Teavana Tea Review: White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos Tea

(photo credit - Me)

Back in November (I know, a long time back), I received two Teavana teas from my parents for my 40th birthday (thanks Mom and Dad!). It was hard to choose which one to try first, but the White Chocolate Peppermint Rooibos tea won out for one reason. The scent.

When I first opened the entire box with all the gifts in it, I instantly smelled a bubble gum smell. "Hmmmmm, that's interesting" I thought. When I got to the teas, I understood why. Peppermint. Yum! I love anything with mint in it. Mint is a refreshing scent and it actually perks me up.

Let's get to the good stuff. What is in this tea?

Ingredients:

-White chocolate pieces (sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, dextrose)

-Cocoa kernels

-Carob pieces

-Red rooibos

-Artificial flavoring

-Vanilla pieces

-Coconut blossom sugar

-Liquorice root

On the description page for this tea they put in all capitals that this tea contains milk and coconut. So if you're allergic to these two ingredients, you should stay away. Other than the peppermint scent, the second strong smell was indeed the milk.

Now, what did I think of this tea? When I saw the name of the tea, I was all in. Then I saw that one of the ingredients was coconut. I'm not a huge fan of coconut, so I started to wonder how strong that flavor was going to be.

Fantastic tea! The coconut is definitely there, but not overpowering at all. The peppermint is probably the strongest flavor out of all of them. I can also taste the milk powder too, which surprised me. And of course the chocolate. The milk powder is actually in the white chocolate pieces,  so I guess it really doesn't surprise me that I taste the milk.

The description on the web site says "Richly sweet, creamy white chocolate with a delightful peppermint finish". That describes it perfectly. The after taste is definitely peppermint.

This one is a keeper! I wouldn't say this is one of my favorites though. The only reason I say that is because of the milk. I'm not a huge fan of milk in teas. I don't care for the smell of warm milk. It puts me off somehow. If this tea had no milk powder in, I think it would be high on the list of my favorites. This tea is easy to make as all of Teavana teas are. Use 1 and a half teaspoons of tea for every 8 ounces of water. Let it steep to 5 to 6 minutes and you're good to go.

The bad thing is, I don't think this tea is available any more. I know with the other tea that I'll be reviewing was a limited edition tea, but I don't remember seeing that notation on this tea. Not sure why it's no longer there, but maybe they'll bring it back again in the fall for the holidays.

I'll be reviewing the other tea very soon, so stay tuned for that!

Be sure to check out more of my Teavana tea reviews!

Mileage Monday: Short And Quick

Here are some more of the pictures I have saved from the virtual walk site from the last several weeks. I mentioned in my last Mileage Monday post that I've been dealing with anxiety and avoidance issues. I'm getting a hold of it though, at least to some degree. I do intend to write about it, but it is a touchy subject. It's personal and hard to talk about sometimes because it makes me feel uncomfortable. But I figure there are other people with cerebral palsy who are dealing with the same set backs and fears, so why not share my experience? That's what this whole blog is for right? To share my journey and how I deal with my situation. I won't be "cured" of anxiety, but I can learn to deal with it and keep moving forward. It's no fun to go through, and is downright scary sometimes.

Onward and upward. Here are some more pictures from the cross country walk.

Mile 868 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 869 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 872 (elliptical for 1 mile and Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 872.4 (marched in place watching The Biggest Loser for .5 mile)

Mile 874.8 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 877.2 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk Site)

I'm almost current with the pictures. I have three left. Now if I can just get my butt up and moving I can add to those pictures. It seems I've lost my mojo. I'm nowhere near as consistent with exercise as I once was. I'll get there again, I just need to focus and DO IT. Keep moving!

Mileage Monday: Slacking Again

I've missed several weeks again for my Mileage Monday posts. I won't appologize, I won't make promises to do better, but they will still be posted. I may miss a week here or there, but oh well. As Roni and Carla would say...WYCWYC.

My workouts have been hit and miss lately also. I'll get into the why of that at a later time, but long story short, it has to do with avoidance of a certain issue. If you guessed fear of falling as a cause for this avoidance, you're spot on. Like I said, a story for another time. But it's time to deal with it.

On to the virtual walk progress report. I'm still going, although like I said, it's hit and miss. I got back on the wagon this morning though. Only did 1/2 mile on the elliptical, but it's something. I still have a few weeks of pictures to get caught up on, so let's get started.

Mile 858.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 861 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 861.4 (elliptical for .5 mile)

Mile 862.2 (Jessica Smith for .8 mile)

Mile 864.6 (Leslie Sansone for 2.4 miles)

Mile 865.5 (elliptical for 1 mile)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk)

Onward and upward. Hope everyone who is dealing with the tons and tons of snow is safe and staying warm. Wish I could send you our 90 degree weather. How about I send you 30 degrees of warmth? I'll give you all 30 degrees from our temps. I miss the 70s and 60s. Too soon to be getting into the 90s. Bah. Oh well. Keep moving!

