Adventures: Family Tree Collage

Saturday was my DIY day.  I have been thinking about doing a family tree picture collage for quite awhile.

I was thinking about putting it in the stairway, but then no one would really see it.  With our dining room now decorated, I was thinking of putting it on a wall there.  I had bought a canvas that I originally wanted to use, but at the community yardsale last week, I found FAMILY letters that caught my eye.  I got them for $1.

I knew I wanted to paint them - either black or brown to match the room.  I decided on black to match the picture frames and do all of the pictures in black and white.

That was an easy project, but my second using spray paint.  Still getting used to making the paint even!

Pictures - I have so many pictures for my side of the family.  My goal is to get "couple" pictures, but the farther back I go, the harder that is.  Either it's a family picture or single pictures.  The crazy thing - I went through all of my family tree stuff and found pictures that I didn't even remember.

L to R:  Mom & Dad, Great Grandparents LaSala, Grandparents Clark, Grandparents Caprarulo

I did a couple of pictures so far and started doing my templates for the wall.  I think I am going to wait a while to put them on the wall.  I am still gathering pictures from Dan's side of the family.  Plus I need to figure out the layout on the wall.

I'm making progress though!

Adventures: Family Visit

My nephew came down to visit on Sunday. Tonight at dinner he started to ask about the family tree.

FINALLY! Someone is interested! I definitely did not think it would be him though!

It's a really cool feeling that someone else is really interested in the family history too. It makes it feel like it's all worth it. :)

A Much Needed Mini Vacation

Saturday, I headed up to Western NY to visit my family (Dan and the pups stayed home).  The visit was mostly just hanging out which was definitely what I needed.

I ended up taking the new car because the Jeep is now leaking gas.  Yes - still not fixed.  Two weeks ago, it was back at the shop because of the gas fumes.  The body shop said that the gasket was bad and they fixed it.  Two weeks later, I fill it up and the fumes are still there and even worse after leaving the gararge door open all night.  I look underneath and there's a puddle of gas.  That's new.  I had already called the shop on Friday to tell them it needed to come back in - that was before I saw the puddle.

I did do some driving around to different cemeteries when I was "home" to get pictures of my ancestors headstones.  I have started to use Find a Grave in my genealogy research.  I can remember visiting the cemeteries before - it's just been so long and back then I didn't take pictures of the headstones.

My brother is going through chemo again and this time it is really wearing on him.  He's in a lot of pain and is very tired.  He's aged a lot this time.  When I look at him, I see my 90 year old aunt (skinny, hard to move around, soft spoken) - he's only 54.  He keeps fighting and the doctors feel that he is on the right track.  He is stable and hopefully this round will kick the problem out of his lymph nodes.

Today, is hanging out with hubby - it's his birthday.  We are going to go geocaching and to the movies - a nice relaxing day.

I can be found on Ancestory.com at rmcwentz and at Findagrave.com at rmcwentz

Trip to see the family and celebrate a graduation

Friday (July 8) we headed up to Hornell for my niece's high school graduation.  We finally got up there about 4 pm or so since we didn't get out of here until about 10 am.  It was a TERRIBLE drive - it rained from the time we got to Gettysburg to almost crossing into NY.  We stopped once for lunch at McDonald's in Sellingsgrove and let the pups out.  Then Dan found out that there was a geocache in the parking lot, so he tried finding it, but the rain started to get heavy, so he gave up.

We got to the party around 6:30 pm and it was a packed house with good weather.  We were there until about 10 pm.  I got to see my brother, Brett - who I haven't seen since 2006 (at Aunt Helen's funeral); his wife, Kim - who I haven't seen since I think since 1997; my nephews (Brett's oldest), Ryan - who I also haven't seen since 1997; and Chad (Brett's youngest) - who I haven't seen since 2003.

This was the first time I've seen my oldest brother, Vincent, since being diagnosed with bladder cancer.  His color was good.  I knew he was losing his hair (it was like baby hair all over his head) but it was shocked to see his hair was white. Although I have never met our grandpa Caprarulo, Vincent looks like his pictures (that's a compliment).

Unfortunately, the cancer has spread some and is also on a large artery in his leg.  He is hoping to have surgery on July 20 or the 1st week of August.  The doctor said that if he was much older they wouldn't even try the surgery on his leg.  The head surgeon will be performing the surgery, so he will be in good hands.

Brett (left), Vincent (center) and me

(l to r) Chad, Chrissy, Ryan, VJ, and Mae

Saturday, we got down to my brother's about 11 am, hung out and then went to their cousin's graduation party at a local park.  There was a geocache in the park so we invited Tomi to come find it with us.  She had fun trying it out.

We then went to the living sign in Canisteo for 2 geocaches.  What a steep hill it's on!  The pups and I got to the bottom of the sign and let Dan get the caches while we waited.  It was an adventure getting there, since I had never been and wasn't sure where to park.  We ended up walking a little bit since we parked at the high school instead of the elementary school.

Then we headed back to my brother's for a little bit because Mae wanted to go geocaching with us.  The pups stayed at their "aunt & uncle's" while we went.  We went to the cemetary - I thought there was a geocache there and I wanted to get pictures of the family gravesites.  I'm glad we went because Helen's death year has still not been put on the gravestone and I think it was moved over/not where it's supposed to be.  We saw a really cool headstone there - it was carved like a tree stumb about 8 feet tall.

We ended up finding 2 out of 4 geocaches.  The last one was cool - it was a fake birdhouse.

We waited until 9 pm for Chrissy to get back from work, but she didn't get home, so she stopped at the hotel to say goodbye to us.

