Saturday, February 27, 2010

Jamee's first Halloween

Ok, now most people have their first halloween as a small child or baby. But Jamee's mom was very religious and Halloween was a satanistic holiday that would not be celebrated in her house. So, Jamee was 21 her first Halloween. We were going out to Sliders/Pounders (not sure at that point who owned it) that night and Jamee wanted to dress up. So off we headed to the thrift store to see what I could come up with for costumes. We looked at hippies, clowns, gypsys, rock stars - but Jamee wanted the purple tinsel wig so I got the silver one and we headed home to figure out what we were going to be. When you are over 21 and going to a bar on Halloween and are female -- you always have the backup of some kind of hooker!! So, intergalatic hookers it was. We globbed on the makeup, added the wigs, made sure our shirts were low cut and our jeans were tight and off we went. it was a really fun night seeing all the people dressed up. I think that night the costume winner was the pregnant nun. just as a side note - she was not really pregnant. anyway, jamee had fun, i had fun and jamee has had fun every halloween since!!
until next time,
peace and luv,
laura

and last but not least.........

this is Vicky - my best friend, my soul sister. We have known each other for almost 34 years now, and still love to get together when we can and laugh like teenage girls over goofy stuff. We may not be related by blood or marriage but we are sisters none the less. I love her as much as anyone can love a sister and would lay down my life for her any day of the week.


little sisters

This is KC and Julie. they are my son's age, but sisters. my stepdad after leaving my mom, married Katy and they had KC and Julie. We didnt come into each other's lives until after both their parents had died due to family dynamics, but i am sure glad that they are part of my life now.




catching up today

this is Christopher and Rickey - they are my brothers - in a roundabout way :) they are my stepfather's ex-wife's new husband's children. My little sister's stepbrothers so a big part of the family.




Monday, February 22, 2010

welcome to another adventure.....

One of the biggest problems of having a best friend/little sister that you have many adventures with is deciding what to write about next. Should it be a big adventure or a small one? Will what seems funny to us seem funny to others? Does it really matter since I am basically doing this for Jamee and myself so that we have our adventures documented for future use. So, today is just a little adventure blurb. Because sometimes, that is all it is. A small blurb of an adventure that happens in the middle of life.
So, this one day we were driving up in the Renton Highlands. I dont remember what we were doing up there, but we were up by Renton Technical College sitting at a stop sign - waiting for the guys in the other car to go. As they make their turn in front of us, both of the guys in the car smile and wave at us. Ok, normal girls would have smiled and waved back. But not us. NO! We instead honk at them and flip them off. As we pull away from the stop sign, I look at Jamee and say "You know, this might be why we dont get dates."!!! OY! We laughed for the next ten minutes over that, because now we could see that the guys were probably flirting and how did we react - with anger and by flipping them off. Classic Jamee and Laura moment!!
Until next time,
peace and luv,
Laura

missing my mom

today is my mom's three year death anniversary. i dont miss her anymore today than i do any other day, but felt that today was a good day to mention it and write her a letter. So i am posting it here and when i print out pages for my scrapbook, i will add it to that as well, since it is a day in my life that i have to live with fro the rest of my life. but it does get better a little bit at a time. but i still miss her. and always will.
peace and luv
laura

Siblings day three

Today we have Shawn Friend. He was my step brother. Shawn and I were just about a month apart in age and while he didnt come to live with us until just before his senior year, I felt very close to him. Shawn was the kind of quiet guy that you just know has a lot going on underneath all the quiet. Shawn decided to end his life in May of 1996, why, we will probably never fully know or understand. But, he will always be a part of the family and will always be missed.
until tomorrow,
peace and luv,
laura


