CHALLENGES!– 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge –and the Zero to Hero Challenge!

January 14, 2014 by Helen Holshouser 2 Comments

 

 

I never knew I was a person who responded to challenges so strongly! LOL I’m trying to remember if, when I was a child, one of my friends would say “I betcha won’t do this Helen!” –well, would I, did I? If my memory serves me well, I have to admit that I did dare very easily, and now I haven’t changed much apparently!

I joined two challenges just a week ago to improve my blog and my understanding of the word press community.  The Zero to Hero Challenge gives us a daily assignment that varies between tasks like putting new widgets in our blogs, to reading and commenting on other blogs! That brings me to today’s blog post, one I hope will satisfy my Zero to Hero Challenge. We were assigned yesterday, on “DAY 11: BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR — LEAVE COMMENTS ON THREE NEW BLOGS

The best thing you can do to connect with others and build a community around your site is to, well, engage. You’ve already been following topics and blogs, and chatting with other Zero to Hero participants — let’s take that up a notch.

Today’s assignment: leave comments on at least three blogs that you’ve never commented on before.”

 

  In completing that assignment, I discovered a blog written by Amy Johnson Crow on genealogy. Amy was issuing another  challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks  in her blog, “No Story Too Small”.  http://www.nostorytoosmall.com/posts/52-ancestors-challenge-week-1-recap/

The title of her blog resonated with my desire to tell the stories of the ancestors, cousins, and descendants in my own family tree! I love the family tree work I have done, but even more, I love the stories! I love feeling like I am getting to know my family! Joining her challenge encourages me to do what I love. Not only will I be blogging more consistently this year, I hope, but look at all the kindred spirits I have the opportunity to get to know—a whole new community! Thank you for thinking of this challenge Amy Johnson Crow, and thank you for administering it! The huge response you got shows how hungry we all are to connect with our families, our history and each other I believe! I am very excited to participate!

Now, while all of the above is true, I want you to know, that it also fulfills the challenge assigned us for Day 12 of our “Zero to Hero Challenge”! The assignment read “DAY 12: FROM COMMENT TO BLOG POST — BE INSPIRED BY THE COMMUNITY

Yesterday, you left comments on three different blogs. (Or more, if you found more great posts that made you think or pushed you to respond, you overacheiver, you.) Lots of you shared the blogs you found in posts or in yesterday’s forum thread. We also advised you to remember where you left your comments — you’ll need one of those comments today.:

Today’s assignment: write a post that builds on one of the comments you left yesterday. Don’t forget to link to the other blog!”

 So this assignment I did for today, but more importantly I did for the year–I joined her challenge to write about  52 ancestors in 52 weeks and I am so excited! But thinking back about how challenges have always played a part in my life..I couldn’t help but think about my very first friend on this earth–and oh, how he challenged me!

I remember that, even though I lived in a rural area just outside of Richmond, Virginia as a child– my best friend, a boy, exactly my age, lived right next door.

Davis and I were best friends and mortal enemies depending on the day. We spent somewhat of an idyllic childhood playing Roy Rogers and Dale Evans together. We both had older siblings in school, but with no kindergarten, we had each other at home until we were six! Davis always challenged me! And I always let myself be dared! Both our Dad’s smoked back then– in the fifties! One of the challenges Davis used to throw at me was to eat the ends off of burnt matches lying in the ashtrays liberally scattered throughout our houses in those days! And I did it! And while his Mom taught piano lessons in the other room, we raided their refrigerator and pantry and dared each other to eat the vilest things: like pickles and peanut butter, LOL, sardines and grape jelly! What must his mother have thought of the debris! She probably thought I was a terrible influence on her son…little did she know! After we’d gorged ourselves on disgusting stuff, we would strap on our cap guns and run down to hold up the school bus and demand that the driver let our big brother and sister off the bus! LOL Today we’d be in jail as terrorists, or reform school—we were five years old! Free as birds! Today that boy is a superior court judge! I was a psychologist…we turned out okay.

Now that’s a story for my own descendants—I hope it is not the only one they will hear, LOL, but I want them to know as many in the family as I know, so writing these blog posts about ancestors and family members will be so much fun!

Hope you have a great day and come back to talk with me!  Helen