Countries of Origin I

All families in the United States have immigrated somewhere in their line, even Native American tribes.  That's the beauty of hearing a new person's name, and trying to figure out where their family lived, and if the spelling, pronunciation, or actual name was changed when entering the country.  I love languages, and have also found that asking how to spell a person's name helps me remember what it is.  Also thinking of a song with his or her name, and humming it every time you think of the person.  This documentation process takes a long time when the ancestors immigrated 400 years and 10 generations ago, so I'll break it into several parts, according to my great-grandparents.  I'm sure my ancestors moved eons ago all over the world, but this is how I ended up in the United States of America, Part I:

Dad's Dad's Mom's side, or paternal ancestral immigrants of Calvin Muir Hooper (through Morise LeRoy Hooper and John Marshall Sharp(e)*:

Going back on new.familysearch.org, I'm looking for the transition from a birth in Europe (I haven't found any ancestors outside of Europe yet), and a death in the United States.

Whoa, the direct Hooper line ends in 1861 New Jersey.  Down to the female side of that line...

The first winner!

1. Richard Skinner, born 1639 on the Isle of Jersey, England.  Died in 1682 Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey (not surprisingly).  His wife, 2. Susana Poulain, born St. Germain-en-la, Seine-et-Ois, France.  She also died in Woodbridge, after 1714.  My dad's eighth-great grandparents, my ninth great-grandparents.  She immigrated with her parents, 3. Louis Paulain and 4. Maruereitte Daniel, who were born in Heillecourt, Meurthe-Et-Moselle, France around 1610.  Her father died before 1690 in Turkeyfoot, Bedford, Pennsylvania, and her mother's place of death, around 1647, is unknown.

5. Francis Moore, born 2 September (special for someone I know) 1592 in Maldon, Essex, England, died 20 August 1671 in Newberry, Essex, Massachusetts.  His wife, 6. Catherine Montfort born 28 October 1586 St. George Colegate, Norwich, Norfolk, England, died December 1648 Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts.  Was she really six years older, or were the dates off?  Huh.  They are the Skinner's son's grandparents-in-law, so Dad's ninth-great grandparents, my tenth-great grandparents.

The Moore's son's in-law, 7. William Savory, born about 1600 in Hannington Parish, Wiltshire, England.  Death unknown, but his wife 8. Susannah Coleman was born about 1604 in Hannington Parish, Wiltshire, England, and died in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, about 1670.  Wm could have passed away before she travelled to the new world around the time of the Mayflower, but it's likely they went together.  It also lists her being married to a Robert Savory, so that could either be the same person or his brother.

Plymouth, Massachusetts

9. Philip King(e), born 2 October 1709 in Devonshire, England (Christened in Saint Petrox, Dartmouth, Devonshire, England), died 1783 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  That would've been an interesting period of time in Phily.  Ooh, his wife, 10. Catharina Ann Voltz, birthplace in 1710 is listed as (at sea), of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, U.S.  Her parents aren't listed.

This is where it gets complicated.  Philip King has another spouse listed, 11. Anna Brooke or Ann Brook.  I may not be blood-related, but she's possibly part of my family.  Oh wait, I'm not blood related to any of these people until farther down the list.  (*See note at bottom of post)  Anna Brooke's great-grandfather, 12. John Brooke, born either 1608 or 1638 in Yorkshire, England, died 1699 in Haddonfield, Gloucester, New Jersey.  His wife, 13. Frances Cockshaw, born about 1638 in Yorkshire, England, also died in 1699 Haddonfield, Gloucester, New Jersey.

Anna Brooke's grandfather on her other side, 14. John Kendall, born 1687 in Derbyshire, England, died March 1744 in Philadelphia, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.  His wife, Mary, was born in Pennsylvania, and her parents are not listed.

15. Richard Higgins was christened 1 December 1613 in Leominster, Hertford, England and died before 1665 in Pistcataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey.  Immigration information:  It notes he went to New England in 1632 and settled in Plymouth!  On http://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm, three ships are listed as leaving from London, England in 1632.  The Lyon on its third and fourth voyages, and the William and Francis.  Headway for further information!

