Day 31 Accomplishments

Day 31, January 31, 2020 

Looking back over the last several days, weeks, months and years - I've had many goals set with good intentions. 2020 is no different. I have several things that are written down regardless of how, the whys, or the when - these things will be accomplished by the end of the year - one way or the other! 

My goals may or may not look like yours. That's the beauty of them, they are mine. Whether they are crafting goals, genealogy goals, life goals, family goals - they are mine and mine alone. I may need other input or assistance to achieve my goals - but the overall act of accomplishment will be completely up to me. For example, in the middle of November 2019, I requested from my insurance company a list of physicians for the area I recently moved to. Not only did I spend over an hour on the phone with one CSR going through the specialties needed, but they assured me an email would be forthcoming. I waited...and waited...and waited. A couple weeks later, I called the company again. I explained the situation, the frustration and again - was informed the original email would be sent back out. I waited...

Last week, still trying to accomplish setting up new doctors since my move - I checked for the emails once again...nothing. Not in my spam, not in the trash and not in my inbox! I called the company yet a third time. This time, the CSR indicated they would send out a provider book. Ok, that sounds great - since I can't access this from their website! 

The provider book arrived yesterday in a large brown envelope. (Thursday, 1/31/2020). Thumbing through it, I noticed all the doctors listed were for the Greater Houston area and then some... (I about came out of my chair). I don't live in the Houston area, I'm just outside of Ft. Worth - 4 hours away from Houston...oh my gosh! Talk about a breakdown. No, not on my part but on the part of the CSR. For two months now, I've been trying to get this goal accomplished. Today, I called a 4th time...

Setting right now in my email are 6 document links with providers I am needing to get established. How hard was this for the CSR to accomplish today? Fairly simple and all within a 15-minute timespan. Check, Check and check...I can now say - I have the list of providers marked off my list that I started working on back in November. That's one goal I've accomplished today! 

Sometimes in life, something that looks rather uncomplicated can become a mountain over others' inabilities. If you are working on a goal that seems to be getting derailed for whatever reason, you might want to rethink the process of how you are trying to achieve it.

For me, today was a simple request that should have been accomplished months ago by the other party...the CSR helped me achieve my original goal and for that, I'm very grateful! 

Now onto making phone calls...

Don't forget to share a smile...

~~Heart to Heart Soul Creations

H2hsc2020

Day 30 - Procrastination, Accomplishments and Determination

Day 30, January 30, 2020

Anyone that knows me knows I cannot stand procrastination. My thoughts are if something needs to get done - let's quit wasting time and get it done...what ARE we waiting for??? 

When I saw Paul's suggestion for the UBC (Ultimate Blog Challenge) today, I laughed. "DETERMINATION"

I have so many projects that I need to finish, but lately - I've been a little distracted with family and life. 

My daughter messaged me the other night asking if I had any pictures of her as a young child because she wants to compare her photos, to those of her birth father - to her little guy that will soon be arriving. And we continue to wait... :-) 

As I thought about where her baby album might be (I recently moved and things aren't quite put in their places yet), I recalled a box of scrapbook layouts that have been finished for several years now! Oh my gosh...they are still in the box??? Problem #1. Remember, I don't like procrastination. I'm asking myself why these aren’t already in the albums - after all, I have had them for a few years now along with the page protectors. As I sorted through the layouts to find a few photos of her life, I realized I hadn't even taken pictures of these layouts yet. Problem #2. 

Looking around my room I'm seeing a few more boxes that need to be unpacked and homes found for the contents. Problem #3. No space! I need another bookcase - guess I'll be on the hunt for a garage sale or two in the next few days. (unless I get the call my grandson is on the way)! 

Being the family genealogist, I have binders started for my maternal and paternal lines. This has been a thorn in my side as you can't have one without the other and combining the information has become quite cumbersome. Problem #4. How to organize my genealogy. 

There are photos in at least 2 tubs that have already been scanned in so that's good. I just need to make the journals or the scrapbook layouts and get 'er done! Time...Problem #5. Crafting takes time. It's not anything I can just snap my fingers and be done with. Seems lately with some of my health issues going on, crafting is at a snail's pace. What used to take me less than a day to complete is now taking weeks. I am a very focused individual and when I set my mind to do something I do it...this will be no difference 'once' I figure out what direction I want to take in capturing our family memories of yesterday. 

Crafting and genealogy are my favorite two pastimes. I literally lose all sense of time when I'm doing one or the other or even both at the same time. Sometimes, I don't even move out of my chair during the day or night. Did I say night? Oh yes...I have burned the midnight oil many times crafting AND doing genealogy. Back in the day when I was working, my husband would also ask 'how I did it - with very little sleep'? I've always been a day person and a night owl. I need very little sleep to function - even though it's not healthy for a person to do that. I manage. Problem #6. Rest

Still learning the ropes and navigating my way around my blog - still baffles me at times. I need to find my flow and pull it all together. That's my determination...

