The Leaf Hunter

Food Storage in a Trailer

2011-05-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

So last winter we decided to downsize. We downsized from a 4 bedroom house with a huge basement to a 3 bedroom modular home (trailer house). Significantly smaller for a family with 4 kids. In fact, our three boys are all sharing a small 10x10 bedroom. These may seem to be an unlivable situation, but we decided that for the short-term, this would be a fiscally responsible decision to get out of debt and invest on some future rental properties. Aside from having half of our stuff in a friend's barn and making our recreational 4-wheeler trailer a close-by storage unit, it has been surprisingly bearable.

However, when we lived in our large house in Boise and the house prior to this one, we prided ourselves on having a fairly robust food storage for some unforeseen emergency. However, when we moved here we had to consume, donate, or throw out most of our supply. However, recently we have felt impressed to rebuilt our food storage. This is has been a challenge. We've had to make compromises on counter, shelf, and cupboard space in order to find a place for our stash. As you can see from the pics below, we even made our Shelf-Reliance Harvest can rotator a major display in our front room. Talk about a conversation starter!!

For now, the pictures show the extent of our food storage. But we are always looking for SPACE-EFFICIENT ideas.

Dog Gone Genes

2011-05-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

So, today, I gained further evidence that Quinn is definitely MY child. He is the second of my three boys to manifest this particular genetic trait. It is a trait that is not apparently noticeable. In fact, just looking at the boys you would not be able to see it. Only under the right conditions is it visible.

Today, I was sitting at home with Quinn and Shandeigh (who is at home, sick). We had just had lunch and the kids were off watching a movie while I was cleaning up. The movie was The Magic Dog, or some other similar, unfamiliar title. I heard the voice of the father on the movie and I thought I recognized it, so I went in the front room to check my suspicions. It was unusually bright in the room casting a huge glare from the window. So it was hard for me to see the TV unless I bent over to reduce the glare from the window. As I did, my head (and ear) came close to Quinn. And that's when I heard it!

With Jonathan, it has happened a number of times. The most recent, that I recall, happened a few months ago. We had sat down as a family to watch a movie. This one had a more notable title, Where the Red Fern Grows. A very special movie (and book, if you've read it) that has a very touching story to it. So with Jonathan, it happened (this time) close to the end of the movie. As I mentioned, this had happened to Jonathan before, and he gets a little embarrassed about it, so had I not looked at him, I wouldn't have really noticed. But I saw him and I could tell, he was definitely his father's son!

My earliest manifestation of this trait happened when I was a small boy. Around the same age as Quinn is now. I remember the day vividly. We had gone to town that day, which was a big deal because we usually only went once every two weeks. That particular day was snowy, and I think it was towards the beginning of the winter because that day I got a new pair of snow boots. They were so cool!! MOONBOOTS! I was so excited. I had to have been because I couldn't wait to show them to my best friend, Ruby. Ruby was my dog. Okay, maybe she was my parents' dog, but for all intents and purposes, she was mine!

So, I got home and I ran to the back yard to meet my friend. It was late when we got home, so she didn't come running out to meet me, probably because she was sleeping. So, I ran to her dog house, where I knew she would be sleeping. And that's where I found her and, yes, she was sleeping. I tried to wake her up, excited to show her my boots. She wouldn't wake, so I went in to tell dad so he could help me wake her up. He went out, but made me stay in while he went. He was gone for quite a while. When he came back, we had a talk. This was my first experience with death. And from that day, my moonboots didn't seem so cool.

My children had a dog once, too. It was a small hairy thing that my wife thought she could handle. She is not a dog lover, much to the dismay of me and the kids. The kids named the dog Ruby. (Funny how history repeats itself.) This dog lasted a month in our house before my wife got so sick and tired of it, that she took it to the parking lot at Wal-mart and sold it. And the kids won't let her forget it either!

So, is being a dog-lover genetic? I always thought it to be a learned trait, but it seems my kids, most especially Quinn (who has never lived with a dog), are proof that it could be genetic.

The BLURB Project

2011-04-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Can I say that, “Transcription SUCKS!”?

I am currently working on a project to transcribe all my miscellaneous journals into one volume. It turns out that this is a bigger project than I thought it would be.

The reason I call it my “BLURB” project is because my eventual goal is to get all these journals consolidated so that I can use the blurb.com website to publish them into a printed book that I can make multiple copies of and send them to family and leave for my kids and grand kids.

So I’ve been gathering all these miscellaneous pages from notebooks, past blogs, missionary journals, old letters, taped journals, stories, etc. I was thinking about making one volume. But with as much as I’ve done and what I have left, I might have three volumes (depending on how big I decide to make them). In addition to the written stuff, I plan on adding pictures and scrapbook pages. I think it’s a worthwhile endeavor, but definitely a lot larger than I thought it was going to be.

Problems I’m running into: I found some old mini-cassettes that I recorded on during college, but can’t seem to find the recorder so I can play them back. Also, I know I made some journals on the computer, but can’t seem to find them now. They are probably hiding on some old back-up disk that I made.

I’ve completed most of the odds and ends that I’ve found and my past blogs. Now I am working on my mission journals.

However, the transcribing is really getting to me. This project, along with other family history projects I have, has got me burned out and I’ve placed it all on the back burner. But I think I will start scheduling time to start back into it. Maybe do a couple entries a day. That should get me caught up…eventually! Or maybe I should try a dictating program. Even with the editing, that may be faster.

I guess another thing is, I am doubling my work. The first draft for this blog post and the previous one, I am writing old-school fashion, on paper! Which, I’ll just have to transcribe. Not smart, but it seems to flow better when I write it, rather than type it.

The Journal/Blog Challenge

2011-04-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

So, I’ve decided I hate reading blogs. Not that the material isn’t interesting or that I don’t like what I read. In fact, it is the exact opposite. I have subscribed to maybe 20-25 blogs. Most are related to family history or genealogy, a few to quilting, and a couple of various miscellaneous topics that I find interesting. I actually found two new ones today that are really interesting, but more on those two later.

I think my frustration stems from not being able to write my own blog. It’s not that I don’t have the desire, or maybe it’s because my desire isn’t strong enough. Who knows? I just can’t seem to come up with enough new, fresh material in order to keep it regular. I can’t even keep a journal for more than a few days at a time, with weeks (or usually months) in between entries. But I feel I have that desire to be heard or express my opinion to someone that might care.

So, here is my challenge to myself. I am going to spend at least two hours a week on my blog and my journal, one hour to each. I can spend more time if I like. I don’t have to do it all in one day, but I have to do a combined total of two hours.

I’m sure initially it will be hard, but maybe if I get in a habit, then I will bump up the time. Maybe I’ll even find more stuff to write about.

My blog is supposed to be more oriented to family history and my adventures therein. But maybe I’ll have to wander from that a bit as I get into the swing of things and get a rhythm going. Maybe I need to schedule it in, as well as family history time. It seems I don’t get anything done unless it’s scheduled in.

Another thing that kills me is I have so much free time at work that I could probably do more with my journal/blog/family history, except for the limitations on our web access. Okay, so this is probably just an excuse. I can’t log on to my blog to post anything and I can’t use RootsMagic to do family history. But I could write in an email, write long hand, use Microsoft Word or a number of different options. So yeah---excuses!

