Tag: ancestry

2022 Goals December Update

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
2022 Goals December Update

Here is my 2022 Goals December update:

Fail: Lose five more pounds. I am maintaining my weight but currently not losing much. However, from December 31 to Thanksgiving, I was down 4 pounds.  By December 31, my next loss was nothing.  Not a pound.  I will admit that starting off in January I am slowly heading down.

Maybe: Ancestry: Contact at least two cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard from them. I tried someone else. Does an attempt to contact someone mean I contacted them, but they didn’t contact me back?

Complete: Read 30 books. I have read  46 books,  reading two books in December.  I will admit some of them were shorter than your normal novel. Reading is always easy for me.  I crave reading.  If only I could crave walking and exercise.

Partial: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021 and finish the first draft of my second book. On June 11, I started a class to help me write my second book’s first draft. I have created an outline for that one and written about 10,000 words. I have completed my first book. My first letter to an agent was sent in October, but then I decided to make some significant changes before I sent it out to anyone else.  So I have completed the drafts of my book written in 2021.  I am only in chapter 4 of the second book.  So it’s incomplete.

Fail: Visit three states I have not visited before. We planned to go to New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota this year. We traveled to New Mexico in April. In September, I changed the plan to go to North and South Carolina. All reservations were made. And then plans changed again. We went to North Carolina and decided to go home due to my health. So we will not complete 3 states this year. I was confident about this goal, but it won’t happen.

 

Completed: two quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I pushed it and worked on the quilts three days in a row, eight or more hours a day. It was exhausting. On August 30, I brought them to the quilter to be quilted. I picked them up in October and have machine sewn on the bindings.  Then I started the hand sewing of the binding. That is the most time-consuming step. I finished the hand sewing and wrapped them up for Christmas presents. They were finished a few days before Thanksgiving.  Before Christmas, I made a doll quilt for each of my granddaughters for their baby dolls.  I might make more in 2023.

Fail: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for four years and never reached it. This year, I have walked only 667.6 miles. . I walk more often, but I think I will end up, if I’m lucky, getting to 700.  And I didn’t make 700. Once again, I will have to put this on my list for next year.

December was the last month of my attempt to finish this list.  And I didn’t do so well. How did you do on your goals? Let me know below. How I did this year has led me to make some tough decisions for 2023. 

 

2022 Goals November Update

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
2022 Goals November update

Here is my 2022 Goals November update:

Goal: Lose five more pounds. I am maintaining my weight but currently not losing much. However, from December 31 to November 30, I was down 4 pounds. But after Thanksgiving, I will admit I added a few of those back.  Yikes.  I need to be better in December.  So maybe I can do this after all.

Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least two cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard from them. I tried someone else. Most of these cousins are a lot younger than me, which may be why they are not responding since I’m old. A great excuse, isn’t it? No progress in the last five or six months.

Complete: Read 30 books. I have read 44 books,  reading five books in November.  I will admit some of them were shorter than your normal novel. This goal is complete, but I’m not stopping reading.

Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021 and finish the first draft of my second book. On June 11, I started a class to help me write my second book’s first draft. I have created an outline for that one and written about 10,000 words. I have completed my first book. My first letter to an agent was sent in October, but then I decided to make some significant changes before I sent it out to anyone else.

I will not finish: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We planned to go to New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota this year. We traveled to New Mexico in April. In September, I changed the plan to go to North and South Carolina. All reservations were made. And then plans changed again. We went to North Carolina and then decided to go home due to my health. So we will not complete 3 states this year. I was confident about this goal, but it won’t happen.

Completed: two quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I pushed it and worked on the quilts three days in a row, eight or more hours a day. It was exhausting. On August 30, I brought them to the quilter to be quilted. I picked them up in October and have machine sewn on the bindings.  Then I started the hand sewing of the binding. That is the most time-consuming step. I finished the hand sewing and wrapped them up for Christmas presents. They were finished a few days before Thanksgiving.

I will be unable to complete: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for four years and never reached it. So far this year, I have walked only 589.9 miles.  As before, I’m getting further behind each month, which isn’t good. I walk more often, but I think I will end up, if I’m lucky, getting to 700. Once again, I will have to put this on my list for next year.

November was good for my quilt goal and sort of for my travel goals, I guess. But that is it. I admit I have given up on reaching 1000 miles, but I still want to strive for as many as possible. How are you doing on your goals? Let me know below. Keep working toward your goals. We can do this.

