This is this the 501st post for this blog

Sure, Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings (my favorite blog!) has me beat and left me in the dust with his recent announcement of  8000 incredible posts, but this is a big deal for me. This is the 501st blog post!

When I started this blog two and a half years ago I really didn't know what was going to happen and if I'd keep with it or whether it was going to be too much work and not enough return so I'd toss it in the untended blog scrapheap. But it turned out to be way more rewarding than I ever expected!

My original thought was to blog in an effort to keep what best might be described as a hunting journal. I figured that if I set out my plans in writing as a blog post I'd have a better chance of keeping on track. Then if I reported back I'd have a place, public as it might be, to see what happened. Sounds now like I'm describing a research journal, and I do think in retrospect that a research journal was what I wanted... I just didn't know about research journals because I was a real newbie then.

As I learned things I figured that I'd post them in an effort to examine new concepts or resources. I was learning stuff right and left so there was always plenty to post!

I also posted about my ancestors and stories I heard about them and what the research and records told me about them. I've always been a total fool for a good story, even if they prove unfounded. And along the way I saw that at the core of most of these old stories handed down is a solid gold nugget of truth. I'm not talking about the Indian princess thing or descending from royalty stuff but stories with amazing specificity. I love stumbling into the detailed stories! I also love seeing how the same story can change along different branches descending from a common ancestor. Now that's pure fun!

But the very best feature of having a blog is one that I didn't anticipate. I truly thought that no one would read it except for Mom and a cousin or two. Mom did, of course, because she's Mom. But cousins pop in now and again but certainly don't visit on a daily basis. No, the very bestest thing that happens here is catching new-to-me cousins. I just love that! "Cousin bait", they call it.

I have to tell you, sometimes I go off searching about an ancestor on Google and if I've written about them here, this blog usually comes up in the first couple of Google results. How cool is that?! Right now I'm enjoying a new cousin contact about every other week.

I've never had a problem coming up with something to write about. Guess I'm just like that: if I'm excited about something I'll think to blog about it. In the past I've used GenaeBloggers's daily blogging prompts just because they are so nifty. And if I feel ill or tired I just don't blog for a while because my heart isn't in it.

There are so many good resources for bloggers now that I'd almost like to start over, but no. I like where I am now that I've done 500 posts. Here's looking forward to the next 500!

Mom. She's the one who got me interested in this genealogy thing.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2014/09/this-is-this-501st-post-for-this-blog.html