A New Leaf

 

Introducing my son, Julian John, who was born Thursday night.  It is impossible to describe the emotions I have regarding him.  Putting him in my family tree software is amazing – I’m an ancestor!

Elevator Pitch

Have you ever heard of an elevator pitch?  Imagine you are in an elevator with someone who could be very  important in helping you and you only have 30 seconds, the length of the ride, to tell them your proposal and get them interested in hearing more.  That 30-second sound-bite is your elevator pitch.

I am joining in a 31 Days to Build a Better Blog group over at The SITS Girls.  It goes with my New Year's Resolution to become a better blogger.

Our first task: to write an elevator speech.  Both a short one and a longer one.

Short:

Genealogy, Libraries, and Wanderlust: My Life, In Blog Form.

Genealogy, Libraries, and Wanderlust: My Life, Digitized. <-My favorite

Genealogy, Libraries, and Wanderlust: My Life, Uploaded.

Genealogy, Libraries, and Wanderlust: My Life, Online.

Long:

Amanda's Athenæum: A genealogist with wanderlust turned library student, discusses culture, her heritage, discovering new places and life as a grad student.

To quote an undergrad professor: "Questions, Comments, Concerns?"  Let me know what you think below:-)

Happy 101 Award:-)

Thank you to Greta and Harriet for giving me a Happy 101 Award!  In order to receive it, I first have to give a list of 10 things that make me happy:
1. My fiancé Aaron, who is my best friend and always there for me.
2. My family and friends.
3. The opportunity to go to back to school to get my Master's degree and all the amazing people I am meeting through it.
4. Traveling.  Whether to a new town or a new country, I love it!
5. Books.  I love reading and all things book-related.
6. Making a new genealogy find!
7. All the cousins I have found doing genealogy.  Two new ones this week alone!
8. My apartment.  It's nice to have something of your own to go to at the end of a long day.
9. Singing.  Whether at karaoke, on stage or in my car with the radio:-)
10. Thinking about my upcoming trip to Germany.  I can't wait!!!

Now I get to give the award to 10 other bloggers who I enjoy:
1.  Terri at Little Pieces of Me
2.  Barbara at One "Fein" Family
3.  Jennifer at Jennifer's Genealogy Blog
4.  Amy at We Tree
5.  Amy at They That Go Down to the Sea
6.  Barbara at Life From the Roots
7.  J.M. at Tracing my Roots
8.  Tina at Gen Wish List
9.  Jessica at Jessica's Genejournal
10.  Karen at Karen the Librarian

Celebrate Your Name Week

Janet the researcher mentioned that the first week in March is "Celebrate Your Name Week."

My first name is Amanda.  When I was younger, a man at church asked me if I knew what my name meant and told me it was "to be loved."  Recently, my boyfriend told me he found out that amanda is an actual word in Latin, a command really, meaning "must be loved."

According to Behind the Name the name Amanda was "Created in the 17th century by the playwright Colley Cibber, who based it on Latin amanda meaning "lovable, worthy of love". It came into regular use during the 19th century."

My middle name is Elizabeth.  It is a biblical name, which I received as it is my paternal grandmothers middle name.

I hope you will join in on Celebrate Your Name Week and share what your name means and whom you were named after, if applicable:-)

Woo-Hoo I won the Kreativ Blogger Award!

Thank you so very much to Msteri at Heritage Happens and Jennifer at Jennifer's Genealogy Page for nominating me for the Kreativ Blogger Award!  I feel so honored with my new blog, especially from these two fantastic bloggers!!!

The in rules for the Kreativ Blogger Award are:

1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers. (how to choose only 7!!)
4. Link to those sites on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

My nominees for this award are:

1. Olive Tree Genealogy

2. A Twig in My Tree

3. Claudias Genealogy Blog

4. Crowe's Nest

5. Desktop Genealogist Unplugged

6. Genea-Musings

7. TransylvanianDutch

It was hard to choose just 7!

My first ever blog post:-)

I have been seriously researching my family history for about six months now.  A few years ago I had done a very cursory search, but then decided I was doing more than enough research in college to find time for this as well.

Ever since elementary school I have had a tremendous interest in history and I really enjoy learning about the places and history of the places my family is from, as well as searching for them.  In the future I hope to also combine my love of travel with my genealogy search.

As I continue my search for my ancestors, I plan to use this blog to share my discoveries, thoughts and brick walls.  I hope you enjoy joining me on this journey:-)