Before 2025 closes out, I want to reflect on my goals for the year and where I am with them. It has been quite a busy year (when isn’t it?) but I am always glad and grateful that I set some goals at the beginning of the year and then aim to get through them little by little. I do not always hit 100%, but it is still nice to see some progress!
Feel free to read about my goals for 2025 at the beginning of the year!
Genealogical Resolutions
of 2025
1. Keep being accountable for Accreditation Process
YES
I am excited to check this goal off with a “yes”! I was able to stay fairly on track with my accreditation process for ICAPGEN! Though originally I wanted to start off with the BCG accreditation process, I find it a bit overwhelming not being able to really talk to anyone about my process of completing the portfolio. They’re very strict about what you can talk about! On the other hand, the ICAPGEN process allows you to talk with others and even read over/share/edit material you want to send to be evaluated.
So far I have been working on my first part which is a four generation family report. Since currently there is no Puerto Rico or Caribbean testing region, I have decided to go for Spain since this is part of where I research. I found a Catalan family to research since their records are fairly good and available online. I have completed the first three generations and just need to finish up generation four before completing one last proofread and hopefully sending it off to be reviewed in 2026!
I still want to complete the BCG accreditation and I think having the process be broken up into two parts will be helpful in digesting the work that needs to be completed.
2. Travel to Puerto Rico for Genealogy
YES
I was lucky to squeeze in a quick trip to Puerto Rico in August to see my grandmother for her birthday. The trip was only long weekend and so essentially I only got a chance to research on Friday; nonetheless, the research trip was successful! I was able to find records related to my Magraner ancestor through his brother who had land in Lares. I still have to analyze the documents (over 100 pages) in order to learn more about the Magraner brothers’ presence on the island in the mid-1800s.
Related Post:
3. Create descendant chart for Eglantine Lautin
YES
I was also happy to be able to complete this goal as it allowed me a chance to use a new tool – Lucidchart. My goal was to document the female descendants of my ancestor Eglantine Lautin, an enslaved woman who was brought from Africa to Martinique. My goal is to ultimately find a descendant of Eglantine who still carries her maternal haplogroup – this would mean finding a direct female descendant alive today. Lucidchart is a great tool for visualizing this type of search and it was well worth the effort of creating it.
Related Post:
4. DNA Test Older Family Members
SOME
I was able to test my maternal grandfather’s half-brother which been helpful, especially since my grandfather has passed and was on the older chip before the newer upgrades. I still have a DNA test I bought last year that I need to use which is why this goal was marked as some!
5. Further Study My Rivera Line
YES
Like my goal related to Eglantine Lautin, I was able to trace my Rivera line by using Lucidchart. I left this goal fairly open when I created it and since I really enjoyed using Lucidchart, I figured I would use it to trace the male descendants of Pedro de Rivera, my oldest direct male ancestor. This is a line I definitely want to continue studying in the future as there is still some mystery related to my direct paternal line and its origin before Puerto Rico.
Related post:
6. Read Five Genealogical Books
SOME
Unfortunately, I was not able to read five genealogical books this year. I did, however, read two books tied to genealogy – one about research/learning more about one family’s tree and another on the native Taíno of the Caribbean. I was reading a third book about women and sexuality in Puerto Rico; however, it was a slow read. It is one I have to read calmly (and highlight!), so I have not been able to read it all yet. It is very interesting though and I hope to finish it in 2026. Side note, I did read 36 books this year which is a great feat – I just need to read ones more about genealogy!
7. Y-DNA Test A Correa Male
SORT OF
I did not directly test a male descendant from the Correa line with ftDNA; however, by testing my maternal great-uncle I was able to get his Y-DNA line through 23andme. The line matched my grandfather’s, which I expected; however, I need to make a bigger leap and test men higher up on the tree that come from other branches to confirm that my Correa branch is tied to them as well. It is hard finding descendants willing to test so it will definitely take some time before fully committing to this goal and moving forward.
8. Write Another Genealogical Article
YES
I was fortunate to write two articles this year! One was about Puerto Rican research and another was a rewrite about my ancestors from Martinique and Guadeloupe. I am hopeful they will get published, but I won’t know for a bit. I am hoping to publish again for my Puerto Rican genealogical society’s journal in the future so I have to see which line I would like to add!
9. Reach Out to Quebradillas Church
YES
Though I reached out to the Quebradillas church back in January 2025, I am still waiting to hear back from them. From my understanding, they did not have access to their books and so they needed to send a request to San Juan in order to get access to their records to fulfill these requests. They said they had requests from 2023 that had still gone unanswered. Which is such a pain!
I had asked to search for Francisco Sánchez Flores’s baptism (checking between 1850-1855) and his parents’ marriage, Blas Sánchez Martínez and Micaela Flores Valentín (checking between 1845 and 1849). Francisco Sánchez was my 3rd great-grandfather and his parents my 4th great-grandparents. I do not know much about them and so it would be great if they are found in Quebradillas. Fingers crossed they find something and reach out to me.
10. Create More Content for my Instagram Account
SOME
This was such a hard goal for me, which is weird because I do use social media. I only posted twice this year with my Instagram account about genealogy. I think the most important thing is that I have to be intentional – I have a calendar where I keep track of what and when I post on my blog which has been super helpful. This year, I was able to basically post every two weeks which was amazing! As it stands, I have ideas for posts up to November 2026, and as new things are updated and uploaded, this helps to create new ideas for me as well.
However, I want my posts on Instagram to feel genuine, which is hard because really their main goal is to drive interest in my research. My personal social media is for travel, friends, etc. so quite different than a “business model” mindset. This is something I definitely have to go back to the drawing board for and reimagine how I want to tackle this goal.
Final Score
YES: 6
SOME: 4
NO: 0
All in all, not bad! I was able to completed 60% of my goals this year with 40% being partially completed. Though technically I did not complete the goal of reading five genealogical books, for example, the fact that I got to 2.5 allowed me to count it as “some”.
I am excited for 2026 and for the new goals I plan to create. Wishing everyone and happy and healthy 2026!