One of my favorite memories of my grandparents is when they came to Rexburg for my Grandpa Bert Trost’s Madison High School reunion. They picked me up from my Royalcrest college apartment and took me on a tour of my Grandpa’s Rexburg. I scribbled notes in my reporter’s notebook (boy do I wish I remembered which box that was in now!) and I thoroughly enjoyed the one-on-one time with my grandparents.

Driving to the outskirts of town, he guessed where their family farm might have been. We even located their house in town which now has an easy-to-remember name! But that’s a story for another post! I remember driving past the Jacob Spori Building and Grandpa talking about how he and his brothers would deliver newspapers there. My Grandpa never attended Ricks, but he mentioned that his brothers did.

I knew I had Rexburg roots, but lacked many of the details then. During this past year, I have discovered detail after precious detail to fill in many of the blanks. From quotes to photos to journals – it has truly been wonderful!

My 2xs Great Grandfather Christian Trost, the Farmer & Builder

Through Relatives at Rootstech, I was able to connect with other descendants of my 2xs Great Grandfather Christian Trost. Christian, his wife Caroline, and their small family immigrated to Rexburg, Idaho, from Oberstenfeld, Germany in the late 1800s.

He later divorced my 2xs Great-Grandmother Caroline and married a third wife. Lucky for me, his stepdaughter was a prolific journal writer. Her descendants were kind enough to share excerpts with me.

According to his stepdaughter Hildegard, Christian helped “to build the first 2 buildings for Ricks Academy, the LDS Tabernacle, and the 3rd Ward Church. He also assisted in building the Burton Ward Chapel. He also put in every day he could get away from crop & farm duties, besides contributing generously his finances.”

As far as I know, the first two buildings for Ricks Academy included the Jacob Spori Building – a building that I was very familiar with! It housed the Communication Department at Ricks College/BYU-Idaho. As a journalism student, I toured almost every inch of that building from the basement to the attic. I spent many hours doing homework in window seats and hanging out in the art gallery as a freshman. Our newspaper office was on the first floor and was my second home. I was lucky enough to be able to buy original tiles from the building – who knew they were actually family history relics from a building my ancestor helped build?!?!

My Great-Grandfather William Trost, the Valedictorian

While my great-grandmother Eda wasn’t able to attend Ricks College, her husband William Trost did! He was the valedictorian of his class and graduated in 1918 just before leaving to fight in World War I. As luck would have it, I discovered this page from the Student Rays, the student newspaper for Ricks Academy. It also served as a yearbook of sorts, it appears.

My Great-Grandaunt Caroline Trost, the Journalist

Another fun discovery was that William’s sister Caroline also attended Ricks Academy. Even better, she was a reporter for the school newspaper! This is so fun to me as the student newspaper is what brought me to Ricks College! Again, digging through the online digital archives, I was able to find this yearbook photo of Caroline! The very first photo of her that I had seen – what a treat to share it and upload it to Family Search for others. That dark curly hair definitely was passed down through the generations!

My Great-Uncle Arlo, the Journalist and Family Historian

Important to note, there was an additional newspaperman in the family. My Great-Uncle Arlo also worked on the student newspaper, The Scroll, as I recently discovered. Who knew I came from generations of Scrollies, a term we used to describe ourselves. Arlo also had a love of family history and was responsible for much of the research done for the Trost family. Who knew I was following in his footsteps?

Much of this information I was able to discover through digitalized student newspapers and student yearbooks. I can’t believe it took me until this year to search them online! In my defense, they may have only recently become available. Thank goodness for technology.

While I know general stories before, these details have made all the difference to me. I’ve been able to put faces to names. Places to memories. My own memories of Rexburg feel a little richer now with the deeper family history context beneath them.

I feel there is still so much to discover! I am a member of several Rexburg historical Facebook groups. It’s fun to see old photos and others’ memories pop up in my Facebook feed. Perhaps social media will be part of my next Rexburg discovery!

Tell me – are there places that are special to you from your family history? I would love to hear what discoveries you have made!

This post is part of #NaGenWriMo! Don’t forget to link up your genealogy posts/stories this month!

The post Ricks College/Ricks Academy Connections with the Trost Family appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

Every now and then a piece of art speaks to me and strikes a chord in my heart. That’s how I feel about this beautifully-inspiring artwork by Jenedy Paige. It’s titled, Coming Full Circle.

The artist describes it as:

That moment when the pathway clears, the questions answered, the problems solved, and circumstances understood. Everything comes full circle and your heart swells with gratitude. In that moment of joy and thanks, our hearts connect with Heaven, as we recognize God’s hand in our life. Look for circles in life and you will find them.

Even before I read the description, I knew I had to have this piece for the family-history-inspired gallery I am working on. It’s going to be my central piece due to the miraculous ways family connections tend to come full circle for me in my genealogy research and family relationships (more about this later!)

Until I finish gathering all my pieces for the gallery wall, I am loving having the print on my work desk aka my Zoom background. It’s a stunning backdrop for all my work/volunteer/religious meetings and a great conversation starter! Who knew that in 2020/2021 curating a Zoom background would be a thing?

Giveaway and Special Discount Code!

Looking for a special piece for your own gallery wall or Zoom background? I’ve teamed up with Havenlight and we are giving away a $200 Gift Certificate!

