History, the Present, and the Future

Tonight I launched a very bare bones Facebook page dedicated to my blog. It is my hope that people not on my friends list who come across it will enjoy it as well as allowing people on my friends list who are not interested in my blog to avoid having to see posts about it.

Now on to some thoughts that occured as a result of my past few weeks of research and redesign.

iPhone Keyboards

Just a quick note to share...

I love all the iPhone keyboards!!!

Since I’ve been spending more time on genealogy and using my phone to help in my research, the ability to type names of people and places properly on a computer and on a mobile device has become crucial. At this point in time, I have added 4 extra languages for ease on my iPhone. As I go further in my research, I’m sure I will add more. Some are for fun, like the Greek, Icelandic, and Norwegian languages, but this morning I added French because of all the time I’m spending on my BERTHOULIER line.

With names like François BERTHOULIER and Montigney-lès-Cherlieu, quickly accessing the non-English letters is important. The letter variants are typically available on the English keyboard, but when you switch to the appropriate keyboard, spellcheck enacts and words that would have been flagged as misspelled in English are no longer flagged. I don’t know about you, but I really detest seeing all those red squiggly or dotted underlines. I still get them when a surname is all caps, but that’s the nature of the genealogical beast. Lol

TealNotes.com and New Year's Resolutions

This is a long post today, so don't say I didn't warn you!

Email Overload

If you're anything like me, you sign up for newsletters willy nilly and it soon fills your email inbox to capacity. Many people I know, and you might be like this too, very rarely check their email inboxes. We input our email addys into the form and forget about it.

I know I certainly have a difficult time keeping up with it. I thought I could sort it out a bit more, by creating mail filters and multiple email accounts, each covering a different aspect of my life. If you thought a single account was difficult to keep up with, try seven!

The Bartaway Rabbit Hole Strikes Again! (Part 2)

This evening I wanted to share a bit of methodology before jumping into the two eldest children of Adolphus BARTAWAY and Adalina HAGENBUCH. Researching genealogy and blogging about it seem to be mutually exclusive tasks for many of my genblogging contemporaries, but I use the two in conjunction. Blogging as I research and researching as I blog tends to be how I roll.

I also have started to use some emojis and unicode to add quick glance capability into my bulleted data lists. The Legend (which will develop into a reusable graphic) is as follows:

🍼  Birth (of self or children)
✒️ Census Record (pen nib)
⚭ Marriage
⚮ Divorce
💀 Death

The Bartaway Rabbit Hole has Struck Again!

The Berthoulier Confusion

My 3rd great grandfather Adolphus C. BARTAWAY (BERTHOULIER) has been a pain in my tookus. Tracking his heritage down is a big goal in my genealogy search. Pop heard stories as a child that Adolphus had attended the Chicago World's Fair and had his own booth. My father fancies himself a bit of a mechanical engineer and truth be told he's wrangled together some handy tools and projects over the years. It would be nice to find out the truth behind those stories and let him know if this branch contributes to his mechanical inclinations.

How I Organize My Genealogy Research Files

As I have mentioned in the past, I've been working on my genealogy off and on for about 16 years. The past four weeks have seen a lot of progress in organization and filling in huge gaps close to my end of the tree. In between applying for jobs and running errands for my father, I've decompressed by working on organizing the mounds of data, both digital and tactile.

(On a side note, I am quite disappointed that FamilySearch has had to change the availability of census pages. I used to be able to download and save the image that showed the page with my family member on it. The ability to download and print those images is now unavailable. I can only surmise that the US Census Bureau has renegotiated the contract and FamilySearch can no longer allow us that kind of access. Such a bummer.)

The KRAUSE Conundrum, Part 2

Conundrum

I call this family group The KRAUSE Conundrum because they have been so difficult to track down. The parents of the family are my 2nd great grandparents Ferdinand and Amelia. Their children are Gustave, Max, Charles (my great grandfather), and Catherine. Peripheral family members are documented as a way to gather additional information about Gus's movements and an attempt to find out about where Ferdinand and Amelia came from.

I focus a lot of my research on Gus because he seems to be the most interesting of the group. He didn't plunk down and settle in one place and he lived life by his own rules. There is also a lot of information on him, or at least the group of men known as Gus C. KRAUSE. When I couldn't figure out why each piece of information seemed to be at odds with the rest, I went to the world stage at the time to figure out why he would purposely disseminate false information. It has been an eye opener.

The KRAUSE Conundrum, Part 1

The German Brick Wall

One of the most frustrating parts of genealogy research are what genealogists call 'brick-wall ancestors'. I've come into contact with many such ancestors, and I'd say the prevailing nationality of those ancestors is German. What is it about the way Germans from the 1850s-1950s were raised that caused them to be so tight lipped about family matters? The majority of the issues I am dealing with lately come from my biological paternal side, but I have run into a similar problem with my maternal side as well as my adoptive paternal side. It's like they were trained from birth to keep a secret to their graves. I guess it's Gibbs' Rule 4 (NCIS); Best way to keep a secret. Keep it to yourself. Second-best, tell one other person—if you must. There is no third best.

How I Plan a Blog Post (or How my Attention Deficit Disorder Rules Everything)

Today gets really heavy folks. I apologize up front, but there is a point to the story. And thank you for taking the time today to read it. You really didn't have to put in the effort, but I'm thankful you did. Maybe it will help you today. Maybe it will help you with a friend or stranger you encounter. Maybe it will distract you from whatever is bothering you. In any event, remember you can get through anything. 💗

Today's Rabbit Hole: Genealogy and Gilbert Bartaway

Today's post is long and multi-faceted, spanning different aspects of genealogy, so bear with me as I relate my current frustration and my reasons for coming to this point.

My Story

Ever since meeting my biological father in July of 2003, I've been an intermittent genealogist. For the past 16 years I've occasionally researched my family history. If you've never heard my story before, here's the short version.

Unplanned Blurb #499: Unemployed Productivity

As I am now officially and unfortunately unemployed, it is amazing how much around the house is actually getting done, both in our home and at my father's house. When you haven't a job, all those things you were too tired to do while you were working are getting done. But who can afford to live this way for very long? Definitely not my family.

Reading Challenge 2019 Update

I have thoroughly failed this year’s reading challenge. With 10 weeks left in 2019, there is no hope of reading 82 books... unless I read a bunch of children’s picture books... but really? I can’t stoop THAT low.

