Have You Ever Researched Your Genealogy?

America's favorite past-time is gardening, but it's followed closely by genealogy which is now considered the second most popular hobby in the U.S. According to TIME magazine, genealogy is also the second most visited category of websites, eclipsed only by pornography (eek!).

My husband has often wondered about his family history. For his birthday, I coughed up the cash and he coughed up some phlegm and we sent his DNA to Ancestry.com. Rich had always assumed he had German roots. According to his DNA analysis, his ethnicity is 46% Great Britain, 26% Europe West, 13% Scandinavia and 12% Ireland/Scotland/Wales.

So much for German heritage. It's considered part of Europe West, but that's a generic compilation of 7 countries. According to Ancestry, Rich's forebears settled in the lower Midwest and Virginia when they made their way overseas.

The thing is, neither of us felt any more enlightened when we got his results. I can't help but question the validity. How am I to know that they didn't just take my 80 bucks and make up the results?

What I'd love to do is have a set of identical twins independently send in their spit and see if they come up with identical results. DNA varies from brothers to sisters but identical twins have identical DNA.

If you're interested in genealogy, there are a ton of resources out there. Here's a list of 25 websites, many of them free, that can help in your research.  What I want to know is how many of you have tried to trace your roots. Take this poll and let us know!