However, I think I am going to make a more earnest effort to be productive; at home, with wife and kids, at work, in personal pursuits…generally, in all aspects of my life. This is going to take a lot of sacrifice and personal adjustments. But in the end, or even near future, it will be worth it.

Project 365 (ish) Weeks 1 and 2

2011-01-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

So I read about this idea at Creative Gene. I thought it was a really great idea. I bought a new camera last summer but haven't really used it. Not that it is a really fancy camera or anything, but I did buy it so that I could somehow document things in my life. So I guess this is as great of a way as any.

I read about this idea a couple of days after New Years Day and I haven't taken a picture EVERY day since. So tonite I will show some pics from the days that I have taken pictures. I am combining Weeks 1 and 2 because I didn't start taking photos until the 8th. And then every week I will "try" to be good about updating my Project 365.

So here it goes!!

8 Jan -- This was taken on our way to take the kids sledding. This was only 3 of about 20 that were in the field we drove by. I took a few other pics but this was the best of the bunch. And yes the sky was really that pink. The sun was just coming up at close to 11:00 in the morning.

10 Jan -- I had just woke up, all the kids were at school, except for Quinn. His older brother got a new Nindendo DSi for Christmas, one that Quinn isn't really allowed to play with when his brother is home. So, the only chance he gets is when all the kids are at school. But it wasn't so much that he was playing it that fascinated me. He doesn't play the games, he plays one of the applications pre-installed on the DSi. It is a voice recorder. He was recording himself singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Then he would listen to himself, playing it over and over, changing the tone, pitch, and speed, laughing the whole time!!

Organizing Blues

2010-10-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am in another funk.....I have sat down to my desk after having cleaned it off for the 3rd time in as many days. I clean it in preparation to work on my genealogy, but the fact that I am writing this post in my blog is evidence that I really don't know where to begin.

I have been working on my family history on and off for the past 12 years, but I still consider myself a beginner. I usually do pretty good about doing research (or my limited form of it anyway) for a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months. But then I get busy and then I put it aside for varying lengths of time, weeks, months and in a couple of cases years. And it seems that each time I pick it back up, I have to re-teach myself what I should already know.

I really see myself having quite a bit of time that I can "sacrifice" to my family history research. In fact, the last few weeks I have had some time to work on it too. However, my research files and all my physical documentation is in shambles and I have been trying to organized and clean it up (which included my desk). And I am not done, but I am getting really sick of it. I want to get it done, so that I can get my research started again. But I also know the importance of being organized and methodical. (Which will be really important once I start including my kids in my family research).

Any ideas on how to get myself out of these "blues"??

Family Present (as opposed to Family 'History')

2010-10-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

I expect a number of "congratulations" and "welcome back"s, now that I have come out of my blogging coma. It's been quite a while since I last posted, but for some good reason. I have either been traveling, helping a friend build a shed, or been doing one of numerous things in getting ready to move into a new place.

However, as the title suggests, there have been a couple of recent events that have prompted me to write this recent installment of my blog detailing my family history experiences. Two of them a somewhat related. My oldest boy turned 8 a couple of weeks ago, which meant two great things happened to him. First, he was baptized and, second, he is now in the scouting program as a Cub Scout. He was extremely excited about both.

I am excited about it too. I was thumbing thru his new Cub Scout book last night and there are a lot of things that I can help him do. I was just waiting for him to get older so I could do them with him, but now he's here. A bunch of things that I didn't get to do as a kid. So, yeah, I'm excited. I also understand that there is a Genealogy merit badge, but I think that will come a little later when he's an actual Boy Scout.

Also, my 12-yo daughter suggested to me that she would like to start learning about genealogy. That's exciting because I think she's old enough to really begin understanding the in's and out's of research. And it would be really nice to have a little research buddy (since my wife isn't really interested in learning how to do it).

So, there is a brief glimpse of my little corner here in Alaska. Hopefully, the next glimpse isn't too far in the future!

Today's Journal Entry

2010-08-02T22:22:00.000-07:00

I have again neglected to post in my blog. But it hasn't entirely been because I haven't wanted to. I have been involved in a Personal History project. And I would like to tell you about it. Let me start by sharing with you my journal entry for today:

"So I have already begun to neglect my latest attempt at keeping a journal. I started up again a few days ago on a trip to Valdez that I took with my family. My intent was to chronicle all the things we did so that we could remember them later. I decided to do this because I recently re-discovered my journal from my mission that I wrote 12 years ago and a journal that I kept while doing some training in Arkansas in 2003. I read these and realized that I had forgotten a lot of those moments or at least a lot of the details. That got me thinking of all the things that have happened to me since and how much I have forgotten. Quite a bit has happened to me in the last 10 years and I'm sure plenty more will be happening for the rest of my life. I would really like to leave something that will allow my children and grandchildren an insight to what I thought and what I did during my life.

"So as I said I re-started this journal a week ago on our camping trip to Valdez. And it was the only entry I wrote while on the trip. The rest of the entries for that trip I wrote today, trying to recall all the things we did. It wasn't easy and it's only been a week. I can't imagine how much I'll have forgotten in the next year or 10 years or 50 years. It was such a spectacular vacation, one that I don't want to forget. And one I don't want my kids to forget.

"I recently read an article by Michael DeGroot called "The Coming Genealogical Dark Ages." In this article it describes a speech given by Curt B. Witcher, manager of The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mr. Witcher was one of the keynote speakers at the BYU Conference on Family History in Provo, Utah last week.

He describes a crisis in which information is being lost due to advancement in technology or because of lack of interest by those that are now charged with the duties of protecting records that have been preserved for many years. He talks about the decline in handwritten letters, which have been replaced by emails. He talks about libraries and government agencies that are getting rid of their collections of vital records or newspaper archives. So to prevent memories and family stories from being lost forever, Mr. Witcher is encouraging people to write, "Write as you have never written before." He says to write about memories, describe family photos, keep a running journal to capture all those things that would otherwise be lost.

"So this is yet another attempt to do so. I am really excited for this LDSJournal.com. With it I will not only keep a running journal, but I will be transcribing all my random ill-fated journals that I have keep over the years, including my mission journal, my various military journals, my audio-journal that I keep when I was in college, letters that I wrote home to my mom, any other letters (written by me) that I can get my hands on, and even blog entries. Not only will I be including past items but I hope to include future emails, blog entries, and other such items that I feel may merit remembering.

LDSJournal.com also includes a "journal jar" that asks random questions to maybe spark some sort of response. I will also be using that from time to time when I am feeling "the block!" So hopefully this will be the re-start of a life-long endeavor to leave a legacy for my posterity."

So the last couple of weeks I have been searching for any old journals that I kept. I called my mom and asked her to send me all the letters that I wrote to her while I was on my mission in Russia and while I was in training for the Army. (She even included all the letters that might dad wrote to her while they were "courting.") So I have been busy transcribing, scanning, and filing all these memories. A larger project than I had originally thought it would be. And I haven't even scratched the surface of what I plan to include in this Personal History project.

I would really like to hear about any of your Personal History projects. Maybe they will give me ideas to include in my project!!

