Happy Anniversary, Small-leaved Shamrock!

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my series of family history blogs.

Small-leaved Shamrock, 100 Years in America and A light that shines again are one year old!

I had known that it was coming, but yesterday in the midst of busy daily activities, it slipped my mind that the one-year mark had arrived. Somehow my inattention to the date seems very appropriate. One of the joys of writing and publishing via blog is just how beautifully that it has allowed me to fit in writing on subjects that I enjoy within the confines of a busy life. Daily life continues to keep up its busy pace around me, yet ideas flow and when I find a quiet moment, I make a short visit to the computer to log my thoughts and to eventually share them with readers like you.

The year has flown, yet somehow I can't imagine life now now without sharing a part of my world and my family history with family, friends and other readers via blog. It has been a tremendously rewarding experience to have this avenue to share information and stories that I have been collecting for many years, and at the same time to find that in the sharing I am inspired to learn more.

In celebration of this one year anniversary of my entry into the world of the weblog, I've done a little counting. Here's the tally thus far:

Small-leaved Shamrock - 116 posts
100 Years in America - 112 posts
A light that shines again - 77 posts

Grand total - 305 posts for my first year of blogging!

This number does not include mention of innumerable drafts that I have started and not quite finished yet. Nor does it really mean too much in the way of importance. What is significant to me is that I've written about things that are meaningful and interesting to me in the realm of my personal family history. I hope that you'll agree and that you've enjoyed sharing a little bit in the story of my family and my Irish, Hungarian and Croatian heritage. If so, please continue the journey along with me as reader as I begin my second year publishing via the web.

Below are a couple dozen highlights from Small-leaved Shamrock over the past year. If you're just being introduced to Small-leaved Shamrock, these are some of my favorite posts and might be good starting places for you to begin reading. If you joined me fairly recently, you might enjoy going back to read some of the oldies but goodies.

• Three's a crowd
  
• Riding the rails
  
• An old soldier
  
• A "working" mother in the truest sense of the word
  
• Victorious!
  
• "Noisy, dirty, bouncy & subject to temperature extremes
• Three-generation-old questions about a coal miner's life
  
• A look back at Schuylkill County: 1908


• Crossing the Potomac with William: a soldier's story


• A limerick for the love of Ireland


• A poem for Patrick


• Fifteen and off to America


• Ready for battle: history for kids


• Irish women in America: our grandmothers' stories


• On leprechauns and other little people


• Your St. Patrick's Day to-do list


• The Celtic blessing: food for the soul


• "Then resumed the chaos louder than ever..."


• "Along the iron veins..."


• The 1892 Pottsville train explosion: How & why?


• To be born Irish

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture, which was born here at Small-leaved Shamrock. Thus far the carnival has seen five editions. The sixth will be published here next week on June 9.

Topics have covered "all things Irish". The carnivals have been a wonderful collection of various writers from an interesting assortment of blogs sharing their stories and feelings about Ireland and the Irish. Following is a summary of the various editions of the carnival so far:

• 1st edition: Everyone loves a good Irish story - Stories of Ireland and the Irish


• 2nd edition: They say there's a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow... - A focus on Irish family history research


• 3rd edition: Off to Ireland! - Irish places


• 4th edition: A St. Patrick's Day parade of posts! - An assortment of posts on all things Irish in celebration of St. Patrick's Day 2008


• 5th edition: A little Irish language, a bit of Blarney... - A tribute to the Irish language

Thanks to all of you who have been contributing writers to the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture thus far. I look forward to more good reading material from you in the year to come!

Speaking of carnivals, the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories edited by Thomas MacEntee inspired me last December to write my largest number of articles in any one month. Prompted by various holiday themes, I wrote ten articles on Irish traditions of the Christmas season here at Small-leaved Shamrock (not including a number at my other two blogs), for a grand total of 19 posts that month on this blog. (No wonder I never finished my Christmas cards last year!)

Inspired to celebrate some Irish traditions yourself and to dig further into your own Irish family history? You might enjoy reading a couple of my contributions to our 2nd carnival edition on Irish research:

• Getting to the roots of your Irish family tree: Part 1


• Getting to the roots of your Irish family tree: Part 2

If you make any exciting discoveries, please share them with me. I always love to hear about long-lost family history that has been newly rediscovered and can then be passed on down through the generations. Who knows? Maybe you'll be inspired to start writing your own family history blog!

Once again as I celebrate my one year blogging anniversary, I send a special thank-you to you, my readers, and particularly to those of you that have taken the time to send comments or emails. Thanks for reading and I look forward to continuing this journey with you for another year.

For more highlights from the world of Lisa's blogs, you might enjoy reading Happy Anniversary, 100 Years in America! and Happy Anniversary, A light that shines again!