Mileage Monday

Hope everyone is having a great Martin Luther King day! I got my mile on the elliptical done first thing. I actually drank my coffee during my breaks. Probably not the best idea to drink coffee to rehydrate, but oh well. At least I got it done. And yes, I did drink water when I was finished.

I'm still working on my exercise consistency. I seem to start out the week strong, lag in the middle, and end strong. Let's see if I can get some type of exercise five days this week. Here are some more pictures I have saved up from the virtual walk site.

Mile 852.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 853.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 854.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 855.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 856.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 867.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk site)

Onward and upward. Keep moving!

Mileage Monday

Here's some more catch up pictures from the virtual walk site. Starting off a new week raring to go as always. Hopefully I can be consistent this week. So far so good.

Mile 845.4 (Leslie for 2.4 miles)

Mile 846.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 848.4 (marched in place for mile, elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 849.6 (marched in place for .75 mile, elliptical for .5 mile)

Mile 850.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 851.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

(photo credit - Virtual Walk site)

Keep Moving!!

Mileage Monday: Hard Habit To Break

I realize now that I sometimes don't post a Mileage Monday entry because I have nothing to say. Well, today is one of those days. However instead of not posting anything at all (like usual), I am still posting the pictures and a short update. This is my first success at beating my procrastination and deadline issue too. It's almost 4 PM here on the west coast, and I am in fact posting. Woohoo for me!

Since my last Mileage Monday entry, I've passed through Maud, KY (Washington county) and Bardstown, KY (Nelson County). I have 20.5 miles to go until I reach Howardstown, KY.

Here are the pictures from the virtual walk site I still have from a long time back.

Mile 838.4 (walk down the street for .2 mile)

Mile 839 (elliptical for .6 mile)

Mile 839.6 (elliptical for .6 mile)

Mile 841 (elliptical for 1.4 miles)

Mile 842 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 843 (elliptical for 1)
(photo credit - virtual walk site)

It has in fact been way too many times that I skipped a Mileage Monday post. The .2 mile walk down the street (first picture) was back in October when I screwed up my upper back by startling. No more waiting until I have "something to say".

Keep Moving!!

End Of Year Ramblings And One Resolution

(photo credit - blog.medi-share.org)

There haven't been very many posts on this blog in the last year, and I'm hoping to remedy that in 2015. My main goal for 2015 is to stop procrastinating. Not really procrastinating, More like I need to stop giving myself a time limit on when things get done by. Example, I like to get the Mileage Monday posts up early Monday mornings, like before 9 AM. But who says they can't be uploaded until Monday 11:59 PM? It's still Monday right?

Just because I have a set time in my head doesn't mean it has to be done by then. If it's late, who really cares? As long as it gets done, that's what matters. I'm holding myself back...again...with the "all or nothing" mentality. I used to do that with losing weight long long ago. I'd lose a few pounds, then would get stuck for several weeks, so I'd give up. That's pretty much what I'm doing now with "deadlines".

Yes, deadlines are good to have, but to have them be so strict is pointless. I need to be more relaxed (in more ways than one) with when I post things. I have a long long long list of posts to write, but nothing gets done because of my "deadline" issue. So no more deadlines. Just do it and don't worry about how long it takes.

I have a major backlog of pictures from the virtual walk site, but that doesn't mean I've been exercising regularly. Again, my whole "deadline" problem. The deadline I give myself with workouts is I need to start by a certain time. When that start time comes and goes, I start the procrastination process. I need to retrain my brain by telling myself that as long as my workouts get done that's the important thing. I don't have to do it by a certain time (although I love getting my workout done by 8 or 8:30 AM). That's sometimes not realistic.

I'm not making excuses anymore (not that I did here on the blog) for why I'm not getting things done. I'm tired mainly of my "things get in the way/people are coming over" excuse. If people are coming over, so be it. I'm not letting that be an excuse to take the day off from exercise. If people are here when I need to get in the shower, so what? Other people are not the problem, I am the problem. I shouldn't let anything or anyone get in my way of doing what I need to or want to get done. I'm too worried about what other people are doing or thinking. I'm too worried about what the dog is doing for Pete's sake.

So that's pretty much my ramble for the day. I haven't made up any New Year's resolutions. I don't usually wait until the new year to start before I start working on a goal. But this year I am making a resolution to stop worrying about "start and end" deadlines. And to stop procrastinating when those deadlines come and go.

I need to really start implementing the "What You Can When You Can" attitude. I've already written about the WYCWYC strategy, I just need to put it into practice.

Hope everyone has a great new year and a fantastic 2015!