Genes Day Friday

I'm hoping to start a new meme here - Genes Day Friday! (It's inspired by my company's policy of Jeans Day Friday.) My Genes Day Friday posts will be about my adventures into the world of genetic genealogy. I'm literally starting from scratch in this field - I know next to nothing about DNA, genetics, tests and tests results, so hopefully my posts will get more informative and useful as I go.

I started getting into genetic genealogy a couple weeks ago. I just felt this strong desire to start looking into my family's genetic history, both to complement and corroborate its paper history, and to learn what the paper trail can't tell me. I started out by talking to CeCe Moore, a well-known genetic genealogist. She recommended I join the DNA-Newbie mailing list as a way to get exposure to what beginning (and not-so-beginning) genetic genealogists are talking about. It's been a real education for me so far! They cover a lot of topics, from testing company experiences, to sharing and interpreting test results, to asking and answering basic genetic genealogy questions. They've all been super helpful to me, answering my questions quickly and really helping me learn this stuff.

I've also started reading some books on the subject. I've read Brian Sykes' The Seven Daughters of Eve, and I'm making my way through Trace Your Roots With DNA by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner (who might possibly be one of the regular posters on the Newbie mailing list). I've also picked up DNA and Genealogy by Colleen Fitzpatrick, DNA and Social Networking: A Guide to Genealogy in the Twenty-First Century by Debbie Kennett, and Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project by Spencer Wells. Needless to say, I'm going to busy reading for the next few weeks!

But the part I'm most excited about is doing the actual tests. I purchased my first two Relative Finder kits from 23andme.com this week! I'm hoping they get here before Sunday, when my grandparents will be in town. CeCe says the test results are coming back as quickly as two weeks, so I'm really eager to get these tests submitted and start seeing what they can tell me. I'll have more tests to submit in the future, as time and circumstances allow, and I kind of want to pace myself so I don't get overloaded in trying to absorb too much too fast. But I also know that time works against genealogists in a lot of ways, and I don't want to delay this any longer than absolutely necessary.

So, that's where I'm at for now. Hopefully in a couple weeks, I can start posting about haplotypes and SNPs and whatever else there is to know!