I can only apologize for taking so long to respond to Barb, who writes Decluttering the Stuff, and thank her for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition Award.

This all happened while we were still on our cruise. Although we’ve been back for several weeks, it seems like I haven’t had much time for the fun stuff – genealogy and blogging – until the last few days.

So, here is my very belated thank you to Barb for nominating me. There are a few “rules” for those who accept the award:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated me.
2. Write a post to show the award.
3. Write a brief story on how my blog started: I had thought about starting a blog for about a year before I followed through. My intention then, and now, was to write ancestor stories in the hopes of finding new cousins and to share research tips, particularly those that might help break down brick walls, and resources.
4. Share two pieces of advice for new bloggers:  Write on a regular basis and include images and links – whatever schedule that might be on – and read lots of other blogs in your niche. I’ve learned so much that way.
5. Nominate seven other bloggers for this award.
6. Comment on each of their blogs to let them know they have been nominated for this award and provide a link to this post.

Lara – Lara’s Jewnealogy
Amy – Brotmanblog: A Family Journey
Elizabeth – My Descendant’s Ancestors
Melissa – A Genealogist in the Archives
Lisa – Are You My Cousin?
Nicole and Diana – Family Locket
Randy – Genea-Musings

It isn’t in the rules to say why I’ve chosen the nominees, but I’d like to share that anyway.

Lara is doing a terrific job piecing together her family’s history in Eastern Europe and has incorporated DNA technology to help. I love reading about her discoveries.

Amy has a wonderful way of weaving the facts to tell her ancestors’ stories. I love reading her posts.

Elizabeth, who formerly hosted Little Bytes of Life, recently launched My Descendant’s Ancestors. Her tips, news and stories are right on point AND she hosts the Genealogy Blog Party, which I love.

Melissa is an archivist by occupation and explains the whys and hows of preserving all the family treasures that we might be lucky enough to inherit.

Lisa always has great tips to offer about research methods and resources including less common resources. She has even embraced videos to share them, which I haven’t been brave enough to do.

Diana & Nicole’s blog is multi-faceted, as she and her mom cover research tips, accreditation, DNA usage and even have a section geared towards children’s activities, which is terrific.

Randy has been blogging for an incredible 11 years! He is always on top of all the news, shares lots of information on his family tree with cousins (including me, as we share George Soule of the Mayflower), writes the best “how to” tech posts AND he hosts Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

If you don’t already follow these blogs, you are missing out on some great reading.