In the last few months of 2015 I became completely obsessed with Ancestry.com, As in spending several hours on it every single day. Growing up my mom never talked much about her family, so much of what I was finding was exciting and felt as though I was discovering pieces of myself. My father comes from a big family on his moms side. She was 1 of 12 kids, so growing up as a vacation visitor to all these great- aunts and cousins, I lost track on how everyone was related. Using the genealogical tools through Ancestry.com I was able to build my family tree and and visually see how everyone was related.
This obsession turned into something more after getting my results from AncestryDNA. The first thing I noticed was the Ethnicity estimate. I was showing Irish much more than I realized and, in fact since, have been finding quite a few ancestors who originated in England, Ireland and Germany. This is just an estimate and can vary based on which site you use to analyze your DNA. It can even vary slightly between siblings based on which ancestors DNA is expressed in their own DNA. Still, there is something empowering in knowing where one comes from. 
The more useful genealogical tool Ancestry offers is it’s Shared Ancestor Hints. This matches you up with people who share segments of DNA and have a shared ancestor listed in their family tree. Currently I have 48 that I both match with in DNA and on the family tree. This has helped to assure me that I really am descended from those ancestors. I also have 210 shared DNA matches that are likely 4th cousins or closer, but we don’t have common ancestors listed in our family trees. Some of these can be attributed to matches through my father’s father, because that is a blank in my family tree. Another portion of those can be attributed to people who have taken the DNA test but don’t have a family tree researched on Ancestry.com. Those that are left are just a matter of finding out how we are related, both by me expanding my tree and them doing the same to theirs.
Shortly after getting my DNA results back I received a message from someone who was showing up as a relative in the 2nd- 3rd cousin range. It turns out he was not in my family tree because my paternal grandmother’s oldest brother had a child out of wedlock and he (Blair) is the son of this child. So we are in fact 2nd cousins. It has surprised me how friendly this community is and how willing they are to help. Blair was able to point me to some resources to help utilize my DNA results in ways AncestryDNA doesn’t allow. I have found these integral in furthering my understanding of genetic genealogy.
GEDmatch – Is a free website that allows you to upload your raw Autosomal DNA file to a database of other users who have tested at any of the major DNA testing sites. It then has a variety of tools that analyzes your results and matches you up with your relatives.
Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) – Offers Autosomal, Mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA tests. FTDNA allows you to join Group Projects to explore a common geographic origin, surname, or ethnic heritage. My favorite feature is the Chromosome browser which lets you compare your DNA with relatives and determine which segment(s) you share with them. This same feature can also allow you to triangulate on an ancestor and determine which segments of your DNA are inherited from them.
DNAeXplained.com – Has been one of the most useful and detailed resources I have come across. It is my go to resource for question about terms as well as what tools are available/how to use them.
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