Richard Higgins' wife, Lydia Chandler, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Her grandfather, 16. John Alden, was born in 1599 Southampton, Hampshire, England and died 22 September 1687 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  His wife 17. Priscilla Mullins, born about 1601 in Dorking, Surrey, England (lovely), died 5 February 1688 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Going back down a few generations, and up on another branch, 18. John Rush II, born in 1660 Horton, Oxfordshire, England died 17 March 1732 (St. Patrick's Day-way before we invented it) in Makefield, Bucks, Pennsylvania.  He's my eight-great-grandfather.  His parents also emigrated.  19. John Rush (I), born 1619 Horton, Oxfordshire, England, and 20. Susannah Lucas, born 19 January in Guilsborough, Northampton, England, died in Byberry Philadelphia, Pennsylvania May 1699 and 5 July 1707.


John Rush II's wife's parents, 21. William Carver, born 1660, and 22. Joan Kinsey, born 1665, immigrated from Hertford, England to Byberry/Bibery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  They passed away in 1736 and 1692.

John Rush III's in-laws 23. Johannes Jacob Rappoldt, born 1712 in Languedoc, France, and 24. Louisa, immigrated to Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  They died 28 August 1760 and before 1755.

Germantown 1683-1820 (wikipedia)

Those are the immigrant ancestors I can find through Morise LeRoy at this point.  Now for biological immigrant paternal ancestors of Calvin Muir Hooper:

Canadian Pacific Railway passenger car, 1900

Grandpa Hooper's biological father, 25. John Marshall Sharp(e), born  14 September 1890, Haldimand Township, Burnley, Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada applied to visit someone in 1915 Detroit.  In 1923 he worked as a cheesemaker in Beaver, Beaver, Utah.  At this time his place of death is unknown.  His parents, Joseph Marshall Sharpe and Ellen Nora (Lenora) Fernia Sharp lived in Ontario.  Joseph Sharp's father, 26. Godfrey Sharpe  was born in Ireland, 1826.  www.treesbydan.com

I'm very proud of my adventurous, probably terrified, ancestors who came to the United States so early in the European migration to the New World.  I actually had no idea any of my ancestors were French, just English, Scottish, and Irish.  I've already learned quite a bit, and gotten more ideas about whom to research.  Picking up an moving to a new country would be so intimidating, especially if you don't already have relatives there with a job and lodgings for you, and if you're bringing a family.  Thank you.


*Note, due to my Grandpa Hooper having a biological father he never knew, and being raised and religiously sealed to his mom's second husband, Morise LeRoy Hooper, I am not blood related to 1-24.  Family history is a sloppy mess sometimes.  To Grandpa, he was a Hooper, and Morise was his dad, so I'm sure some of this qualities were passed down, even if they weren't genetic.

Storm Chasers

Zak and I got a mattress set a little while ago, but we didn’t have a bedframe.  I decided the time had come to find one.  Walmart* only had bunk beds, the thrift store’s new frames were $59.00, so I turned to ksl.com.  One queen steel bed frame was listed at $10, so I waited a few hours until I could tactfully call and snagged it.  Zak and I drove across the mountains to the small town of Plymouth to get it.  On the way an official National Weather Service storm warning interrupted the radio.  Just after we packed the frame into our 4Runner “Beefy,” the hail pelted on us.  Storm Chasers!  I’ve obviously watched “Twister” too many times.  Driving through the green patchwork fields and mountains, with thunder and lightning booming and blasting around us, was so beautiful.  Colors are so saturated and details so crisp in the springtime, especially with new contacts.  In Ohio and Kentucky, I worried a little more about storm warnings, because they get real tornadoes, and we have protective mountains in Utah.  Although, as I've been repeating the warning from my 5th grade teacher who explained that Utah was way over for a major earthquake, which would happen within 50 years, we now have only 39 years of the countdown, so watch your back.

I completed the sixth and final computer literacy test, attended and wrote a feelings paper about “Fiddler on the Roof,” and nearly completed my textiles project.  Boy is it hard to sit in a elegant theatre balcony and hold silently still while the actors belt out “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.”  For the project I had to create a family situation and choose a location and proper textiles for window treatments, bedding, upholstery, and carpeting.  I played around on behr.com and CS5’s photoshop, but sometimes I get way too impatient when selecting shapes.  I need to finish writing up the details of the project, attend about four more class periods, and do one in-class assignment, and I will graduate with my bachelor’s degree!

My uncle Scott, who has the strongest arms of anyone I know, was in a Special Needs church sponsored play.  He played the glow-in-the-dark starfish this year.  My cousin’s son is at the age where he knows what’s going on now, so he tries to participate.  He cheered, clapped, and shouted for those amazing people the whole time.  Our other cousin recently married a beautiful woman, who is actually related to one of my school friends, so now we're kind of related.  Welcome to the family, Meira.

