top ten || celtic thunder edition

 

H e l l o   p e o p l e   o f   t h e   b l o g g e r   w o r l d !

  My darling little sister, Liberty did a post like this a little while ago (clink here to see her's) and I thought it would be fun to do my own take on it. My own top ten songs of Celtic Thunder. But first, let me tell a quick little story about how my love for this group came about, and how I discovered them. 

  One day, a long time ago (I believe it was in 2014), my mom was on Facebook, on the family computer. I happened to be in the room and she was watching a video my uncle had shared. The video was of an Irish group singing A Place in the Choir. I just stood behind my mom watching this video and loving it. I then went upstairs and told my sisters, and my aunt who lived with us at the time, about how they needed to see this video. My parents then left to go visiting, so us kids gathered around the computer to entertain ourselves -by listening to A Place in the Choir over and over and over again. *laughs*

  From there it only got worse. We soon started listening to pretty much all their songs. At the time, there wasn't very many songs on YouTube so it took some digging, it really did. And one of the first things I bought myself online was one of their albums on CD - and that CD went with me everywhere. I would lay on the floor and listen to all the songs (er- all the good songs, lol) over and over. And a lot of evenings where spent gathered around the computer or laptop, watching as many of their videos as we could find. 

  Ah, those were the days, my friends. 

  I used to tell people that you can't just listen to Celtic Thunder - you have to watch their videos first. So that when you're listening to the songs later, you have the video in your mind. That's just how it has to work, okay xP

  I now have a decent Celtic Thunder collection, that is still growing. I'll show you my collection at the end of this post.

And now, let me introduce the members of this group to you.

The Original members:

|| George Donaldson

|| Neil Byrne (originally just as a guitar player and backup singer, but then joined the lead singers)

|| Ryan Kelly

|| Paul Byrom

|| Keith Harkin

|| Damian McGinty 

Since the beginning of Celtic Thunder (in 2007) members have come and gone, including the sad passing of George. 

The rest of the members are/were:

|| Emmet Cahill

|| Daniel Furlong (he wasn't a member very long)

|| Colm Keegan (fun fact about Colm, he was a backup singer for Celtic Woman before joining Celtic Thunder. He also married Celtic Thunder's cellists. also, go listen to his music on his own, he's great)

|| Emmett the 2nd (so he gets two T's. *dies laughing* lol, no, he's just plain Emmett O'Hanlon, but yes, there has been two Emmett's)

(yes, this is a Christmas song. I couldn't find anything that was this Emmett on his own)

|| Michael O'Dwyer

The current members: Damian, Neil, Ryan, and Emmet

 Ok, if you've made it this far you are the best of us. Because I am finally going to list my top ten songs of theirs. Thanks for hanging in there!

T o p   T e n   S o n g s   b y   C  e l t i c   T h u n d e r :

(the only order to this, is the order I want you to listen to them. Especially if this is your first time listening to them)

|| Castle on the Hill

This is one their newer songs (from the Celtic Thunder X album), but it has the feel of their old videos and I just love it. And yes, I know this song is a cover. xP

|| Raggle Taggle Gypsy 

tiny baby Damian *sniff*

|| Ireland's Call 

sharing this video because Damian messes up and it's wayyy too funny. I love it. But the Celtic Thunder X and Legacy Vol I versions are also both worth a watch. (especially Legacy, because Colm) 

|| Turning Away

|| Christmas 1915

|| Caledonia 

This is the original video, but the Legacy Vol I version is great too. and the fact that Damian sang George's part melts my heart.

|| Take Me Home 

(links to the other versions of this song: It's Entertainment and Homeland)

|| Hallelujah 

Sharing this video because when Keith and Emmet come out it's E P I C. But that line is great in the other versions too. (Christmas. Legacy Vol II. as well as other albums that I won't bother linking. just go listen to them all sometime)

|| Life With You 

sharing the tribute version because melts my heart, but here's a link to George singing it: Myths and Legends

|| Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For 

because when they all come in together #chills

If you're still here, you're amazing, and you must know by now that it is impossible for me actually only pick ten songs from them. So here's something special for you: A link to my playlist just for them and their members. (please let me know if that works)

M y   C e l t i c   T h u n d e r   c o l l e c t i o n

(does this make me a hardcore fan??) 

I have Legacy Vol I on vinyl. I also have the music book The Music. On DVD I just have It's Entertainment, but I would like have all the albums on DVD someday. On CD I have Take Me Home, Act Two, Heritage (the first one I bought), and Celtic Thunder X (X meaning Ten. As in, their tenth anniversary album). I also have Phil Coulter's Tribute to them on CD, so that's instrumental versions of their songs.

