I became interested in genealogy about sixteen years ago, when my then-husband inherited a packet of letters from one of his ancestors, spanning the period 1815-1848. As I transcribed the letters, we began trying to piece his ancestry together using the clues we were finding. I learned the basic techniques of genealogical research tracing his ancestry. This stood me in good stead when, ten years later, I started trying to trace my own Latina heritage.

I have spent the last few years concentrating on my mother's New Mexican ancestry. Having found several ancestors who seem to be the result of spontaneous generation, I broadened my research from my direct lineage into a survey of the López, Argüello, Velarde, de Herrera, García and Candelaria surnames. Then, realizing that there was very little Hispanic genealogy available on the Web, and having gathered an enormous quantity of data, I decided to publish my research results at Northern New Mexico Families, for the benefit of other researchers.