What I Do Meme

2010-07-09T01:49:00.000-07:00

This is in participation with the Meme that was posted by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers. A submission from a humble genealogy beginner!!

Hardware: PC desktop (Windows Vista) 1 netbook (Windows 7).

External storage: 8GB thumbdrive and I use the netbook as a sort of external storage for my desktop

Online storage: None yet

Backup: thumbdrive

Firewall: McAfee for both

Virus protection: McAfee for both

Spyware: McAfee for both

File cleaner:

Printer: Epson Artison 810 (w/ wifi)

Phone: land line. Motorola Droid thru Verizon

Mobile media: iPod nano (4GB)

Music player: Windows Media Player on the PC and netbook

Car audio: factory installed CD player

eBook Reader: None but I am considering a kindle or an iPad.

Browser: Firefox

Blog: Blogger.com

RSS: I read using iGoogle page with Google Reader

FTP: I have no clue what this is!!

Text editor: MS Word 2007

Graphics: Photoshop CS4Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Screen capture: MS OneNote

Social media: Facebook and just recently Twitter

Social bookmarking:

Social profile:

URL shortener: don't know how this works exactly, but would appreciate someone telling me!!

Office suite: MS Office 2007 Enterprise

E-mail: Yahoo mostly, with Gmail as well

Calendar: Google for personal stuff, Outlook for work stuff

Accounting: MS Excel

PDF generator: Adobe Acrobat Pro

Genealogy database: RootsMagic 4

Genealogy tools:

Other tech stuff: Polaroid t1234 12.0 Megapixel,

Non-Tech stuff: Binders, folders and paper, of course!!

So if you too are into genealogy, I would recommend going to the links above and check out what your fellow experienced (more or less) colleagues are using these days!!

Leaving a Story

2010-06-14T16:20:00.001-07:00

So, I got to thinking the other day that I wish I had something that had been passed down from generation to generation. An heirloom that had been handed down from eldest son to eldest son. Something that was in someway connected to an ancestor. The closest thing I have I don't really have yet. My mother has some wood furniture that her father had made. And I am sure I will get some if not all of it when she passes (not that I hope for that day). My mom has made cross-stitches that she has given my brother and me as gifts over the years. And I'm sure we can pass those down to our children and grandchildren. And there will probably be things that I make or acquire that my kids will take and pass on down the line.

I feel that these objects tell a story of the person from which they originated. Or a story of why that object was important to the family or the descendants of that family. But I have none of that to help me in investigating who my ancestors were. So then I got to thinking about what else would be great to have that I might have a possibility of finding somewhere. And I thought of journals or diaries. Fortunately, I do have one small diary of my grandmother that she kept while she was being courted by my grandfather. She tells of her dates and meeting his family and him meeting her family. Awesome stories. I just wish I had more.

So then that got me thinking again......what stories am I leaving for my kids. At the moment, there are a couple of blog entries and some old journals that I started off and on over the last 20 years. But there buried and I don't even know if I can find them all. So, I have challenged myself that I am going to get all those journals together and I am going to first find a place that I can preserve them. Second, I am going to transcribe them, so that I can publish them. Third, I am going to start another journal. Something that is a little more intimate than this blog. Something that I can express my feelings on more personal issues so that my descendants may get a glimpse of the person that I am.

I once came across a website that promotes keeping journals. The website is www.ldsjournal.com. It is a free service that allows you to keep your journal stored online and then for a fee they will publish your journal into a book. This is how I am going to go about publishing all my past and future journals. I encourage you to check it out. It does have some upgradable options for a yearly fee. But I do warn that it does have an LDS church influence, although minimal.

Has anyone else come across an online journal site?? Maybe something with more functions or options than LDS Journal. Or does anyone else have ideas for telling your story for future generations??

Third Time's a Charm

2010-06-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

Alright, everyone, here is attempt number 3. My third attempt at starting a blog that I will hopefully stick to this time. I hope I do because I am starting to run out of ideas for blog titles. And some of you may be a little confused with the title that I have chosen for this one. And it may even change again, but only slightly. I think I will be adding a poll to see how ya'll might feel about the change, but I will explain that a little later.

First, let me explain the origin of this blog. As I mentioned, I have previously started 2 other blogs "My Life As.......Me!" and "Roots, Twigs, and Berries." The first was an anecdotal view of the things that I experienced in my life. My life is rather boring however and that blog was abandoned due to lack of material. The second was my attempt to document my experiences and such while researching my family history. That one was abandoned because I became to involved with other things in my life that I found I had no time to put the time and effort into it that I felt I needed to. Then it got to the point that I didn't want to update it because I hadn't for so long that it seemed rather pointless.

So, that brings me to "The Leaf Hunter." Yes, odd I know. However, a dentist once asked me if I was a "hunter" or a "gatherer." Knowing that flew army helicopters, he was asking me what kind I flew. Being a "hunter" meant flying the Apache helicopter (which, for those that don't know, is an attack helicopter). Being a "gatherer" meant flying a Blackhawk helicopter, which has varying missions including picking up troops (gathering). So, being an Apache pilot, I proudly told him I was a "hunter."

"What does 'Leaf' mean?" Well, I go back to my interest in genealogy. Think of a family tree being as a representation of my entire family past and present. (DUH!) Anyway, the branches are all the different families. What are all the leaves??? The individuals, every one connected to a branch or family connected to the whole tree. And what does a genealogist or family historian do? They find all those individuals...those leaves. There ya go....."The Leaf Hunter"

Anyway, although I am essentially starting a whole new blog, I thought I would import all the posts from my other two blogs. I would appreciate ya'll taking a look at them and commenting as you feel appropriate. Don't worry there aren't that many and I really think you'll enjoy them. But you do have to read them to understand the poll that I will be posting on here soon. Oh, it would probably be better to start at the earliest post and work your way forward in time. So read away and enjoy.

Chaos in Waiting

2009-07-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I picked a fine time to start a new project when I decided to start this blog. Shortly after my last post, my life was thrown into chaos. I previously wrote about my "awesome job." Well, my awesome job is about to get colder. My job is taking me to Alaska!! So, as you can imagine, my life has been in a constant state of confusion, learning, chaos, and (as the title suggests) waiting. Waiting?? Have I mentioned that I am in the military?? Well, I am and sometimes the military doesn't necessarily work on the same time line that its soldiers do. I have been waiting for my orders for the last 2 weeks now. So I am in limbo until they finally call on me to go up there. So in the meantime, we are preparing our house for sale, packing up what things we cherish (so as not to leave them in the hands of the military to move for us), and saying goodbyes to our families (because it will be more difficult for visits both ways). And to top it all off, I have been in a state of office/genealogy/computer cleaning and purging. Getting rid of redundant files and pictures and programs and whatever else. My friend (who is more computer literate than I) has been helping me save critical files and links and reformatting my computer, which all turned out to be a bigger project than I had originally anticipated. So with all the recent activity my blog has had to take a back burner as I prepare myself and my family for this new adventure into the last frontier. However, I am anticipating more spare time with this new position and I hope to continue with this blog with more regularity. I am also going to attempt to chronicle my family's trip to the frozen north. So stay tuned!!