Granted, quite a large majority of the books I read are geared towards the YA crowd, but frankly, the stories are far more interesting usually. The stuff geared towards adults... ugh. So strict in genre adherence it’s gaggable. For example, I walked completely away from The Dresden Files this year; Harry just wasn’t Paul Blackthorn in written form. Sorry Jim Butcher. I just couldn’t keep going. Nonfiction is... *snore* what was I talking about again? Oh yeah. Books. I mentioned nonfiction didn’t I? Yup. That’ll make me snooze in a heartbeat.

Fountain Pens

Quite awhile back, I went into the attic of my father's house and rummaged through some of my grandmother's crafty stuff. My grandparents bought the house in 1959 so there's a lot of accumulated stuff. My grandmother was an artist, and an amazingly crafty woman. After seeing some old photographs for sale $1 each at the Johnny Appleseed Festival today, I thought of the upstairs bedroom filled with decades worth of old family photos. Here's some of Grandma before she married Grandpa.

45th Annual Johnny Appleseed Festival, 2019 Edition

Oh my goodness! It was a day!

I didn't snap photos today, although I intended to, but I couldn't even think about letting this gem pass by without sharing it.

This antique has quite a bit of wear and tear, but you know what? It's the freaking Santa Maria! As in 'the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria'! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Christopher Columbus was a royal jerk and he's the one primarily responsible for the rise of ethnic-based slavery in the Americas. But it's also a direct line between his supposed discovery of America and most of our American existence. Don't worry. At a price tag of $125, it definitely did not come home with us. I just had to share it.

Work: Aggravatingly Rewarding

As annoying and aggravating as today went at work, and by that I mean that I didn't get much of my workload relating to my position as department lead accomplished, today was also a day that reminded me of how rewarding working in retail can be.

While helping out at customer service I took a phone call from a woman who wanted help shopping when she came in to the store. In the course of the conversation, she relayed that she is blind and since she had now heard my voice and I was so pleasant with big energy, she wanted me specifically.

Dollar Tree Haul: August 27, 2019

The Background

Over the course of viewing tons of YouTube videos and reading DIY craft blogs over the past couple years, and all around idea steali--, er borrowing, I've realized just how valuable the Dollar Tree store really is. Don't get me wrong- I can't get all my crafting supplies at DT. Obviously 12x12 decorative papers and cardstocks aren't exactly high on the demand list there. And let's face some facts: You get what you pay for at Dollar Tree. Cheap in price does actually sometimes mean cheap in quality too.

But let's face another fact. Dollar and bargain stores often have items you won't find anywhere else. My son wanted a lanyard for his school ID. He also told me he needed a red pen for Spanish class and I was plum fresh out. So to the Dollar Tree we go!

The Problem With Journal Supplies... Uber Frustrated!

The Background

So I've mentioned recently that I've been papercrafting and working on my BuJo (Bullet Journaling) a lot. I am having so much fun creating dashboards and covers and inserts. But I've run into a bit of a problem. Well for me at least. I'm not finding the diversity in paper and embellishment designs that I'm looking for anywhere because crafters, craft stores, and journal makers cater to girls and women.

So what exactly is the problem, Your Royal Pinkness? Aren't you a girl?

Bubby's Dinner Experiment: YUM!

So my son is a burgeoning chef and I couldn't be happier about that. The other day he experimented again and the results were absofreakinglutely amazeballs.

Paper Crafting and Blogging, BuJos and TNs

So I've been a little quiet lately. Not that I have any loyal readers yet, but that's fine. I've been blogging a little every couple of days, but haven't quite yet hit the publish button on it. Mostly because I'm working on a review of a franchise and I want to make sure to say what I really mean and may have to break it up into smaller portions, but I'm building it all at once.

There's some links at the bottom of the post that share some of my greatest organizational inspirations. Don't hesitate to check them out. They've been sooooo helpful!

Today's Rabbit Hole: Nickelodeon

I say again: Nickelodeon.

Ask anyone you meet if they've heard of Nickelodeon and you will hear a resounding yes. But that word, that name, it's so odd. We name our items, places, ideas after other things from history more often than not. We pick family names for our children. We name estates after the people who built them. But where in tarnation did a name like Nickelodeon come from??

LeVar Burton Is Not Allowed To Die

This morning, I was explaining to my son the amazing LeVar Burton. And ... oh my.

You see, growing up on the farm, in white German farmer territory, everyone looked like me. Everyone was white. Even my elementary school was filled with white students and teachers. The rare Asian kids in school were children with white adoptive parents. Oh my Lord, the hoopla when the completely Jewish family moved into the Gar Creek community! I didn’t understand the problem. Eliyahu was cute.

My introduction to diversity was found down on Sesame Street and through the Reading Rainbow. Before then, the old westerns told me that dark skinned people were servants or slaves, ‘dumb’ injuns, or just plain worthless. Something just rankled me deep inside about that.

Genealogy: Too Many Resources! So Curious!

When you start to deep dive into your genealogy research, it can be daunting. Trust me. I've been working on my massive family tree off and on for the last 15 years and the documentation is all over the place. I've been through at least 4 laptops and 3 desktop computers in that time, and I'm sure I've lost almost as much information as I've gathered. I've also probably conducted particular searches and saved specific documents multiple times.

That being said, pre-made forms are a great help in cataloging information and keeping track of your research. But in that, every amateur and professional genealogist and genealogy research website has their own version. I'm sure I've saved a copy of most of them. So how do you go from downloading the forms and determining which is going to be the best for you to use?

More Genealogy and a Little Loving Pep Talk

The other day, I downloaded a couple of free programs for genealogy research and tree making. Years ago, I used Family Tree Maker, but it was cumbersome and glitchy. I didn't care for the input of PAF (Personal Ancestral File, a program by LDS) from around the same time. It was also confusing with the extra information available to input that is specific to the LDS faith. Again, quite cumbersome and a large learning curve.

But I am really enjoying the incredible influx of information I've been able to gather since joining FamilySearch.org. Incredibly more helpful than even Ancestry. Don't get me wrong, I still use Ancestry in conjunction with the Family Search site. Along with their respective apps for mobile, research has become a lot easier, although discrepancies are everywhere and it does take a bit to wade through it. Thus the feeling of need for an offline program to build this and keep my information separate from the mass tree.

While I was afraid this meant repeatedly inputting the same information, and after consulting the LDS tree, that meant thousands of individuals... I was willing to wing it and try.

I downloaded 2 programs and have already uninstalled one, Gramps. Gramps looked fine enough, but it had a learning curve I wasn't prepared for. The other, RootsMagic Essentials 7, the basic features of RootsMagic 7, a paid program with way more power than what I really need.

