Throwback Thursday: 2000 Questions about me

     If you are like me, you have struggled to try to write your own story. What is important? What will my descendants want to know? What should I write about? Where is my motivation?? The first thing I usually suggest is think about the ancestors you are currently researching. Now, what do you wish you knew about them? Then write along those lines about your life. I know that doesn't always spark creativity, so here is something else.

     I was out yesterday and picked up this book at a store called Five & Below. It's called 2000 Questions About Me. Just random questions about you and your life to spark writing. The answers could be one-word answers or you could elaborate on the topics if you choose. Sometimes the questions are about things that have happened to you, experiences you have had, or even things you think about or consider important.

Some sample questions:

• Have you ever made your own Ice Cream?
• Do you have an area of your life that you are never satisfied with?
• What's your favorite Pancake or Waffle topping?
• Have you ever tried online dating?
• What do you love to do for "me time"? 

     These are just some of what you will find in this book. There might be some questions you can't answer or don't want to answer and that's fine. It's just to help you get motivated to write about yourself. I plan on making some of my Throwback Thursday posts questions from this book. So hang on to your seat; you are about to get to know me on a more personal level. 

     If I post questions, that spark interest, feel free to answer them in the comments below. I would love to know more about you as well. Let's do this!

Photo Friday: Photos Scanned from Negatives

Note: This blog post has been updated as of Jan 28, 2020. Update is at the bottom of the original post.

     I was browsing around on abundantgenealogy.com yesterday and saw this post on their other page, Genealogy Bargains, for a new way to scan in negatives. Kodak has put out a scanning box for negatives that use your phone to take the pictures. (Click this link to read the article on Genealogy Bargains) All you have to do is download the software. The box is $39.99 on Amazon; definitely cheaper than the other scanners you have seen online.
     As I read about it some more, I learned that the software you download to use this is free. So really you are paying $39.99 for a box with a light. I really couldn't justify that in my budget at the moment, so I decided to search out different ways to make this work. After some trial and error, I came up with one way myself and found another way online (thanks to an Instagram follower). I will share both options below.
     The first option is the one I discovered on my own. I tried using the light on my phone along with a piece of paper to spread the light, but the camera was picking up the fibers in the paper. So that wasn't going to work. I knew I needed something like a lightbox that would shine light through a smooth surface. Then all of a sudden an idea popped in my head. My daughter has one of those light boxes that display letters that she doesn't use anymore. So I ran downstairs to grab it and get it set up. Crossing my fingers, I put batteries in, turned it on, placed the negative on it, and scanned in my first photo. Check out my result:

     What do you think? This photo was taken in 1997. I was in the Eureka High School Color Guard and this was my Sophmore Year. It's a little blurry, but still turned out way better than I anticipated. After I scanned this photo, I began to look for more negatives to try to scan in. I knew I had some old ones from my grandma's collection. After some tweaking, here are the results.

Me and my then best friend, Sarah McKeever

cir 1985

Mom & Dad's wedding day

These were photos Grandma Ruth Wheeler took

June 14, 1980

Photos from Christmas

cir 1979?

This was when Grandma Fuchs was still alive

Grandma Fuchs & Papa Fuchs carving the turkey

     Aren't these just beautiful! While they are definitely not perfect, I am still just ecstatic to be able to look at these. I have more negatives I will have to work on, but this is just a start. I shared these on Instagram yesterday and inspired one of my followers, Lissitydee, to try the same thing. Although she came across another way to illuminate the negative. Check out this blog: https://familyhistorydaily.com/genealogy-help-and-how-to/negative-film-scanner-apps/
I have yet to try this way yet, but I will definitely look into it in the future.
     This is what I originally used to illuminate the negatives. You can find these at craft stores like Michaels, or discount stores like Five & Below or Dollar General. Or you might be able to find them online. I'm glad Kodak put out a different option for people to try to scan their negatives for cheaper than what was available, but like I said. I couldn't justify paying $39.99 for a box with a light at this time. If you want an easy option, go for it. The app to download is in the App store. It's called Kodak Mobile Film Scanner. Again, it's free.

     So what are you waiting for? Go get those negatives and start scanning! You don't want to wait until they disappear or disintegrate. When you get them done, please feel free to share them with me. Either here or on my Instagram. I look forward to seeing all your beautiful photos!


Update: Since publishing this blog post, I had others suggest a great tip. Check your app store for "lightbox" apps to use. I downloaded one simply called lightbox and it worked out pretty well. It illuminates the negatives without it being too bright. You can also change the brightness and color settings. It's an older app, so it may not be optimized for newer devices. So do a search in your app store for some "lightbox" apps. Beware though of ones that contain Ads. Thanks to everyone who suggested this tip! Share your tips and results in the comments section. Have fun!

Throwback Thursday: Favorite Toys

     We just had Christmas and I know we are all playing with our new "toys". Whether we are 5, 35, or 50, we all have our favorites. So for this week's Throwback Thursday, I am going to share with you some of my favorite toys. Playing with my toys when I was younger brought me so much joy. It would provide an escape from reality when necessary. I have so many wonderful memories playing with them. So here are a few that I ALWAYS played with.

1. Barbies

Yes, I was an 80s and 90s kid when Barbies were at their peak. I had so many barbies, that I lost count. Just the dolls alone filled a huge container. That doesn't include the clothing, accessories or furniture. I could spend hours in my parents' basement playing with them. Dressing them up, setting up their homes, pretending they were going out, getting married, going to work, you name it. The most exciting gift I got for Christmas one year was the Barbie Motor home. This thing was huge! Oh, but I had so much fun with it. Sometimes I wish I could go back to simpler times and just play with my barbies and forget about being an adult. They never had the problems I do today haha! I finally sold them to a friend of mine for her daughters. I had a couple of huge boxes. It was sad to see them go, but I was happy they were going to a good home.

