Oh my,

It has been a great deal of time, since I got back to this. My apologies.
Alot has happened since I went on vacation last year. My sister is getting married, so my family has been very focused on getting that ready. I started going to the gym and it is really awesome. I love how much better I feel. Excercise helps the mind and mood a great deal. I stopped drinking soda, which I was downing like it was water for a very long time. My health has gotten alot better because of this. I am still striving to find a harmonious life. Cup of tea in hand and relaxing with a book. So lets continue on this journey. There is a whole world to explore and it hasnt truly been explored until youve been there yourself.

Its been awhile.

I went on vacation. Communed with nature. Really needed that. Hiked alot. Spent some time with
my aunt who is an artist. Which really reaffirmed my view of her as a kind and loving person. Not because she gave me a piece of original art. Its just what I saw in her. Had dinner with my other aunt and some other family members and for the first time felt like we were a family. Very strange thing.
Wasnt expect to feel that way.

My sister got engaged. Which while I am happy for her I am slighty jealous. More for the fact that I havent been proposed to. Something I had not realized I wanted.

Plants are doing well my lavender and lemon balm are doing great. Rose is also. Couldnt revive the mint. If I can I will try finding another plant.

Huge tempreture difference between here and where I was on vacation. Having to readjust to the heat.

Apparently a power outage killed most of our food supply. Though how you can have a power outage in just one section of the home I dont know. However I am hopeful that I will be cooking again soon.

So its been awhile...I think. Im not so good with time. Lets see what have I been up to, ah! My mom and I made a nice vase out of a glass bottle. Getting the stickers off of it however is a problem. I put vegetable oil on them and waited over night. didnt work. Oh well, try try again. Most of my plants are doing well. With exceptions being the echincea, chamomile mint and oddly enough one of my cacti. This is the first time Ive had problems with one. I have quite a few succulents and cacti for some reason I find them cute. My aunt went to see the Dalai Lama when he was in Washington DC. She sent me a box full of cool stuff.  It was like my birthday. Cooking alot lately. Since my mother gets quite stressed out from work and my niece. I enjoy cooking there is something so satisfying about creating something and having people truly enjoy it. I am trying to drink more tea. I made a lemon ice tea which I was afraid was going to be overly tart however it was just right. I would like to make some desserts, however most of the house is on a diet.

Well I had better get started on my day.

Lately, I have recieved several invitations to movies. I tend not to see movies in the theatre unless it is something that I believe will be improved by being on the big screen. So I am going to review the movies
I have gone to see and also one I rented.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 - I was really really excited about going to see this. However

I feel that many things that were shown in the movie were not needed and the things they did show were not explained clearly. Not to spoil anything but for me the ending was not nearly as exciting or epic as in the book. However, thinking of it as its own movie I find it enjoyable.Very shiny as far as special effects go. Harry the Potter and the Dark Golem of Claymore...gets a Tea Cup Half full. lol.

Captain America - I wasnt so sure that I wanted to see this initially. Not that I have anything against

comics being turned into movies. I do enjoy the action based movies. Anyway to get back to the point.

The actors were great, they gave enough backstory to make sense. Again shiny graphics. Action scenes were well done. At the end of the movie, I felt that this version of Captain America was one that could be believed in. If he was actually real. I give it a full Tea Cup.

Cowboys and Aliens - Another movie I had not expected to see. Excellent cast. Harrison Ford actually seemed to be enjoying acting in this movie. Which is nice. Interesting story though some things should of taken longer to happen. Shiny graphics for the aliens not so much for the cowboys. Some gore. Mainly in the beginning. I always enjoy watching Daniel Craig so that was an added plus. 3/4 full tea cup. Due to odd pacing of one charaters development and the stereoptypes.

Source Code- I rented it off of iTunes. A great suprise to me that I enjoyed it. Very interesting plot involving a pilot who wakes up in another mans body and has to go through the process of living that persons last 8 minutes of life over and over to successfully complete his mission. Nice shine on the graphics. I feel it had good acting. Also that it shows alot of the virtue compassion. Full Cup of Tea.

Well I hope you enjoyed this utterly random movie review. Have a good day.  

Ive been in a bit of a funk lately, as I have been working through some emotional stuff. So I thought it might be a good time to talk a little about the importance of working out our stuff. We all have drama in our lives, bad things happen and seemingly outway the good. The reason I think its a good idea to work through our issues is that it really affects how we precieve the world and respond to it. To give a an example of a perception would be not seeing how many options we really have because whatever is happening is clouding up the view of those options. Gives a sort of tunnel vision. This is something I have experienced myself. Some reccomendations with dealing with issues that keep popping up in ones life is to take a step back look at the big picture, see what this issue is connected to. Take yourself out of the issue  and try to look at it as if you were an another person watching happen. Remember you always have choices. Finally try to do the next thing. Whatever that next thing is if its walking over to a chair and sitting do it. Then do the next thing after that. Give yourself a break from what is happening. Focus on that next thing  and keep it there. Until your ready to face the issue again.

I am not a pyschologist or a pyschiatrist. However I am a person who has been there and is still struggling with my own issues. I believe there is always hope and that we all can move beyond whatever issues we may have. Also its pretty hard to relax when we have something bugging us. Though Im

sure thats something everyone notices.

Mini-Post

Having some trouble figuring out how to respond to comments.

However I really appreciate what has been said.

Thank you Ant and Fresh Garden :)

One thing that I have found works for calming oneself during a time of depression, is movies. Not just
any movies, these movies have to take you to your happy place. They can be heartwarming or comedic,
as long as they can reduce the feelings of sadness/or stress inside. The movie will fit the bill. For me personally, Miyazaki's films are my happy place and also movies that are silly like Megamind. Children's movies are good for this. Recently, I watched Brother Bear and was suprised at what a good movie it was. With the added plus of cheering up. Many of us have access to movies be it through dvds or the interweb. I rent movies off of Itunes from time to time.

In related news. Harry Potter! I have greatly enjoyed the films (also the books) and have gone out of my way to see them in the theatre. So I am very excited to see this one. I hope there is a movie out their that everyone is looking forward to watching.

Ive been making a lot of iced tea, since it is summer afterall. One tea Ive found to be very refreshing on a really hot day is mint. In the specifics its called mint medley which is something I generally enjoy during the winter season. However after trying a flavored water called Metromint and then realizing it was a difficult to find item. I decided I was going to try and find something similarly refreshing. On a really hot day the mint ice tea really hits the spot. I highly reccomended this to those in warmer climates.

Any suggestions on teas that are refreshing during summer?