It's in my blood

  A little over a year ago, Ancestry.com had this great deal for members - they wanted people to try out their DNA matching for free (limited availability).  My mom and I had been talking about trying this for a while, so we jumped at the chance!  Normally the test ranges from about $130 - $200 depending on membership/special offers.  I submitted my DNA (filling a vile with saliva) so we could do both my folks' DNA at once.  I must say it has been a pretty interesting experience.  At first since it was a new program through Ancestry, I didn't get a lot of matches.  However, it did tell me what my ethnic background was, which in and of itself was cool!

I was not surprised by the British Isles percentage.  I was at the Scandinavian one though until I realized that some of my blond haired, blue eyed German ancestors were probably of Viking descent :)  The "uncertain" intrigues me!  They clarified that saying the more data they gathered might eventually clarify this category.
  When you do eventually get matches to your tree, they are classified into what kind of "cousins" they might be, the majority falling into the distant cousins, but actually I have over 30 right now that fall into the 4th-6th cousin range. It will show you this little graph to let you know which ethnicity you share:

Best case scenario you can look at their tree and see what names you might share as well as the locations:

Now, I have not had much luck with looking at the trees.  Sometimes I might recognize the surname, but who's to tell if that's the one you actually share more immediately?  I personally prefer the map.  It shows tear drops for your tree, the "cousin's" tree as well as one for areas you both have an ancestor from.  If you click on the shared tear drop it will show you the individuals from both trees from that area - that is the most helpful!
  Just this week I had 2 hits that were cousins I totally recognized.  One was a gal I had been in contact with years before.  Her tree (as well as mine) is private, but I recognized her name and knew her connection - her ancestor and my ggg-grandma were siblings.  Yay!  Here's pictures of them:

Joshua Jordan

Louisa Jordan Camp

  Also, Ancestry sent me a hit where a 4th-6th cousin had a match to a name in his tree!  Awesome!  When it does that, it shows you a little graph on how you are related to that person.  So, it didn't hold any groundbreaking information on either of them, but it made me rest assured that this stuff really works! I can't wait to see what more it kicks up:)