Accentuate the Positive!

After reading some postings about what genealogy bloggers had not accomplished in the past year, an Australian geneablogger, Geniaus, issued the following challenge: Respond to the following prompts to document the year's accomplishments. Since I didn't set any genealogy goals for last year, I have nothing to lament. I am intrigued to see what I accomplished. The original post includes more than I've included here because not everything applies to me. Here are my positive accomplishments to accentuate! 

1. An elusive ancestor I found was:
• My great-great-grandmother, Lizzie Philbrick - My great-great-grandfather was married three times and figuring out the identity of the mother of my great-grandfather was challenging until I found a record of his marriage with his parents listed on the reverse. Now I know who Grammie Philbrick was! 
2. A precious family photo I found was:
• I'm taking some liberties with this, my precious photos were taken by my Grandmother Carter. She loved flowers and I love these pictures of she took of the flowers around her house. 
3. An ancestor's grave I found was:
• The grave of Cyrus Buck with an unusual epitaph referring to Deism.
4. An important vital record I found was:
• A Revolutionary War pension file that detailed the service of my 5th great-grandfather, Dominicus Smith, including the fact that he was with George Washington when he crossed the Delaware. 
5. A newly found family member who shared: 
• Bill West - a cousin and fellow geneablogger is responsible for inspiring me to start my blog and he's been one of my biggest supporters. I am so grateful! 
• Also a big thank you to Chris Dunham of Maine Genealogy Network for his help with several challenges this year. 
6. A geneasurprise I received was:
• Being included in Heather Wilkinson Rojo's blog post on Follow Friday. Heather and I have several ancestor connections and I love her blog Nutfield Genealogy. 
7. My 2012 blog post that I was particularly proud of was:
• Actually two posts about strong female influences in my life. 
• My two great-aunts
• My Grandmother Blake
8. My 2012 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments was:
• The most hits have been on this post about St. George's Day. I wrote it because it's also my mom's birthday and her ancestry is very British so it seemed fitting. 
• The most shared was this post titled When Your Family Tree Doesn't Fork.
9. A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was:
• I have to say Facebook because I connect with cousins, enjoy pages by genealogical, historical, and family associations and get updates when new content is published on some of my favorite blogs and web sites. It is also the greatest source of readers according to my Blogger stats. 
10. I taught a friend how to:
• I'm going to modify this one too, I taught my students to appreciate family history and the joy of tracking down ancestors. 
11. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was:
• The Devil of Great Island - I have ancestors who lived nearby and interacted with some of the principle players in this story. 
12. Another positive I would like to share is:
• A big thank you to the genealogists who share their stories, tips, techniques, and research with others. I have learned so much from you.