Archives for December 2019

This month we’re focusing on Making it Meaningful with our friends at Ancestry. Last year, we both took Ancestry DNA tests and then got to compare our results.

Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, harnesses the information found in family trees, historical records, and DNA to help people gain a new level of understanding about their lives.

We were shocked to learn that although we are identical twins, our Ancestry DNA test results were different! You can read the full post here.

Since we are trying to make connections to our ancestors and learn about some of their individual stories, we decided to compare DNA results with our parents as well. They both took Ancestry tests last year as well.

More than 20 billion records have been added to the site over the past two decades, and Ancestry adds an average of two million records to its website each day based on the average of record growth over the last five years.

#1 The results will surprise you!

We were expecting to see very similar results, but to our surprise, everyone’s is different. It’s absolutely amazing to see how detailed the results on Ancestry’s website are.

When I was discussing results with my parents, my mom mentioned that she always thought she was 100% from England and Scotland, but was surprised to find a large part of her DNA was from France. She has always felt a special connection to France, so it was really meaningful to her.

#2 Connect to your roots

I’m amazed at how a detailed map can make you feel more fully yourself. It’s something that happens when you start learning about ancestors. I have started to feel more complete as a person. To know that all of these stories of those who have gone before you really are there for you to learn from.

It makes you feel more globally connected to realize we all came from somewhere. It is really special to recognize where your ancestors came from and the lives that they led. You might even find yourself finding a new hero or heroine to look up to.

#3 Honor your ancestors

For me, it’s become a way to honor my ancestors and all of the sacrifices they made. If they hadn’t made many of those sacrifices, I would not have the privileged life I do.

In my travels and education, it became clear that Americans fall behind when it comes to cultures and places where ancestors are revered and honored. I realized that in my home, ancestors were largely forgotten.

That’s the entire reason for the Make it Meaningful challenge. Not forgetting those who came before and honoring them by learning about their lives and stories.

I’ve done this largely on the Ancestry website where it is so simple to create a family tree and learn more about ancestors.

Ancestry members have created 100 million family trees containing more than 13 billion ancestral profiles and have uploaded and attached more than 330 million photographs, scanned documents, and written stories to their trees.

It is so amazing to put a face with a name. It really makes my DNA results and family history come alive for me. The photo above is my Great Great Grandmother Margaret Jarvis. So fascinating to find out that she worked as a midwife in Boston and then had one daughter when she was 37 years old.

Here are a couple of fascinating facts:

• Ancestry users can access records dating back to the 13th century.
• Ancestry has over 6 billion historical records for the United States.
• Ancestry hosts records from over 80 countries worldwide.

So, I challenge you to go over DNA results with your loved ones and learn about one ancestor from each of your results. 

I have wanted to create an ancestry wall in my home for some time now, and I decided I was going to complete it as part of the #MakeitMeaningful challenge with Ancestry! Parker and I chose the wall when you first walk right into our home. We wanted something meaningful in that spot and I think the ancestry gallery wall accomplishes that.

There are a lot of options for an ancestry wall

If you look up ancestry walls on Pinterest you are bombarded with some interesting options! I knew that I wanted mine to look minimal, streamlined, yet not totally matchy-matchy. You want to make sure you know what look you are going for before you begin.

The ideal ancestry wall

Enter, my friend Mary and her extraordinary ancestry wall pictured below! #GOALS right?! I grew up with Mary and her family, they have always been very into genealogy and sharing their ancestor’s stories. I love how she has displayed her family members in such a beautiful way on the walls of her home. After seeing what Mary did with her wall, I knew anything was possible!

Ancestry walls are never “complete”

At this point, my wall is made up of seven different pieces. This number will grow and change over the years to include many more pieces. I am going to walk you through how I chose the pieces for my wall and how I did it all at less than $100.

The supplies you will need

• Frames: I had the best luck with IKEA and Walmart frames. They are affordable and come in neutral color palettes. I also like the 10 x 10 square shape for gallery walls. I did a mixture of black and white frames with an oval-shaped frame mixed in for good measure.
• Photo printing: I printed my photos with Walmart photo. They seemed to have the most options for random printing sizes which is what I needed. You can also do one-hour photo pickup which makes it an ideal weekend project!
• Layout: I used plain sheets of paper cut into the sizes of my various frames to measure things out on the wall beforehand to see how I liked the layout. I highly recommend doing this step before starting anything else!

Where to find photos

My family has a smattering of photos of our ancestors, none of which are digital and in the same place. So, I searched high and low until I was excited about my photo collection.

We have a portrait of Parker’s dad Rory, who passed away 5 years ago from cancer, that I really love that was given to us in a beautiful frame. I decided to build our entire ancestry wall around that photo. We miss our Papa Rory and it is nice to see his smiling face in our home.

Start by looking at the photos you already have

To begin to build the ancestry wall I started by looking at cherished photos of our loved ones in my own collection. I found one of me and my grandma at my wedding that exudes happiness for me and another of Parker’s grandma who was a florist holding a bouquet. These were great photos to build off of in the beginning.

I have always loved my maternal grandparent’s wedding photo. It is formal and my grandma chose to wear a tiara that looks much more like a regal crown and I just love every little thing about it! From the flowers to her dress it brings me joy seeing my grandparents as a young couple in love.

Classic wedding photos

To get my hands on their wedding photo (to make a copy), I was given early access to my grandmother’s life story. In my extended family, it is customary to write your own history. Some are short, some are long, but all of them have treasured photos included.

Official portraits from the past

Parker joined in the photo gathering and found a portrait of his paternal grandfather from his pilot days. He has his goggles on his head and leather jacket and the photo is one of my favorite parts of the ancestry wall!

Use your DNA results to help in your search for photos

I started to look back at my family history thanks to Ancestry and my DNA results which make it easy to track my family’s roots in Europe. After researching for a bit I came across a story about one of my ancestors named Margaret who came across to America in 1884 with many young children having recently been widowed. I was able to find a picture of the S.S. Wyoming ship that she was on while on her journey to America. Ancestry DNA kits are the perfect holiday gift and right now they are only $59!

The ship my ancestors sailed on to America

I knew I wanted the photo of this ship on my wall as a reminder of what my ancestors have gone through to live in a beautiful place with the freedoms that I enjoy. Not only that, but I am reminded of the grit and strength of my ancestors and that hopefully some of that has passed on to me.

The Hackett castle

Parker’s family hales from Ireland and I wanted some part of his Irish heritage included in our ancestry wall. As I was talking with him about this he showed me a picture of Hackett castle in Ireland and I knew that was the perfect thing to include from Ireland. It is covered in beautiful green ivy and again, reminds us of the people that have come before us.

You can include other heirlooms on the wall, not just photos

I balanced all of the photos on the wall by including a banner that is screen printed with a special message from Parker’s dad Rory. Rory signed every letter that he sent to Parker while he was on his mission with this phrase. It is special to us and another part of our family. I hope to add more special heirlooms like this in the future.

Teach the younger generation about your family

Our new ancestry wall is a great teaching tool when it comes to Lila learning about her family. She loves looking at the photos and learning who these people are and how they are a vital party of our family story. I am grateful that I will be able to continuously add to the wall over the years and continue to learn stories about those who have come before me.

Your ancestors are watching out for you

I truly believe that we are surrounded by angels here on earth. And what other angels would be more concerned for you and your family’s well-being than your own ancestors? I think we can find strength and courage from our ancestors and their stories on a daily basis. I am blown away by the hardships and trials that they pushed through in their lives. I am also so grateful for the relationships that I had with many of them here on earth and I want to remember them on a regular basis.