2. Quints

Have you ever heard of them? They are five little baby figures that have many little accessories that all match. There were two boys and three girls. When you got them, you could choose their names. I named them: Amanda, Steve, Alice,?,?. The accessories were so cute! Clothes, toys, bottles, blankets, all made for five babies. Sometimes I would combine the Quints with my barbies. Oh great memories.


3. Micromachines

Hey, I may have been a girl, but I loved micromachines. They were very small cars. Some had special features, while others were just regular cars. I used to build cities out of my wooden blocks for them to travel through. I think I still have a few to this day.

4. Baby dolls (variety)

I had a variety of baby dolls in my collection. Especially cabbage patch dolls. I do still have those. I love dressing them up, taking them for walks, putting them down for naps, and just playing house with them. Dressing them in cute outfits was my favorite. I would take them everywhere I went sometimes.


     Ah such simpler times. My parents kept the majority of the toys I had as a kid. While I know I don't need them anymore, it's so fun to look through the box and remember all the fun times I had. I'm all about scene memory, so sometimes just smelling the old toys brings me back to right when I was a kid and playing with those toys. A small form of time travel. But then I open my eyes and remember those times are in the past.

What are some toys you remember playing with as a kid??

My Two Cents Tuesday

Auntie Jen's Two Cents: Episode 25

All Genealogists Come To Their Census

Happy New Year everyone! It's now 2020. A brand new year and a brand new decade. So you know what that means? Yep, pretty soon those census takers will be out, going door to door to collect your information. Isn't it exciting? So welcome to the first episode of the new year, called All Genealogist Come To Their Census... I love that pun.

Throwback Thursday: Wheel of Fortune

     Welcome to a new weekly blog topic: Throwback Thursday. This series will be stories from my personal life. Memories triggered by questions posed in one of our Facebook groups, Genealogy Forward The Storykeepers. You would be surprised what pops up from just a question. So for the first post in this series, we are going to go back to the 1980s, when I was a little girl.

     On January 6, 1975, NBC premiered a new game show created by Merv Griffin. It is the "longest-running syndicated game show in American television" and has been hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White since the 1980s. Yes, that show is Wheel of Fortune! Do you know it? Have you watched it at any point in the last 40 years?
     I found this information on the History.com website and it instantly triggered happy memories from when I was a kid. Back in the 80s and 90s, my mom and I would go visit her mom, my grandma (Ruth Wheeler) and stay for the weekend. We would order pizza, play Canasta, and then, of course, watch Wheel of Fortune after dinner. It was my grandma's favorite show. It was so much fun playing along with everyone trying to guess the puzzles.
     Not only did we watch Wheel of Fortune, but we would also watch The Price is Right, Press Your Luck, and 25,000 Pyramid. We loved the game shows so much! Press Your Luck was my favorite. That's the one with the Whammy's. But like I said, my grandma's favorite show was Wheel of Fortune. Great memories.

My Grandma and Me

1984

Do you have any great memories of watching Wheel of Fortune?

My Two Cents: Who Are These People?

The premiere video in a new series on Auntie Jen's Channel. This episode focuses on those we consider family, but have no direct connection to us whatsoever, whether by bloodline or documentation.

WWAD - Do You Want These Medals?

     This is a new blog post series for the new year. I've been using this topic in our Genealogy Addicts Anonymous (GAA) Facebook group to get the addicts thinking about different scenarios, what if's, what advice to give, or funny responses just to get everyone more active. And since we are all called "addicts" in the group because we are all Genealogy Addicts, I'm transferring that over to this series.

What Would An Addict Do??

(WWAD)

     So for the first post in this series, I am going to pose a question to you about something that really happened to me, and then share my response to the situation. Please feel free to leave your own responses in the comments. I am so curious about what other addicts would do!

Do You Want These Medals??

     Back in August, I was contacted by a lovely lady on Find a Grave. She was asking about my relationship with Charles McCullough. He is my husband's 2nd great Grandfather on his mom's side. I had uploaded a picture of him to his Find a Grave memorial. So she was curious about how I was related. Once I explained exactly how we were related, she dropped a bomb on me. She told me she used to live on his property in Walnut, Kansas and found some Civil War medals that belonged to Charles. (WHAAAAAA!!!) And then she asked me, "Do You Want Them?" I was thinking, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" I asked her if she was sure we were talking about the same Charles McCullough. She said she was sure. She also told me that she had contacted other descendants to see if they wanted the medals, but they turned them down. (GASP) So it came to us. She warned me they were in extremely rough condition. They were rusted and had no more markings left on them.

So now I ask you, fellow addicts. 

What Would You Do?

     Now, let me tell you what I did. I, of course, said YES! I will take them. I told her my hubby will be so excited to receive these. So she sent them out and they arrived just in time for Christmas. Here is a picture of my hubby with them.

     I originally planned to frame them in a shadowbox to present them to my hubby, but I decided I wanted to do some research on them first to learn more about them. Turns out they are not actually Medals, but badges probably awarded by the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). I am still looking more into this. I plan on taking these badges to a local Civil War museum to ask for some advice. Once I get more info, I will decorate up the shadowbox and mount them. Then I will share the final product. What a great start to the new year!