Busy, Busy, Busy

   

 All I can say is busy, busy, busy.  Family research could keep me busy all day long, every day; such a change from years ago.  Back then, I wrote a letter in longhand and put it in my mail box, then waited.   I tended to other projects until a few weeks later when I received a reply telling me how much money to send.  I put a check in my mailbox and waited some more.  Again I dabbled in other interests until another few weeks later, when I had the document which I had anticipated.
     Family matters over the past year have kept me from spending a lot of time on my research, but lately, finally, I have enjoyed again the hunt for and discovery of my family's story.  But I find myself in somewhat of a quandary.
     Databases:  I foremost use a commercial home database to digitally gather my information.  I am the only contributor so I never find any surprises, unless I have made a silly mistake.  However, I tend to be quite thorough and accurate, so I like having a place all to my own.  I upload my data regularly to Ancestry and RootsWeb for the benefit of other researchers.  But every time I do this, I get hundreds of leafs--hints, many of which, I have already seen.  It is time-consuming to sift through them to find hints that are new to me.  Then there is FamilySearch.  As a Mormon, I am encouraged to use this database.  But I am having a hard time learning to love it.  Since it is interactive, changes can be made to my tree!!  I have had many discouragements over finding erroneous information or having a line of ancestors, unknown to me, who extend way back to the kings and queens.
   But I do like FamilySearch's Memories feature, where I can add photos and stories.  I can also add those everywhere else, but in Ancestry, they will disappear the next time I upload my data from RootsMagic.  I can add photos to RootsMagic, but they are all housed in a different file, so they will not follow my gedcom file over to Ancestry.  I can send all kinds of data over to FamilySearch from RootsMagic, but not my photos.
     I haven't even yet mentioned my own family website, which I have created through Google Sites.
It is a great way to get my family history on the internet where it can be easily found.  Not everyone has a paid subscription to Ancestry.  And not everyone has a free subscription to FamilySearch.  And there's still that nagging ability for anyone to make changes to the pictures or stories I send to FamilySearch.
     As one who embraces simplicity and minimalism, I yearn for a way to push one button and all my data, stories, and photos will be accessible to all interested researchers.  Entering the same family history facts and pictures into so many places makes me unnecessarily busy.  If anyone has found a practical way to accomplish the task, I'd love to hear from you.