Decisions on the Mountain

Last night we participated in a neighborhood and church activity called, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"  We've only lived in the area about six months, and don't know many of the adults, because we teach the 18 month-3 year old kids during part of church.  We offered to host a couple, and they found out where they were going right before coming here.  I was told beforehand they had a visitor for the week, so I borrowed a longer table from Mom and an extra chair.  Zak helped me make a new recipe, Tomato Orange Terragon Soup, after we both got home from work.  The Tolmans and mother-in-law arrived before dinner was ready, so my hero kept working on the food while I hosted in the living room.  They had  nine kids!  Their mother had 14!  How did they do that?  They told us about a daughter in the middle born with hydroencephalitis, who no one expected to live through the night.  Every day, the doctors told them she wouldn't last much longer.  She was a joy in their home for almost 11 years.  There are so many amazing people around, that I just haven't met.

The food was quite filling (and healthy), and the Tolmans left us with some great information about summer community events in the summer.  Afterward all participants gathered at the church building for Fatboy seconds (one-sided) and games.  Zak and I don't have much strategy yet with the game "It Came to Pass," but we had a great time with our neighbors.  Beware of pride and desolation!

Off-roading near Bear Lake last summer

Zak knows off-roading season starts soon, so we got just a taste of it as we drove around in the dark, taking  some much needed time to just talk.  We adventured as far as we could, to the mouth of the canyon.  The darkness of the steep Wellsville mountains across the valley highlighted the glowing beams of lights from the houses in the valley.  We discussed our options for the future, and decided it would help our family to establish itself a little where we are:  pay off some of our school and car debt, give Husband some time to build up his web portfolio, and save up some money.  There hasn't been much time to just talk, with Husband's overtime, my evening shifts,  and other activities.  We both feel good about staying for another year.  There are plenty of off-roading trails in the area...

Houses and Homes

Apartment

My parents had been married just a few years before I was born, so my first home was in a four-plex apartment building, upstairs.  It featured two bedrooms and Mom’s favorite view of the tropical foliage.

Double Wide

With an expanding family, my parents bought a double-wide trailer, where we lived when my younger sister was born.  I tease my Mom sometimes by crowning her with the song, “She’s the queen of my double-wide trailer with the polyester curtains and a redwood deck.”  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iICDCj-qOEU).  She mentions, “Well, I don’t think we had a redwood deck, but that’s pretty close.”  Our cousins made the long trek to visit us, and everyone bought souvenir shirts.

Nicole on the porch of the double-wide

The Yellow House

In 1989 my parents moved us closer to the grandparents, and built a four-level split we know as The Yellow House.  We stayed with the grandparents, which they probably regretted, while my parents had a house built.  Aaron was nearly born at the yellow house, because Mom was trying to wait until Dad got home from a Jazz game she’d told him to go see, but she ended up going to the hospital with Grandma J.  We only got our heads stuck between the kitchen railings a few times in the four-level split, although I do remember getting my foot stuck in a couch, from which Dad had a hard time physically and emotionally removing it.  He doesn't like to cause more pain.  (This goes for pushing earrings through your ear when they start to close over, too.)  He got a little embarrassed about an incorrectly patched leak, when he recently came across the man who bought the house, through his work.  Mom and our aunts would take us to the free school lunch program during the summer, and always lit up when Great Aunt Dixie, the best lunchlady ever, would come to our table.  We had the only yellow house on the block, and then a couple of years before we moved, someone built a light yellow one next door.  We pulled into the wrong driveway so many times.

Apartment
Dad eventually got his “dream job," and commuted an hour each way until we moved into an apartment and started looking for another house.  He wanted to build, so we stayed in the apartment for about eight months.  Ammon was born shortly after we moved to the apartment, the day before we started at our new schools.  Dad was so impressed with the central air over the old swamp cooler and maintenance, that central air wound up in our new house.  We kids were excited to have cable (the Disney channel!) for the first time.

Nicole riding in front of the apartment building

Winifred

Grandma and Grandpa J had given us a full-size stand up piano, a hand-me-down from when Grandma was a kid.  Getting it into the new house was barely possible with the ten or so people helping.  Dad vowed to never move it again.  He installed by hand Pergo wood laminate flooring in the great room, which became His floor for many years, which the piano had affected.  We were all pretty spoiled at the new house, with enough rooms for all of us (although some were unfinished basement rooms).