2022 Goals September Update

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
2022 Goals September Update

Here is my 2022 Goals September update:

Goal: Lose five more pounds.

I am maintaining my weight but currently not losing any. I need to get more serious about losing weight. No progress in June through September.

Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least two cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard from them. I tried someone else. Most of these cousins are a lot younger than me, and I think that may be why they are not responding since I’m old. A great excuse, isn’t it? No progress in the last four months.

Complete: Read 30 books. I have read 34 books. I read two books in September. This goal is complete, but I’m not stopping reading.

Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021 and finish the first draft of my second book. I have joined a group that will help me with my second book. Plus, I have completed my first book. I will start sending it to agents this month. On June 11, I started a class that will be helpful in writing my first draft of the second book. I have created an outline for that one, and I’ve written about 5,000 words.

Goal: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We were going to New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota this year. We traveled to New Mexico trip in April. In September, I changed the plan to go to North and South Carolina. I should finish it this week and upon approval of my husband, make all the reservations since it’s coming fast.

Progressing well: Complete 2 quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I pushed it and worked 3 days in a row, 8 or more hours a day, on the quilts. It was exhausting. On August 30th, I brought them to the quilter to be quilted. They should be done in early November. Then I will pick them up and put the binding on. At this point, this should be easy to complete this goal.

Goal: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for four years and never reached it. I need to be really serious about this year. The fifth attempt must work. So far this year, I have walked only 464.50 miles. If I did this evenly each month, I’m about 286.56 miles behind, which is an increase, once again, not the decrease I had hoped for. I’m getting further behind each month, which isn’t good. I am walking more often, but I think I will end up, if I’m lucky, getting to 700. Once again, I will have to put this on my list for next year.

September was good for my writing and travel goals. But that is it. I am not giving up yet.

How are you doing on your goals? Let me know below. Keep working toward your goals. We can do this.

My Experience with 23 and Me DNA Testing

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
My Experience with 23 and Me DNA Testing

After seeing Anne Wojcicki on Shark Tank, I decided I liked her, and one day I might even use 23 and Me DNA testing in order to find some of my ancestors. In December of 2019, I went ahead and sent in some of my salivae to be tested. Once that was completed, I sealed it up in a postage-paid envelope. I think Target had a sale on them as a potential Christmas gift, and I bought it for slightly less than the $99 price. (Maybe $69?) If you are interested, I would be watching for a sale on 23 and Me soon, or if you can’t wait until then, order the kit online at 23andme.com. I can’t guarantee they will ever go on sale again.

If you can afford it, I think it would be a great Christmas gift for your parents and/or siblings.

Continue reading “My Experience with 23 and Me DNA Testing” →

2022 Goals July Update

Posted on by Kimberly Anne

2022 July Update

Here is my 2022 Goals July update:

Goal: Lose five more pounds.

I am maintaining my weight but currently not losing. I need to get more serious about losing weight. No progress in June or July.

Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least two cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard from them. I tried someone else. Most of these cousins are a lot younger than me, and I think that may be why they are not responding since I’m old. A great excuse, isn’t it? No progress in June or July.

Goal: Read 30 books. I have read 29 books. I read a lot in July. Currently I’m on the last book in a 3 book series written by James Patterson. I find his books hard to put done. One book to go, and I’m sure I’ll be done with it by August 10th.

Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021 and finish the first draft of my second book. I have joined a group that will help me with this. And I have a writing coach now, so that should help. She and I talked on the 31st of January, and I’m excited I have been going through the third draft and making changes. On June 11, I started a class that will be helpful in writing my first draft of the second book. I have created an outline for that one. The goal for book number one is 55,000 words, and then we will discuss the next step. I plan to be working on my 3rd draft until I hit that word count. Currently I have 3,774 words to go. Great news – I have found two people to be Beta readers.

Goal: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We are going to New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota this year. We traveled to New Mexico trip in April. I need to plan the other trip to Wyoming and North Dakota. No progress in June or July.

Goal: Complete 2 quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. July was successful in that I cut out all the fabric for both quilts. I also started sewing one. If you know anything about quilting, this one has 174 squares, that are made from 3 different fabrics. It involves marking a line done the middle of hundreds of squares. I decided after sewing a lot of squares together, I should mark them all before I continue sewing. I’m almost half way done with that.

Goal: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for 4 years and never reached it. I need to be really serious about this year. The fifth attempt must work. So far this year, I have walked only 340 miles. If I did this evenly each month, I’m about 233 miles behind, which is an increase, once again, not the decrease I had hoped for. I’m getting further behind each month, which isn’t good.

