Find your roots Day (t-5)

I think it's common for people to reflect on their lives, especially when doing something like I'm doing or coming up on a momentous occasion. I've always wondered where we came from...my family that is. I know the Heckman side because we have a book that goes all the way back to Germany in the 1500's. That is hugely helpful but I wanted to know about my mom's side as well.

So this morning, I logged on to Ancestry.com to try a 2-week trial. I figured it was all a ploy to get you to stay for 2 weeks and then they would charge you and finally get you some information about your ancestry. Man was I wrong!

They aren't kidding in the commercials. As soon as I put in my name, one of those little leaf thingys came up and gave me information about my parents and everything. Public record of my birth and all. Now that wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I want the stuff from WAY back.

So I put in my parents and grandparents. Luckily they are all still living and I was able to get birthdates as well as their parents names. That really got things going. And before I knew it, I had spent literally all day on the website just adding information.

I was able to get records all the way back to the late 1600's from Germany on my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents...yep that 10 greats. I don't even know if that's how one would write that but hey, it's there. And I can keep that going.

All of those little leafy things are possible connections and records to give me more information (mostly census, immigration, and registration) on my ancestors. Such a cool site!

However, I do want to cancel this once I have all the names/dates. Does anyone know of a neat and orderly way to record this information to make family trees eventually? I have no idea where to begin- don't think there is a book big enough. HELP!

Up tomorrow: Make a dress...no pattern or template...oh my!