Ancestry App Review - Bring Out the Historian in You!

I am a little bit of a history geek (probably thanks to my history teacher mother); I love to find out stories behind places I visit and the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are is set to record on my TV!

I discovered the family tree creating app, Ancestry, after it was featured by Apple as a 'Best New' app last year, and, having tried to research my family tree online before, thought I'd give it a go.

The app is linked with ancestry.com's online database but you don't need to create an account on there, instead you can just use the app which I've found a lot easier for basic searches. I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of information that can be found. I love that you can actually see handwritten documents such as marriage certificates of family members one hundred years ago; it really brings the app to life. These records can be bought as an in-app-purchase if you'd like to save them.

The app is exactly what you'd expect and want from a family tree research app. Once you've added in as many details about yourself and family members as you can, Ancestry searches databases to generate 'hints' to help you find out more. These hints are my favourite feature of the app; they bring up a number of records that could be linked to your tree. You then need to go through these to check against what you've already found to see whether they are a match - it really helps you go back even further without too many headaches!

The colours are pretty dull but then Ancestry's branding is brown and green so they've brought that onto the app. To personalise it a little more there is an option for adding images but, as you go further back in history, it's very hard to find images to go with names so I've not used that function. A nice feature is that you can start more than one family tree within the app so if you'd like to do some research for someone else it's easy to do so.

I have a small family and unfortunately didn't have a lot of information about past family members on my father's side but the Ancestry app helped me go back over 220 years, across England, Scotland and Wales to find my great-great-great-great-grandmother (wait for it)... Jane! We didn't know we had quite so many Jane's in our family but it's nice to have that connection all the way back to 1791.

I would certainly recommend Ancestry as an easy way to research into your past on-the-go.

Score: 9/10

I love...

• The simple layout and seamless menu
• Being able to delve deep into the records to discover more than names and dates - occupation was my favourite to learn!

I'd like to...

• Share my tree with others, for example, my dad would like to join my tree and add relatives to discover more
• Get advice from Ancestry once there are no hints left (I'm at that point now)... it's disappointing to hit a wall!

Find out more about the app and download it here. Enjoy history hunting and I hope you find some interesting family members!

Jane x

Word! Our Favourite #katieandjane Words of Wisdom to Inspire...

Since I can remember, I've loved finding inspirational quotes that help me to stay positive and on the brighter side of life. Before taking the leap and starting our own business, Jane and I would send each other quotes we liked to motivate and inspire each other - words of wisdom that soon found their way onto a Pinterest board so that we could easily collect and share them.

More than a year later our ‘Feel Inspired’ board is pinned to almost every day and now has a thriving collection of quotes that will help us and fellow pinners feel inspired, creative, confident and positive.

Below I have selected a few of our favourites which are available on our Pinterest board to share with friends, family and work colleagues too. We have many more that we love, so there will be a part two to this blog post soon...we hope you like them!

Everybody can choose to do something different with their lives, no matter what you’re expected to do by other people. You have one life, so choose happily!

We learnt early on that you can never truly know whether you are making the right decision for your own business, no matter how much you weigh up the pros and cons! It's something you can’t learn by reading a book when it applies to you as an individual, so, when a new opportunity or adventure presents itself to us, we always ask ourselves ‘why not?’ if there’s nothing too damaging (or we're not going to die!), we are more as likely just to go for it. This quote is great in business and life in general!

Always give something a try and keep learning! Try to be bold and certain when taking opportunities, and remember, we are defined by the opportunities we miss as well as the ones we take.

We usually find we have ideas that we add to our Wunderlist app (review coming soon!) for projects, apps or products, and they stay there until we have the resources and focus to give to them. However there are always a few that niggle at you because you can’t wait to get started, and these are the ones you mustn't give up on!

This runs through the core of all of our Katie & Jane ideas, projects, adventures and work, and it’s harder than it looks! Some of our future projects will have a very complex thought process behind them, but will be delivered to the end user in a simple, but meaningful way, which is the most important thing.

If you have a favourite quote, perhaps one you go back to time and time again, leave us a comment below, tweet us with the hashtag #katieandjane and you'll be able to repin all of the images in this blog post by finding us on Pinterest too.

