With 2013 almost over, everyone tends to start thinking back over the past year, while at the same time thinking about what they want to do in 2014.

I’m not a New Years resolution person. Never have been. Probably never will be. Instead I tend to make a goal for myself somewhere along the way relating to a task or project, obviously with the aim of achieving it. While some of you might call that a resolution. Me, I just call it a goal. And it can’t be a “New Years resolution” as such as I don’t do them at New Years either! 😉

So for this post, I’m taking a leaf out of Kenneth Marks’ The Ancestor Hunt blog, and have chosen not to do a “Best and Worst of 2013” type post as many have, but rather a modified version of it. I’m going to look back at a number of “firsts” that I  achieved throughout 2013.

Life doesn’t let us stay on just one road. To make it interesting it throws in roundabouts, u-turns, side roads and sometimes even one way streets. Whether we like it or not, we adapt and go with it. Genealogy is like that too. Sure you’re going along fine, then you find a name in records you’re browsing that sounds a bit familiar – and you’re given two choices: 1. to ignore it as it’s not connected to your current research, or 2. check it out, and see where it takes you, which can lead to you leaving your current research, and totally following this person.

Personally I think there is nothing wrong with that as long as you can accept that “what-was-your-current-research” is now pushed back at least one level. And depending on just how interesting this family is, as to how long you continue to be sidetracked. It can be a few hours , a few days, a week or even months … sometimes even longer  (gasp). But trust me if it’s that long, it means the family is worth researching because they are just SOOOOO interesting.

The end of the year is looming, and once the excitement and recovery from Christmas is over, many start think about goals or resolutions that they’d like to do (or at least aim for) in the coming year. Yeah, I’m not one of those people. Maybe it’s because everyone else did – and therefore I didn’t want to, and I wanted to be different. Who knows, but for whatever reason I have never particularly done the whole New Year’s resolution thing.

I do however set myself some genealogy goals. For these I don’t bother waiting till the end of one year or the beginning of the next.