A Beginner's Library

2009-06-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, here I sit. Listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. About to write my first blog post that will be entirely based on a genealogy topic. I've been wanting to write something about this for quite some time. Partly because when I first started my family history, I had a hard time determining which books I should buy. In fact, I still have that problem. The other part is hoping that someone will read this and suggest even more books that will be a good addition to my (or any other young genealogist's) library. However, as I become more experienced, I find it easier and easier to choose the books to add to my personal collection. But any insight or advice from those more experienced than me is greatly appreciated.

My collection of genealogy books is somewhat small. But there are a number that I use rather often and I feel could be beneficial to anyone's collection.

The newest addition to my collection (purchased 3 weeks ago) is Evid e n ce Exp lain e d: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills. I know that anyone that has spent more that one day in the genealogy field is familiar with this book or at least they should be. Honestly, I am slightly embarrassed that it has taken me so long to buy this book. As one that studied history in college and is now involved in genealogy now, I fully appreciate the need to cite sources and I find Mrs. Mills approach to this extraordinary. Not only does it tell and teach how to cite sources, details how to best analyze any evidence that may cross a researchers path.

And with products, such as RootsMagic 4, basing their source templates on those found in Evidence Explained, I feel that it is one of, if not the most, essential book for the library of genealogists of any experience level.

The Organized Family Historian by Ann Carter Fleming is a book that I bought when shortly after I realized that I was gathering more research information that I could effectively organized. I wasn't quite sure how to organized all that mess so that, first, it was understandable to me and, second, so that it was understandable to those that I would inevitably share it with.

This book comes with a companion CD containing different forms and worksheets to help organized your research and findings. Most of it is included in most genealogy programs, but this book explains how to use all those forms in a way that any beginner can understand.

I must admit, however, part of the reason for my buying this book was to find a filing system that I was comfortable in using. (The filing cabinet on the cover sucked me in!!) And although Mrs. Fleming's ideas on filing systems is sound and it is probably effective for many people, I found that it was not what I was looking for. I am still searching for that "perfect" filing system, or at least one that I am comfortable with. So, if anyone has any ideas or has a filing system they would like to suggest I try, please, let me know.

Probably, the first serious genealogy book I bought, Everton's Handybook for Genealogists has probably been the most useful. I own the 10th edition, however, I understand that there is an 11th edition that includes a companion CD. I have not seen or used the 11th edition and was not able to find a link for it. I have used my 10th edition very regularly, whether it be to find the address for a local county clerk's office or to determine the existence of particular counties in different time periods. I even used it to search for societies or repositories in Alaska, which is where I will be moving to in about 2 months.

The Handybook for Genealogists has allowed me to find birth and marriage information for my mother's family that I was not able to find elsewhere. And because this book covers every state it will be invaluable to those researching multiple family line (or the same line) in multiple states.

One of the next books that I bought was written by George C. Morgan of the Genealogy Guys. The book, How to Do Everything with Your Genealogy seems to expound on the principles of genealogy that Mrs. Fleming only hinted at in her book. He also goes into more detail on research techniques and where to begin looking for information.

I own the first edition (pictured right). It covers just about any topic that you can think of. However, if you are thinking of more current topics like DNA research then you may want to look at getting Mr. Morgan's second edition (linked to the title above) which has just recently been published. Either edition is sure to expand your genealogy tool set.

The next two books that round out the favorites from my collection are probably not books that EVERY researcher needs in their collection. However, they should have one (or more) similar to them.

Years ago, when I took my first family history class at college, one of my assignments was to find out as much information as I could from immediate family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. While speaking to one of my aunts, she mentioned that she had received a booklet from an individual that had compiled some information on my Sheeley family line. She offered to send me the pages that pertained to my direct ancestral line. When it arrived, I was shocked at the amount of knowledge that was contained in the envelope. And this was just and extract!! Unfortunately, once the assignment was complete, this information was put in a box and forgotten for a number of years. When I finally decided to restart my family history research, I came across these pages. On the last page was the address (then a number of years old) of the compiler. I wrote to him in hopes that he was still at the address. I asked for a full copy of the compilation that had been in the possession of my aunt. Luckily, he was still at the address, but he informed me that he no longer had any copies of that original compilation, BUT if I was patient he would send me the second edition of his work which was nearly complete. I was anxiously patient and a couple of months later received Seven Cow Tails, One Hair. This book contains the descendants of Johann Nicholas Schiele, the first person in the Schiele/Sheely/Sheeley family to come to America (in 1739). This book contains 486 pages of births, marriages, deaths, histories, and pictures of 12 generations of descendants. (Unfortunately, no source citations) So, I guess you could say, an awesome amount of information was placed in my lap.

The second book is similar in nature. Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah by Frank Esshom, is a compilation of photographs, genealogies and biographies of men that traveled to Utah "by wagon, hand cart or afoot, between July 24, 1847, and December 30, 1868, before the railroad" and of men that held prominent positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that traveled to Utah "after the coming of the railroad." This book is the only book (so-far) that I have in electronic format. The book itself came to my knowledge back in that family history class in college. I was doing research on my father's maternal grandparents and found some of that line in this book. Again, that research was put in a box for a number of years and I recently found it.

I had also just recently read Dick Eastman's blog entry "Converting My Personal Library to Digital". One of the comments suggested a website, http://www.archive.org/index.php, for locating out of print books. So, on the slim chance that it was there, I did a search. To my surprise, it was there. I downloaded it and I am still finding links to ancestors in this book.

In both cases, I found (and continue to find) additional information that initially I missed. With these books close at hand, I am able to cross reference other names that may come up in my research to see if the are related or if they link to other nuggets of information that may be contained in the books. I feel that compiled genealogies are essential to any genealogists library.

There they are. I hope this post is useful to anyone that may read it. I encourage those of you that are more experienced to suggest any titles you feel should be in the library of any genealogist. (Also any filing tips would be greatly appreciated as well.)

TALON

SNGF

2009-05-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

I have been following Randy Seaver's genealogy blog for quite some time now. In fact, it is one of the links located in my blog list located at the right. And, to my surprise, he recently commented on my last post which was posted almost 3 weeks ago. Every Saturday night, Randy comes up with a fun little activity and tonite I decided to participate. Randy's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun can be found here. Below are my results to his directions.

2. A carpet installer decides to take a cigarette break after completing the installation in the first of several rooms he has to do. Finding them missing from his pocket he begins searching, only to notice a small lump in his recently completed carpet-installation. Not wanting to rip up all that work for a lousy pack of cigarettes he simply walks over and pounds the lump flat. He decides to forgo the break continues on to the other rooms to be carpeted.

At the end of the day he's completed his work and loading his tools into his trucks when two events occur almost simultaneously: he spies his pack of cigarettes on the dashboard of the truck, and the lady of the house calls out 'Have you seen my parakeet?'

