When I approach my family tree, I can do it from a number of angles. I can pick one of my lines which I have divided up into four separate trees. From there, the options seem endless at times. Do I try and push futher back in time? Do I complete the sourcing of existing people on the tree? Or, do I add more cousins and head down the line from past to present looking for living relatives?
"Treeing" on Ancestry.com, as I call it, means following a certain format for the dates and locations trying hard to be accurate and fix any errors that become obvious along the way. Sometimes I do make mistakes on my tree on Ancestry.com. I have become quite skilled at fixing these. The technology on the site can seem like it is dismal to fix an error. It does help that I've had to fix errors in computer databases that housed insurance records in my not so long gone "past life". That is just one of the many things that I've learned along the way in life. There's more and I find that those past skills carry over to my genealogy research. What goes around, can come around in life, to your benefit.
Part of my process includes networking. I've networked online with many people. Some have turned out to be the "real deal". The "real deal" being actual blood relatives who have a heck of a lot more information about our family tree than I could ever have imagined. Even when the person is not a blood relative, you can still find comardery online.
I have posted on Ancestry.com's message board along with Genforum. Message boards can be a way to find information about relatives but it is so hit or miss. Also, I've found that most of the same people are on Ancestry.com. If you have a family tree match with someone, you're probably going to find it on their site. Those discoveries can be quite fun.
So....My ultimate goal along the way has been to have fun while finding my family roots. Have I been having fun? You bet. Will I write a book about it someday? Maybe. :-)
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