2015 proved to be a very productive year with regard to my blog. Let’s see: I only published 6 posts in 2013 and the following year it increased to 23; not bad considering some personal issues I had to deal with in 2014. This past year, no fewer than 80 posts were finalized (excluding this one)! I have received very positive comments for which I am very appreciative as English is not my first language.

I am going to repeat myself but all this would not have been possible without Amy Johnson Crow who provided me with a much-needed boost to help me becoming a more dedicated writer. Amy made me realize I needed to plan my posts for periods during which I couldn’t write because of my professional duties so that a regular rate of publications be sustained. Thank you, Amy!

Some 26 posts were published in June for the French Challenge A to Z initiated by Sophie Boudarel, so I owe her a lot too. Merci, Sophie!

A special thanks to Gail Dever for her interest in The Bangle Files. She is also a source of motivation! Thank you Gail!

This past year, I also tried to initiate the Genealogy-Do-Over project but I hardly started it, it went by too fast. Accomplishing a task each week was way too much for me given my regular job tight schedule. In 2016, I therefore intend to do the Genealogy-Do-Over as it is now presented on a monthly basis (which sounds more suitable for me); so here we go 2016!

What’s in store for me in 2016?

Blogging

• I wish to continue blogging, each Saturday, if possible, even if the 52 Ancestors Challenge ceases to exist. As before, I will alternate between a Quebec ancestor and an American one.
• The Bangle Files are progressing very well. Don’t worry people! I have stuff to cover the whole year, that is 26 posts about the Bangles, to be published every other Wednesday (next article will be issued on January 13).
• I will be starting a new project on January 1, 2016 that has been very close to my heart for years. All the details tomorrow morning!
• I intend to participate in the French Challenge A to Z for which I already have a theme in store!

Researching

• There is no way I will give up on the Tourville’s Missouri and Illinois lines (besides, this is part of my Genealogy-Do-Over and I am still finding new things).
• I want to work on the Hubous who were living in Calvados in the 17th century. I have already identified a few families with unknown ties to my Hubous (at first sight) but who knows?

Chatting

Every other Friday I take part in a great genealogy community effort initiated by Jen Baldwin on Twitter, called #genchat. You are welcome to join us (see here for topics and schedule).

Volunteering

For those of you living in the Montreal area, note that I am volunteering at the Société généalogique canadienne-française on the first and third Tuesdays of the month.

Travelling

• Despite a very weak Canadian dollar, I will do everything I can to attend once more the Salt Lake City Research trip next November with New England Historic and Genealogical Society (NEHGS). My task list continues to grow!
• The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2016 Conference to be held in Springfield, Illinois next August is also on my agenda. My hotel reservations are made!
• I am planning to visit Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa for various projects.
• Though I had to cancel my attendance at a genealogy workshop in Toronto last April, I still wish to visit the Ontario Archives in Toronto in 2016 (mainly for the Bangles).
• I look forward going back to Chateaugay, NY as well as Addison and Grand Isle Counties in Vermont, of course.
• I would love to return to NEHGS in Boston!

Given my personality, I need to leave room for surprises or BSOs so I have to stop here!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all geneabloggers from here and elsewhere all the best for 2016. May the New Year brings you success and peace.

I will end this post by sharing an extract of my sister’s Christmas card. As a new retiree, she has been having fun proofreading my posts in both languages and listening to my stories. Hey guys, do you think we have found a new follower?

[…] I wanted to tell you that I am very happy to have spent more time with you this year. I learned a lot thanks to you and I think that it is pretty cool that we now have a hobby in common.

I hope that we will be able to repeat the experience of visiting Vermont once or twice (?) for a genealogy trip in 2016. I must say (who knew?!) that it was kind of fun to visit Town Offices and take a breath of fresh air in cemeteries under the ardent sun of June…