Katie x

Twitter Lingo or 'Twermingology'!

Katie and I are now avid Twitter fans after many years of being 'active'... it's very different to Facebook (phew!) so it does take a while to get used to the platform. Then, once you're used to using it, you then have to understand the Twitter lingo!

We've put together a simple list of key words to help you understand Twitter better followed by a list of abbreviations that you may find among all those tweets!

Di

Direct Message (DM) - Twitter's function allowing you to send a private message to a person on Twitter. It is a message only you and the person who sent it/received it can read

Fa

Favourites - you can 'favourite' a tweet you particularly like so that the tweeter who posted it can see it's one of your favourites. Another use of favourites is to bookmark or highlight a tweet to read later

Fo

Follower - someone who subscribes to and receives your updates

Following - someone that you are following and are able to see their updates in your personal Twitter timeline

Follow Friday or #ff or #followfriday - this is a popular trend that is used when you are recommending someone who your followers should follow (obviously used on a Friday!)

Ha

Hashtag # - a way of searching for and joining in on topics on Twitter. Include a word followed by the hashtag symbol # enabling others to search for relevant posts. Find out more in our Hashtag How To blog post 

Li

List - a list is a group of Tweeters. You can subscribe to other people's lists or create your own. Read our blog post on Twitter lists here

Me

Mention - a mention is a tweet that has @username anywhere in it. All those 'mentioned' in the tweet will see it on their Twitter account

Mi

Microblogging - the social media niche that includes Twitter

Pr

Profile Photo - this is the image that represents you and shows as a thumbnail next to all your tweets

Profile Header - this is the larger image that is displayed on your profile behind your profile photo

Re

Retweet/RT - used on Twitter to show you are tweeting something that was posted by another user, giving them credit. Twitter's quote equivalent

Reply/@reply - is a tweet that is directed to another user in reply to their post. Anyone can see them and get involved in the conversation

Tr

Trend - Twitter determines which topics are the most discussed at any given time, these trends are discoverable and displays on your timeline

Tw

Twitosphere or Twitterverse - used to describe the 'world of Twitter'

Tweet - a Twitter update or post using 140 characters or less. You can also say 'I tweeted'

Tweeter - refers to a person who sends tweets on Twitter

Us

Username (or Handle) - this is the word that defines you on Twitter. The @ sign usually comes before your username linking it to Twitter. Think of it as your Twitter identity

AFAIK: As Far as I Know

BFN: Bye for now

BR: Best regards

BTW: By the way

CX: Correction

EM/EML: Email

EMA: Email address

FB: Facebook

ICYMI: In case you missed it

IMO/IMHO: In my opinion or in my humble opinion

LI: LinkedIn

MT: Modified tweet

NSFW: Not safe for work

OH: Overheard
SFW: Safe for work

SM: Social media

SMM: Social media marketing

SN: Social network

TFTF: Thanks for the follow

TL: Timeline

TMB: Tweet me back

TT: Trending topic

TY: Thank you

W/: With

YT: YouTube

Hope that has helped you find your way around the Twitosphere (see above!). Understanding Twitter and the lingo can help you to find more people to connect with, keep to that 140 character limit and importantly make Twitter more enjoyable for you!

Jane x

The Best Things in Life in February

One of the best parts of creating a business is being able to inspire people especially through our blog. We were very pleased to see two of our 'Best Things in Life' posts feature in our top blog posts of 2013 according to views and so... the series continues!

Katie

Best things in life...

Feeling motivated! I recently had a very naughty appendix which had to be whipped out quite suddenly, and while I was lying in hospital I couldn’t wait to get back to working on Katie & Jane and our many projects. One of the first things I read when I came home was the draft of Jane’s fitness blog post and it instantly lifted my spirits, I can’t wait until I’m fully recovered to get back to running, spinning, yoga and our favourite workout The Tracy Anderson Method.

eBooks - I’m always on the lookout for new books to read, but looking at the current bestseller charts I couldn’t find something that appealed to me. So instead, I opted for searching through lots of ebooks on apps and business and I love the fact that they’re quick, inspiring and much less expensive!