3. Your date of conception was on or about 4 November 1977 which was a Friday.
You were born on a Friday under the astrological sign Leo.
Your Life path number is 6.
Your Native American Zodiac sign is Salmon; your plant is Raspberry.
Celebrities who share your birthday:

Sally Struthers (1948)	Jim Davis (1945)	Rick Wright (1945)
Bill Bradley (1943)	Phil Proctor (1940)	Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929)
Rudy Vallee (1901)	Beatrix Potter (1866)

4. If you are able to achieve the potential of your natural expression in this life, you are capable of much human understanding and have a lot to give to others. Your personal ambitions are likely to be maintained in a very positive perspective, never losing sight of an interest in people, and a sympathetic, tolerant, broad-minded and compassionate point of view. You are quite idealistic, and disappointed at the lack of perfection in the world. You have a strong awareness of your own feeling as well as those of others. Friendships, affection, and love are extremely important.

If any of you care to do this and would like to share please post as a comment or as a link to your own blog post.

TALON

Cool Name

2009-05-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I showed my wife the opening post to my new blog. And she began to laugh. I said, "What's so funny?" She tells me that it is funny that I will not give my name. Especially, since the only people that will initially read it already know who I am. I'm not going to lie to you, but right now I am a little embarrassed at my short-sightedness. BUT I WANT A PEN NAME.....you can't take that from me!!!

So, as I've contemplated what cool pen name I would like to give myself, I have debated many options. I first looked at my family history database to see if there were any cool names that called out to me.......no. Then I searched my personal library, trying to determine if there were any cool character names that came to mind........no. I then thought "JACK BAUER"....... definitely cool, but........no. So then, sitting here at work, bored out of my mind, I did a google search for "cool names" and I went to COOL Baby Boy Names and searched their list. And I found one......TALON. For those of you that know who I am, you can probably guess the connection I have to this name. If you can't guess, or if you don't know me, well, that will make for a good story later.

For those of you that are here for the genealogy content.....I promise I will get to that. Just bear with me while I go thru the fun of setting this thing up before I get down to the nitty gritty of providing useful family history insights. But let me leave you with this......"Are you a hunter or a gatherer?" Take that in any context you wish and leave me a comment describing what you are and why!!

TALON

Getting Started

2009-05-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so as it says, I am getting started. "Getting started with what?" you ask your monitor. Well, it is misleading on a number of fronts. But before I help your monitor answer the question that is at the front of your mind, let me expound on myself a little bit and the purpose for this blog.

I am not going to tell you my name.....yet. I have this overwhelming desire to give myself a pen name. I haven't thought of anything intriguing or cool yet. So the unveiling of the pen name will take place at a future time and believe me, you'll be the first to know. Hopefully, I can come up with it in the not-too-distant future. But until then, you can call me whatever you like. That being said, I am not really going to tell you all about me. That will leave things for me to talk about at later dates (when I can think of nothing better to talk about). I will tell you.....I have an awesome job. A job so awesome, that not telling you is killing me. In fact, it is stereotypical for those in my profession to talk about nothing else. So, be proud of me.

Besides having an awesome job, I have an awesome wife. And the most awesome thing about her.....she loves hearing me talk about myself and my job!! We have 4 awesome kids. They all range in age from 2 to 10 (except my wife, she's a bit older).

So, now about "Roots, Twigs, and Berries." I have a hobby. A hobby that isn't very popular with my age group. I was first introduced to it the first time I went to college. (Yes, I said first time) Oh, did I forget to mention, I am currently a full-time student working on a second bachelor's degree? So, I stay pretty busy.....too busy sometimes. Anyway, the first time I went to college I majored in History. I took a class on family history, or genealogy. Which, at the time, I just needed a class to fill my schedule and that's what I chose. I don't really know why, but it just seemed to call to me. Since then, I have been hooked.

"So, ______, why 'Roots, Twigs, and Berries'?" you ask your monitor. (You should stop talking to your monitor. People will think you are crazy.) The answer......."DearMYRTLE" was already taken (just kidding, Pat). Seriously, imagine a tree, if you will. We'll call it "family tree." Roots are the heart of family tree; roots give it life; roots are family tree's foundation. Twigs (and branches) are what give family tree breadth and substance. And the berries......okay, trees don't have berries, they have fruit. But "Roots, Twigs, and Fruit" just didn't have a ring to it. Either way, berries (or fruit) are the tiny morsels that make family tree interesting. And that's what I hope to give to you through this blog (foundation, substance, and interest), centered on the discovery of my life and the lives of my ancestors.

So, from here, I am just........."Getting Started."

Be Prepared

2008-02-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here is my new "kick," as Amber would call it. Actually let me tell you a little about how I came across this "kick" of mine. There is a girl I once knew named Vanessa Lorke. No not an old girlfriend, in fact, you probably couldn't even call us friends. I served an LDS mission in Samara, Russia. Vanessa was a sister missionary assigned to the same mission. In fact, we did serve in the same district a few times (if memory serves me correctly). Anyway, I occasionally receive emails from her, updating me on the times and places of the mission reunions. It's not a personal email, it's a blanket email to everyone.....she probably doesn't even realize that I am on her list.

Anyway, I was cleaning out my inbox the other day and I came across one of the "reunion updates," and I noticed that she had included a link to her BLOG. I thought I would check it out and I came upon a post titled "72-hour Kits Checklist." As I read her post, I felt a need to take it upon myself to get my family prepared. It was the weirdest feeling. So, yeah, that became my new "kick." So, recently, I have been putting together a 72-hour kit using the checklist that she used for her kit (adding a few of my own personal comfort items). She has a lot of really great pics on how things should be packed and a lot of good links that take you to various emergency preparedness websites. I encourage all of you to check it out.

Now, there are a couple of reasons that I felt it important enough to mention this in my BLOG. Being in the Army and enduring the various training environments that I have, I have come to appreciate the need to be prepared and ready for any situation. Granted, you can't plan for EVERYTHING. But with the right preparation you can endure just about anything with what you have. Plus, it really sucks when you really need something and don't have it, or don't have the means to get it.

Second, it's a commandment from God. Alright, so its a commandment from God to have food storage. But let me ask you this, if a flood came and you had to leave your house at a moments notice.......what good would having 50 lb. sacks of rice or pasta be?? So, hence the need of an emergency 72-hour kit that you can grab-n-go!! Or better yet, you could keep a kit in your car, that way you could just go. Me, personally.......once we get our kits completed we are going to stick them in the coat closet by the front door so they are right there, everything we need to survive for a few days or more without having to waste time searching for it.

Also the 72-hour kits play right into the food storage issue. Once you get the kits out of the way then you can start to focus more on the food storage. You've started.....now you know you can survive at least 3 days, set that aside......then gather more so that you can survive a week.....then a month.......then 3 months........then a year........gradually building and rotating your supply (so nothing spoils). Just remember to keep your 72-kit separate, just in case you have to leave your supply.

Well, I think I've stood on my soapbox long enough. Again, I encourage ya'll to take a look at Vanessa's BLOG. And I think we should all give her a round of applause (clap, clap, clap) for her hard work, attention to detail, and willingness to share. Also, there is one other site that I came across that I thought might be of interest to anyone that is planning to go a little more in depth with their kits. This LIST was prepared for a possible earthquake disaster in mind.

I hope ya'll enjoyed.......and happy preparing!!

Clash for the TITAN

2008-01-30T18:14:00.000-08:00

Yep, so I finally got it. The truck that I have been wanting for the longest time. Okay, maybe it isn't exactly what I wanted, but I am happy with the compromise.

