YIKES! My first post...what do I do now?

WELCOME
Being my first post, you can't imagine how excited I am to be able to share my research adventures with you. I have toyed with the idea of starting a blog for a long time, but never did anything about it. Lazy? No. Scared? Possibly. What would I write?  Do I have enough to say? I'm sure I can muster up enough things to talk about.

WHAT DO I DO NOW?
Maybe I should just clue you in on surnames I am researching. PORTAS, VAMPLEW, FOWLER, BUSCHICK, VOIGT and the variant spellings of those names.


My main focus family is PORTAS -- families in England (mainly from Lincolnshire), Canada, and United States. For the past 18 years or so, I've been hunting and gathering as many PORTAS families I can find with hopes they will connect somehow to my family. My quest is to eventually find the baptism and burial of my 5x great grandfather Joseph PORTAS who married Elizabeth MOOR in Wyham cum Cadeby (Lincolnshire) 1740. They didn't move around too far and spent most of their married life in Marshchapel and North Coates only a few miles east of Wyham cum Cadeby. Joseph is my brick wall. 

My other focus family is FOWLER -- 1650 in Massachusetts to Rhode Island, New York State, Michigan, to present Illinois. Great-great grandfather Luther married Lydia CORNELL sometime around 1840 in New York State. They migrated to Allegan, Michigan and then on the Chicago, Illinois. I know about his death and where he is buried and when. I'm in search of his birth and marriage records. Don't know much about Lydia either. More things to discuss and share another time I guess.

The other families? Not so much being harvested. Although BUSCHICK family is starting to gain my interest within Chicago Fire connection.


TRIP TO THE 'MOTHER LODE'
Excitement is starting to well as I prepare for a trip to Salt Lake City and the Family History Library. My trip is less than two weeks away and I am in a panic! I need to get organized and fast! 


PREPARATION
I don't want to take a lot of paper as I have done in the past. I have moved to the "Cloud" which will make my communications easier. I am starting to store some items on Dropbox for easy retrieval, too. The less paper I take, the easier it will be to pack light!

There is a learning curve to this new way of doing things. How fast technology is moving. I wanted to attend RootsTech last February, but didn't get a chance... so now I'm stuck learning on my own. 


I must remember to put the latest Reunion 9 family files on my laptop, iPhone, and iPad! I will need my Lincolnshire map with all my circles and scribbles on it...no map online can take its place, yet. Well, I guess I will have to update my ToDo list!


I'll let you know how successful I am this trip.