When I opened RootsMagic it offered to download from Family Search... I was able to choose how many generations after logging in. Because of the massiveness of the tree that I have perused thus far, I chose 100 generations of ancestors. Quite an undertaking, but from what I understand, after it imports, I can stay in connection and pick up hints from both Ancestry and Family Search. Sounds like a win-win.

That all leads me to where I am right now. I've been importing for almost an hour.

Over 4,000 individuals.

It's not done.

~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~

I had to restart the program because it froze. Screensaver was not a good idea.

Been going now for about an hour.

5,000 individuals and still going.

I did a bit of research into how to manage all this data when it comes to the physical documentation and came across some great advice.

First: Color coding. Starting with yourself as the home individual is logical. Above you is your parents, and above them, your grandparents. Already you have 7 people in the tree and only 3 generations. From there it starts to get a bit tricky. The upside for me is that with the homeschooling experiment we did the past 5 years, I had a lot of colored supplies on hand.

Many genealogists use the three primary colors plus green to denote different lines of a tree. Any information regarding a single grandparent's family would be in one color of binders, folders, hanging files, index cards, etc.

Blue- your father's father. 
Green- your father's mother.

Red- your mother's father.
Yellow- your mother's mother.

So I have some hanging file folders already (read some as "a freaking lot"). I set colored ones up for my family: Krause (Blue), Bartaway (Green), Hamman (Red), Kurtz-Nofziger (Yellow). I set up a second set for my second husband's family so I can research them for our son: Taylor (Blue), Swank (Green), Hunter (Red), Hagan (Yellow). I need to save up a little money in order to complete this with the correct colors for my husband (for his daughters and our nieces and nephew), my first husband (for our daughter Clara), and for my ex (for our daughter Samantha). It's all a massive undertaking, but I find it all fascinating! For example, I just found out that my 3 times great grandparents, Adolphus and Adalina Bartaway (Berthoulier) were married, had 6 children quite quickly, got DIVORCED within a year of the youngest's birth, and then six years later, REMARRIED. Yes, to each other. And from what I can tell, stayed together the rest of their lives. There's gotta be a story there. Did someone cheat? Was he just too attached to his work? Was she an insufferable nag? (If you ask my husband, that's probably the case because "it runs in the family". lol)

I also figured putting basic information on color coded index cards would be helpful. If I am working on a particular family group, I wouldn't want to take everything I have with me to the library's genealogy department every time I go. One might suggest 'digitize everything and don't bother with physical documentation'. For me, and my learning style, I need physical items I can touch and move around to see the relationships between concepts, people and places. I am more kinetic in my learning than any other method. But I do use visual and audio learning techniques as well. So taking color coded index cards and a small file folder with just that family group would be beneficial. All notes during that session would then be brought home. It would also keep me on track and prevent falling down rabbit holes of other family groups.

The index card idea actually came to me way back in 2003-2007 when I lived with my biological father in his trailer (read: he took me in to keep me from being homeless, though he hardly knew me.) I had just found out that I was in fact NOT an only child genetically. I had an older half sister by him, and 2 younger half-brothers and 2 younger half-sisters by my mom.

I wrote their names and birth dates on index cards and taped them to a very long and blank hallway wall in the trailer. I then made a card for my father, my mother, and their parents. I soon saw my family tree growing on the wall. In some branches, I ended up back 10 generations thanks to my Great Aunt Lela's research (paternal grandmother side, therefore, Green. lol)

Before meeting my father, I thought of myself as an orphan. An unwanted and cast aside little waif. I'd left home and didn't look back. But here, on the wall, was a wealth of family connection, connection that no longer made me alone.

So just how many index cards does one need to cover direct ancestors? Oh my lord. Going back to my 17th great grandparents... 18 generations with my grandparents. It winds up being a whopping total of 1,048,572 cards. That is of course only if all branches can be traced all the way back to that generation.

With the cards I have on hand already from the dropped idea of flash cards for Bubbaloo, I counted out how many of each color I needed for each generation. My card file starts with my grandparents, 1 card of each color. I got through my 5th great grandparents and ran out of cards during the counting of my 6th great grandparents. Mind you, this is just counting out the cards I need for each generation, not the actual information written down. That's using 2- 100 packs of color coded ruled index cards, plus what remained of an open pack.

I didn't use any of the orange color and I haven't included my adoptive father's family. That's an organizational problem for another day. Perhaps I will use the orange and regular white ones for Dad's side. I don't need to worry about Mother's side since it is the same as my Mom's. The joy of having sisters as mothers. lol There IS a bright side to being my own first cousin! LOL


In the time it took me to write this, RootsMagic stalled again. I think I'm going to have to import in batches. I was trying to get ALL of it and since I don't know how many generations back it is, I just typed in 100. Perhaps a bit too ambitious. Off to try again, this time in smaller batches. Wish me luck! LOL

~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~    ~^..^~

Allow me one more indulgence of reading my blather...

I said I went back to my 17th great grandparents in calculating the number of index cards I will need. A family tree that goes back that far has 20 generations, myself being the first in that succession. We're not counting my children here.

1,048,572 cards. That sounds like a lot. But those cards are NOT JUST CARDS. No. They are individual PEOPLE. Think about that for a moment. One Million, Forty-Eight Thousand, Five Hundred Seventy-Two people. Add the Two from your parents...

One Million.
Forty-Eight Thousand.
Five Hundred Seventy-Four.

People.

Made you.

"Wait. What do you mean 'made me'?" you may be asking.

You are who you are because those 1,048,574 people decided it would be a good idea in the middle of the night, or the afternoon, first thing in the morning, or whenever, to get jiggy wit it. Okay. I'm crass. We all know this.

Anyway. We can have the debate of nature versus nurture if you want. But I'm living proof that your personality comes from both as well as the sum total of your experiences.

But your DNA, the stuff that decides just exactly how your body is going to fail you, the color of your hair, eyes, exact skin tone... All that comes from the past 20 generations and even further back to be honest, but for the sake of my mathematics...

One Million.
Forty-Eight Thousand.
Five Hundred Seventy-Four...

Men and women having a child. Forget adoption, step-parents, surrogacy and sperm/egg banks for a moment here. Sure. They factor into it, but your DNA is representative of 524,287 men's DNA and 524,287 female's DNA.

The conditions had to be just right all those times to become pregnant. The conditions had to be just right all those times to survive birth. All those chances for something to go wrong. But here you are. Alive. Kicking ass and taking names.