I'm sure like with anything else in life - there are pros and cons to the how' and the why's of what it is we do or don't do. I do have a few goals I want to achieve in the blogging world. Those will come in time. 

Problem #1 - put the layouts in the scrapbook albums
Problem #2 - take photos of the layouts - COMPLETED!!! (just a few of the pics)

Bridals, Wedding and Honeymoon pics still need to be processed! This amazing event happened in 2016!!!

There are over 2000 pictures total to work with! 

Problem #3 - unpack the last couple of boxes. 

Problem #4 - figure out genealogy organization

Problem #5 - Crafting projects - start them, pick up where I've left off, finish them

Problem #6 - REST

For now, I need to quit procrastinating as I am determined to feel accomplished by the end of the day.

Smiles!!!  

~~Heart to Heart Soul Creations

#H2hsc2020

That's How the Cookie Crumbles

The Baby Album I made for my grandson

Several weeks ago, we held a baby shower for my daughter. We had a hot cocoa bar with all the trimmings. You had your choice of so much deliciousness  - I think I personally had three cups of hot chocolate!

We had Cayenne pepper, Cinnamon, Marshmallows, Chocolate chips, Butterscotch chips, Cookies and Cream chips, Peppermint candy canes, Andes Mints, Caramel sauce, and, Chocolate sauce (well, I don't think they are called sauce - actually they were in a squeeze bottle). LOL  - but you get the picture...we had a cocoa bar!

The theme of the shower was "Baby It's Cold Outside"...and the day couldn't have been more perfect as the temperature was in the high 20's and the Metroplex had snow (well, in Denton anyway).

The room was very nice...my daughter and her friends did a GREAT job with the decorations.

The shower was a success, even the hot cocoa bar!!!

Last week, I was over at my daughter's home helping her pack - -they are in the process of relocating closer to where my son-in-law works. Actually, truth be known - - it's really to be closer to us, the grandparents! I feel so honored...

As I picked up a box to pack a few things in it from the kitchen, I noticed the leftover items from the hot cocoa bar. Chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, Cookies and Cream chips, Andes Mints, and a few other things. I sat them on the kitchen counter and went on with packing.

A few minutes later my daughter came in and stated she didn't want the assorted goodies and I said, "I'll take those home if you don't want them" so I brought them home and placed them in my kitchen cabinet.

This morning as I was walking with my Ancestors, after all, I am the family genealogist. While I was clicking away at the keyboard - I had this thought pop into my head, make cookies!!! I sat that for a few minutes thinking to myself, I don't recall the last time I made homemade cookies. I continued looking through my DNA matches trying to figure out who these people were on this particular branch of my 4 x great grandfather. No clue...

I noticed the time on the clock and it appeared to be in slow motion. It just kept ticking...tick tock, tick tock - it was as though time was standing still. I love walking with my ancestors and I work on genealogy nearly every day. The branch I had been working on actually belonged to my 4th great grandfather who served in the Revolutionary War and the research was very interesting to me. I was thinking with the information I had, I might even be able to apply for DARS (Daughters of the American Revolution) as I find it very fascinating. I continued to click, click, click on the keyboard. I'd open this document and that document...until I opened a photograph. Over in the comments section of this particular photo was a great deal of commentary.  The information was priceless. There was even a link to a DARS Facebook group of my 4th great grandfather, Shadrack Rogers. I felt like I had just hit the lottery! Still in my mind, was the thought of making cookies...so I switched gears.

I pushed the keyboard to the side, got up out of my chair and proceeded into the kitchen.

I started gathering the items I was going to need to make these cookies. I grabbed the canisters of flour and sugar. I grabbed the eggs out of the fridge. I grabbed the pans, the bowl, and mixer from the cabinets. I hunted for the other ingredients (hoping I wasn't going to be missing anything). Remember, I haven't made cookies in ages...it appeared I had everything I needed to make these cookies. I smiled...

The aroma began to fill the air of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven...I had taken two sheet pans of cookies out of the oven by now. Then a knock came at the door. Today, they were delivering the baby furniture for my daughter. Remember, I told you they are in the process of moving. They decided since they were moving out this direction, they'd have the furniture delivered to our house. I took the pan of cookies out of the oven, so they wouldn't burn and set them on the counter while I answered the door.

Time stood still as I waited for the unpacking and unboxing of the items...

I went to take my cookies off of the sheet pan and I had to scrape them off as they had already set up.

