Hi Reader,

Woo hoo! October is Family History Month, which means it's time to dust off those research files, photo boxes, and half-finished family trees.

But instead of the usual "organize everything perfectly" advice given this time of year, I'm taking a different approach this year.

For the next 31 days, we're focusing on discovery. Not perfection. Not overwhelming research projects. Just uncovering one interesting piece of your family's story each week.

Here's what's happening:

Week 1 (Oct 1-7): Rediscover What You Already Have Most of us have more family information than we realize. This week is about finding the gems hiding in plain sight.

Week 2 (Oct 8-14): Preserve Before You Lose It Those fragile photos, fading documents, and aging relatives' memories won't preserve themselves.

Week 3 (Oct 15-21): Fill in the Missing Pieces Strategic research to answer one specific question that's been bugging you.

Week 4 (Oct 22-28): Share and Connect Turn your discoveries into something meaningful for your family

🛠️ LISA'S DISCOVERY TOOLKIT

Before you dive into Week 1, here's what I'm using to maximize what I already have:

For research organization: Ancestry Pro Tools are game-changers for spotting gaps in what you already know. The Tree Checker identifies possible duplicates and date inconsistencies, while advanced filtering lets me organize my tree by location, dates, or family lines - no more wondering "what am I missing?"

For photo analysis: I use my own "Cracking the Family Photo Code" method - a systematic approach I follow to extract genealogy clues from any family photo. It works on mystery photos, damaged images, and even photos where you think there's "nothing to find."

Want to learn this method? I teach it in Cracking the Family Photo Code.

For quick digitization: When I find loose photos or documents, Photomyne app lets me scan them immediately on my phone. No more "I'll scan this later" - because we know later never comes.

Black Friday Preview: All of these tools typically go on sale in November, but if you want to start your October discoveries now, these are the tools I reach for daily.

Let's start with Week 1: What do you already have?

Most family historians underestimate what's already in their possession. Before you search for new records or buy more tools, spend this week taking inventory.

Your Week 1 focus areas:

For your research: Audit your existing research. Go back to the beginning of your research and re-evaluate your ancestors' records - it'll show you exactly what sources you have, what you might be missing and you could uncover new clues.

For your photos: Use Ancestry's photo recognition tool on any mystery photos you have. Even if you don't find matches, you'll understand what's possible.

For your family stories: Write down what you already know from memory before you start researching. Sometimes the family stories point you toward the right records.

Ready to see what you've been missing?

Start here: "No, You Do Not Need Another Record! | What Your Genealogy is Missing" - Before you search for one more record, make sure you've extracted everything from what you already have.

Then read: "4 Death Certificate Clues Everyone Misses (The Hidden Stories)" - You probably have death certificates sitting in your files right now with information you haven't noticed.

Week 2 will focus on preservation - I'll share my photo scanning workflow and the storage solutions that have saved my family's most fragile documents.

Talk soon,