Gratitude List: The Beauty of Life

Today, as a little pick-me-up,  I re-listened to the description for my key signature in The Signature Series on CBC Music. The Signature Series has descriptions for the key signatures in music and lets you figure out which key signature you resemble the most. My key signature is D-flat Major: The Free Spirit. I wrote about it here on my blog before. After listening to the description of D-flat Major again after a while of having not listened to it, I realized how good it made me feel. I felt so happy listening to it and it made my day so much better. My day was already good to begin with but it just filled me with so much joy! I decided that I needed to make a post about gratitude, happiness, and the beauty in life! So here's a little random list of beautiful things in life that make me happy and make me so grateful!

~ The mysteriousness of mornings ~ Books, books, books, and more books! ~ Colours everywhere ~ Forests of endless trees ~ Looking at art and making art ~ Listening to symphonic music that is so beautiful that it makes you cry ~ Singing out loud, even when there is no music playing ~ Going for walks outside all by myself ~ Meditating ~ Talking to my dog ~ Thinking of my ancestors ~ Having such an amazing family ~ Having amazing friends that are not afraid to be themselves and encourage you to do the same ~ Plants inside the house ~ Pretty, bright-coloured flowers ~ Happy people ~ Sunshine ~ Interesting clocks ~ Having endless possibilities for things to do ~ Things to look forward to ~ 

What's beautiful in your life? There's so much to be grateful for!

-Kaylie

Join Me: St. Urho's Day and St. Patrick's Day 2013

You all know about St. Patrick’s Day and how St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland and the legend of how he chased the snakes out of Ireland but have you heard about St. Urho’s Day? St. Urho’s Day celebrates a legend started by Richard Mattson in Virginia, Minnesota in the 1950s. The legend tells of how St. Urho chased the grasshoppers away from the grape crops in Finland and it takes place on March 16^th, the day before St. Patrick’s Day. I am of both Irish and Finnish descent (I’m a quarter Finn and a quarter Irish) so I enjoy celebrating both days.

Here’s a comparison of St. Urho’s and St. Patrick’s Day and how they are celebrated:

St. Patrick’s Day	St. Urho’s Day
Irish	Finnish
Celebrates the legend of how St. Patrick chased the snakes out of Ireland	Celebrates the legend of how St. Urho chased the grasshoppers away from the grape crops in Finland
March 17th	March 16th
Wear green because of the shamrock	Wear purple because of the grapes and green because of the grasshoppers

 Check out the St. Urho's Day and the St. Patrick's Day websites for more information.

Here’s a neat little fact: There is a Gaelic word, “Céilidh”, which is pronounced the same way as my name, Kaylie, and it is a type of party in Ireland and Scotland.

So, I hope you have fun and celebrate both days! People celebrate St. Patrick’s Day even if they’re not Irish so it doesn’t matter if you’re not Finnish, celebrate and join in on the fun! Watch for some Irish and Finnish themed blog posts during the next two weeks!

-Kaylie