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Category: Family History

As the Family Historian, I have been tasked with learning as much about our family history as possible and documenting it all for future generations. Topics include genetic genealogy, research, documentation, oral history, and how to include yourself in your family tree and stories.

For a couple of years, I wrote a niche family history blog called Bold+Queer, in honor of my maternal 2x great grandma, Hannah. In the interest of simplicity, I’ve integrated some of the posts here and am archiving that site and all future family history posts will be written here.

Melissa by The Allman Brothers Band

Posted on January 21, 2025April 16, 2026 by Melissa

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc. As the story goes, I was, in fact, named for the 1972 Allman Brothers song, Melissa. Not for a family member or a best friend, but for a love song. I guess there are worse things 😉 Melissa name meaning from Ancestry.com: The name Melissa…

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Category: Family History

Chatting Nostalgia on The Rewind Podcast

Posted on January 19, 2025April 15, 2026 by Melissa

Late last year I was invited to be a guest on The Rewind Podcast with Kriti and Sara, two Millenial friends from Instagram who wanted to chat with this Gen-Xer. I accepted, we recorded, and it is now live! If you are curious about who I am as a human, farmer, family historian, creative journaler,…

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Category: Family History

Journaling in Family History

Posted on January 10, 2024November 7, 2025 by Melissa

This post was originally published to my old family history blog, boldandqueer(dot)com. Since no longer publishing on that site, I have moved a handful of popular posts to this space and dated them as their original publish date. Please visit my Bold+Queer Family History category for all family history and genetic genealogy specific posts. I…

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Category: Family History

Moving Pebbles: On Midlife & My NPE Experience

Posted on June 27, 2023November 7, 2025 by Melissa

This post was originally published to my old family history blog, boldandqueer(dot)com. Since no longer publishing on that site, I have moved a handful of popular posts to this space and dated them as their original publish date. Please visit my Bold+Queer Family History category for all family history and genetic genealogy specific posts. There’s something almost…

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Category: Family History

9 Things to Consider Before Taking a DNA Test

Posted on May 16, 2023November 7, 2025 by Melissa

This post was originally published to my old family history blog, boldandqueer(dot)com. Since no longer publishing on that site, I have moved a handful of popular posts to this space and dated them as their original publish date. Please visit my Bold+Queer Family History category for all family history and genetic genealogy specific posts. So, you’re thinking…

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Category: Family History

3 Tips for Beginning Your Ancestry Research

Posted on March 25, 2023November 7, 2025 by Melissa

This post was originally published to my old family history blog, boldandqueer(dot)com. Since no longer publishing on that site, I have moved a handful of popular posts to this space and dated them as their original publish date. Please visit my Bold+Queer Family History category for all family history and genetic genealogy specific posts. So you’re curious…

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Category: Family History
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