Feeling Lucky? A deeper look into St. Patrick's Day.

As today is St. Patrick's Day I thought it fitting to dedicate my blog post today to the Irish holiday.

Thinking about it, I realized I don't know very much about St. Patrick's Day, the traditions surrounding it or even why we celebrate it. All I really know is that on March 17 I go out dressed in green, drink way too much green beer and enjoy the music and company of many others doing the same thing I am.

So what is St. Patrick's Day really? Well put your green beers down and read on to find out.

St. Patrick's Day is a celebration to honor St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. When it first started it was a Catholic holiday, and turned into a feast day. It was believed to be a one day break during Lent, which you were allowed to feast and drink. It became an official Irish holiday in 1903.

Now it is celebrated by parades, the longest in Canada taking place in Montreal, and people gathering to eat, drink and be merry.

Who is St. Patrick?

Well according to Wikipedia, little is known about Patrick's early life. He was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century and at the age of 16 was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland as a slave. During this time he converted from paganism to Christianity, and went on to become a bishop after returning to Britain. He later returned to Ireland to convert the pagans to Christianity and was very successful in his endeavors.

According to Irish folklore he used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the people of Ireland. Which explains why the shamrock is one of the most common symbols of St. Patrick's Day.

Symbols.

Shamrocks, Four-Leaf Clover, Leprechauns

Shamrocks are a tradition due to Christianity. It is said that St. Patrick used shamrocks to teach the pagans about the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit).

Four-Leaf Clover

Because most clovers only have three leaves, finding a rare four-leaf clover is said to bring you good luck. It is believed that each leaf on these rare clovers means something different.

1. hope

2. faith

3. love

4. happiness

According to legend leprechauns look like little old men and dresses like a shoemaker. He is very sneaky and unfriendly. They spend there time looking after their pots of gold and fixing the shoes of the Irish Fairies. Legend says if you catch one you can force him to show you his pot of gold, but be sure not to take your eyes off him or he will vanish and you will never find his gold.

Now that you know a little more about this holiday, make sure you wear your green, drink your beer, and be on the look out for four-leaf clovers and leprechauns.

Enjoy the day to celebrate the luck o' the Irish.

Good times in Arborg, Manitoba

For a journalism/advertising assignment we were instructed to break into small groups and travel "beyond the perimeter" to a small town of our choice. My group consistent of the lovely Jen Hanson, John Rymon and Tammy Karatchuk, and on Friday we piled into Tammy's new car and hit Highway 7 all the way to Arborg.

*Interesting Fact: Tammy Karatchuk was born in Arborg.*

The drive down was filled with... shall I say interesting.... conversation, I'd tell you all about it but what happens in Tammy's car stay in Tammy's car. After about two hours of driving down the foggy highway we finally saw it, the town sign, Welcome to Arborg.

Tammy took us on a driving tour of the town... which only lasted about 10 minutes, and we ended up at her old high school. In Winnipeg they won't let you just walk around a high school and in classrooms while school is in session, but in Arborg they just let the four of us walk right in. We even got an impromptu interview with the school principal, Arlene Perry. She told us all about the new band program and raved about Arborg Collegiate. Graduating from a high school where my graduating class was just under 300, I found it very strange to see a high school being so small and looking at grad pictures with only 32 graduating students.

After the high school, Tammy drove us to the bar at the Arborg hotel. The hotel and burned down twice since its opening, and had just re-opened. The decor was stunning, bamboo floors and black tables. It was not what I had expected to see in a small town bar. However they were playing the country music that I had expected to hear.

The hotel itself was just as impressive and classy as the bar. As Owen Eyolfson, the owner of the Arborg hotel said, " Just because you're in a small town doesn't mean you have to make everything look like a tin shed."

After that we decided to stop in at the Chicken Chef for lunch, where I had the best onion rings. I still dream of those onion rings... and that milkshake... mmmm milkshake.

Anyways, we then went to see the curling rock and as any good tourists would do we took crazy amounts of pictures in front of it, managing to get some weird looks from the locals.

On the way home we stopped at Tammy's farm and got a brief tour of where she'd grown up. Then it was back to reality and the big city for us. Sad to leave the small town atmosphere, but very happy to be near a Timmies again!

I would also like to thank Jen Hanson for allowing me to use her photos of the trip on my blog. Thanks Jen!

Vampire Academy

Reading has always been my favorite escape from the pressures and stress of the real world. I can pull out a book and within minutes I'm in some far away land, away from all the troubles that come with living life.

One of my good friends, Caitlin Shale, recommended this book series Vampire Academy and I started reading and I was hooked! I finished the book in a few hours and the next day I was at Chapters buying the next two books in the series.

I love the book because it is so easy to get lost in their world. The world is a mix between real life and vampire fantasy. The characters have such qualities that you feel as if you know who they are, almost like they are people in your real life.

I don't want to give too much away about the book but I suggest everyone go out and read them. They are an easy read that doesn't involve much thinking, perfect for those stressful days where you want to escape from life for a while.

Here is the back of the book for all of you.

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires- the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa'a best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger... and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever...

Their problems will make yours seem so small that the world seems like a better place after reading these books. Plus who doesn't love forbidden love and dangerous vampires? Go to Chapters and buy the books!!!