About 4 years ago, I worked at a Toyota dealership and, ever since, have wanted a Toyota Tundra. BEAUTIFUL TRUCK........at least it was until Toyota decided to change the body style a few years back. So the other truck that I have had my eyes on was the Nissan Titan. And looky there, it's a Titan. And to be perfectly honest, this truck was a steal!! But it by no means was a simple purchase......too many obstacles to overcome. But I did overcome, and now that BEAUTIFUL Titan is sitting in my driveway (not in my garage, because its too big!!).

The title of my blog is a little misleading. There was a clash......two actually. But I won't bore you with the gruesome details of the purchase. But I will tell you, I put an offer down on the truck, and when they didn't take it, my wife made me walk away......even though it was still a stellar deal. And she put up with me getting mad when she wouldn't let me go back to get it......but 1 1/2 weeks later the dealership called me back and told me to come get the truck at my offer and so I did.

No, its not a NEW truck (2004 with 38,000 miles).....but new enough for me. And I think I will be content with it for awhile.....at least until the gas prices go up another dollar or so.

Anyway, I know I haven't written on this for a while and those that did read probably have given up on me.....but I wanted to brag and this seemed as good a place as any to do so.

p.s.
If ya'll do want the details about the truck, post a comment and then maybe I'll include it in my next posting......and I promise it will be sooner than this one came!!

Just Call Me Scrooge!!

2007-12-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am a little peeved. No, strike that. I am A LOT peeved. "Why?" you may ask. I hate Christmas. And not because of Christmas itself, but for the stupidity that is inescapably revealed during the Christmas season.

So what is today? The 4th of December. 21 days until Christmas (or 21 "shopping" days per the Wal-martian calendar). But seriously, do we need 21 FULL days of Christmas shows and cartoons on TV, carols on the radio, aisles dedicated to nothing but ornaments and garland and the frowning life-hating bell-ringer in front of EVERY store in America?

But 21 days is actually being conservative. Did everyone have a nice Pre-Christmas (the holiday formerly known as Thanksgiving)? Why do I call it Pre-Christmas? Because this is when the insanity starts. In fact, it starts prior to Thanksgiving. I don't think I properly recovered from the thrills of Halloween before I was bombarded by Christmas aisles at Wal-mart and the Celebrity renditions of "Jingle Bells" on the radio.

So, really, do we need a month and a half of Christmas to get us in the Christmas spirit, just to have it whisked away in a morning of opening presents? Why is there no residual Christmas until January 1?

Now back to the first paragraph. Why am I peeved? I sat down tonight to watch NCIS, only to be disappointed by an airing of Frosty the Snowman! MY KIDS ARE IN BED!! (Or at least, they should be!) Which is logical, being a school night. If networks find it necessary to air EVERY Christmas movie ever made prior to Christmas, why not make it a movie marathon on a Saturday, when kids are actually around to watch it and doesn't interfere with the normal TV watching habits of adults. And make it the weekend before Christmas, I would even be okay with the 2-3 days before Christmas.

Radio stations should do the same. Why do I need to listen to every celebrity's rendition of "Jingle Bells" or any other classic Christmas song? I personally think there are only 20 different Christmas songs. But the radio stations rotate through all of them with a different artist singing each one. "Here is 'Jingle Bells' as sung by.....Garth Brooks.......the Beastie Boys.......Marilyn Manson.......the Rolling Stones........ Metallica..........Hootie and the Blowfish......" Get my point?

So you know what I was thankful for on Pre-Christmas day? THE BLACK FRIDAY ADS, of course. What better way to ring in the Christmas season than by compiling a greedy list of all the things that you want for Christmas. Things that will require your loved ones to deprive themselves of sleep, waking up at 0-dark:30, in order to beat all the other ungrateful, ignorant people, whose idiocy is running rampant, to the limited supply (purposely limited by retailers) of those particular things. All to get the "perfect gift" to show just how much they love you! Stupidity I tell you.

Well, I've ranted and raved long enough. See what a simple hour of NCIS would have saved you all from reading!! Ba-Humbug!!

Interesting Nothing

2007-11-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

So, when I started this BLOG, it was with the intent to express my view of what I saw and experienced in this world (preferably in a humorous way). Well, I think I am failing miserably at that. Mainly, because I am failing to find inspiration needed to post regularly. However, I continue to get hounded for new material....mainly by my wife. (Apparently, she can't get enough of me.)

Also it is a little hard to get motivated to post regularly when I know that only a handful of people are reading it. So, I emplore all of you that ARE reading this, to circulate this BLOG. Invite your friends and family to read. I have noticed that a few of you have added links to my BLOG from your own blogsites.......thank you. I appreciate the advertising. Oh, yeah, and comment regularly, so I know you are reading!!

SO, on to my title. "Interesting Nothing" I know ya'll are wondering, "What the crap does that mean?" Well, it is sort of what I have been attempting to do with this BLOG. I try to find things that really seem insignificant and meaningless (that would be the "Nothing") and try to make it interesting (hopefully humorously).

Today, I was watching the movie, You've Got Mail. If you haven't seen this movie, it is one to watch with a wife or a girlfriend. Yeah, it's a total chick flick!! Which, I was made fully aware of by a flight school colleague of mine by his remark, "Dude, you're gay!!" (Yep, you guessed it, more lost cool points.) So, yeah, Tom Hanks and Meg "Totally Hot!" Ryan star in this movie. Well, I only watched like the first half. During this first half, both Meg and Tom are writing emails back and forth. These emails are really about nothing.....nothing at all. Yet, they were interesting. (Not to me, of course, but to each other) So, yeah, "Interesting Nothing."

And then there is Seinfeld. Yep, "the show about nothing." Yet, it was incredibly interesting, and funny. Now, of course, I know I will probably never be as funny as Jerry Seinfeld, or as interesting. But it gives me something to shoot for, right?

So, there you have it folks. This post is to serve 3 purposes. One: to encourage ya'll to advertise my BLOGsite. Two: to attempt making a post about nothing....interesting. And three: TO GET MY WIFE OFF MY BACK ABOUT MAKING A NEW POST!!! ;-P

OPERATION: Blinds

2007-11-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I apologize. I apologize for not posting in 4 days. I know my loyal readers have been refreshing this page non-stop for the last 3 days praying for a new posting. Again I apologize. But as you know from my last posting, I was on hiatus from my strenuous Army training to be with my family for the weekend. Now, I know that is not reason enough to neglect my fans, but for some reason my wife doesn't share my sense of reasoning. I paid $260 to go home, and if I would have spent 15-30 minutes writing a BLOG post, my wife would have thought that was $10 of wasted cash!! So, you can thank her for my neglect.

BUT, it was worth it. And I will spare you the gruesome details.

However, I did get to spend some of my time doing some improvements on our new house, "home improvements," if you will. Oh, the joys!! When we bought our house we decided to save some money by putting in our own blinds. Which for the 10 windows and one sliding-glass door, has turned into a 3 month project!! Granted, part of that is due to the fact that I haven't really been home to do it, but really. Now, I've stated before that I can be lazy at times, but, trust me, that has absolutely nothing to do with why this project has taken so long.