Winifred

After living in our new house for a few years, I decided that it needed a Gone With the Wind or Pride and Prejudice type name.  I told the family the house would be named Winifred until someone could come up with a better name.  I guess no one else felt the need to ponder further, so it stuck.  Mom plants wildflowers in the garden, and she, Dad, and Ammon have spent many family nights working hard in the yard removing rocks and terracing the backyard.  Hence, Dad's "love" of rocks.  The driveway is pretty steep, contributing to quite a few dents and scratches in cars, but that's what happens when you build a house on the side of a mountain, and have lots of drivers and cars.  During winter months, no one can park on the road overnight, so there's a lot of maneuvering in the garage, driveway, and side cement slab.  My first dating experiences started and ended at this house, so the porch has some wonderfully awkward and awkwardly wonderful experiences associated.  After Grandma and Grandpa Hooper had both passed away and their house sold, Dad built a small observatory in the backyard for his telescope, with an automated roll-away roof.  When an appraiser came to our house, he classified it as "a very expensive shed."

Dorms
During the summer of 2006, when they hosted the World Cup, I studied in Freiburg, Germany at the Goethe Institut.  Like Mom, I loved to gaze out the window, and saw the woman on a hammok, and the family eating on their corner porch.  I shared the room and bathroom with a girl, but she and her boyfriend spent most of their time together, so it was kind of like my own room.  It came with desks, some shelves for food, and a minifridge for each of us.

Mission Apartments
I served a full-time religious mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Ohio Cincinnati Mission, which has since been dissolved.  I spent three months in Ashland, Kentucky in a very nice three story apartment (the bottom level was the garage).  The next six months were in a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, Ohio, until I went to Montgomery, Ohio.  Montgomery is a township of Cincinnati, where three freeways overlap, so this is the only time I actually lived in Cincinnati.

Ashland         Hamilton

  Fairfield              Montgomery

My last area was Fairfield, Ohio, which is sandwiched between Hamilton and Montgomery.  In an Urban Sociology class I found out that the middle section of the Fairfield area, Greenhills, with its winding streets and alphabetized names in sections, was actually designed by the government during the Great Depression.  It’s one of three “Greenbelt Communities,” meant to have a belt of woodland and natural landscaping.  We talked to some fascinating people in the C-section. See 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhills,_Ohio

B-L Sections of Greenhills, Ohio

The Cottage

I moved out just for the summer of 2010 into a dream apartment.  It’s just across the street from the Logan LDS Temple, and it started at $150 a month plus $30 utilities. My friend, Alina, was in charge of collecting rent and getting roommates, so I was very happy, with the light, open four-person apartment.  I had my own room and no school.  I didn't get a car after donating my last one to the Lung Association, so I appreciated the short 4-block distance from the grocery store and bus station.  Conveniently, Zak had just moved into an apartment three blocks away, so we walked at 6:15 every weekday morning, as he was able to work at 8:00 during the summer.  Alina had a projector, so sometimes we’d watch movies on the covered back deck, sitting on couches.  A few times Zak had to tap on my window because I didn’t wake up for our walks or I didn’t hear him knock on the front door.  We fit Taylor Swift’s “Our Song” fairly closely.  Zak proposed before the county fireworks, at the beginning of July, and then I moved back to Winifred when school started, engaged.

Harriet

We searched for a married couple apartment available through ksl.com, and found the delightful two-bedroom apartment with a large open living room and bright kitchen.  We call her Harriet, and Husband and I have very much enjoyed having her as our first home together. 

 

Our happy home, Harriet

I'm sure many people have moved more often than I have, but going over everything, it seems like a lot.  Thanks, Mom and Dad for always providing a roof over our heads, and for Zak, who helps me create a home.  Our contract ends this August.  Move or stay?

Shoe Carnival

I am a carny.  For the past two years I've worked at Shoe Carnival, and my closet shows it.  It's hard for me to resist a great pair of clearance shoes when I get an additional discount.  Do I really need this pair?

Trying on the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" kids' Nikes

 Like any job, some days are hectic and stressful, but other days are very rewarding.  I have great co-workers, although the turnover rate has been a little high, and I love helping a customer find exactly what they need and want, especially if we're running a special deal.  Making announcements over the microphone allows me to be a little dramatic at times.