Because 1,048,574 people had sex with another person, (or equivalent action in a petri dish/test tube), to make you who you are.

Do you like yourself? Do you love yourself? Yes you do! So don't wish your life would have been any other way! 1,048,574 people in the last 400 years lived their lives in such a way that YOU EXIST.

And if you don't like yourself and don't love yourself, I want you to hear me right now. Clean out your ears and hear me out. I'm surprised you made it this far in my blather. So hear me good right now.

Remember this: I LOVE YOU.

I don't care if we aren't close, haven't been close in years, recently had a massive, blow-out falling out, have never met in person! I don't care if you are an ex that I, at one time, wished dead.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

You are important! You matter! You have value! And if you died, I would cry. And be sad. And I don't like being sad. So don't make me sad.


One Million, Forty-Eight Thousand, Five Hundred Seventy-Four people from the past 400+ years made you. You're the result of their lives. You can continue their legacy, change their impact. Make up for their stupidity, make them proud, surpass their accomplishments... All By Being You. So stick around. Don't make me sad. Love you.

Slacking and Genealogy

Yeah. I'm a slacker. I told y'all that I was going to blog and game more. These were my two New Year's Resolutions. I've been doing all right on the second one. Which is part of the reason I'm slacking on the first one, if I am going to be completely honest.

Another part of it is that I've been working on some of my dad's home improvement projects. He's disabled due to a lung disease and fibromyalgia, and considering the house is technically my inheritance, I figured I should do some work to earn it.

One of my father's dreams is to learn his genealogy. As that is one of my passions as well, I've been working hard to put together the information and find out the stories through being a history detective. Right now I would like to share with you some of the Facebook posts I've made regarding this crazy search.

Written May 19, 2019:

I’m so confused. Not exactly shocking, I know, but I am really confused by this particular individual in my massive family tree.

My research is not helped by the fact that I gave birth to three children, by three fathers, and have two current stepchildren, that I wish to pass on research of their historical roots and heritage. As a child, I heard others say, “my family came from Germany” or “my family has native blood” or “I’m related to such-and-such famous person”. While I sat there when they looked at me and could only say “I don’t know”.

It is horrible to not know where you came from. At best it makes you look like a complete idiot and fool. At worst, you could fall in love with a relative. The fact the this is not a more publicized problem as a result of closed adoptions and sperm/egg banks actually shocks me. But growing up, it was an absolutely terrifying possibility in my mind.

My top two motivations for becoming obsessed with genealogy are knowing exactly where I come from and making sure that future generations know who they are related to in order to avoid romantic entanglements with people too closely related. It is bad enough that one of my Nordic ancestors is the result of his father Olaf and Olaf’s niece getting jiggy wit it back around 920 AD!
So. In that vein, I’m obsessed.

And now to my current dilemma. I came across a name in this massive undertaking: Colonel Richard Lovelace, son of John Lovelace and Johanna Wentworth. The LDS tree I am using to follow all this back lists his birth-death as 1396-1466. So of course I Google the name. The picture someone placed as the profile image is of Richard Lovelace, a Cavalier poet of the 17th century, son of Sir William Lovelace and Anne Barne, who lived from 1617 to 1657. Talk about confusing the heck out of me. The only thing I can come up with is the the poet Richard simply shares a name with a relative from 300 years prior, being the one in the tree I’m looking for.

Genealogy research takes a lot of detective skills. Any one who may say otherwise is an absolute fool.

You find some amazing things when you look at your family tree. I have also found that all my research over the years into the history of the world has really helped me understand things that I have found in my family tree.

Understanding the culture in which my ancestors lived has truly helped me understand why one guy had children with over 10 women. Culture, man. I found a woman who was 16 when she married her 21 year old husband in Kentucky. For the time and the location, it was not that uncommon. When getting back far enough and in the royal bloodlines, along with a couple of legal bastards, you find second, third and fourth cousins marrying, which again, for the time and location were not uncommon occurrences. Even today, many states of the US only forbid first and second cousins from marriage, and a few that only forbid relations of first cousins or closer to marry. But to not be sickened by this, one must look at the culture of the time and place. It's hard to put yourself in that position. We look at Edgar Allan Poe marrying his 13 year old first cousin and go... "EWWWW". Culture and history, man. Culture and history. Gotta look at the big picture.

Silly Simple Status Spree

It’s been a couple weeks, but I promise you, I haven’t forgotten about you!

It’s been eventful and not in the all good things way, nor the “I really don’t want to talk about it” bad way either. It was a nice even mix of losing my mind and making progress in life.

For starters, I really did lose my mind for a moment. I tend to be a functioning manic depressive, much the same way I was a functioning alcoholic. Unfortunately, manic depression isn’t something I can quit easily. Brain chemistry management is a lot different from deciding you won’t drink alcohol anymore. For some it might be far more difficult than making a decision, but luckily for me, it was that simple. It helps that no one else in the house drinks either.

In the good news column, I took the time to flesh out 90% of The Feminine Quirk blog, getting it completely ready for linking to podcasts... after we get equipment... after we record... after we learn the art of editing the files. ☺️

Back in the tough to handle column... there was a situation at my father’s house that is ongoing, messy, and emotionally draining. Right up until I managed to decide that the person causing the upset was no longer going to bother me. The person is gone, and once they pick up the rest of their stuff off the front porch, or it goes in the dumpster if they can’t be bothered to make it a priority, I will be free to fix the problems that festered under the surface and finish my father’s remodeling in the space the person vacated. Fresh start. Always feels so good.

And finally, Bullet Journalling has become therapeutic and a nearly daily thing. I’m rarely forgetting things that need done, I’m remembering to record my son’s school hours for his online school, plus help him study, and we’re learning more recipes. There’s even sections for podcast research notes and cleaning schedules. We’re staying on top of things a little better.

So all in all a growing experience. And in down time that I make sure I get every so often, I’m back to playing Wajas and having quite a bit of fun with it.

~^..^~

Television Review: NCIS S16 E13

NCIS Season 16
Image courtesy Amazon.com

What fresh hell is this?

If you have not watched the episode yet, first off, why are you slacking? Secondly, don't continue on if you don't want spoilers.

The Lead Up

This past week, social media news talked about character Ziva David's status as dead, or is she? My first thought was why are they dredging this dead horse back up? No pun intended, I assure you. Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) has moved on to Paris with Tali, his surprise daughter with Ziva. Weatherly moved on to his new show "Bull". Cote de Pablo, the actress who played Ziva, moved on from the show to pursue other projects, which so far really has not panned out well. 