Each time I got something new of theirs I was obsessed with it for months. So now when I go listen to the songs I get brought back to the good ole days. 

A Place in the Choir and the Heritage album in general bring me back to the days when Evelyn was my Tootsie-Roll and she loved listening to them. She would try so hard to sing Damian's part in A Place in the Choir and it was so cute <3 the Take Me Home album takes me back to when we helped my aunt and uncle move, Act Two album brings me back to the time we had moved and were living with my grandpa while in-between houses. And Celtic Thunder X I just got, so I'm still making memories with that album.

  And there you have it, a very long, fangirl-y post about Celtic Thunder. Hope someone enjoyed this. But even so, I loved putting it together, and I know I'm going to love having all these songs in one place!

first post of 2022!! || hello there

  

Oh hey. I still have a blog, Whaatt??

But yeah, hey,. I'm alive. I'm still living. Life is still moving on. I've been struggle to find the motivation to share anything on the internet. So I've been quiet. On here. and even on Instagram. But I'm slowly remembering why I even started to sharing to start with - I enjoy it. Even if nobody reads it, or cares about what's up in my boring life, I enjoy creating content to look back on later. I miss doing photo dumps. I miss putting together 'top ten' posts, even if nobody else cared to look at them. I loved sharing about the books I'm reading and the shows I'm watching, and the music I'm listening to. I loved sharing about all the crazy things that happen in my boring life. 

My life may be boring, but it's mine, and I wanna be able to look back on this blog years from now and take a walk down memory lane. I guess my life got too boring and sad for a while there, and I wasn't sure I wanted any of that shared on the internet, even if it was just for me to look back on later. If you've read my last post (a letter to 2021) then you already know all about that. But there is something I didn't mention in that post that deserves to be talked about... 

One day my dear friend, Brynna, sent me a text that set into motion a series of events that ended with the most wonderful of wonderfuls - Brynna and my darling brother are DATING. Sometimes the wonder of it still hits me and I just sit there in awe. My new friend is now my brothers girlfriend - she's part of the family. She's here to stay, forever. Isn't God amazing? I still can't believe that He chose me, of all people, to help bring this adorable couple together. It was kinda scary, not gonna lie, lol. Not at first. At first it was all squeals and giggles - because how would YOU react if your best friend just told you she had a crush on your adorable brother? xP But then he asked me to talk to her for him, and that was freaky. We were all kinda freaking out, but that's all over now, and now we're left with Chancy and Brynna being all adorable, and making us all blush. Lol. We love them anyway *winks*

She is coming to visit us (aka HIM) next month and we're all so excited! Even though I am a little worried we might be a little overwhelming for her - this being the first time she'll see us in our comfort zone, lol. She might change her mind about wanting to enter this crazy, wild family. Lol, just kidding. I know she loves us. xP

So yeah, if I can actually get myself to continue to do posts, I'll probably keep you updated on this adorable couple. *winks*

Recently, my family and I took a relaxing trip over to the desert to visit Auntie A and her family (top picture is from that trip. as well as below pic). That weekend was such fun. I loved seeing my aunt and uncle's new property, where they're building a new house, and I loved walking around town and getting coffee. Even staying in the trailer was fun, even if the second night was kinda cold, lol. 

I was finally able to visit the mall again! That day was SO refreshing! Walking around the mall (I bought a season of Psych on DVD, and a book - which I'll probably show you later in a book haul) and then ending the day at one of my favorite sit-downs. The food was amazing, and just BEING THERE almost made me cry. It's been too long since I was able to do something like that. 

One day I decided to go for a drive, and then ended up at a park, where I read in the car, and that was wonderful. I should do things like that more often. I enjoy being alone, but I get severe cases of FOMO, so it's hard for me to find a good time to leave the house like that. But whenever I do, I always really enjoy it. 

I re-downloaded Spotify and have started using that for my music these days. If you're interesting and listening to my playlists my name on there is Daminika_Sonshine. Let me know if you can find me. If not, I might be able to send you the link on Instagram. You'll find me there @walkinginthesonshine 

Now, before I go, I have a few questions for my readers, and would really appreciate it if you'd answer them in the comments (some are just for fun, lol)

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What is something you'd like me to do a blog post about?

3. Have any plans for the upcoming summer? (who is excited that we made it to SPRING!?)

4. Did you enjoy my photo dumps and top ten posts in the past?

5. How long have you been follow my blog?

Feel free to ask me some questions back, and maybe I'll do a Q&A life update! 

Until then, thanks for taking the time to read this!