Happier - At the risk of mentioning our favourite app once again, I’ve been making a conscious effort to add all the little things that make me Happier into this little app lately. If you are bored of your Facebook feed with the same moaners – give this app a try for yourself! You can read our earlier blog post on it here.

The one thing on my 2014 to-do list is...

Learn more! It can be so hard after a long week to make sure you have learnt something new to keep inspired, so I’m trying to fit in learning as I’m on the move! I find podcasts a great way to do this and each morning I’m enjoying listening to the likes of the new BBC World Service’s Tech Tent and the Tech Weekly Podcast from the Guardian while I’m getting ready!

The place I'd like to travel to most is...

South America… It’s the next place on my very long list of all the places I want to visit in my lifetime! I can’t wait to immerse myself in the energy of Brazil, specifically Rio de Janeiro, adventure along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and be surrounded by the power of nature at the Iguazo Falls on the border of Argentina. Have a look at my ‘Where To Next?’ board on Pinterest if you are a fellow adventurer!

Jane

Best things in life...

Social media - It's a bit cheesy but seeing people really benefit from our social media advice and getting great feedback from strangers! We recently did a short seminar on the basics of social media at Spring Fair and were so pleased to have a big crowd with lots of happy engaged faces! You can download our presentation featuring lots of social media tips for free here.

Running - I know I've mentioned it time and time again but I'm loving running even more now I am getting better at it. I think the key for my success is to stick to going out regularly to not lose momentum (even in the cold and rain!). Also reading 'Running Like a Girl' by Alexandra Heminsley makes me laugh and feel motivated!

Box Sets - I've been catching up on my favourite shows recently... Brothers & Sisters (please bring it back!), Winners & Losers (an Australian drama which instantly transports me to Melbourne) and Breaking Bad (six episodes in and I'm not hooked yet!). It's great to totally switch off and actually enjoy watching decent programmes!

The one thing on my 2014 to-do list is...

Learn to meditate - I have been saying it for years and tried a number of ways but can't find one that I commit to on a daily basis. I have decided to go to a few classes at Meditate in Birmingham as a way of learning the art of meditation and nail those 10 minutes a day I feel I'd really benefit from!

The place I'd like to travel to most is...

Greece - My Pinterest 'I'd Like to Be' board is packed with destination inspiration from all over the world and I love Pinterest's new Place Pins feature which Katie talks about in her blog post but the place I always long to return to every summer is Greece. We usually travel to one of the Greek Islands but this year we may try mainland Greece and visit the Halkidiki region. Greece is one of my favourite places on earth (aside from Melbourne) because of its gorgeous weather, beautiful beaches, genuinely friendly people and delicious food... how can I go a summer without a τυρóπιτα (cheese pie)!?

7 Simple Tips to a Successful Social Media Presence in 2014 by #katieandjane - Reblogged from She Owns It

A fresh new year is often the time to shake things up so why not do that with your social media presence!? We’re not only talking for your brand or business but also for your personal social accounts too. We’ve put together seven simple tips to get your 2014 presence off to a great start…

1. Set goals
Goals are a great way of focusing on what you want to achieve on social media in the next 12 months. Set just a few, maybe three or four reachable targets across the social channels you are active on. It could be ‘increase the social reach of my Facebook posts by 100 views per post’ or ‘increase my Twitter following each month by 150′ for example. You can break these goals down into manageable chunks and into aims for each platform.

2. Engage, engage, engage!
In order to have a successful social media presence, you can’t just post great content and be done with it, you need to engage with your audience too. Take ten minutes a day to reply to posts, retweet tweets and get pinning on Pinterest (we find a time limit helps especially with Pinterest – so addictive!). This daily activity will not only make your audience feel valued but will help to increase your reach online.

3. Plan your content carefully
If we’ve learnt anything from our years of managing the social media presences for large consumer brands it’s how important planning content is. Create a weekly schedule where you can plot potential content topics for all social media posts for that week. This puts your mind at rest knowing you’ve got lots of great content to talk about leaving room for spur-of-the-moment posts too. Collect content from awareness day calendars, your website or even think about creating a blog this year.