Click Here to Enter to Win!

Havenlight has also been kind enough to give me a 20% off discount code for my followers – KEEPMOVINGFORWARD.

Order now to get a jump start on your Christmas shopping! Besides the framed artwork, they even after puzzles, memory games, and books. I have my eye on the itsy bitsy puzzles for Easter!

Coming Full Circle Through Family History

Now let me tell you why this painting means so much to me. Knowing and sharing my family history has been key to my mental health during the pandemic. In essence, because my ancestors endured and preserved through hard times, I know that I can, too. (I talk more about this in my interview with Hi 5 Live here).

Learning about their hopes, dreams, and hardships helps me to reframe my own perspective, too. This week I’ve been writing about my Great-Grandmother Eda for #NaGenWriMo. One thing I learned about her was her desire to be educated. In her life history, it reads,

“Eda continued her schooling and graduated from the eighth grade in Rexburg. She had a desire to attend Ricks Academy, later known as
Ricks College, and then in 2002 it became BYU Idaho. She started three different times, but each time she had to quit. The first time because of a flu epidemic, the second time she contracted smallpox, and the third time she enrolled, she attended only a few months and had to quit because of lack of funds.”

Ricks College/BYU-Idaho happens to be my alma mater. While I knew that my grandpa had grown up in Rexburg, I did not know how my family’s lives intertwined with Ricks Academy. I thought my closest association was my Grandpa/his brothers delivering newspapers to the Spori Building as teens on their paper route. Little did I know that my great-grandmother probably gazed longingly at the building that became my second home as a journalism student. When I graduated in 2003 with my bachelor’s degree, I was quite literally fulfilling her dream three generations later. What a blessing that I appreciate even more deeply now.

Gratitude for Education – Opportunities Coming Full Circle

It would have been the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic that first dashed her academic dreams. Knowing her story makes me even more grateful for the educational opportunities my daughter has had during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even with schools closed, we had virtual access to teachers and programs. Because we are privileged to have Internet access and with my husband and I both working from home, none of my children experienced a lapse in their educations as my Great-Grandma Eda did. That’s definitely a silver lining and something to be grateful for.

More Ties with Rexburg/Ricks College

While my great-grandmother Eda wasn’t able to attend Ricks College, her husband William Trost did! You can read more about his family’s ties with Ricks Academy here. William and his sister, Caroline, both attended in the early 1900s. Caroline was even a reporter for the student newspaper like I was! William and Eda’s son Arlo, my great-uncle, was also an editor for the student newspaper like me. Who knew I came from multiple generations of journalists!

Can you see the connections? My family’s love of education and telling stories has truly come full circle. Many of us found our voices through writing. I feel closer to my Great-Grandmother Eda. Her experiences have given me a greater appreciation for my own opportunities and for my daughters’ opportunities as well. In the midst of the past year’s trials, there are silver linings. My ancestors’ stories are intertwined with my own – as I learn from the past, I can do better in the future.

I’m grateful that I have this beautiful painting by Jenedy Paige to remind me of this powerful principle. Today I’ve shared one story, but I have countless others of questions/searches/discoveries coming full circle.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway and use the discount code for your own inspirational artwork! There are some beautiful ones of the Savior that would be perfect for holiday decor.

Please enjoy the following, too! Here is Jenedy Paige’s bio. I love what she has to say about connections. Her artwork has definitely struck a chord in my heart!

Jenedy Paige Bio

I am a realist in every sense of the word. I paint things as they exist, in the representational tradition, but also in the concepts behind my work. I am a truth teller. I love the classical approach to painting and its ability to so easily invite the viewer in. However, I also know the value of abstraction, and the power it has to express things that realism cannot, and so I try to include both in my paintings. There is nothing I love more than a delicate and detailed figure on an expressive background.

My paintings begin in a journal. I record my frustrations, sorrows, joys, ambitions, hopes and then I transform those words into images. I guess you could say I very literally draw from life experience. I try to be as honest as I can in the telling, I don’t mince words. I then release the story to the canvas, and as I paint I am enabled to process the experience in a new way and to learn from it. I’m not fast, I take my time with the painting, and the lesson in it. Layer by layer I work, carefully revealing the wisdom inside.

When it comes to creating images I believe that simplicity is key. The more concise you can say something, the more powerful it is. So although my writing is usually lengthy, I look for symbols I can use, and try to condense my thoughts into a concise visual statement. I strive to find a shortcut right to the heart of the viewer, something that will strike them at first glance.

When I have taken the painting as far as I can, I return to writing. And just when I think I have dissected a particular idea, when I have learned all I could, writing usually takes it one step further. Words then become the final layer to the piece. The work and the text are then offered up together to others. I then find my experiences are not all that original, as the work strikes a familiar cord in the viewer. People often place themselves inside my work, and add their story to mine, and thus my heart and the heart of my audience connect over the canvas.

Looking for more inspiration?

See more inspiring artwork from Jenedy Paige and Dan Wilson as part of Havenlight’s Let Art Be Your Voice Blog Tour!

See why Camille Walker from My Mommy Style fell in love with Jenedy Paige’s Room to Grow artwork.

Author Michael Young chose a piece that spoke to a special time for his growing family.

The post Let Art Be Your Voice + $200 Havenlight Giveaway! appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.