These bits and pieces will make a great topping for ice cream one of these evenings!

That's how the cookie crumbles!

(at the time of this post, we were still awaiting the baby's arrival...he will be making his debut any day!)





Heart to Heart Soul Creations
H2hsc2020

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Day 29 Wordless Wednesday

A Pocket Tag I made for my mom a few years back

Day 29, January 29, 2020

They say pictures are worth a thousand words...open the door and step into my world...

Heart to Heart Soul Creations
H2hsc2020

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Day 12 - Inspiration

A tag I made a while back

Day 12, January 29, 2020

Inspiration through a quote. That was the suggestion for day 12 in the Ultimate Blog Challenge I'm apart of.

Being a violinist - NOT a fiddler, music has always been one of my go tos when I'm crafting or working on genealogy. I'd much rather listen to music than sit in front of a tv.

I'm reminded daily of the song that's in my heart. Music has been around since the beginning of time. "Music is the voice of the soul..."

Smiles...

~~Heart to Heart Soul Creations
H2hsc2020

Day 11 - Headliners

Altered Clipboard I made a few years back

Day 11 - January 28, 2020 

 I'm just about caught up with all my blogs since joining the Ultimate Blog Challenge in the middle of the month. Getting acclimated to new tools, new ways of doing things and trying to find my niche - has been a bit cumbersome, but exciting! I'm thankful Paul has suggested daily topics while I'm learning the ropes of blogging. With his suggested topics, I've been able to think about the different scenarios I have lived through in life and how I could apply them to the daily topics. Some work - and then others, I think outside of the box. These daily suggestions have also given me the opportunity to consider how I want to brand myself in the crafting/genealogy worlds bringing them both together with personal life stories that hopefully will inspire, encourage, uplift and speak to the resilience of a human being. 

Today's suggestion was headliners – hmmm, let me think about this one. I don't subscribe to any magazines, I immediately thought about the news, the newspapers and such. Then I recalled I did have a few random magazines in my crafting supplies because I use them to make collages, papers, mixed media projects, and glue books. I had a conversation a couple of years ago with a friend, who also blogs and is quite successful at it - shoutout @mommiesreview/Glenda Cates - who had asked me a few years ago to come up with something along the lines of implementing crafting for those who homeschooled their children. Well - time went by and we lost touch, but the seed had been planted! 

Here we are in 2020 and I'm putting together crafting projects and genealogy basics for children who homeschool. What a concept!! 

I can see it now..."how to CHOOSE crafting or genealogy". What about this one, "10 Generations of Family History and It's YOURS!" Here's one..."Developing Dreams Through Our Ancestors", and this one..."If Grandpa Can Do It, So CAN I". 

I am loving this post today...can you tell I'm having fun with it! I'll now have to come up with write-ups for all my 'headliners'!!! How fun is this going to be...? "Walking with The Ancestors, My Past, Present, and Future". "Welcome to Grannies Kitchen", that one will be perfect for a scrapbook layout. Why you may be asking - -I recently found several recipes of my grannies in my mom's cookbook that is literally falling apart. Mom passed it down to me several years ago and I'm going to restore it by making a journal out of it. You know, another one of my many crafting talents...

"When I Grow Up, I Want To Be President"

"Living the Country Life in the Big City"

10 Big Ideas to Bring Color Into Your World

        *mixed media projects

        * Dress Up

        *Create yourself

Thank you, Paul Taubman, for inspiring us to use the daily topic today...you have opened my brain to think outside of the box!!  

Until next time, remember to share a smile... :-)

~~Heart to Heart Soul Creations

@H2hsc2020

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Day 28 - 1918 Flu Epidemic

1918 Influenza Pandemic

The influenza pandemic, from March 1918 to June 1920, killed between twenty and a hundred million people. In the United States alone it infected around 30 per cent of the population and 500,000 to 675,000 died. Britain lost close to 250,000. For countries already decimated by World War One the impact was devastating. In a single year influenza killed more people than during a century of the Black Death. In twenty weeks it killed more than AIDS has killed in twenty years.

Cykotene Shock

Physicians normally expect influenza to affect the young, the old and the sick, i.e. those with weak or compromised immune systems. The 1918 outbreak, however, killed adults in their prime, age 20-40. Their immune systems went into overdrive and caused them to drown from cykotene shock. They were literally assassinated by their own immune systems.