Madness Monday - Delbert Burns

So, I have been looking at GeneaBloggers today and am going to start incorporating some of their daily/weekly topics into my blog so that y'all dont just have to hear me whine about how my work is never ending LOL :) So, the monday topic is Madness Monday - either write about someone in your tree who was mad (you know psychotic lol) or someone in your tree that is driving you mad for whatever reason. So - since I have not found anyone who was Mad yet - please note the yet because now I am on a quest!! Today we will look at Delbert Burns. He is my maternal grandmother's brother. Here is what I know, what I think I know, what the family thinks they know, and why I cannot wait for april 2012.
What I know:
He was born in 1908 in Illinois. His father was Charles Thomas Burns (1875-1967) and his mother was Laura Whitehouse (1880-1923). His sisters were Artie Fern Burns (1911-1925) and Jessie Jane Burns (1912-1982). Jessie was my grandmother.
What I think I know:
I believe I found him on the 1930 US Federal Census in Wisconsin > Iowa > Cobb > District 7 > Page 4 as a lodger/hired hand living with Ulysses, Mary and Clarence Callow. Ulysses and Clarence are brothers.
What the family thinks they know:
From what the family has been able to tell me, after Laura died in 1923 Charles put both Artie (who was in a wheelchair) and Jesse into the Girls Welfare Home in Decatur, IL as he felt he was not equipped to raise girls without their mother. Charles was supposedly very abusive to Delbert and when Delbert was around 17 he left and was never seen or heard from again.
Why I cannot wait for April 2012:
this is when we will get our first looks into the 1940 census records. Hopefully I will be able to find some Delbert Burns there to look into.
But for now, Delbert is a huge source of madness to me. I would love to find out what happened to him before my Aunt Ginny passes away - not that I think this will be any time soon, but still.
So, until tomorrow,
Peace and Luv,
Laura

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Fourth of Jul-Ivars

The year Jamee was 17, we decided that we would spend our Independance Day in Seattle with the thousands of others at the Fourth of Jul-Ivars celebration. Mom watched Jesse for me since at that point in life he still hated fireworks, and we took off for the day. In usual fashion, Jamee and I were in jeans and t-shirts with hoodies. It is July in Seattle - why on earth would we need a coat??? For the rain you say? Well we might have wanted to consider that since it ended up raining all day and into the night as well as the temperatures only reaching into the mid 60's. But no, we are true Seattlites and we don't believe in coats and unbrellas!! So, knowing that the fireworks start at around 10pm, we head out around 10am. This is because we are also going to play tourist today. First stop, Pike Place Market. We wander around and look at everything slowly working our way down towards the waterfront and hey, as long as we are in the market we are dry. Besides there are so many unique shops in the market that I for one can still spend hours just looking around in there. So, we wander and watch people and giggle and point and laugh. So, we make our way to the waterfront and hit all the great tourist spots - Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, The Bay Pavilion, The Aquarium (at least the free parts of it) and just keep working our way up the waterfront to Myrtle Edwards Park where the entertainment and fireworks are. At one point along the way we stop for hotdogs at The Frankfurter and Jamee is grossed out that I am eating sauerkraut on mine. We also decide to stop and get a mocha - well Jamee who has never had anything like an expresso or mocha decides she just wants espresso. I told her that what she wanted was a mocha but she was very insistant. So I let her have one. And I will say that she did drink every drop. But she has not ordered one since!!! So, now we are cold, wet, full of caffiene, and it is only like 6pm - we still have 4 hours till the fireworks!! Time to find a place to sit down and eat slowly! Luckily there is a pizza place right by where we are going to be watching the fireworks. So we kill the better part of 2 hours "eating" and then decide to go get a prime spot to watch the fireworks. We decide on up by the railing in the parking lot area because that way we dont have to see over peoples tents in the park, we are close to the port a potties, and we are close to the trolly stop to take us back to near the bus stop to go home when it is over. So, we grab our spots and chill. We people watch, we gossip, we laugh and talk and just have a good time. And as the time gets closer lots of people get their spots all around us so it warms up some :) By the end of the night I have snuggled into the guy behind me and am wearing his leather coat. And the fireworks were awesome! Neither of us had ever been to a fireworks show where you are front and center and it felt like you could just reach out and touch the pretties. When the fireworks were done it was time to get on the trolley - along with 10 thousand other people. So they sardine'd us into the trolley and off we went back into downtown seattle to catch the bus back to renton. All in all a great adventure of a day and night. So, until next time, keep adventuring yourselves,
peace and luv,
laura

