A Year in Review: 2012

Since I wrote about my 2013 New Year Resolutions I decided to review 2012 and all of the genealogical achievements, discoveries and even unanswered questions that came with that year. That way I'll have a summed up version of all the posts of that year and can aspire to learn even more about myself, my family and their journey from all parts of the world to make me who I am today.

2012

April

• Talked about the cousin I was able to meet through my blog. 
• The release of the 1940 Census!!
• Discussed the Y-DNA results I got from GeneTree.
• Got to see for the first time the 1940 Census after its release and found some ancestors.
• Posted about being able to visit the grave of my great grandparents (Alejandro Rivera González and Mercedes Ortiz Marrero) as well as some great-aunts. 
• Talked about some potential slave owning ancestors in my family- Juan de Dios Marrero and his wife Rosa de Rivera from Corozal, Puerto Rico).
• Delved into the topic of race and its perception after receiving my grandfather's 23andme results. 

May

• Discussed the 'evolution' the surnames Gustave and Lotten went through in Puerto Rico. 
• Posted various times about the Finding Your Roots series and its guests. 
• Began my first series of "An Ancestor's Story Through Records". 

August

• Discussed the possibility of "Manolo Correa Rivera" being my great grandfather Manuel Correa Rivera in the 1940 Census. 
• Talked about 23andme's new ability to break down cousins by maternal and paternal sides. 
• Did some research on the surname Masantini and its potential connection to Tuscany, Italy. 

September

• Analyzed my results from DNA Tribes. 
• Categorized and discussed the Antonetti family slaves from Salinas, Puerto Rico. 
• Posted the second part of my "An Ancestor's Story Through Records" series. 
• Talked about my chat via telephone with one of my great uncles. 

October

• Looked at AncestryDNA through the lens of a Puerto Rican. 

November

• Discovered a sister to my Gustave Lotten ancestor who was born in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico- would lead to many new discoveries!
• Probably the best moment in my genealogical year-- discovered documents for a Julienne Malvina Lautin, Eglantine Lautin and Pauline Lautin in Martinique which pretty much coincide with Julianna Balbina Lotten ancestor in Puerto Rico. Learned a lot about Martinique, those ancestors, and what those documents helped show. 
• Discussed my future plans about learning more about Martinique and my ancestors. 

December

• Talked about another Gustave Lotten ancestor I was able to find except this time I was able to find a picture of him, his wife and children due to their applications for a passport being ancestry.com. Couldn't believe my luck and considered myself lucky many-a-times. 
• Analyzed my Ancestry Composition results through the lens of a Puerto Rican. 
• Discussed my previously unknown connection to the Ashkenazi Jewish population. 
• Explored my slave roots in Martinique a bit more and how I was able to find Julienne Malvina's birth record. 
• Explored my slave roots some more but this time focused on the family which owned the Lautin women in Martinique. 
• Talked a bit about the topic of genetic memory and its correlation to my Martiniquan ancestors. 
• Lastly, discussed the book Texaco and what I learned from novel. 

In total, I posted 30 times last year which I think is pretty high! Its nice going back and seeing what I felt while discovering those documents and the process I underwent to find what I was looking for. I'm excited for this year to start rolling and for me to start my discoveries!!