Struggle for Air

A physician stationed at Fort Devens outside Boston, reported in late September, 1918:

"This epidemic started about four weeks ago, and has developed so rapidly that the camp is demoralized and all ordinary work is held up till it has passed....These men start with what appears to be an ordinary attack of LaGrippe or Influenza, and when brought to the Hosp. they very rapidly develop the most viscous type of Pneumonia that has ever been seen. Two hours after admission they have the Mahogany spots over the cheek bones, and a few hours later you can begin to see the Cyanosis extending from their ears and spreading all over the face, until it is hard to distinguish the coloured men from the white. It is only a matter of a few hours then until death comes, and it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate. It is horrible. One can stand it to see one, two or twenty men die, but to see these poor devils dropping like flies sort of gets on your nerves. We have been averaging about 100 deaths per day, and still keeping it up. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a new mixed infection here, but what I don't know." Source

Bacterial Pneumonia

Evidence has emerged that bacterial pneumonia caused many deaths. The virus, or the body's immune system response to it, destroyed cells which line the bronchial tubes and lungs, creating a pathway along which nose and throat bacteria could migrate. This suggests that a similar strain today would be less deadly owing to the presence of antibiotics. Source

16m Deaths in India

India suffered most. With large numbers of doctors serving in the British army on the Western Front the country was completely unprepared for the virus. Some estimates put the Indian death toll at sixteen million.

The author is webmaster of Swine Flu H1N1 [http://www.swine-flu-h1n1.com]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Danican_Philidor/314254

story came from https://ezinearticles.com/?1918-Influenza-Pandemic&id=2282039

Note from H2hsc2020,

This hits close to home as we actually had this happen in our family lines...I had a Great Aunt who fell victim to this horrific epidemic. I'm thankful today, that medicine has come as far as it has to keep these types of illnesses and diseases to a minimum, to say the least. Although many have no known cures...

This young lady was only 18 years of age. Her name was Lucinda. You could tell she was a beautiful soul just by looking at her photograph.

Her story is quite sad...after her father passed away, her mother, my Great Grandmother - Nancy Elizabeth H. - loaded up the covered wagon along with the other children and traveled west to the Texas Panhandle for work. During this trip, the other children - were quite ill and being tended to by Lucinda while their mother worked to make ends meet. Can you imagine this image in your head? I can't even begin to fathom their journey back in the early 1900s.

After several months, when the work had come to an end - the family once again loaded up their covered wagon and began to make their way back to the town of West, Texas. Traveling through a small town called Dickens, Texas. Family stories are, Lucinda became very sick and so weak herself from tending to her siblings and helping her mother, that she could not overcome the flu. Lucinda died in Dickens, Texas and my great grandmother buried her daughter in a field.

To date, Lucinda's memory remains in Dickens, TX.

Lucinda

My great grandmother with her children, Texas

Genealogy - My 5th Great Grandfather

To organize, to craft or to work on my DNA matches - that is the elusive question today. All three need to be done - not specifically in the mentioned order though. I suppose, "need" isn't the correct word here either. Let me rephrase this...I would like to craft, organize or work on my DNA matches today! That's better...

Huff History book belongs to a cousin, Patti Huff Smith

I'm part of the Huff Family Genealogy Facebook group - because my 5th great grandfather was Samuel Huff, 1781-1868 from Virginia. In my tree, I have this particular family name spelled, Huff and Hough - they go hand in hand.

Over the course of the last week - the dialog in the Huff FB group has come up from new members on the search for the parents of their ancestors. Her name is Catherine. That ought to be simple enough - - I have several Catherine's in my family tree, I'll hop over there and take a look.

My family tree is quite large. I have 22,542 documented people, 11,296 pictures and 50,238 records on my 'main' family tree. Those numbers change each and every time I do genealogy. Many of these are not my direct lines, but they are siblings of grandparents' family, so forth and so on - which make them distant cousins to me. Over the course of the last 3 years, I have had the opportunity of meeting many new 2nd, 3rd and 5th cousins in person and by way of social media. My genealogy journey has been just that, a journey and I love it!!!! Not only do I get to learn the history of my ancestors - I'm also meeting new family members that I had no idea even existed.

After looking my tree over, processing a couple of searches -the Catherine I was hopefully looking for doesn't exist in my family tree as of today. If any of you do genealogy, you'll know what I mean by my next statement. I don't stay on one branch day after day...I move all over my tree. Most times, I'll be hot on a trail of research and I may not get anywhere else for days, weeks or even months until I figure that specific trail out. Catherine is no different.

I've pulled my Huff genealogy information out, I have my family tree open and I'm going to see if I can put any of the missing pieces together. Hopefully, Catherine will reveal herself and the family who is looking for her - can have their family puzzle put in place.

Here's to researching...I'm off to walk with the Ancestors. 

Picture of my family tree showing my 5th Gr Grandfather

James Madison Huff (top name) is my 4th Gr Grandfather, son of Samuel Huff, 1781