a sibling a day keeps the dr away

ok maybe a sibling a day will not keep the dr away, but it sounded good for a title. today we have tonya. tonya is my step father's oldest daughter from his first or second marriage - i am not sure he was married to ruth in germany as i dont have his military records yet. tonya and i are very different people now than we were as teens, but the thing that will always remain is that we are very different from each other. as a teen it is hard to open your life (let alone your room) to someone who is almost your polar opposite. but we made it through without actually killing each other and now as adults we can talk about stuff knowing that we will have completely different views of most everything. but it does not really matter. family is family till the end.
until tomorrow remember that who you are today is not who you will be in ten years,
peace and luv,
laura


Saturday, February 20, 2010

Welcome to Adventures of Jamee and Laura

Hello all,
I have decided to create a blog to document the adventures of Jamee and Laura. For those of you that don't know us yet, Jamee and I are sisters (well actually step sisters but who counts that little step??) with 9 1/2 years between us. I am the oldest and she is the baby. Now in normal families, this might present a problem, and while I was a teen it kinda did. But I always loved having this little girly girl doll to play with. Most of our adventures started after Jamee turned 21 and we started going out to bars together and really having fun. Now don't get me wrong, it is not always fun and games. We have our issues like any other sisters, but there have been so many adventures that people love hearing about that I figured it was time to write them down. The biggest issue is where to start............ so I believe I will start with a fun adventure that was actually when Jamee was 19 or 20. She was not old enough to go into the bars yet. Anyway, we had gone to downtown Seattle for New Years at the Needle. Now you have to realize, just because I am with someone who is not yet 21 does not mean I am not going to drink. Luckily for both of us I didn't mind slamming shots really quickly and running back out to hang out with Jamee. So there we were, under the space needle, listening to whatever band was playing, dancing with some hot guys - oh yeah - I totally shocked my sister that not only was I dancing with this stranger but I was "dirty dancing" with him. Totally grinding all over him. What can I say, I love dancing and I love dirty dancing!! But she got over her shock and we just really enjoyed the night. Dancing, laughing, hanging out with new "friends", and watching the fireworks at midnight. But you see so far this is just a fun night out, no adventure. After the fireworks is when the real adventure begins. I decide that the monorail and busses are just way too crowded so we will just walk back into downtown and get our bus back to Renton. So off we go - but remember I have been drinking and Jamee doesn't really know Seattle. So we decide that the best way back into downtown is to follow the Monorail tracks. (This is not the best way for those of you not familliar with Seattle) And off we go, with me stopping every two blocks or so to "run in this bar and check the time" meaning have yet another shot! Finally I realize I am not sure what street we are at and need to get back to where I know where I am. Being the responsible female that I am, I decide to get directions. So I look over and there are these two guys, both in full drag including platform boots so they are both pushing 7 feet tall. Well these gentlemen take pity on us and decide to walk us to the bus stop. So now here we are - the mostly drunk girl, her small town never seen a drag queen up close little sister, and these two really tall drag queens - walking through downtown Seattle to the bus stop. They even stayed with us until we got on the right bus. Weren't they just the sweetest?? So, yeah we made it home just fine. But I spent the next few weeks explaining that the drag queens were probably gay but not necessarily and that they were just people like her and me they just had superstar style!! LOL Well, I hope you have all enjoyed this little adventure of Jamee and Laura.
Until next time,
peace and luv,
Laura

day three of siblings :)

today we have Jamee. she is my sister. she is actually my step sister but since she has been a part of my life since i was 14 and she was 4 turning 5 she might as well have been born into my family. then when her dad divorced my mom what was i supposed to do - tell her that her dad is an ass so you cant be my sister anymore? nah, i was too attached by then so she is my sister! and now that we are both adults, she is one of my best friends. and i love all of our adventures - with the two of us a trip to the grocery store can turn into an adventure.
tune in tomorrow to see who will be posted :)
peace and luv,
laura