We started off by buying 6 blinds for 6 windows. (Funny how the numbers work out.) Anyway, we would have bought enough for all the windows, however, the style we bought was only carried in one of the handful of Lowe's stores in the Boise area. Unbeknownst to us, they were a clearance item that was not going to be restocked. For sake of time and interest, I am going to summarize the story up until this last weekend. 2 blinds--ALL DAY. Broken drill bit. Tight places. Wrong tools. Stripped threads. Cheap tools. 2 more blinds--ALL EVENING (the next weekend). Sawdust in eyes. Another broken drill bit. Sears run. Watching baby. Kids helping. Wife hovering. 2 more blinds--another ALL EVENING (a different weekend). Baby sleeping. Quiet installation. Baby waking. Baby crying. Daddy holding baby while mommy cooks dinner. More sawdust, more stripped threads, more cheap tools, luckily no broken bits. RESULTS: 6 of 10 blinds installed.

Okay, last weekend. We go to Lowe's (again) hoping to find the long lost shipment of clearance blinds (you know, the ones that were on clearance 3 months earlier). We spend all morning debating which blinds would be acceptable, and we decided to get the vertical blinds for our sliding-glass door. Oh, we also checked prices on a custom blind for my office. So, we get 3 blinds and one vertical blind. As I am loading these into my cart, I see a sign "Guaranteed Blind Installation: $70." No way am I going to pay $70 to do a job I can do myself.

We get home and I begin. Well, I at least opened the box and got the pieces out. I couldn't really start because the battery on my drill/screwdriver was dead and I had to wait for the charge. Once charged, I begin. So I pre-drill the holes, only to find that I need to use the anchors to mount the brackets, which, according to the de-structions, requires pre-drilled holes with a 7/32" drill bit. THE ONLY SIZE BIT I DIDN'T HAVE. Back to Lowe's. I buy the bit and head back to the house. I drill the holes and insert the anchors, which were pieces of crap and just stripped the holes making them even bigger and didn't "anchor" anything!! So, it was back to Lowe's to buy higher quality anchors to fit in the now bigger holes. At this point, $70 seemed to be a fairly reasonable price. The 3 hours of wasted time driving back and forth, the gas it cost to go back and forth, the additional money spent in tools and pieces, well worth $70 in my opinion.

Fortunately, things went a little smoother after that. However, because of the day full of setbacks, my accomplishments were limited to the one set of vertical blinds and 1 set of blinds in the kitchen. Still, "OPERATION: Blinds" is still unaccomplished. 3 blinds left.

Phoenix -- Sky Harbor International Airport

2007-11-10T02:01:00.000-08:00

Greetings! Today's post is brought to you live from the inside of Phoenix's own, Sky Harbor International Airport. The time......3:00 a.m.!! "Why," you ask, "are you in the airport at such an hour?" Well, excitement and stupidity. I am here, because I am so excited to get home. I am going home from my Army training in Tuscon, AZ to spend the weekend with my family before coming back here after Veteran's Day. However, my stupid a$$, decided driving from Tucson to Phoenix in the middle of the night (immediately after a training flight) to arrive at the airport at 1:00 a.m. was a splendid idea. So, here I am, spending the night in the airport in Phoenix........yep, just me and the cleaning ladies (whom I don't think speak a lick of English). They are probably thinking to themselves, "Stupido gringo!!" And frankly at this point, I am likely to agree with them.

Oh, I forget, the security dudes are here too. And I didn't really think I looked that suspicious, but they sure do look at me like I am, EVERY time they walk by. I just give them a cheesy grin and wave. Oh, did I mention my eyes are REALLY bloodshot right now, so they probably think I'm some drugged-out loser (with a laptop) with no other place to go. I guess I should just feel lucky they haven't kicked me out on the street yet.

So, what contributing factors led me to think that it was a good idea to arrive at the airport so early?? Well, my flight isn't until 11:20 or so. But I'm hoping to get on stand-by on an earlier flight which leaves at 7:15. So, obviously, I had to be here 2 hours prior to that. And since I got here at 1:00 that would give me 4 hours to catch up on my BLOG, watch the episode of Grey's Anatomy that I missed on Thursday and maybe the episode of Stargate: Atlantis that I missed tonite.

Okay, so we can see that I am accomplishing my first task by evidence of this post. However, my other goals have seem to be a little more elusive. I tried to watch Grey's Anatomy off of ABC's website. However, the free wi-fi connection here at the airport is just a little slow and the streaming of the episode kept skipping and pausing, which just doesn't make for fun TV watching. So, my next plan of attack was to download the episode (and the Stargate episode) off of iTunes, because my wife assured me that iTunes was installed on this computer. Well, when I went to download the episodes......yep, you guessed it......NO iTunes. Grrrrrr. So, I went to download iTunes. Yeah, thanks to the wonderful "high-speed" connection here at the airport that would have taken one and a half hours to complete.....then on top of that the time to download the episodes. Not that I don't have the time to do all that, and who knows, I still might. But, I'm not really excited about sitting here for a couple of hours while TV shows download.

Oh, yeah. So when I first got here, I scoped out the airport. In search of the perfect seat. You know, not too hard, not to soft, close to an outlet, out in the open (just in case a transient decided to molest me). And I found the perfect seat (yippee!!). That is until my computer shut down from running out of battery power, because the outlet DIDN'T WORK!! So I went searching again.......and I found a seat. It's a wonderfully HARD bench, in a corner, next to the janitors closet, where me and Maria have become really good friends. (I just hope she doesn't molest me)

Ouch! The lower half of my body is asleep. (At least, some of me is getting some rest.)

Well, to be perfectly honest. This overnighter is a lot better than the last time I spent the nite in an airport. NO, this isn't my first time. The first time was almost 11 years ago. I was in basic training in the Army and was on my way home for Christmas. And of course, as is usually my luck, my flights got cancelled and/or postponed and/or rerouted. My trip from Ft. Jackson, SC to Idaho Falls, ID had a rather unexpected layover in Denver. My flight got there at about 1:00 a.m. and my flight going to Salt Lake didn't leave until 8:00. So, I got to hang with the cleaning people there in Denver. I was a little overdressed for that sleepover though. I was in my dress uniform (which, at the time, we were required to wear when traveling). I was smart enough to bring with me my CD player, but there is only so much Lynyrd Skynyrd one can take.

So, at least now, I have the internets (and Maria) to keep me company.

Losing Cool Points

2007-11-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

In the few postings that I have written, I have undoubtedly racked up quite a number of cool points. I mean, I have a beautiful wife. Cool. I have 4 wonderful kids. Cool. I listen to cool music. Cool. I used a word (chil-laxin') that most of you have probably never even heard. Cool. Stewie Griffin is on my BLOG page. Way cool. Oh, yeah and probably the coolest of all is the fact that I am an Army helicopter pilot. COOL!!

So, why is the title of my post "Losing Cool Points?" Well, I have a confession to make. I have a hobby. A hobby that is considered by most type-A personalities to be on the lower end of the "Cool" spectrum. What is a type-A personality? Well, it is one that enjoys rather exciting activities. You know, activities like skydiving, scuba-diving, downhill skiing, motorcycle riding, etc. By their very nature, helicopter pilots are type-A personalities.

