I have been nominated for my first Blog Award!!

Today I got nominated for my first blog award!  Deborah Sweeney of genealogylady.net did me the honor of nominating me.  Thanks Deborah!

The rules for this award are similar to several others:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog. (check…see above)

2. Nominate 15 blogs for the Versatile Blogger Award, link to their page, and leave a comment notifying them of the  newly bestowed honor. (check…see below)

I just recently started following and reading other genealogy blogs, so I am not sure I have fifteen but here goes:

1.  http://thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com

2.  http://ancestoring.blogspot.com

3.  http://genealogyjunkie.blogspot.com

4.  http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com

5.  http://geneabloggers.com

6.  http://www.genealogue.com

7.  http://saveeverystep.wordpress.com/lifes-a-journey-series/

8.  I will have to find some more and post them here later.

The last thing is to share seven things about yourself.  Here goes:

1.  I have been interested in family history for as long as I can remember.

2.  I love to write posts on my blogs and I check the stats several times a day to see if anyone else reads them.  It really makes my day when someone likes, or even better, comments on one of my posts.

3.  I am a beginner in the blogging world and really need to learn how to publicize, link and add other stuff stuff to my blog…like instagram or flickr.

4.  I also help my husband run two donut shops (I do all of the bookwork, payroll, etc) plus we have 4 children – 19, 17, 8, and 2.  The 8 year old I homeschool and the 2 year old is a full time job.  Which means…

5.  I stay up later than I should just to do genealogy and write on my blog.  

6.  I have all of the plans in my head to write a Family History book and My American Family History Curriculum…just need the time to get it done.

7.  The only thing I don’t like about living in Oklahoma is that I have no real family history here.  My parents moved here when I was in Kindergarten.  The only relative that is here now is my sister and her family, everyone else lives out of state. 

Sibling Saturday – Tracy/Watt/Boblett Connection

Here is a fun sibling marriage puzzle from my family tree:

My great great grandfather John Edward Tracy (1832) married Maria Artlysia Boblett (1839).  He was the seventh child of ten children of Joshua and Rachel Dilworth Tracy.  His older sister, Ann (1822) married Isaac Watt (1819) in 1842.  One of Isaac and Ann’s sons was Isaiah Washington Watt (1846). Isaiah married Maria Artlysia Boblett Tracy’s younger sister Mary Lovisa Boblett.   Got that? So Maria Tracy’s sister Mary Lovisa married Maria Tracy’s nephew in law.  And John Edward Tracy’s older sister was his sister in law’s mother in law.  Needless to say I have a lot of distant Watt relatives but none of them are ancestors.

I did some research on Isaiah and Mary Lovisa Watt though because they have an interesting story.  They not only homesteaded with their children in York, Nebraska but they also came to Oklahoma for the land run, homesteaded the required three years there, left that land in the hands of one of their sons and went home to York County.  At one point some of the family moved to town in Nebraska so the kids could go to school and at another point Isaiah actually taught school.  They were a very hardworking family and the essence of “pioneer”.

Friday Funny – Newspaper clippings my Grandma kept

Here are some newspaper clippings my Grandma McConaughy kept.  I have no idea how old they are but they all hold true today, especially The Lazy Man’s Psalm.

Those Places Thursday – K+J Hardware Store

K&J Hardware (Grandma Jean in front)

My maternal grandparents owned a small hardware store in a very small town in the 1970s.  In fact, the hardware store was really a general store.  I remember every time we came to visit grandma and grandpa if we arrived during the day we always stopped at the store first and Grandma always let us have a soda and/or some candy.  I have fond memories of that store. Of

Inside the store with grandma in the 1970s.

course if we missed going to the store we always knew Grandma had popsicles in the freezer.

One of the reasons I have fond memories of that building is that after the store closed we lived in it for a year, 1980.  My grandparents still owned the building and our family moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Morley, Iowa for a year.  We lived in the upstairs apartment and used the downstairs as a music room, storage room, and play room.  That was one of the best years of my childhood.  I still tell people I would love to live in Iowa.  I realize now that I am adult I loved it there mostly because my grandparents lived nearby along with a bunch of other family.  The town only had 3 parallel streets, a couple churches, an old school gym

The building 2009 (Liz and I in front)

and playground, a post office, firestation, and library.  When I say small I mean very small.  But I loved living in that town.  We had freedom to roam and roam we did.  Both churches in town had outhouses and we used those whenever we had to go when we were playing outside.  The library was right next door to our house, it was only open a couple days a week and I loved hanging out there. Best of all grandma’s house was a straight shot up the street (and I mean up – uphill that is).  My brother and I used to walk/ride our bikes up to grandma’s all the time.  Man, that was a great year!