Friday, February 19, 2010

Bingo!!!!!

finally i have some useful information from my father. it is like pulling teeth to get information from most of my older family members - my dad and his brother because they just really dont know anything, apperantly family heritage was not something that was talked about - i am not honestly sure that anything was ever really talked about in their family. my mom's sisters - because their childhoods were not good - my two oldest aunts had to live in the catholic orphanage while my youngest aunt (my mom was the baby) lived with her aunt toots and uncle chick. she will probably be the best for information and a letter is in the works for all of the aunts. however, in talking to my dad the other day i was asking him about our hoffmann line, and he really didnt know too much as usual, but he did mention living hoffmann relatives. what? why have you not mentioned this before?? oh i dont know where they are anymore. still. so in about three hours i had addresses for four of them - one carol hoffmann was married to my grandmothers brother so will hopefully know more about the previous generations than my father. i also found two of the living hoffmann relatives on facebook and have friend requests into them. facebook is a wonderful thing. it is how i now know most of my cousins and second cousins on both sides of my family. relatives i have never met but who i now keep in touch with about family tree stuff. anyway, i have letters ready for the new hoffmann relatives, and will be getting them into the mail today or tomorrow. i hope this gives everyone hope to keep plugging along no matter how frustrated they might get.
until next time,
peace and luv
laura

siblings day two

today is my only full blood brother Jeremy. he and i have always had a rough path bouncing between all we have is each other and the #1 person on my hit list is.... but no matter what, no matter all the wrong paths he walks, no matter the lifestyles i dont approve of, he is and always will be my little brother. so here is his letter and his collage of photos.
tune in tomorrow for another sibling,
peace and luv,
laura


Thursday, February 18, 2010

time to feel special

this weeks project is siblings - and while in reality i only have one sibling and one half sibling i have several step siblings and my soul sister - my best friend of 34 of my 42 years. so instead of posting everything and you have to look through tons of stuff...... i will post one sibling per day. today is my half brother who my mom gave up for adoption at birth. she had him when i was three and my brother was one. i dont have any photos of him as i have not found him yet, but i wrote him a letter to include into my scrapbook. watch in the coming days for photo pages with a letter for each of my siblings.
peace and luv,
laura

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Grandparents memory pages

I finally took the time to write out my memory pages for my grandparents. It was hard for me as I have very few memories of my paternal grandparents, just a few of my maternal grandfather but tons of my maternal grandmother. So I did the best I could. Perhaps I will do a page just focused on my maternal grandmother to add to this. I hope everyone is having a great week,
peace and luv,
laura


Tuesday, February 16, 2010

today is scanning day

so, i went and got a new printer/scanner so today i will be scanning in all my step sisters items. i am also going to take notes on things that i would like to further research for that branch of my tree. i am also hoping that my dad will get out of all the snow in KY right now and be able to get my uncle to share the family photos/documents so he can scan them for me and send me the scanned copies! that would be just awesome! anyway, off to my busy life,
peace and luv,
laura

my spiritual journey

yes, this is a second post for today!! while i have not done the pages for my grandparents telling about them, i did finish my page for this previous week "my spiritual journey". this was a complicated one for me. i feel that my spiritual journey has been very long indeed and could probably have written several pages for it. however, i wanted it to stay on one page. so it is the readers digest condensed version!! but that is ok, since i am doing my scrapbook for 8 1/2 x 11 paper i will be able to go back when i have time and elaborate on things and just add the pages of handwritten stories in page protectors. well off to work on being creative today,
peace and luv,
laura

behind in posting :)

so last week i was supposed to post my grandparents pages. i am not done with them completely, but here are the photo pages. i am also going to do a companion page with their info and some memories i have of them. but here you go....... the photo pages :)
hope you all have a great day,]
peace and luv,
laura



Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Switching branches for a while

So, my step sister is now here in this tiny house with myself, my son, my other step sister and her husband. Not to mention the three dogs and three cats. However, it is all family and this is how it is supposed to work when things get rough for whatever reasons. All that being said, she brought with her some really interesting things from her family heritage. There are newspaper articles from when her Great Uncle got killed at Pearl Harbor, there are old family photos, there are military discharge papers, military we regret to inform you... papers, some militry ribbons and a sharp shooter award that i need to research to match to the papers and figure out whose they were for sure, there is also a pair of baby shoes that belonged to her grandmother, and a little jacket that was her father's. So now i am bouncing between the Friend/McGlasson branch, the Johnson/Hoffmann branch and the Whitehouse/Kelley branch. but it keeps it from getting monotonous. and it keeps me going.
i hope y'all are finding new and interesting things daily as well,
peace and luv,
laura

Friday, February 5, 2010

where will i find all the time

hello all,
with all this new knowledge about proper documentation as well as new information on other sources to search for for clues to an ancestor's life, i am now ready to hit the floor running. but where will i find all the time??? as i am re-doing my family trees into seperate branches and adding the documentation, citing my sources, adding photos and any notes/stories that i have in my other program, i am finding that i need at least an hour for each person that i have. my brain wants to be able to really whiz through this all, but my heart says go slow, take your time, in the end you will be able to give your family what it is they want. so, patience not being my best virtue, i am going slow. adding everything that i already have, noting what i still need, preparing letters to my aunts and uncles, and hoping against hope that someday i will be faster at this. :) but i guess since it took hundreds of years for my ancestors to live their lives, then i can take an hour or two to make sure that they are properly represented in the family tree. so, that is my week on my family tree. i hope everyone else is having as much fun as i am :)
have a great weekend,
peace and luv
laura

just a little extra

ok here is my extra for this week. i call them legacy pages but they are actually descendant charts in a way. i have done them so far for my mother and her three sisters, and still need to do one for my father's brother. i also plan on doing them for my grand parents as well as great aunts and uncles as time allows. i am so glad that faith sisters is walking us through doing a scrapbook all about us and our heritage. anyway i hope you enjoy them as much as i enjoyed making them,
peace and luv,
laura




Tuesday, February 2, 2010

lessons update

hello all,
i am just dropping in to update you on where i am in my quest. I have done several lessons now as well as read and noted many articles on genealogical professionalism. i did take a break the last few days so that i could get my art/photography websites back up and running so that perhaps i can make a little money here and there. but today - being groundhogs day - i am going to jump right back into it. today will be taking all my handwritten notes and typing them up so that i have all my lessons in a file on my computer not in several notebooks and here and there. i have also been talking to my dad - since it is his line that is my "guinea pig" tree - and am slowly digging out some family information from him. i need to go through it all and figure out where it all belongs. he is supposed to be getting together with his brother to do some more scanning of photos and documents for me. hopefully soon. if not i will just get my new found cousins to light a fire under them for me :)
anyway, i am off to get busy for the day,
peace and luv,
laura

Parents Pages

ok the challenge this week was to make a page for your parents. i chose to do two for each since i wanted the photos to really be seen as well as the information i chose to add. so, there is a photo page as well as an info page for my mother and my father. the one thing it did do was open communication with my father about him being legally blind. my mom had told me that he was born that way and that his mom blamed herself because she had a kidney infection or something and needed to take medication while she was pregnant and that caused his sight problems. well in putting together the few photos i have of my dad i realized he didnt have glasses on when he was small. so i asked, and found out that he didnt get glasses until he was in 5th grade. i also found out that he was told that what happened during his mothers pregnancy was "something to do with a cat". so now i have something to ponder. anyway, here are my pages - i cant wait to see what this weeks challenge will be.
peace and luv,
laura