Shannon M. Thomas | Mostly Genealogy

2018 Pumpkins My family has been having a pumpkin carving party for the last several years.  Each year I go on a hunt for some new patterns.  Today, I want to share some of my favorite places to get patterns.  The Pumpkin Lady Pumpkin Pile KOA - Camping themed Military Themed CelebratingHalloween Disney Stoney Kins DLTK Band of Cats Dotcom Women BHG HGTV College Football DIY Network Do you carve pumpkins with your family?  Please share your pumpkins with me.

Over at Anglers Rest Julie Goucher posted Planners, Notebooks & How it Came to be about her planning system.  I thought I would share how I plan and keep track of everything that I do. As most of you know I use Evernote for my brain but sometimes I just have to write things down.  I have always used some sort of planner.  I even used Evernote for a planner for a while but I missed putting pen to paper.   There are tons of options for planners.  I currently use a  Chic Sparrow  Traveler's Notebook.  It is in the  Mr. Darcy Leather  and the color is a retired color called Mayflower.  {This was gifted to me by a wonderful person and friend...she is the best} I've also grown to love fountain pens but that is a post for another time.   Inside the front cover there are some sticky pockets with clips and some business cards.  On the right is a dashboard that I made and in the pocket are so...

Me 1980

Using social media to start a conversation. HTML cheat sheet Using Evernote as a Genealogical Research Log An informal research log in Evernote 8 YouTube channels to improve your genealogy More tips for using Evernote with your genealogy Have you found anything interesting around the web??

Hello everyone! I'm sorry I have been absent for a little while.  We went on vacation to Florida for 11 days. Some pictures of my happy place! Then I had emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder.  With some time to recover I have finally found some time for a post. I'm hoping to get back to genealogy and some regular posts. I recently got Legacy 9 so I will be posting about that and some new features that I am loving.

Bullet journaling is very popular right now.  You can find a lot of inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest; there are also Facebook groups for bullet journaling.  Bullet journaling has its own hashtag #bujo.  The concept of bullet journaling was started by Ryder Carroll; you can find more at  bulletjournal.com . My first weekly spread in my bullet journal This past week's daily pages. The genealogy community is getting on the bullet journaling bandwagon as well.  Here are some genealogists who are sharing their bullet journal experience: Dear Mytrle  -- she has a whole series on setting up her bullet journal Dear Myrtle's Wacky Wednesday -- What's Bullet Journaling Jennifer at the Occasional Genealogist  shares some genealogy collection ideas Mary at  Celebrating Family Stories  shares her genealogy bullet journal Youtube video of a webinar titled Bullet Journaling for Genealogy Another page of dailies and my favorit...

Back again with another installment of interesting things I came across this week. Genealogy --  How to Obtain a Copy of a Social Security Application Form : SS-5 Evernote -- 5 Tips to Get More out of Evernote Evernote -- Evernote vs Onenote - 5 Key Differences Misc -- 'A feel-good moment': Charity worker reunites family with WWII heirlooms Misc -- Emotions run high as WWII fighter pilot reunites with his plane What did you find interesting this week??

Evernote -- Unlocking and Unleashing Your Perfect Productive System Evernote -- Evernote and TaskClone Gave this Executive back his Weekends!  {I recently started using TaskClone and it is working great with Wunderlist .} Evernote -- 5 Favorite Ways to Collect Content in Evernote Evernote --  Everything You Need To Know to Master Sharing with Evernote Public Links Evernote -- Free Evernote Training Videos Featuring Stacey Harmon Evernote -- A WORKDAY IN MY LIFE WITH EVERNOTE Planner -- Scattered Squirrel Blog has new printables Jones Design Company -- COFFEE CHAT EPISODE 10 | IT’S RAINING, IT’S POURING What interesting things did you find this week??

I hope you enjoy these treasures that I found this week!  Did you find anything interesting to share with me?? Long Lost Sisters Reunited  Check out how well Team Penn did during the WikiTree Source-a-Thon Facebook Genealogy Easy DIY Blog Graphics Evernote -- Facebook Live Researching an Ancestor with a Common Name  by Amy Johnson Crow Scattered Squirrel -- 31 Days of Planner Fun!

