unlikely and impossible to achieve. And perfectionism can lead to procrastination, writer’s block, stress, and the inability to finish one’s…
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(NOTE: It was in October 2012 when I “just returned” from this trip and wrote this post. A worldwide pandemic was the furthest thing from my mind! Most of us have stayed home for over a year, and we’re just now thinking about traveling again as we gradually get our COVID-19 vaccinations. Also new since…
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UPDATE #1: Mystery solved! (scroll down) UPDATE #2: I was so taken by my grandmother’s “bathing beauty” photograph that I used it on the cover of my 2021 book — What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy (click to learn more). The book is not about my family, per se,…
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I recently saw this example of white privilege: Ugh! That one really hit home. Genealogy research for the descendants of black slaves differs greatly from that of the descendants of their white owners. I knew, of course, that many African-Americans whose families have been here for a long time, and who want to trace…
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So… we’re all locked down, to various degrees, in a worldwide effort to help stop the spread of the novel COVID-19 Coronavirus. And everyone knows that this 2020 pandemic is the worst thing since the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. From Wikipedia: The Spanish flu was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic. Lasting from January 1918…
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I think the key to being productive is to be comfortable and happy spending time in your office. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a corporate cubicle; a dedicated room at home with a door that closes; or another space you’ve carved out for yourself. If you love your office, great! Carry on. If you don’t,…
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George was my constant companion for 17-1/2 years. Social media friends got to see a lot of him. He had his own Pinterest board. And a Facebook photo album. He died in December from multiple health conditions (OK, I had him euthanized, ugh!), and I miss him terribly. I know many pet owners who can…
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Please join me in celebrating 15 years of helping clients to declutter, simplify, organize, and refresh their homes, offices, schedules, and lives…and helping them discover their roots and tell their family stories, too! And what’s an anniversary without gratitude, a few selected highlights, and a crossword puzzle?
Read more...I’ve never attended the Iowa State Fair. I gain weight just reading the 2019 Food On A Stick menu! But I did visit the fairgrounds a number of years ago on a genealogy research trip with my dad. Why? Because the land formerly belonged to my 2nd great-grandfather, Calvin Thornton. Prior to that, it belonged…
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AHA! I was RIGHT! Right about what, you ask? Right about where my Grandma Hankins was born (Villa Mae Lawrence Hankins 1904-1986).
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