Ziva Says Goodbye
Image Courtesy Sonja Fleming CBS

Couldn't Mark Harmon, aka Leroy Jethro Gibbs and executive producer, insist they find some other avenue to create quality television? With the social media feed, I knew what was coming, but unlike many other fans, knew we wouldn't see a cameo by de Pablo. After the episode aired, Weatherly just had to stir the social media pot with a single word Tweet. "Ziva".

Relevant Show History

When an ensemble television show airs as long as NCIS has, 16 seasons, (one of the longest running television spin-offs with NBC's Law & Order SVU worthy of note) there will be cast shakeups. When you are dealing with a crime drama, there will be character deaths. When a show has such a large and devoted following, there will be public outcry. 

Kate's Death
Image Courtesy EW.com

When Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander) died way back in season two, fans were obviously upset. She and DiNozzo had phenomenal on screen chemistry. Whether that would have turned into something more, we'll never know, but Alexander went on to a successful seven season run starring opposite Angie Harmon in TNT's 'Rizzoli and Isles' five years later. Her death opened the door to Mossad Agent Ziva David, chasing down Kate's killer, who turned out to be her half-brother Ari. Ziva's departure nine years later opened the position to Eleanor Bishop (Emily Wickersham).

That Blasted Rumor Mill

Rumors have flown all over the internet's wiring about why the women of NCIS leave. First Alexander, then Lauren Holly, then de Pablo, then Jennifer Esposito, and finally Pauley Perrette left the CBS show. As for main character men, there's only been Weatherly and the reduction of David McCallum's Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard. 

We can cite what the actresses have tweeted, shared in interview, shared with supposed 'close sources' and what was overheard by the paparazzo. We can look back in light of the #metoo movement, and we can pick nuances apart until the cows come home. But at what point is a working actor's life their own? At what point do we sit back and just simply enjoy what their craft has provided us in entertainment value and trust that their own lives are just that, their own? And decidedly none of our damn business.

On to the Show

If we cannot separate reality from the fantasy of the show, we have a problem. So let's leave off all the behind the scenes action for the moment and focus on the episode as it developed the cannon of the NCIS world. 

Emily Wickersham as NCIS Special Agent Eleanor 'Ellie' Bishop
Image Courtesy of Fandom.com

When NSA analyst Eleanor Bishop, aka Ellie, joined the show in Season 11, we realized that her background was significantly different from the female agents who have occupied her desk in the past. Her predecessor, Ziva was a former Isreali Mossad officer. Ziva's predecessor Kate was a former Secret Service Agent. Even Vivian Blackadder, Tony's partner in the backdoor pilot of NCIS (via its parent show 'JAG') was a former FBI Agent. Although all of them came to NCIS via other agencies, Ellie's former life was not set up as a physically badass woman.

Throughout her time in the Major Case Squad, Ellie has shown she is quite aware of how her presence in Ziva's absence affects the team. She is heartwarming and somewhat innocent at heart; her tenderness towards the rest of the team endear her to them rather than cause them to resent her. I appreciate how this particular episode allows Ellie to voice out loud what we have all noticed from context and superb facial acting the past five years.

Ellie has grown as an agent, becoming a bad ass in her own right, establishing that she's not just a nerd or desk jockey, and proves nerds can be just as kick ass as their more physical contemporaries. Over the years, we watched Kate soften into the demure sister of the group, Ziva soften into a mother figure, and Abigail 'Abby' Sciuto (Perrette) soften into the kid sister. 

All this female softening is, on the one hand, presenting a great disservice to womankind, saying that we all devolve into a softer role as we age. On the other, it can be seen as an effort to acknowledge women are quite a bit more complicated than whatever singular role we hold. The reality that CBS/NCIS have not acknowledged this complexity is my one and only frustration with the network in regards to this show.

All About the Ellie

Conversely, Ellie has matured, taken on the tough stances, become more firey and passionate about cases involving women and children, much like Kate, Ziva, and Alexandra Quinn (Esposito). She refuses to shy away from difficulty. She spurns the impulse to tamp emotion down. She is Woman; Hear her Roar! 

Ellie Confronts Gibbs
Image Courtesy TVFanatic

It is rare to see an agent of lower rank get in Gibbs' face the way Ellie did this past week! She threw Rule 10 in his face and gloated in his own inability to adhere to his own rules. Now I don't know about you, but I don't have Gibbs' Rules memorized. In fact, trying to find a complete list online is like trying to find a genuine Picasso among a room full of fakes. And the show's inability to to keep track of rules and their numbers have caused multiple rules to be assigned to the same number, although there are theories for that as well. At the end of the day, Gibbs took Rule 10 and threw it in the fire. 

Wickersham has hit her stride as Ellie Bishop. The team has always acted as a replacement family for Gibbs, his children so to speak. In the wake of Shannon and Kelly's deaths all those years ago, Gibbs isn't the father figure he would have been, but he still tries. Many of Gibbs' rules have been theorized to be as a result of the people in his life or how they exited his life. There have been caveats and addenda and exceptions to the rules. However, with a little help behind the scenes from Ziva, Ellie is the only one who was able to convince Gibbs that a rule was unnecessary.

Fallout

Ziva leaves a note for Ellie in her secret little office. "For the sake of my family, please keep my secret."

So do I really think that de Pablo will return? Absolutely not. When she left, it was because writers were weakening her character. There was less physicality to her character, more emotional responses, and let's not forget the romantic entanglement of Tiva. The questions of "Did they or didn't they?" from S08 E03, 'Under Covers'. The question was ultimately and definitively answered after Ziva's offscreen death in S13 E24 'Family First' with the reveal of Tali, their daughter.

I believe they wrote Ziva's death into the storyline as a means to provide Weatherly the out he wanted and the ability to move on to other projects. He starred in the role for 13 years, starting with the backdoor pilot. Although this long term commitment method has worked out for Harmon, rather lucratively I might add, Weatherly doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who enjoys being a character actor or stuck in the same gig forever. Previous work shows one off episodes, but mostly work based on his role as Tony. The major exceptions to this are of course his current gig as Dr. Jason Bull on the CBS show Bull, and the role in which I first saw him, Logan in "Dark Angel" starring alongside Jessica Alba at the beginning of her career.

Killing Ziva in the process? Really? Why do all the female characters leave violently? Although Duane Henry's poor MI6 liaison Clayton Reeves acted as catalyst for Abby leaving NCIS...