My hobby? Scrapbooking. OUCH! I can feel the cool points being stripped from me. Okay, well let me clarify. I don't get out the papers and glue and pics that I just picked up from the photo lab at Wal-mart. No, I do it all on the computer, digitally. Armed with my digital camera and my sweet computer skills, I enhance my ordinary family photos into a story or emotion that can't really be told or felt by just looking at the photo.

So what got me into digital scrapbooking? Well, actually, the pre-cursor was another one of my hobbies, (ready for this?) genealogy. I know......I am losing cool points left and right. Okay, so I am a history major and the history of my family intrigued me. So when I started researching my family history, I started collecting all these photos of ancestors and such. Now, if you just look at a photo, especially an old one, it really means nothing without a story. So, that's what I desired to do, put a story with these photos.

Well, my mother-in-law suggested scrapbooking. Well, I tried it. First doing a wedding page for my wife for our anniversary. It was alright. But I wasn't too thrilled about all the paper and glue and embellishments and photos......in general, I wasn't thrilled with the mess that was made and needed to be cleaned up every time.

Then my mother-in-law suggested scrapbooking on the computer. She demonstrated some of what she had done and then she helped me do some of my own. And I was hooked. Since then I have done some 30 pages or so. Some of them genealogy related, most focused on my kids. In fact, the pics of my kids on this blog are some pages I recently did. Above is one I recently did and I think is among one of my favorites.

So I purposely mentioned my un-cool hobby early in my BLOGing so that ya'll will forget it early and I may recover my cool points quicker. However, I will continue to post my pages, both old and new, as time and topics permit.

Take care. I'm going to bed.

Chil-laxin'

2007-11-06T19:29:00.000-08:00

New word? I think so. However, I can't take credit for its creation. Now, I don't know what the exact definition is or should be. But I will give you my definition. It means behaving in a state that is neither "chillin'" nor "relaxing" but a combination of both. Now, you are probably saying to yourself, "They basically mean the same thing." And I would say, "You are absolutely right." So "Chil-laxin'," it is what you do when regular chillin' or relaxin' just isn't enough. Usually, it takes place after a successful completion of a rather stressful event.

So, my friends, today is my day to CHIL-LAX.

"Why?" you ask. Well, today was the completion of the most stressful 4 weeks of my life. (Well, actually there have been 3 other weeks that have been more stressful, and some of you may know what I'm talking about. And for those of you who don't, I'm sorry I can't tell you. If I did, I would have to kill you.)

Now, let me paint you a picture. Imagine driving down the interstate. Now imagine that you have a periscope attached to one of your eyes, the other end extending outside of the car. Now, imagine that all the windows in your car are blacked out, so that you can't see outside, except thru the periscope. Oh, and that crystal-clear, color image that you are seeing, well, replace that image with one similar to a TV program image seen thru a bunch of static because your antenna isn't positioned correctly. And in black and white. Got that picture in your head? Now, imagine you are doing this about 1/2 way thru your time in driver's education, you know when you don't have much experience driving. Oh, did I mention you are driving a bus, and not a car?

Feeling stressed yet?? OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT!! Because you're not doing it. However, that is exactly what I have been doing for the past 4 weeks. Only my car was a helicopter. And I wasn't on the interstate, I was up to 800 feet off the ground, where one wrong move could send me falling out of the sky to my death. Stressful? Ummmm, YEAH!! But today was my evaluation (which I passed, thank you very much). So do you think that is reason enough to be CHIL-LAXIN'?

So how does Eric spend his time chil-laxin'? Well, I spent my time writing this and watching TV. Generally, I have been avoiding anything and everything having to do with flying. That way I can be refreshed and ready to go at it again tomorrow. And telling ya'll what I have been going thru for the past 4 weeks is really helping me "avoid." I'm such an idiot.

Well, I guess I better get back to my chil-laxin' and my avoidance of everything aviation related.

That's How I Roll

2007-11-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so what is the deal with this whole BLOG frenzy?? I really don't see the attraction. But here I am, being a conformist. Doing what everyone else is doing, in the hopes that someone will find some enjoyment/entertainment/happiness/fulfillment/(insert your own word) from reading what it is that I feel is important enough to post on the "internets" for the whole world to see. I hope it was well worth the wait.

So here I am, sitting on my bed, in a room provided to me by the US Government, on a computer, hand-receipted to me by the US Government, wasting my time writing a BLOG, instead of studying for a course that is considered to be one of the hardest courses offered by the US Army. So, "Why," you ask, "are you sitting there?" Well, you know what, I have asked myself the same exact question numerous times as I've sat here writing this post. And yet I am still writing.......weird. It's not because I feel that I have learned all there is to know, nor that I am lazy (at least not all the time). The honest truth is, I don't really know why I sit here while there is a wealth of knowledge to be learned at the expense of the US Government.

But, hey, I'm sure you aren't reading this because you are interested in how lazy or conforming I am. You're interested to know about me.....about "How I Roll."

Directly, you are a friend or a family member to whom I have sent the link to this BLOG. And I thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read about me. Truly, I know you are searching for that deep, dark secret that I have been hiding for years and now, suddenly, have decided to unveil to the world for all to see by means of a BLOG. Well, (caution: spoiler follows) there is no such secret. So, if that is what you are reading for, then you should just stop now and quit wasting your time.

Indirectly, you are a friend of a friend or family member who happened to send you this link, or you are someone who came across this BLOG by happenstance........well, I'm both honored and sorry. Honored that my friend or family member found this BLOG to be quaint enough to share with others with whom I have no connection. Sorry that you have to read it and diligently search for that which is relevant to your existence.

Anyway, I digress. Back to "How I Roll."

I am 29 years old going on........ 29. (I will never be 30.) I am married to a very beautiful, older woman (She is 30). A very beautiful, older woman who puts up with me and thinks that I put up with her. When in all actuality, she's easier to deal with than most girls/women that I've known. She has brought to my life a beautiful, bright daughter, whom I love dearly. AND she has given me 3 wonderful sons, whom I would not trade (although tempting at times) for anything in the world. 3 sons that will carry on the Kraus legacy (what that legacy is.....well, that is yet to be determined).

I'm from the beautiful state of Idaho. "Beautiful?" Hmmm, I spent 27 years of my life trying to get away from the place and have spent the last 2 years trying to get back there. Weird.

I'm a college graduate.....the first in my family, I might add. And when I grow up, my plans are to be an Army helicopter pilot. Oh, wait.......I am an Army helicopter pilot. I have been in the US Army for almost 11 years now, the last 3 as an officer and an aspiring pilot. Which, if you haven't caught the connection yet, is why I have been away from Idaho.....learning to do the flying-of-the-helicopters thing. So, now I am an Apachawk pilot. And if you can figure out what that means....good on ya, mate.

More about me? Well, I thought you would never ask. I, one day, aspire to do many things. Just one day though. Remember, I'm lazy. The rest of my days, I am going to spread everything else out. You know, pace myself. Of the "everything else" I aspire to do, I guess the most noteworthy is my desire to write a book. "What about?" That too, is yet to be determined. But believe me, like my BLOG, it will be well worth the wait.

Well, I think I have wasted enough time, yours and mine (two for one special today). But, hey, THAT'S HOW I ROLL!