4. Monitor trends
Delivering insights into you, your company and your industry is one of the best ways to create an engaged social media presence; people want to learn things. Staying on top of the trends is a great way to keep up-to-date, enabling you to share valuable information with fans. Monitor your industry and competitors but also regularly read social media and technology news to discover what’s happening with your favourite platforms.

5. It’s all about the images
We know that posts on social media with images increase engagement and positivity enormously so make sure all your posts have a great image attached. Try to use your own images (think about copyrighting rules) and also use apps to create your own images with text if you are stuck for visuals. The winning social media platforms for 2014 will be Instagram and Pinterest showing the popularity of image-focused channels and the interest consumers have for images.

6. Evaluating is not a waste of time!
Many brands we’ve worked with (and individuals in fact!) don’t evaluate their social media presence and, although this isn’t the most interesting part of being active on social media, it’s very important. Back to point one; setting goals – if we don’t evaluate our presence how are we going to know when we have reached our goals? How will we know what is working and should do more of or what activity to give up? Simple evaluation techniques include keeping a note of the size of audience, engagement levels and content types on a weekly basis for comparison. We cover this and more in our SkillShare eCourse.

7. Explore other networks
Maybe you love Twitter and are finding it really works for you so you spend much of your time tweeting away but what happens if you put more effort into Pinterest for example and actually you get even better feedback?! Although it’s simple to stay on platforms that you can use easily, it’s a good idea to spend some time on other networks, increasing your knowledge-base and enabling you to reach more people online. In 2014 set a goal to try some of the emerging platforms; Google+, Vine and Snapchat are just a few!

See this post on the fabulous blog 'She Owns It' 

Join the Gym? No Thanks!

The month of January has the highest rate of gym membership subscriptions as people kick-start their New Year's resolution of getting fit/thinner/healthier with the best intentions. But... according to the stats, a large majority of those new memberships will be unused by the summer, so I decided not to join a gym this year and explore other, cheaper alternatives.

Katie and I are both big exercise fans (not exactly perfect examples of fitness but we try!) as seen frequently in our 'best things in life' and our blog posts on hot yoga, the Color Run and 'dance like Beyonce' class. Although we love to try new things, there are a few routines that we return to time and time again...

The Tracy Anderson Method

I have tried so many different at-home exercise regimes and although I have got some good results using some of them, nothing comes close to the Tracy Anderson method DVDs.

I first came across Tracy's unique exercise method after reading an article featuring her advocate (and now business partner) Gywneth Paltrow explaining how she transformed her body and actually enjoyed it. I think Gwyneth's body is amazing; healthy, curvy and toned so I bought Tracy's Mat Method straightaway!

Tracy's aim is to create a tight, toned dancers style body using the lesser-used accessory muscles to achieve results. Some of the exercises are very strange like standing with your arms out to your sides and rotating them in all different ways for a total of eight minutes - sounds easy but it's really not! In a way, her unique style keeps you motivated and interested, it's not all squats and traditional exercises which is great.

I now have six of her DVDs and aim to do one four times a week which is achievable for me and enough to see results especially with my arms and abs. It does take commitment and I can't quite keep up with her dance routine workouts but I'll keep trying!

Pilates

For the past three years now I've been going once a week to my local Pilates studio to work on the mat or, more recently, the strange looking reformer machine. This isn't as cost-effective as at-home DVDs but paying a little extra gets you personalised tuition, great results and the amazing feeling of real progress!

The teaching at the studio I go to, Equilibrium, is fantastic and more importantly fun. I look forward to my weekly lessons and really benefit from them; I feel my body has become leaner, longer and more flexible. There are some great Pilates DVDs to try, Lynne Robinson is one of the leading teachers, but having a professional in the room means each pose is done correctly and you get the most out of every minute.

Pilates compliments my other exercises nicely; it's the stretching part of my routine without the spiritual link of yoga. If anyone says Pilates looks easy get them to workout for an hour on a weighted reformer machine and ask them again! You don't necessarily get sweaty but you feel refreshed and toned afterwards.