July was good for my reading, writing, and quilt goals. I’m miserably behind, and I blame it on writing, since I love to write. I am working more on my quilts, in August, since I want to have them ready for Christmas and that means they have to be to the quilter soon.

How are you doing on your goals? Let me know below. Keep working toward your goals. We can do this.

2022 Goals June Update

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
2022 Goals Update

Here is my 2022 Goals June update:

Goal: Lose five more pounds.

I am maintaining my weight but currently not losing. I need to get more serious about losing weight. No progress in June.

Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least two cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard from them. I tried someone else. Most of these cousins are a lot younger than me, and I think that may be why they are not responding since I’m old. A great excuse, isn’t it? No progress in June.

Goal: Read 30 books. I have read 23 books. This goal should be easy to reach four books read in June since I only have 7 to go.

Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021 and finish the first draft of my second book. I have joined a group that will help me with this. And I have a writing coach now, so that should help. She and I talked on the 31st of January, and I’m excited I have been going through the third draft and making changes. On June 11, I started a class that will be helpful in writing my first draft of the second book. I have created an outline for that one. I met with my writing coach in June. The goal for book number one is 55,000 words, and then we will discuss the next step. I plan to be working on my 3rd draft until I hit that word count. I have 7,250 words to go.

Goal: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We are going to New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota this year. We traveled to New Mexico trip in April. I need to plan the other trip to Wyoming and North Dakota. No progress in June.

Goal: Complete 2 quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I already had the pattern for my son-in-law. I have purchased all the fabric, but I have barely cut out any fabric. No progress in June.

Goal: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for 4 years and never reached it. I need to be really serious about this

year. The fifth attempt must work. So far this year, I have walked only 290 miles. If I did this evenly each month, I’m about 210 miles behind, which is an increase, not the decrease I had hoped for. I’m getting further behind each month, which isn’t good.

June was good for my reading and writing goals, and that is all. I’m miserably behind, and I blame it on writing. I love to write. I had hoped June would be better for my quilts. July needs to be intensely working on my quilts if I’m going to have them ready for Christmas. However, I had hoped for that last month. How are you doing on your goals? Let me know below. Keep working toward your goals. We can do this.

2022 Goals – April Update

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
April Goals update


Here is my 2022 Goals April update:

  1. Goal: Lose 5 more pounds. I am maintaining my weight, but currently not losing. I need to get more serious about losing weight.
  2. Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least two cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard from them. I tried someone else. Most of these cousins are a lot younger than me, and I’m thinking that may be why they are not responding since I’m old. A great excuse isn’t it?
  3. Goal: Read 30 books. I have read 15 books. I’m still reading about four books at the same time. They are mostly books about writing. They are going slow.
  4. Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021. Finish the first draft of my second book. I have joined a group that will really help me with this. And I have a writing coach now, so that should help. She and I talked on the 31st of January and I’m excited. I am finished with my second draft and moving on to the third. I have found out that I should not work on the first draft of my second book. It is non-fiction and those should be written after they have been accepted. I did start looking for an agent to represent me.
  5. Goal: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We are going to New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota this year. We made most of the plans for the New Mexico trip in 2021 since we are going with a group. I still need to find any other things that I would like to do while we are at the “must-see” spots. I need to plan the other trip. We visited New Mexico so we have one state complete.
  6. Goal: Complete 2 quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I already had the pattern for my son-in-law. In January, I bought some of the fabric for this one. I bought a pattern and most of the fabric for my daughter-in-law in 2021. I didn’t make much progress this month, but I believe I have purchased all the fabric I need.
  7. Goal: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for 4 years and never reached it. I need to be really serious about this, this year. The fifth attempt must work. So far this year, I have walked 205 miles. April was a good month until the end of the month. I’m not feeling very good. Yes, it’s currently May, but I had a lot of tests run to figure out why I’m not feeling very good. So unfortunately my miles may not be very good in May.

April was good for my walking and travel goals. How are you doing on your goals? Let me know below. Keep working toward your goals. We can do this.



