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I'm a Viking?


Ancestry and genetics have always fascinated me. My daughter may have inherited that trait since she’s been researching our family tree for years.

Recently she told me she was going to send her DNA to AncestryDNA (an offshoot of Ancestry.com) to find out more about her ethic background. I thought that sounded interesting since her father’s family claims they're quite the melting pot. Irish, German, French, Polish, and Native American.

Me? I was told I was half German and half English. Guess what? It’s not true!

I only did the testing so she could try to separate out what she got from which parent. We were both surprised when we saw her analysis, since it seemed her father’s family must have been confused or misinformed. We would have expected more German since it was on both sides. Nope. Her chart showed that about 72% of her DNA was from Great Britain.

Now that I’ve seen my results, I have to say I’m in shock. Either I’m adopted…(My brother always said so, because I was the only blonde in the family) or my family was quite mistaken too!  

My highest percentage is Scandinavian followed by Irish!  What the whaaaa????

My mind is blown.
As a member of Ancestry.com my daughter is notified when a close relative shows up in the DNA database...so people can share family tree info. She reassured me that we were confirmed as parent and child. Well, that’s a relief. I was beginning to worry that I had picked up the wrong kid from the hospital!

So, now that I know I’m this whole different person—someone with a majority of Scandinavian and Irish ancestry, what am I gonna do about it?

Other than asking some of my cousins if they’d like to test their DNA, I don’t know what I can do. My parents and siblings have all passed away. I know one of my cousins is very interested in this stuff--almost as much as my daughter is, so I’m pretty sure he’ll jump into the DNA pool with both feet.   

I’m just guessing that my Midwestern relatives may carry the Scandinavian DNA. I’ll have to chase a few of them down and see if we can’t get a test from that side too. This could really snowball. Kudos to Ancestry.com for coming up with this! It’s got to be one of the best viral marketing ploys ever.

If only I could sell my books like that. Or is that what ‘word of mouth’ advertising is? Hmmm…I can see the similarities. Hopefully, those who read my books will recommend them to their relatives and friends, and so on, and so on, and so on…
Coming very, very soon! The Cupcake Coven!

“Entertainment abounds when a coven of witches whip up a few spells to help their friend hold onto her bakery while losing her heart. Can a long distance romance work between a cowboy and a baker if they believe in magic?”
—Dorine Linnen, Romance Junkies Reviews
*    *    *    *    *
Pretty Wiccan Rebecca Colby borrowed money from her father to start a bakery, and now he’s calling the loan due. When she learns he fell off the gambling wagon and owes big money to some scary people, she has to start making a profit—and fast—before the loan shark takes a bite out of her.
Hot Cowboy Dru Tanner is looking for his missing sister who left Texas to explore their New England Wiccan roots. She’s the only family he has left, and he’s desperate to find her. Dru has to hide the fact that he’s not a Wiccan long enough to infiltrate a coven in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It’s the only lead he has.
Dru needs a job and a place to stay while he searches for his sister. Rebecca needs cheap help so she can work some baking magic. Dru makes Rebecca an offer she can’t refuse—if only lust doesn’t drive them crazy first.

Comments

  1. That's really interesting! My ancestors came from Scotland and The Netherlands, but now I'm wondering where THEIR ancestors came from. The Scots for sure would have Viking in the mix, but the Dutch could be German, French, who knows? Now I'm curious.

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    1. Yup. I read up on the places the Vikings invaded, and good Lord, they were everywhere--Scotland most definitely! LOL

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  2. So interesting. I know in my family there was a scandal where my great-great grandfather left my great-great grandmother after their son was born. She moved back in with her parents and took their last name back. The son also carried that last name, all the way down to my dad. It's a German last name, but we're mostly Dutch, and it isn't reflected in the name because this scandal was always kept secret.

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    1. Yup. Families have their secrets...and now I'm wondering if I'm one of them! I was always told my mother's German side was actually Austrian, Dutch and Penn Dutch. Yet Western European was way down the list.

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  3. There may not really be any secrets. My middle son who is a biologist told me that it all depends on what pieces of DNA you got from each parent and the same with them all the way back.
    We just had this conversation because I couldn't figure out how my step-brothers was SO different from each other. That's when my boy explained (or tried to ;)) how DNA transfers.
    So, it looks like bits of the Vikings were your luck :).

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    1. Yup. You're right, Victoria. As Dalton said, I'm driven and love to travel. LOL

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  4. How interesting! I've been wanting to take that DNA test.

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    1. Go for it! Just type in ancestrydna.com and it should come up.

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  5. Any chance they made a mistake?

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    1. According to their website, the results are pretty darn accurate. The thing is, you only get half your DNA from each parent, and they got half of theirs, and so on and so on...all the way back to the cavemen. So bits of one ancestor can skip a close relative and wind up in another. It's amazing how different we can be...even in the same family.

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  6. So interesting! I'd love to take the test and have the rest of my family do it. I've always been told we are mostly German and Swedish but do have a relative who came over on the Mayflower. My husband is German, Dane and very Italian on his dad's side and irish, Russian, and English on his mom's. It would be interesting to see which DNA is really dominant and how it shows up in our kids. :-)

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    1. I was so surprised at how many bits of this and that made up both myself and my daughter. She even had some middle eastern ancestors show up! The Crusades, perhaps? I have a trace amount of North African and about 9% Spanish. One guy must have decided to swim across the Straight of Gibraltar! LOL.

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  7. I'm so intrigued by this, Ashlyn. I've always wondered about my heritage. There are vague references to England, maybe Ireland, but no one knows for sure.

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  8. I don't know, it seems to me I had heard that the DNA tests they did on dogs wasn't entirely accurate, so I would wonder, lol.

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  9. Fascinating stuff, Ashlyn! Thanks for sharing!

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