Not So Wordless Wednesday - Blogger's Dinner by FamilySearch

Geneablogger dinner by FamilySearch.org

I've been having such a wonderful time since arriving in Charleston Sunday night, but tonight was a real highlight.  FamilySearch.org sponsored a dinner for us Geneabloggers at Jim 'n Nick's BBQ on Centre Point Drive.  The food was excellent (a BIG recommend for anyone visiting Charleston!) and the company was even better!

We were in a lovely section of the restaurant and each table got a Family Search representative all to themselves to ask questions and get to know.  Jenn from Climbing My Family Tree, her daughter, Ellie and I had the privilege of sitting with Paul Nauta, the Family Search Public Affairs Manager and enjoyed his company tremendously!

Paul Nauta, Cherie Cayemberg, Jenn and Ellie Woods

Lots of great information was put out at the dinner so I'll touch on some highlights to wet your whistle!

-The RootsTech conference for 2012 is being held in Salt Lake City, UT from February 2nd thru the 4th.  If you'd like to receive RootsTech updates to include information on the 2012 conference head on over and submit your email address! (I did!)

-Did you know that since January 2010 Family Search has added 219 million images to their site?  That they have 2.2 billion names indexed and 605 historic collections and 141 free online courses?

-Family Search has set a goal of 200 million images to be added annually.  They're setting the bar high, but I know that they can do it!  Help them out by becoming a Family Search Indexer.  It's not difficult and they've got plenty of tutorials online to walk you through it.  A wonderful scouting project for boys and girls alike (not to mention us genealogists and family historians)!

-If all that wasn't enough Family Search is pushing to get as many Civil War records/collections online as they can in the next 5 years, to include stories and histories of various regiments/units add to the site and wiki.

So if you haven't checked out the Family Search site recently you are definitely missing out on tons of great information!  If you'd like to check out more details on the news from Family Search head on over to their news page and their blog!

Ginger, Jenn, Liz, Linda, Greta, me & Ellie

After getting all this wonderful news from Family Search we were able to continue to get to know our fellow bloggers.  Here are just a few lovely people I spent some time with:

-Ginger Smith from Genealogy By Ginger

-Jenn Woods from Climbing My Family Tree (OK I've known Jenn for years, but she's in the picture!)

-Liz Tapley-Matthews from My Tapley Tree...and its Branches

-Linda McCauley from Documenting the Details, and

-Greta M Koehl from Greta's Genealogy Bog

I was completely thrilled to be able to meet Dick Eastman!  I've been a fan of his blog for quite some time and he is most certainly one of my blog and genealogy heroes!

Me, Dick Eastman, Jenn and Ellie Woods

Me, Jenn & Ellie Woods and Michael J Hall (Deputy C.G.O)

Ginger, Jenn, me and Ellie with David Rencher (C.G.O.)

On the Road!

I'm very excited. 

I'll be on the road this weekend on my way to Charleston, SC for the NGS conference.  My first genealogy conference! 

I've never been to Charleston before so it truly will be an adventure!  I'm excited that I'll be seeing two friends from my college days as I drive out and will be seeing a dear friend from Army days (and fellow blogger), Jenn Woods from Climbing My Family Tree at the conference!  Lots of stuff to look forward to, but my boys are very sad to see momma go.  This will really be the first time I've been away without them in years.  It'll be nice to have time to myself, but there's been lots of extra hugs and kisses given to me this evening and it does make it harder to go.  They asked for me to wake them up before I get int he car so I can give final hugs and kisses...not caring at all that it will be 5:00am. 

Thank goodness for cell phones.  I'm sure they'll start enjoying time with daddy shortly after I leave.  I just hope that daddy has the stamina to play single dad for the next 9 days!

I'll be back to blogging come Sunday night or Monday morning so everyone have a beautiful weekend!

Thankful Thursday - I'm going to Charleston!

I'm always so thankful for my husband, but he's got me particularly thankful right now.  He's cleared his schedule for the week of May 11-14th so I can go to the NGS conference in Charleston! 

This is no small thing.  He usually leaves for work before the kids would be allowed to show up for school and gets home a couple hours after they are out of school.  I'm also the one that herds the kids in the morning and gets them ready to go so this will no doubt be a challenge for him, since I'm the one dealing with the toddler that doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning and then not want to dress or eat!  My oldest is pretty much maintenance free.  You just have to get him out of the shower before he uses all the hot water.

I can appreciate the sacrifice he'll be making at work and the strain that this may no doubt have on his patience!  Hopefully, this period won't make him totally adverse to the possibility of having more children.  Sometimes kids can be unusually effective birth control!

I'm not going to worry about any of that.  My husband is awesome and will probably be out eating pizza, Chipotle, and partying with the boys while I'm in genealogy heaven!

I'm going to try to show up early so I can have an entire day to myself to go exploring at Fort Sumter!  I'm a history buff and absolutely love the National Park Service!  I'm always dragging the kids around to National Parks as we drive around this wonderful country during our summers.  This time, though, I'll be alone and able to walk through casually without worrying if the kids are trying to wander off!  I'll be able to take pictures at my leisure!  Hopefully, I'll be able to see an old friend from college as well!  One of my dearest friends from my Army days in San Antonio will be attending the conference too!

If anyone has tips for a conference newbie, I'd love to hear them!  I'll be scouring the NGS blog and website for all the postings on the conference, but nothing beat experience, so I'm looking for advice.  It's time to start preparing!