Spinning

I went to a spinning class (fast cardio on stationary bikes) to try it out after reading about the calorie burning power in various fitness magazines and really enjoyed myself. My only problem is I'm not that keen on gyms for a number of reasons; the cost, being indoors and the boredom, so I couldn't justify joining a gym just to visit the spinning classes so... I created my own form of spinning for £50!

I bought some cycling training rollers from Halfords, dug out my old bike (it dates back to my teenage years!) and set it up in the garage. Now, whenever I need a calorie blast, I head into the garage and do a bit of HIT - high intensity training. It's not exactly scientific but I put on my iPod and pedal to the speed of whatever song comes on for about 20 minutes! I find Beyonce's album B-Day perfect for this (of course I do... it's Bey!) with her mix of medium and high tempo songs, plus singing along takes my mind off the sweat! Simple, cheap and sweaty!

Running

Putting on my trainers and heading for a run in the fresh air has to be my favourite exercise. It's also the hardest but gives me the best all-round results for body, mind and spirit. It's a big effort to go outside into the cold, windy rain some days but the feeling of achievement after is more than worth it.

I started running (jogging!) about two years ago and could only run 30 seconds but now I have completed a few 5Ks and half a marathon using the walk-run method. I used the fantastic podcast Couch to 5K to get me started and would encourage a similar download. I aim to run three times a week for a minimum of two miles each time which is just enough for me!

Although it's tough, I really feel like I have completed a decent workout and spending time in nature while working out is always a bonus for me!

I hope this post has been useful to see you don't always need a gym membership or to spend tonnes of money to get fit as long as you have the motivation and find an exercise you really enjoy.

Have fun! 

Jane x

Our Fitness Must-Haves...

• Tracy Anderson Mat Workout - the best toning exercise DVD out there!
• A comfortable yoga mat - great for pilates at home or in the studio and for those post-run stretches
• Music - especially Beyonce and Example!
• Trainers - choose good quality, supportive trainers that you love putting on... the brighter the better!

2013 - A Great Year for Blogging!

When we started our lifestyle blog 'By Katie & Jane' in June 2013, we didn't think it would take off the way it has but we're very pleased that we're able to share our work life, our inspirations and lifestyle thoughts.

Here are our top blog posts of 2013...

10. New Facebook Competition Guidelines - September

This post focuses on Facebook's competition rules and regulations and how they can affect individuals and brands.

9. Hot Yoga: Going Barefoot Into the Unknown... - November

Katie wrote this post after we decided to just 'go for it' and try bikram yoga together. Boy was it fun... and hot!

8. The Best Things in Life in August - August

We started our 'best things in life' series as a tribute to our favourite magazine 'Red' in a section where they ask contributors about their favourite things. It's something we've continued to do each month and look forward to doing so in 2014.

7. Seven Simple Steps to Creating the Perfect Christmas Tree - November

Decorating Christmas trees may be an easy task for some but I feel it's an art getting your tree right so decided to write a blog post on it!

6. The Best Things in Life in July - July

Another post from our popular 'best things in life' series this one with a summer spin!

5. A Beautiful Mess Challenge Thirteen: Photograph Your Daily Outfits - October

In a bid to become better at taking photographs I took on a challenge every day from the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book Katie kindly gave me for my birthday... one of my favourite and most used presents!

4. Happier App Review - What Makes You Happier? - June

We love to regularly review apps and the Happier app has to be up there with the best of 2013.

3. Fun in the Algarve, Burgau, Portugal - July

One of our blog sections focuses on travel reviews something Katie and I are both passionate about. This post gives a review of the beautiful village of Burgau in Portugal.

2. Entrepreneur Interviews: Inner Me Founder Nikki Cooper - September

After being inspired whilst working with Inner Me founder Nikki Cooper we asked her to kick of our 'entrepreneur interviews' collection of blog posts and, as a Dragon's Den star, it was very popular!

1. Not on the High Street - The Perfect Place for Unique Gift Ideas - November

We are both massive fans of the online marketplace Not on the High Street, not only as shoppers but with admiration for the creators of this fantastic business too. We both love giving thoughtful gifts to people and this is, by far, the best place to find little gems!

Here's to a successful 2014 for everyone, especially our readers!

Jane x