Wordless Wednesday – My mom is going to Kill me!

Tombstone Tuesday – Rusler Tombstone through the years

M.A. & Augusta Rusler Tombstone sometime in the 20s or 30s? Rusler family around includes Bertha & Fred.

Rusler Tombstone long ago.

M.A. & Augusta Rusler Tombstone 2012

Michael Anthony & Augusta Rusler – 2012

Council Cemetery, York, Nebraska

Amanuensis Monday – From Mabel to “Friend”

I found this letter mixed in with a box of letters written by Manuel Martinez to my Grandma Mabel.  Mabel and Manuel were college sweethearts who wrote letters back and forth for over a year after teacher’s college ended.  Manuel lived and taught in Antonito, Colorado while my grandma lived and taughtin York, Nebraska.  Most of the letters in the box were from Manuel to Mabel but this letter was in my grandma’s handwriting and looks like part of a letter she wrote to Manuel but never mailed.  They continued to correspond for another six months so perhaps she received a letter from him before she mailed this and decided not to mail it.  I like this letter because it reminds me poetic soul my grandma had.  It also give me a glimpse into who she was as a young lady.

“York, Nebraska

October 1930

Dearest Friend,

       Once again I don’t know why I do but I do and I promise myself that this is the last time if I don’t hear from you again for this is the fourth one I’ve written since I’ve heard from you and why should I keep tormenting you.  There is, no doubt, a good reason for your silence.

       I try to pretend that I have given up hearing from you yet I still ask if there is any mail for me.  Sometimes I think the mails must be robbed but I know that you know my York address.  I used to think it would be nice to write every so often but it sure is H-E-double agony to be always expecting one and never getting it.  I’m not blaming you at all and I know that something is the matter.  I have done or said something to offend.  (Isn’t it just like me?)  Well, whatever it is I know that you are or were very angry (and I don’t blame you) or you have had a change of mind.  (at least a partial change, Is it not so?  It is.)

       You used to write of somethings I couldn’t understand and I didn’t ask ’cause I didn’t want you to know how dumb I really was.  Now I don’t care.  See.  One was – Love without knowledge – Is that what you say?  Well whether you do or you don’t anyway – ‘Love without knowledge‘ What does it mean?  Is it like a very deep love I have seen – A girl I know, knew and loved a man too and he swore to her that his love was true.  She’d ne’er professed hers because people would say ’twas better for her to stay out of his way.  Yes, people talked to her, talked, preached and sang; preached of ‘love with knowledge’ until her head rang.  They’d tell her the wrong and they’d tell her the right till her very soul knew an endless fight.  Her heart or her head – now – which should choose?  They kept on in turmoil till she had the blues but was her love false or was it true?  That I keep wondering same as you.  Why did her heart hurt when he wasn’t glad?  When he didn’t smile why should she be sad?  Why should she long for a letter a day when her ‘once on a time lover’ was far away?  Why does she sit and dream of him yet when it was so easy, she tho’t to forget. (Nix, never) She didn’t make him love her I’m thinkin’ just now but he did make her love him and I can’t tell you how.  Now, he has forgotten, Dear Father above pray calm the poor hearts that have known but pure love.  Dear Father guard over our hearts in this life and keep us from all earthly turmoil an dstrife.  The wintry blasts of earth may come and uproot the flowers of love and to the four winds of the earth throw each tender shoot but even then the severance of fleshly ties unite thought, me thinks, more closely to God for the struggling heart is supported by love until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for Heaven above.  Our love then is not vainly poured forth even tho’ it meet no return or we think it doesn’t.  ”Thru love our natures are elevated and enriched” So comforting but awful hard to ‘carry on’ at times.  Oh yes I rave on and on but I promise you —– Gee if you really are trying to forget I mustn’t keep this up.  I would be a friend forever but even at that a friend isn’t necessarily a pest.  Perhaps a friend should let a person think & not keep bothering.  I feel that you are having a good time and I certainly don’t begrudge you anything like that for I have been anything but a cheering friend the last three months.  Can’t say I’m having a good time but I guess life is what we make it and I must suffer for my own follies.  I hope not forever tho’.  But even at that it isn’t necessary for my friends to suffer with me so from this minute I am going to “right bout face” and change the scowling wrinkles on my brow (which you have not seen_ to lines of laughter and am going to pretend I’m gay anyway.  ’Laugh it off!” And since I don’t seem to hear from you (whatever the cause)