2014: What Are You Thankful For?
With only a few days until we reach the end of 2014 it seems timely to do a little review.
For those who might be new readers here let me tell you that I’m not a resolution-maker. No-sir-ee. In fact I think for many people they do more harm than good by creating a burden. Think about it. If you make a list, revisit it later, and find that you’ve only done half (if that) of what you’d hoped to achieve, that would bum you out, right. And fair enough.
While that approach may work for some people, but it’s just not my style.
Instead I prefer the approach that Jill Ball took with a geneameme she made in 2012 titled “Accentuate the Positive”, which as you guessed it, focusses on highlighting what you had achieved throughout the year. And another favourite was Judy G. Russell’s Thanksgiving post on “Giving Thanks in 2014” as well. Judy not only writes really well in her posts, but she has a knack of putting things into perspective, which in today’s crazy world can be something we forget.
So my aim for this post is the take a look back over the past year, and note what I am thankful for …
– I am thankful for my wonderful family: Mr Lonetester who has been with me many years, and is still my best friend. My parents and brother who I work with each day, and we still mostly get along. And my fur-family of cats, who I miss every time I go away. Life is just not the same without cats.
– I am thankful for my job. I really do love my job, afterall I am surrounded by genealogy stuff all day everyday, what’s not to love? Working in a genealogy retail/webstore allows me meet a lot of amazing people and hear some fascinating stories.
– My job allows me to travel. And I am thankful that I was able to go to England (my first trip there) earlier this year for the 5th Unlock the Past cruise. The cruise itself was a wonderful experience, and the places we visited along the way were too. Oh and I can’t forget to be thankful for the AWESOME weather we had the whole time.
– I am also thankful for being able listen to and be inspired by so many wonderful speakers. I came back all enthused (as you do) from the cruise, with new ideas, and new things to find, and try out, and new places to look. And hopefully more knowledge in my head that I can share with others.
– After the cruise my parents and I stayed in England for a few extra days before heading home to Australia, and we went Lancashire, Devon and Cornwall visiting ancestral towns (and cemeteries) along the way. So I got to see the graves of some of my ancestors … in their hometown … how cool is that.
Lamorran Church Cemetery, Lamorran, Cornwall – taken August 2014
Lamorran Parish Church, Lamorran, Cornwall – taken August 2014
– The visit to Lancaster Castle pretty much changed my whole research focus for the rest of the year. We visited the castle as my 3x great grandpa worked there. The castle is open to the public, and we able to do a tour around. And what an awesome castle it is. I won’t write about it here, as it’ll will be the subject of one or two separate posts soon. Needless to say, that visit sparked my interest, and I’ve spent the past 5 months finding out everything I can to do with that family.
Lancaster Castle in Lancashire – taken August 2014
– And I am constantly learning. Reading genie magazines, reading blogs, reading supplier catalogues, learning new things from my customers, and of course learning when I sit in on lectures. It never ends. So hopefully my knowledge grows too.
– During the later part of 2014 I finally got the guts to change my blog template. It has had the same look for 3 or so years, and it just needed something new. So what you’re looking at is what I came up with. And I couldn’t be happier with it, so I’m very thankful that it worked out nicely.
– I am thankful that my brother has started to digitise the large collection of old slides my family has. On flicking through them, most are ones that I have never seen before. So that’s been exciting.
– I am thankful for the new shipping records that gone online that have allowed me to find a record in my great grandpa’s “7 missing years” gap.
– I am so grateful that I have had some time to do research this year … VERY grateful!
– And I am grateful for all my genie friends. Those near and far. Those I’ve met in person and online. The learning, the enthusiasm and the excitement I get from my genie friends is something I treasure, and am truly thankful for.
– And lastly (I’ll make this the last one as I could go on, and on, on but I’ll be good) to those who follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, as well as those who subscribe to this blog … what more can I say but, THANKYOU. I will be honest with you and say that writing this blog has allowed me to rediscover my love of writing, so even if this blog had no readers it would probably still be written. But I must say that it’s sure nice to know that people do!!
So that’s my list of things to be thankful for in 2014. Now what’s yours?
Related Posts:
Accentuate the Positive 2012 Geneameme
2013, A Year of Firsts
10 Responses to “2014: What Are You Thankful For?”
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A great post Alona…a good time of year to think about the year’s positives. Thank you for your posts and all you do with and for Gould Genealogy and especially the Ûnlock the Past Cruises….I thoroughly enjoyed my first genie cruise this year. Have a great 2015!
Thank you so much for your comment Pauleen. I am often inspired by your blog posts, so it means a lot coming from someone I admire. And yes, the cruises are a fabulous way to meet/catchup with geneafriends, not to mention the immense amount learning that goes on too. Super fun!! I wish you a superduper year in 2015.
Alona,
Your posts always bring a big smile to my face. I love your enthusiasm. It’s contagious.
Looking forward to seeing you again on the 11th in Feb 2016, or earlier if circumstances permit.
Louis
Aww thankyou for those really kind words Louis. It’s nice to know that my enthusiam comes across in my words – sometimes I do wonder! As for the cruise … yes I’m totally looking forward to Feb 2016 and catching up again, as well as meeting Judy Russell. That will be great fun … and can you believe it’s just over a year away! Woah.
Thanks Alona for a timely post, genealogy is such a great past time that connects with so many people. Genealogy cruising has to be one of the best ways to learn more and travel at the same time!
Geneacruising, as you say is awesome. Travel and learn genealogy at the same time, it’s so cool. And you get to make wonderful new friends along the way.
I love your “new look” blog Alona. What a great year it has been for you. You deserve it. Thank you for all that you do for the gene community in Oz.
Aww thankyou Alex.That’s very kind of you to say. It’ll be interesting to see what happens genealogy-wise during 2015!! No doubt more fun stuff. I hope you have an awesome year too.
Inspiring blog post Alona. You are always so positive. I like your new template too. All the best for 2015.
Thanks for much for your kind words Michelle. And Im glad you like the template. 🙂