2022 Goals March Update!

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
We are off and running on our goals

Here is my 2022 Goals March update:

  1. Goal: Lose 5 more pounds. I am maintaining my weight, but currently not losing. I need to get more serious about losing weight.
  2. Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least two cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard from them. I tried someone else. Most of these cousins are a lot younger than me, and I’m thinking that may be why they are not responding since I’m old. A great excuse isn’t it?
  3. Goal: Read 30 books. I have read 13 books. Currently, I’m reading about four books at the same time. They are mostly books about writing.
  4. Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021. Finish the first draft of my second book. I have joined a group that will really help me with this. And I have a writing coach now, so that should help. She and I talked on the 31st of January and I’m excited. I have been going through the second draft and making changes. I am getting close to finishing the 2nd draft.
  5. Goal: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We are going to New Mexico, Wyoming, and North Dakota this year. We made most of the plans for the New Mexico trip in 2021 since we are going with a group. I still need to find any other things that I would like to do while we are at the “must-see” spots. I need to plan the other trip.
  6. Goal: Complete 2 quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I already had the pattern for my son-in-law. In January, I bought some of the fabric for this one. I bought a pattern and most of the fabric for my daughter-in-law in 2021. I need to go shopping. My usual fabric store has been little help, so I need to take a half-day and drive further away.
  7. Goal: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for 4 years and never reached it. I need to be really serious about this, this year. The fifth attempt must work. So far this year, I have walked only 140.8 miles. If I was doing this evenly each month, I’m about 110 miles behind. I should speed up the pace in April.

March was especially good for my reading and writing goals. I had hoped March would be better for my quilts. April needs to be intense working on my quilts, if I’m going to have them ready for Christmas. How are you doing on your goals? Let me know below. Keep working toward your goals. We can do this.

2022 Goals February Update!

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
Set to run a race

Here is my 2022 Goals February update:

  1. Goal: Lose 5 more pounds. I am maintaining my weight, but currently not losing.
  2. Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least 2 cousins. I have reached out to 2 cousins but have not heard back from them.
  3. Goal: Read 30 books. I have already read ten books. 1/3 done for the year.
  4. Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021. Finish the first draft of my second book. I have joined a group that will really help me with this. And I have a writing coach now, so that should help. She and I talked on the 31st of January and I’m excited. I have been going through the second draft, making changes.
  5. Goal: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We are going to New Mexico, Wyoming and North Dakota this year. We made most of the plans for the New Mexico trip in 2021 since we are going with a group. I still need to find any other things that I would like to do while we are at the “must see” spots. I need to plan the other trip.
  6. Goal: Complete 2 quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I already had the pattern for my son-in-law. In January, I bought some of the fabric for this one. I bought a pattern and most of the fabric for my daughter-in-law in 2021. I need to go shopping. My usual fabric store has been little help, so I need to take a half-day and drive further away.
  7. Goal: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for 4 years and never reached it. I need to be really serious about this, this year. The fifth attempt better work. So far for this year I have walked only 95 miles. I slightly increased my miles over January.

February was not long enough for me. I made a little progress, but I was out of town or had guests quite a bit. I’m expecting March to be a much better month. How are you doing on your goals? Let me know below. Keep working toward your goals.

2022 Goals January Update!

Posted on by Kimberly Anne
2002 Goals January Update

Here is my 2022 Goals January update:

  1. Goal: Lose 5 more pounds. I am maintaining my weight, but currently not losing.
  2. Goal: Ancestry: Contact at least 2 cousins. No progress.
  3. Goal: Read 30 books. I have already read six books. The fact that I had Covid a large part of January helps explain why I’m a fifth of the way done with this goal.
  4. Goal: Get through at least my second and third drafts of the book I wrote in 2021. Finish the first draft of my second book. I have joined a group that will really help me with this. And I have a writing coach now, so that should help. She and I talked on the 31st and I’m excited.
  5. Goal: Visit three states that I have not visited before. We are going to New Mexico, Wyoming and North Dakota this year. We made most of the plans for the New Mexico trip in 2021 since we are going with a group. I still need to find any other things that I would like to do while we are at the “must see” spots. I need to plan the other trip.
  6. Goal: Complete 2 quilts. I plan to finish a quilt for my son-in-law and one for my daughter-in-law. I already had the pattern for my son-in-law. In January, I have bought some of the fabric for this one. I bought a pattern and most of the fabric for my daughter-in-law in 2021. I have purchased more fabric this month. Unfortunately, I was down with Covid when the big 40% off sale at my favorite fabric store was held.
  7. Goal: Walk 1000 miles. I have attempted this for 4 years and never reached it. I need to be really serious about this, this year. The fifth attempt better work. So far for January I have walked only 45 miles.

Covid put me behind a bit, but once it was over, I had a lot of energy that helped me catch up on things a bit, but unfortunately, not so much on my goals. I’m looking forward to a better February. How are you doing on your goals?