Yesterday I added security tags to our men's Converse shoes for a couple of hours, and then helped a young man who wanted to get my opinion on whether or not his wife might like some of our clearance dress shoes.  With a size 14, he has a hard time finding shoes in his size in stock, so he just raved about us having larger sizes.  I guess he does have a shoe fetish, because in addition to the two pairs he bought, he ordered two more to be fed-exed before he leaves Saturday to sell security systems.  You can tell he has experience with people, because he made everyone in the store feel good.  A few people I know came into the store, and several people signed up for our points program (not a credit card).  We have a daily goal, and weren't sure if we'd make it, because we'd been close but kind of slow all day.  The last hour we were open everybody came up, and got lots of shoes, so we made our goal!   

Days like this make me realize how important positive interactions can be between people, even when they're strangers.  There's such a wonderful feeling that comes when talking to people, showing a real interest, and receiving it in return.  We need people.  Also, I love Husband. 

Family Quotes

Among my parents and siblings we have some memorable quotes.  Most stem from Dad or one of my brothers.  Here are some favorites:

Dad:  Have I ever told you how much I hate rocks? 

Dad:  Pineapple juice saved my life.  I was 15 at Disneyland, and dehydrated, and then I saw the the pineapple hut next to the Tiki Room.  Pineapple juice saved my life.

Revisiting the hut that saved his life

Cassie:  Why don't you do something useful?  Go cure cancer!

Dad:  Have I ever told you how much I hate rocks?

Ammon:  In case of an emergency, the trebuchet is the only food storage we need.

Dad:  Howdy.

Mom:  mmBye

Dad:  Have I ever told you how much I hate rocks?

Dad:  The wise man may have built his house upon a rock, but he never tried to install a sprinkling system.

Elise has also collected some gems since I got married and moved.

Ammon:  Root beer is for lesser beings!

‎                 The Elbow Touch-- it's where the Magic happens.

                 Have you ever licked a pine cone? . . . It will change your life, I swear!

Dad and his huge Binos

Our plant is still alive.  It likes steamy showers.  

My only final (a week after everything else this semester is finished) turns out to be a take-home textile assignment in which I design a room with textiles using the proper terminology and fibers.  What kind of theme should I use?  

Zak and I have big decisions ahead about jobs, school, our business, and where to live.  Should he work part time at his current job, and do freelance the other portion?  Should he find a new job at the end of the summer, even if we have to move and he takes online classes?  What about moving after he graduates, and finding a job later?  Should we renew our one-year rental contract?  I'm just grateful that Zak does work so hard, and we have many opportunities.

Enjoyable Errands

For the first time when the Valpak coupon mail came, I actually went through it and found coupons to use. For the first time in a very long while we went non-grocery food shopping.  I replaced my favorite undershirt, which had holes all along the sleeve hemline, and we got a free 2" polka dot plant.  I'm thinking she will be called Dottie.  Now if we can keep her alive for a year, maybe we'll be ready for a pet.

Zak and I are doing a Design Thinking study abroad program to Switzerland in June.  Because it would be so helpful for our freelance company and for the trip, we've decided to buy the new iPad 2.  Zak is falling in love all over again.  I think he's watched the iPad intro video at least ten times.

Our morning alarm system is that my blaring alarm sound first, and then we wake up and have time to cuddle and talk for a few more minutes until Husband's very quiet alarm sounds.  This morning we fell back asleep and didn't wake up to his alarm, so Husband got a tardy.  Yes, it does feel like high school again.

My quarter-century birthday was last week, so tonight we're going to one of two Indian restaurants in the area.  Until then I need to take an online test on dyeing and printing for my Textile Science class, and work an a creative project for Art Symposium.  My sister, Cassie has been doing theatre makeup for a class lately, and is letting me enhance and use some of her pictures for the project:

She's quite talented.  Look at those luscious lips!

Chesley Brent Johnson

Last night when Zak and I were about to fall asleep, Zak remembered that he still needed to go to the Church building he had volunteered to make sure was locked.  Already we were down to five and a half hours of sleep ahead, so it was a challenge, but Zak knew what he needed to do and got up to do it.  I'm very proud of him.  

My mom's dad, C. Brent Johnson, was also a very responsible man who wouldn't ever say much, he'd just do.  My dad added on to the driveway and added a shed-sized telescope observatory in my parents' backyard.  Grandpa J volunteered to help on both projects, so as a man in his sixties, he worked in the summer sun with Dad until the concrete was complete.  He was also pretty thrifty.  He used an old bicycle for added structural strength in some concrete he put in his own yard.  My mom realized also that he had a hard time parting with stuff that he could use in the future.