Paper Planning Magazine  -- The 2nd issue is up.  It is about planners and planning.  Great resource. Forever  -- Cloud photo storage.  I am still looking in to this but it looks like this could be great solution for precious photographs. Carolina Girl Genalogy blog -- She did a post about the Little Family Tree app for kids.  This looks like a great idea for the kiddos in your life. October is Family History Month!  @ Desperately Seeking Surnames   there is a post highlighting 4 things to do to celebrate. UpFront with NGS shared some upcoming virtual genalogy fairs Barbara Poole shared 10 Things I Wished I Knew When I Started My Blog I Heart Planners -- YOUR PLANNER WON’T HELP YOU GET MORE DONE HOW TO MAKE GROCERY STORE FLOWERS LOOK FANCY I love this browser timer .  It helps keep me on track. The Pomodoro Technique  for time management.  {It goes with the browser timer above} What interesting things did you ...

I come across all kinds of stuff on the internet and wanted a way to share what I find so I am starting a weekly blog post called Interesting This Week.  Each Sunday I will post the things I have come across this week that I think are worth sharing.  They may or may not be genealogy related. The first installment of Interesting This Week starts now! Category : Genealogy Wiki Tree is having a Source-A-Thon on October 1st through October 3rd (72-hour sourcing marathon) Amy Johnson Crow's blog post How to Find Your Ancestor by Researching Other People Organize Your Family History -- How I store my genealogy information Category : Currently Reading Everyone Brave is Forgiven  -- I just started this book this week after finding it in the Genealogy Gems Book Club Category : Printables Daily Docket  I love using these when I feel overwhelmed on the weekend and don't really know where to begin my day. Autumn/Fall printable blog tour -- Lots of goodies he...

This is not the best photo but it is a favorite of mine.  My grandparents with my son a few weeks ago when we doing his senior pictures.  Time sure does fly!! Gram (Alice) and Pop (Bill) with Hunter at Canyon Vista at Worlds End State Park -- September 2016

My favorite Yard Sale find!  Metal rooster tray. This year when yard sale season came along I started going out and looking for pyrex and other goodies.  I have had some days where I'm not finding anything and then there are days where I hit the jackpot.  {like only spending $13.50 and coming home with a metal tray with a rooster on it and 5 or 6 pieces of pyrex}. $1.75 for all three. I know some people do not like yard sales at all but I know a lot who love them and I think I am starting to become one of them! Everyone has a story to tell and if you take the time hear those stories from those you meet along the way it makes your treasures that much more meaningful.  The Friendship one below came from a woman who told me about her mother getting it for her not long after she was married from a truck that came around selling pyrex. $.50 for this Friendship pyrex piece. {When I grow up I want to a picker...lol}

My Pyrex collection is growing!  I love the turquoise Butter Print with my red kitchen and I am working on pulling in more turquoise accessories.  The Butterfly Gold is becoming a fast favorite as well.  I love the process of hunting for the Pyrex and then sharing with the Pyrex community on Facebook and Instagram the treasures that I found.  My collection is quickly growing and I am running out of room in the china cabinet.  Time for another piece of furniture to display all my pretties.

Happy Easter!! I took these photos Easter of 2013 at my grandmothers house.  Her flowers are always so beautiful!

...to celebrate Mother's Day and my 11 year anniversary! The last few days have been great! Now back to our regularly scheduled program...my genealogy!

I NEVER thought I was going to have to deal with this.  Hunter is going through a really tough time right now.  I feel really bad for him and guilty at the same time.  I wish kids would think about what they are saying and or doing to others and think how they would feel it was being done to them!  I am very grateful that he has the friends he does because they are the reason I know what has been going on.  He didn't want to tell anyone because he did not want to bother them.  I feel like I have let him down somehow.  I'm hoping tomorrow will be the start to a better week for him!!  HUNTER I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

a Close up

Beautiful fall trees from our "leaf" ride!