For story line purposes, I do not see the value of bringing the characters back to the screen. Letting us have a bit of hope that someday happiness for Tony and Ziva and Tali off screen... That's the true value of the episode.

~^..^~

Busy Little Bee

I know I said one of my goals is to blog more, and I still intend to hold to that. This past week has been a little busy.

I spent a shift at another of our local stores helping out to prepare for inventory. I was sick the day after. Then there's planning for the podcast. I ordered The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan from Barnes & Noble, using the rest of my Christmas gift card. I restarted my Bujo and finally got around to fleshing some tracking pages for television watching and book reading. I deep cleaned the shower and been trying to keep up on dishes. I also filed our taxes. I also set up a reading journal where I can keep track of notes and thoughts I have while reading books for fun, for my son and I's mini book club, and for the podcast.

Really, all the little things we do in a day. All the little things that need done. All the little things we want to do. The projects that need to be done to keep a home going and the little projects we do to keep us sane.

I'm also tossing around an idea for a The Feminine Quirk logo. And debating on an accompanying blog. When the taxes come in, I'm going to have to look into sharing the cost with Becca on a few things for recording. I can't let her shoulder the cost; she's in school for her Master's after all.

And of course tags are due for the vehicles this month. Nothing quite like living paycheck to paycheck and having big dreams at the same time.

So this was just a little update to let you know I'm still around and alive.

P.S. The other resolution, to game more? Yup. Doing just fine with that one. Finished off Wysteria in Wizard101. What I love about these games, besides that they are designed for kids, with internet safety in mind, is that every player is so helpful to others. I 'made a friend' a couple of weeks ago, who is a much higher level than I am who swooped in to help me out on a couple of rough tasks. Wouldn't have made it through them without him. Why is it that we treat our online worlds as a community, where it takes a village to survive, but we fail to treat our offline worlds the same? That may be a good topic for a podcast...

Killing them with kindness

Last year in April, I had a shift that started out so very odd. I wrote about it, but I left it sitting in my iPhone notes collecting dust. I’d like to share it now.

~^..^~

First thing of my shift, my co-lead and I clock in, check out store devices, and dun, dun, dun.... get called into the principal’s office. Lol

Not really, but ya know that work feeling when the boss says, come in and sit down, when you didn’t start the conversation? Yeah that.

Very quickly it turned into a ‘you guys are leaders in the store and we want to share some insights into a new customer service perspective so you can help lead our team better’.

Oh. One of THOSE talks. And videos. I kid you not, the first one was a tear jerker and I started wiping at my eyes. Without a word, just a simple small smile, he reaches over for a tissue box and sets it in front of me. 

And while the whole purpose of the talk, which he said would last 10-15 minutes actually took 40, was about ways of connecting with our customers in different ways, which in turn drives repeated business up, it really got to the heart of what I’ve been thinking about lately.

The videos were Chick-fil-a training videos, but they were an awesome new perspective to look at. It’s common sense stuff, but not what we always think about. As I said, it hit home with a lot of what I’ve been mulling recently, and the first video starts with the crux of the issue. “Every person has a story.”

As retailers we have a limited amount of time to spend with our customers. 10-15 minutes, usually some less and sometimes much more. That’s all the time we have to make a truly human connection. We don’t know their names usually, or what’s going on in their lives. Sometimes we get customers who share their whole life story and it can get annoying, but think about why for just a moment. Why would someone share so many intimate details with a perfect stranger? 

We don’t know what anybody’s life is like. What if they’re lonely and you are one of the few people that they have interactions with this week? What if they had a childhood trauma of a family nature that left them searching for love and acceptance and you cringe away from them in disgust for hygiene, wardrobe, style?

What if you have five minutes to brighten their day just a little bit? Would you take the opportunity?

Think about the legacy you want to leave behind. Perhaps someone you touch will never know or remember your name. Perhaps they’ll forget all about you. But for one moment in time you can make a difference.

At Gordmans, we didn’t call it ‘customer service’ and we didn’t call them customers. Turns out we weren’t the only company, but I had never encountered it before. I asked why and had a really awesome manager, Kevin, explain it in a really awesome way that struck me enough to stay with me all these years.

If you think about it, your work life can take as much time and energy as your home life and it’s tough to find a balance sometimes. But if it takes any amount of time, your work place is like a second home. You take pride in your home, why not your work? So a customer is coming into your second home and asking questions or requesting something that you as the host would normally provide if able. Do all of these second home guests behave, or deserve your effort? Certainly not. But ‘killing them with kindness’ isn’t just a cool Biblical saying. It works.

Contemplating a Podcast Gig and How it Came to Be

So it has been a hot minute since I posted, but I have taken the time during this inclement weather we are having in the northeast corner of Indiana to catch up on some television binge-watching. I'm nearly caught up with all of the currently airing US shows, and holding off on some Canadian programming until the full seasons are aired. There's just something about Canadian programming. I cannot just watch it one episode at a time. I gorge myself on a full season because I cannot seem to just wait for the next week's airing.

Since I have to be in the mood for certain shows when I watch them, such as Madam Secretary and Blindspot, I scroll through my available videos and came across a tile for an animated television show called Carmen Sandiego on Netflix.

Wait just a red hot minute!! Did you just say 'Carmen Sandiego'?

Netflix's Carmen Sandiego

Yes. Yes, I most certainly did. If you ever played the Carmen Sandiego games on computer or game console in the late 80s to early 90s, or watched the game show in the mid 90s starring Lynn Thigpen as the Chief, the show will bring back nostalgic memories in no time. I want to do an in depth profile on the Carmen Sandiego property at a later time, but if you hadn't yet heard of it, go watch it now. Seriously, I mean right now.

Unless you want to finish reading this then go watch it, by all means.

In this fandom vein, I have come across a conundrum of the highest order. I have too many interests. Here's the story behind that:

The History Chicks

Several years ago I became bored with my Spotify playlists and went in search of something else to listen to. The music was monotonous and I wanted to find something else to enrich my mind. Enter Beckett Graham and Susan Vollenweider, better known as The History Chicks. I started with their very first podcast and was pleasantly amazed at this amazing list of historical women who deserve their stories told again and again. However, I quickly forgot all about The History Chicks as real life got away from me, and it wasn't until the past few months as I began to research becoming a YouTuber that I revisited the Chicks. I am currently caught up to their 'Season 3' and enjoyed the heck out of their Teeny Tiny Tudor Tutorial. (LOL) But then again, I watched Showtime's The Tudors religiously. I love Jonathan Rhys Meyers and watch as much of his work as I can get my eyes on.