Sunday was the drive home.  Luckily, the weather was nice.  We stopped twice once in Williamsport, PA (at the McDonalds and there was a geocache there!) and then in Thurmont, MD at Roy Rogers for lunch.  We ended up meeting a couple who were biking (motorcycle) back to Lexington, VA at Roy's and had a good chat with them.

The pups were so good on the ride up and back.  Zed would come up and lay on my lap awhile and poor Esa sat except for about 30 seconds when she tried to curl up and lay down.  She just doesn't relax in the car.

They both did really well at the parties too.  Everybody is so impressed that they are so well behaved with all of the people and food.

Once we got home, we all crashed for a good 2 hours.

Storytelling

I found a new show that I have been watching on BYU TV.  It's called What's Your Story.  I thought it was about genealogy, but it's about story telling.  That got me thinking - I have stories I want to share.  The show is great because it shows how to complete your story and keep it interesting.  The one thing though is that they only share good stories (or at least that is all they are showing). 

There are good stories and bad stories to tell.  I realized this weekend when I was with my neices that there are stories that they have bits and pieces to and I really want to pass on the history to them.  I have thought about it in the past about making a scrapbook for them.  At first I thought I would just have pictures of me and them.  Then I was thinking of a family scrapbook.  So much scrapbooking, so little time!

Anyway, stories will be added to this blog using what I learned from the show.  I also added the book to my wishlist on paperbackswap.

Productive Weekend and a Busy Week So Far

Ancestry.com has Civil War records available for free this week (April 7 to 14).  Whenever they have the free days, I take advantage of it.  I spent the majority of Saturday searching on the website.  This time, I was able to figure out information regarding my great grandmother family on my dad's side (my grandmother's mom).  Mattie passed away when my grandmother was 11 years old.  I ordered her death certificate so was able to get her parent's information from that.  I was able to find info on her parents (Francis Brown & Emily Davis).  I was able to link census records and some military records.

The crazy thing about all of this family tree information is that I have received 2 messages from other people on Ancestry.com about Dan's family tree.  I'm surprised I've only gotten 1 message regarding my family tree.

Sunday was all about taxes.  What a pain in the butt, but a necessary evil.  Thank goodness for H&R Block software!  It definitely makes it easier, but if you don't answer a question right, you're screwed.  Which is what I almost did - thank you very much - I looked at the form online and I realized that something wasn't right, so went in and fixed it.  Still the end product is that we have to pay over $2,000 in taxes (bbbboooooo).  I kind of screwed us over by not making as many cash donations as we did in 2009 because I thought I would be out of a job.  Then at the end of the year, I still thought I was going to be out of a job (by the end of January) and didn't even think about the deductions by that time.  Also my IRA was changed to a ROTH IRA and we had to pay taxes on that.  BBBBLLLLAAAAHHHHH!!!  Anyway, lesson learned (once again), I am not going to worry about money until it stops coming in.  Along with not putting my life on hold because I don't know what's going to happen with my job.

Esa is still not using her right rear leg 100%.  We put her on anti-inflammatory meds (left over from Zed) and will see if that helps (we hope so).  If that doesn't help, we will need to take her to the emergency vet to see if they can find out anything.

The last two days I have been stiff too.  I must have slept wrong or something.  Yesterday I was hurting in the morning, but then loosened up by mid-morning.  Today was worse.  I ended up getting a massage first thing this morning and stopped at the chiropractor this evening.

My brother is doing well.  He started chemo last Wednesday and it is helping him feel better although he has had bad days since then too.

Random thoughts - family history and blogging

I've always dabbled in our family tree and lately I've been watching all of the geneology shows (Who Do You Think You Are and Generations Projects). 

There are so many stories in our family (mostly the Caprarulo side - my mom's side) that I only know bits and pieces of or not sure if I have the story right.  Sometimes I think of my own stories (some good, some bad) and wish I had kept a journal.

Sometimes I wonder how I became the person I have become - those are the stories I am talking about.  So many memories that I have not thought about in a long time.  Maybe I should start writing them down so that they can be past on.

Entry for March 25, 2006

Entry for March 25, 2006

03/25/2006 06:59 pm
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Lunch at Picante's with the co-workers was fun yesterday.



Chris had called the restaurant to tell them that we were coming. After we ordered, the owners came by and told us the history of the restaurant and about expansion plans. After we ate, they showed us the kitchen, the catering kitchen and the future catering kitchen and takeout window. Within a month or so, they will be taking over the bar area of Sully's and Sully's will be shrinking. The owner of Picante's said that Sully's were going to get rid of the bands. I've checked with Evick and they said no, Sully's is still having bands.



Today, I received a call from my cousin, John, that lives in Florida. His wife is the daughter of my grand uncle, on my grandmother's side (Clark, maiden name Crandall). Anyway, Dan and I met John and Nancy on our honeymoon. To tell you the truth, I can't remember exactly how they got a hold of me. I must have sent a letter to Nancy's dad and I think they were going through his things and found it. Anyway - Dan and I had a blast with them and their sons when we visited. Since then, we've chatted every once in a while. Nancy passed away a couple of years ago from cancer, but I still send John a christmas letter. John didn't sound too good on the phone - I can tell that he's lonely - he even said that and that he hates his apartment. He did say that he goes to church almost every day and volunteers there. The reason why he called is that he has a bible that he believes is from the Clark side of the family and that he's going to send it to me. Cool! He said that it's missing the cover, but we could always have it rebound. I think I'm going to send him a replacement bible - I could tell that he was kind of having a hard time sending it off.