Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games

Have you heard? The Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games are beginning. This will be my first opportunity to participate in the GeneaBloggers Games. I'm excited and happy to be participating and hope that I do a good job for my ancestors.

The flag I will be carrying to honor my ancestors represents the United States, Mozambique, and Mali. My family has been in the United States for 200+ years. I chose Mozambique and Mali because ancestral DNA results obtained thus far lead me to believe that my ancestors could have possibly come from these regions.

The colors of the flag represent many things to me. The black represents Africa, from whence most of my ancestral lines evolved. The red represents the struggle for independence in both the motherland and in the "new" world. Green represents the richness of the land. Yellow represents wealth. Blue is for preseverance. White is peace, and the stars are for all those who have gone before me, whether direct, collateral, or the village that it takes to raise a child.

As far as the games are concerned, I plan to compete in all six categories

1. 
   
   Go Back and Cite Your Sources
2. 
   
   Back up Your Data
3. 
   
   Organize Your Research
4. 
   
   Expand Your Knowledge
5. 
   
   Write, Write, Write
6. 
   
   Reach Out and Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness

Why am I competing in all 6 categories

• 
  
  When I first started researching, I was very good about citing all my sources. Sources are worth their weight in gold. It's how you build a case for your ancestors. When I renewed my research last year, the one thing I did not do religiously was cite all my findings. So, during the next two weeks, I will back track and hopefully get all my documentation up to snuff, or at least well on its way, so that if need be, my genealogical findings can stand up in a genealogy court.
• 
  
  Seems I never think about backing up data until it's possibly lost. So, to back up anything would be a major accomplishment. My goal is to put this on a weekly schedule and hopefully, the games will be the start.
• 
  
  Due to a Genealogy Workshop I'm taking, I've actually already begun on the reorganization of my records and amazingly got a lot accomplished in one night. Goal during the Geneablogger games is to complete the task. Hopefully, the remainder of the organization - pictures, artifacts, etc. will follow soon afterwards.
• 
  
   I've played around with things such as Google Maps, etc. but haven't fully incorporated them into my genealogical activities, which means I've not fully learned how to use them. I'm not sure how many I will get done but think it will be fun to learn new tasks.
• 
  
  It's the middle of February, and I'm already behind on my goal for 2010 to be more consistent in my blog posts. No guarantees but am recommitting to try to do at least 2 posts per week.
• 
  
  Although I feel that I contribute when I can in the Acts of Kindness arena, I will continue to search out ways to get more involved.

I think I should be able to deliver at least one gold medal to the ancestors but would like one in all 6 categories. If I'm really good, it's even possible that I could bring home some Platinum.

So, opening ceremony is over, let the games begin!