So in the grander scheme of things, I am up to their published podcasts circa 2012. Just 7 more years to catch up on. Hee Hee!

The History Chicks found a niche, a concept on which Kong and Jesse at Jumpcut have based their entire formula for creating a successful YouTube channel. So at the very beginning of the process, the Jumpcut guys walk you through a formula for creating a magical channel idea.

In attempting to nail down that idea for myself, I quickly realized I have too many interests, and not enough of an idea on how to rate what the public is truly interested in. At the very heart of the issue is this: I have no idea what topic to center a YouTube channel on. Plus, I have to work full time to make money, which limits the amount of time I can dedicate toward filming for YouTube in the first place.

Oh! And let us not forget about the near crippling stage fright condition I have suffered from since childhood.

Now it just doesn't seem to make any sense whatsoever. For those who know me personally, I'm the wacky and quirky person who always laughs and cracks jokes. I'm an absolutely card, a shock jock, funny, gregarious, friendly. I am everything any of the successful YouTubers seem to be... Right up until you turn a still or video camera my way.

Suddenly my palms get sweaty, my heartbeat races, my vision goes down to a pinpointed red and black tunnel, and my mouth gets dry. And when the video plays back, I am hypercritical of how I look and how I sound. I don't even like my recorded voice.

Jump forward to the past few months at work, all the while the internal struggle regarding a YouTube channel, do I or don't I, continues, I'm making more work friends and finding that people actually do like me. I won't say they love me, as that is definitely an acquired taste and it is for them to say, not me. But people genuinely like me and my personality.

Now we back track to The History Chicks. What do they have that I don't? Other than successful careers and podcasting equipment to actually pull off a successful podcast, even if it nets them no money other than to offset their operating costs. (For the record, I am simply spitballing here; I do not know if The History Chicks make money off their podcast, nor what it actually takes to produce a podcast. I am currently researching that information with a friend of mine, Becca.)

I have tons of 'useless' knowledge in my head and love to share it with others. I love to research new people, places, things, and events all the time. My Google search history is filled with such oddball and diverse topics and questions, it boggles my mind sometimes. But as I listened more and more to Beckett and Susan, I was reminded of my friend from work Becca and how often our conversations in the break room at work are back and forth, consistent, and others often cannot get a word in edgewise. We are so different, Becca and I, and yet so, so, so similar.

I was clocked out and getting ready to leave when I noticed her turning in her equipment, signalling she too was leaving for the day. Before my better judgement could silence me, I boldly asked her if she'd ever heard of The History Chicks. Her reply was sooo typical Becca (which you perhaps will get to hear soon enough) and quickly produced a 25 minute conversation that also included her clocking out, and us walking out of the building, pausing by her car, and ending when I headed to mine. Twenty-five solid minutes of non-stop conversation. It started out with our love for the Chicks' podcast, went through several mutations of ideas, and ended with "Let's do a Podcast!!!"

What?!?

Yeah. I know. You really had to be there to watch the completely organic development of this idea. There's no other way to describe something like this.

We'll keep you posted. This may take some time. lol

And to think, this blog post started with the realization that in order to keep warm, I am wearing articles of clothing that are from several fandoms. Her Universe Superman leggings under my jeans. A tie-dyed 'Country Rocks My Soul, Est. 1977' tank, under a tie-dyed Pirates of the Caribbean tee, under a long sleeved Green Bay Packers quarter zip Dri-fit style shirt, under an embroidered sweatshirt bearing the symbol of my alma mater, Concordia Lutheran High School. I mean really. How can one be sane and normal while at the same time this diverse?

Who says I am sane? I certainly never said I was normal.

I’m not white.

For the first time today, I was recognized as ‘not white’.

By a black person.

And it felt awesome.

Confused? I’ll attempt to explain quickly.

I’m descended from several grandparents who are part Native American, though we only know one tribe for certain. My maternal grandfather’s mother was a full blood Apache adopted by a German couple. We were talking about hair styles, different lengths, textures, et cetera, et cetera, and so in the midst of showing photos of my various hair styles over the years, I shared my senior picture. In the preceding conversation, we had already established my current age. This woman looked at the photo, looked at me, and said, “Are you Native? Looking at that picture and you now, you are aging really well! I’m looking at that and thinking you ain’t white.”

Normally I have to actually tell people I’m not fully Caucasian for them to even notice. But she did.

And it made my day.

What is a Terrorist? Donald Trump?

I probably got your attention really quickly there, didn't I? And I'm not out to slander or libel the President of the United States. Furthermore, while I disagree with President Trump's politics 95% of the time, he is still the President of the United States. The office alone commands my respect, if not the man holding the office.

This was something that I realized when President Obama was elected to office 10 years ago. The country was indelibly divided by the election and shouts of "Not my President!" rebounded through the internet. As an American, I find that single statement un-American and un-Patriotic. You are definitely entitled to disagree with me, however, my studies of the United States government over the years, ethics and sociology, as well as world historical studies have shown me that the President is still your President, even if you didn't vote for him. As the duly elected and sworn in President, he is the President of the country that you are a citizen of. Therefore, whether you like it or not, in this case I really, really don't, the person in charge is in fact your President.

Convoluted, but I think you get my point. We didn't have to vote for him, don't have to agree with him, but Trump is el Presidente. More's the pity.

In the last decade, I have watched as our nation has become more and more divided over politics. Awful and derogatory things have been bandied about and negative campaigning is the norm. It is incredibly sad that we have stooped so low.

So now to that wonderful post title: What is a Terrorist? Donald Trump? It certainly got your attention. I'm not saying Donald Trump is a Terrorist. I truly am not going to outright say that. But I will lay out some simple facts and then let you decide from there how you feel about it.

Let's start with a definition. (Definitions from dictionary.com) Terrorist is a noun, a.k.a. a person, place or thing, in this case a person. It is defined as a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism. So we have to look at the definition of terrorism, which again is a noun, in this case a thing, intangible as it may be. It is defined as the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.

So what is the state of our nation? So many are scared. Scared of deportation. Scared of illegal aliens and what their presence means for our jobs, our security, our safety. Scared of what foreign policy means for us within our nation's borders. Scared of what a wall between America and Mexico means, for us, for illegals, for legal immigration, or if it will curb the drug trade from Mexico and through Mexico.

