We finally did our DNA home kit swab tests and sent them in. We purchased the tests years ago at the same time we purchased them as gifts for my mom and step dad. My father and step mother have since done theirs as well.

Honestly, I’m a little surprised by how homogeneous I am. I thought Blue Eyes’ results would be straightforward, 100% Ashkenazi Jew with ancestors from Russia and Poland. As it turns out, not so much. I mean sure, that is the majority of his genealogy, and he’s 100% Jewish, but there’s more. He has a decent percentage of Balkan heritage with some Sephardic blood in there… who knew?

When he told his parents (who actually refuse to take DNA tests), they were skeptical. I’m sure this ancestry is on his father’s side, but of course his mother thinks the whole world revolves around her. She said there was no way the test could be accurate and he should ask for his money back. That his ancestors were too poor to travel to those countries??? She really is certifiable.

The strange part of my test is… my father tested as mostly English & Scottish, some Welsh, and a very small amount of Irish (I thought he was a lot Irish. He was adopted, so we didn’t know). My mom tests as English & Swedish. Her English ancestors arrived in the US through Charleston, South Carolina in the latter part of the 17th century. Yeah, crazy! That genealogy family tree is done! Her Swedish ancestors arrived NY in the early 1900’s, and yet she’s not much of a mix. Her ancestors didn’t mingle, apparently. It’s also interesting that her Swedish ancestors came through New York and yet they immediately set off for Seaside, Oregon, where my mom spent her childhood summers with her Swedish aunts. I would have thought they would have just gone up to Maine, which reminds me a lot more of Sweden.

So that leaves me as English, Swedish & Scottish. At least that is what shows on my test. That’s it. Somehow I am 30% Swedish, which actually makes some sense since my mom shows 68%. How did she get so much Swedish blood? Strange.

The funny one is my step mom who thought she was half Swedish. Apparently she isn’t. She’s actually mostly Scottish. So my half siblings are pretty much Scottish, lol. Most people think one of my sisters is 100% Italian, and she does look it. DNA is a strange beast.

Obviously no one is asking for their money back. This was fun. I want to travel back to Sweden and track down where my mom’s family came from, but I’m going to have to do some digging first. I’ve only been to Stockholm so far, a few times, and I love it there. I can’t wait to go back! I’m still planning to visit Ireland (I’ve been to England & Scotland), but now I apparently don’t need to track down relatives, because there don’t seem to be any.