I've asked my Grandma Margaret Johnson about their first date, and she said, "It was the rodeo, of course."  Grandpa competed as a bareback rider among other things in the rodeo as a young adult.

C. Brent Johnson in the good old rodeo arena

Work

He also knew he needed to do well at work to take care of his growing family.  Grandpa was painfully shy and quiet around those he didn't know.  Grandma shared that they drove a girl home from an activity one day, and told Grandma later she was sorry she'd made Grandpa so upset, as he was so quiet.  That's just how was was.  At Hill Air Force Base he had to go out of his way to talk to people, even reading self-help books about how to succeed in business.  His job was one of those, I'd-tell-you-but-then-I'd-have-to-kill-you types of jobs, taking him to Saudi Arabia and other parts of the globe.  Apparently he helped with the camera systems in military airplanes, which could see details of people on the ground.

Brent and Margaret Johnson

Brenda and Alice 

1962

Family

On October 11, 1956, Brent married Margaret.  She teased him about the fact that in 1956, she as an 18-year-old woman was allowed to marry without her parents' written consent, but that he as a 20-year-old male still needed his parent's consent (until 21 years old).  They had four girls and two boys:  Brenda, Alice, Ronda, Scott, Larry, and Vicki.  Scott has Cerebral Palsy, and Grandpa would do just about anything for him.  Alice joked that if anybody else needed to use the bathroom on a car trip, they were told to hold it until the next stop.  If they told Scott to tell Grandpa, he would pull over immediately.  The family went camping often in some of Brent's favorite spots.

Brenda, Margaret, Brent, Scott, Alice

Larry, Vicki, and Ronda Johnson

Around 1977

He loved to wander in the yard with the dog, Jasper, even during family get-togethers.  He read quite a bit, especially western romances in his few retired years.  He would always call his grandkids his favorites and want to hold them.After not seeing a doctor for decades, Grandpa had a massive heart attack at the age of 67, passing away in Clinton, Utah on 11 May 2003 (Mother's Day).  I think we have a holiday death curse (Christmas, Father's Day, etc).

Grandpa J holding me (Nicole)

1986

Compared to that picture of him holding the cow, I look pretty small.  My Dad gave Grandpa's eulogy, as a collection of stories.  I'll try and find those.  Before he passed away, I didn't know that much about Grandpa because he was so quiet, but I knew I could always depend on him and get a big hug.

C. Brent Johnson 

5 February 1936-11 May 2003

Weekend Sketches

I've never done much artwork, but Husband is a graphic designer and illustrator, thus he is always sketching, and has encouraged me to do so, also.  I know they're not lifelike, but these are some of the sketches I made this past weekend.

Zak's wonderful Mother, Teri

Aging Beagle, Hummer V. Porter (Zak's parents' dog)

One of Zak's favorite spots is the lying next the couch on the carpet.

Beginning

Zak, or Husband as I like to call him, works normally at 6:00 A.M. as a creative illustrator/graphic designer.  Starting last Thursday he's been doing mandatory overtime at the yearbook company during the busy season.  We're both going to school, so he gets his overtime by going to work an hour early at this point.  To spend more time with him, my alarm goes off a few minutes before his, and we eat breakfast together.  Some mornings I fall back asleep before class, but others I wake up and get started with projects after he leaves. I'll be graduating next month (May 2011) with a Bachelor's Degree in International Studies.

I'm not sure if I should write a long post, or a few short ones.  Which do people prefer?

My full name is Nicole Alice Hooper Porter.  I'm the first from my family of five kids to marry, so I set a precedent, and kept my maiden name as a middle, not as a hyphenated name, which would have been the bane of Dad's and Zak's existence I am sure.  The family history site I use most, as I don't have ancestry.com, is new.familysearch.org.  Family members on both sides of the family have already done research many generations back to England, Scotland, and Ireland (yes, Dad, Ireland), but I am only now discovering these historical family members and their stories, and searching for those yet unknown.

Some highlights I hope to share are Susannah North Martin, hung as part of the Salem Witch Trials; the family "scandal" of a mysterious biological great-grandfather John Marshall Sharp; and Henry O'Neill, who left Ireland, married and had children in Canada, and was buried in Colorado.