All the while, President Trump continually opens his mouth to say whatever he wants to say in the moment, with no filter, no apology, and no regard for who he hurts or bullies. So what was terrorism again? The use of violence or threats to intimidate, usually for political purposes. President Trump has an agenda, all politicians do, and he consistently reminds us of the threat of other's actions. He routinely reminds us what he believes is the result of doing nothing and tells us that his way is the only way. Millions have jumped on board to his ideology out of fear and anger, without a willingness to see the other perspective.

I has gotten so bad that we are in the midst of yet another government shutdown. How long will this last? And what exactly is it regarding? How can we get them to put differences aside and pass a budget that allocates funds where they are most needed?

There is an article at ThoughtCo.com that gleans facts from the Congressional Research Service and gives a run down of governmental shutdown and information about all 21 shutdowns in U.S. history. Take a read and use the definitions I shared with you and your own perceptions of our President to make up your own mind. Think for yourself. Does our government really have our best interests at heart right now? Or are they too busy keeping us off balance in our fear to see what they are really up to? You decide.

And if you are reading this blog post during the current shutdown, pop over to this article about President George Washington's Farewell Address here: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=15

Take note of the internal pop-up: It reads: 

Due to the shutdown of the Federal Government, National Archives facilities are closed, websites and social media are not being updated or monitored, and activities are canceled, with some exceptions. Check Archives.gov for details.

How's that for efficiency? Non-essential personnel are let go without pay with no end in sight for as long as the President and Congress refuse to agree. Hmmm. Your disagreement causes people to go without money for food and shelter? If the shutdown goes too long, what will happen to those workers? Or for that matter, what will happen to the people who rely on the government for money due to disability or retirement? Those funds and people are non-essential to the status of national security so they are just out of luck? Think about what our President and our Congress are doing to our nation.

Like I said. You need to use what you know, learn what you don't know, and then think for yourself. Decide for yourself what you believe and what you think should, could, or would happen. Don't just repeat what you hear or read verbatim. We the People are better than that.

Second Weebly Blog Deleted

Once I deleted the Mom on a Narrow Path blog, a secondary site that I had completely forgotten about popped up. Turns out I had three Weebly websites, one being a poor attempt on my part for my husband's landscaping business.

In any event, the first site I started was Narrow Path Home Study, a website that the kids and I would use to try getting them used to attending school online. It really and truly failed. There was a blog on the front page and no one but the kids could access the education pages because they had the URL of a page that was not in the main page menu. I wasn't about to pay yearly for a website to have username access for 2 kids, which after a single year was reduced to 1 kid. 

But I still like the idea. I realize that there are lesson plans out there and educational websites all over the place, and as I have mentioned before, CrashCourse and places like Khan Academy. I might play with it some more, especially since I spent so much time building badges for my kids to collect, lessons, schedules, and report pages. Plus, the one lesson plan I put together actually helped my son. I'm still so proud of how he was able to relay the basic story of The Odyssey, even though he couldn't do it anymore if his life depended on it.

In any event, I copied all the Narrow Path Home Study blog posts over here the same way I did Mom on a Narrow Path this morning, and deleted the pages from the site. I want to salvage the lessons somehow.

~^..^~

Deleting Mom on a Narrow Path Weebly Blog

I had a blog at Weebly called "Mom on a Narrow Path". There is a lot to digest with that thought process and maybe someday I'll go through and explain it, but don't hold your breath. Earlier today I already explained my ability to follow through on things like that.

But so as to not lose my thoughts that I had 'back then', let alone when that when was (make sense?), I copied and pasted everything, adjusted dates, uploaded images and PowerPoints elsewhere... Essentially transported the whole thing over here. Thankfully, there were just as few posts over there as there were here before this morning, so it only took me 2-3 hours. I think I'm going to continue to hang out here at Blogger. It remains to be seen if I head out to the rest of the blogosphere and pull everything else here too, to centralize my thoughts. Some may be lost to the ether. I'm okay with that. Some will make no sense here, particularly my old LiveJournal Icons stuff. I'm okay with that too.

So anyway. In some of those posts, I tried to catch all the references to a "Clark", a short lived blogging nickname I had for my son. I'm still debating the use of a nickname or his actual name... Frankly, I'm just not sure how to approach his anonymity. So if there's a reference to "Clark", and references to anything at all relating to my son... I only have one. I have several stepdaughters, former and current, as well as a former stepson. But I'm not so sure how I want to handle all that. Other moms are so careful in their blogs about their children's privacy and I'm one of those people who WYSIWYG really applies (What You See Is What You Get, for those of you who are not familiar with web design lingo,)

Anyway, I'm saving the headline and About information here as well. On a side note, round about June of last year, I lowered my reading goal back to 100, and ended the year with only 55 books read. Not bad. I challenged my son to read 100 as well... He didn't keep up to date on checking them off. That's okay. He's learning how to navigate social media and apps. We'll get there.

TTFN


Weebly Headline

Matthew 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Weebly About Page

The basics:

Name: Elizabeth mK
Location: northeast Indiana
Education:

• Central Lutheran School, New Haven, Indiana (Class of 1994)
• Concordia Lutheran High School, Fort Wayne, Indiana (Class of 1998)
• University of Phoenix Online, Graduated 2017
• Associates of Arts with Concentration in Accounting

Household: Husband, Stepdaughter, Son
Pets (Also pictured below):

• Tigger (2000-2017)
• American Longhair/Shorthair Orange Tabby Mix
• Mia (2001)
• Seal Point Himalayan Persian 
• Lizzy (2008-2018)
• Border Jack (Border Collie/Jack Russell)
• Bailey (2016)
• Shollie (Border Collie/Shepherd)

Tigger

Mia

Lizzy

Bailey

Additional information:

• I grew up on a dairy farm with a lot of cats that I tamed and named.
• Tigger and Mia are my 114th and 116th cats respectively. 
• I tamed and rode Holstein steers and bulls, because I really wanted a horse.
• I homeschool my son through Indiana Connections Academy since 2014.
• He started in 4th grade.
• He has ADHD, anxiety, and is possibly on the autistic spectrum, though extremely high functioning if so.
• I enjoy reading, cross stitch, yoga, DIY, and farming.
• I am trying to read 100 books in 2018. 
• (~^..^~ Edit: Upped to 200 books as of April 2018 ~^..^~)
• Cross stitch has been ever present in my life; still working on many projects.
• I wish I had space for a home fitness room so I could do yoga more often.
• I am constantly starting DIY projects, a small percentage actually get finished.
• If I could live solely off the land, I would.