First Quarter Results

On December 31, 2008, I posted my New Year's Resolutions. With the first quarter of 2009 ending today, I decided to take another look at my resolutions, and see how I'm doing. Here goes:

1. I will share more photos and documents, both online and with my cousins. I’ve received alot of photos from older relatives, and I want to share the wealth. I've been doing well with the online piece of this. I've posted alot of photos and some documents to my blog.

2. I will catch up with my filing and data entry. I know if I do this it will help me with my research. I’m sure I have some fascinating discoveries in those piles! I have not made alot of progress on this one.

3. I will write more. I will continue to write for my blog and for local genealogical society quarterlies. I will also submit writing to other genealogy publications. I enjoy writing and I will do more of it in 2009. I've done well on this one. I've kept up with my blog, and have submitted articles to other publications.

And here are a few more resolutions, by surname:

4. Bestick. For 2009, I will focus on my collateral lines, including John and Robert Bestick, who were possible siblings of my ancestor Timothy. I will also focus on discovering which Bestick played baseball in Brooklyn in 1872. I haven't done very much work on this resolution. I will be focusing on the Besticks more during the next few months.

5. Whelan. I will concentrate on the Chicago Whelans, both mine and unrelated ones. I will continue to analyze, summarize and publish the data that I have collected. I hope to eventually document the Irish origins of the Whelans who settled in Chicago in the 1800s. I've made great progress on this one! I broke through a brick wall and discovered that besides my ancestor, his brother, 2 sisters, and mother also came from Ireland to Chicago. I still have additional work to do on my Whelans, and more data to post about them and other Chicago Whelans.

6. Skrabulis. I will share more of the bits of information that I've collected on my Skrabulis ancestors and related lines. I hope to make more connections and keep in touch with cousins that I have. I've posted some photos and research, but I need to do more on this one.

So, overall, I've made some progress on my resolutions during the first 3 months of this year. I hope I can make even more progress during the rest of 2009.