Simple and short: The hardest years of my life have been the last three or so. It involves a lot of long and personal stories that I won't go into now. In this time, though I managed to lose about 100lbs, I also managed to lose myself completely. However, I recently had somewhat of a wake-up call and have been striving to improve myself and my life. Throughout this process, I've cut myself off from some friends that were moochers and toxicities, again. This is good and can be a fresh start for me. I'm also thinking about going vegan again, but I'm not honestly completely sure yet. If you've got some convincing you want to do, please feel free. =P There are health reasons, for myself, as to why I shouldn't have dairy in my diet anyhow. Also, In all of this time, I have had myself fairly trapped and haven't had much opportunity to do arts/crafts, play games, or watch movies/shows.

So... CC, I'd love to find new things to watch, listen to, and play. I'd also enjoy seeing or hearing about other users' arts/crafts, would love to hear about your reasons you became vegan[sub] (if you're vegan ?)[/sub], and of course, I am always open to new friends and just chatting. ?

It's always so good to hear when people are motivated to better themselves <3

Something artsy I've done recently is start painting a mural on our bedroom wall. I don't have any pics yet but it feels good to create again! I lose my muse so easily that this is very inspiring and refreshing to have kept motivated for this project for this long.

I'd always wanted to go vegetarian but never had the resources or confidence to do so for a long time. I went vegan about 2 years ago with my boyfriend to support him for health reasons, but my main motivator after that was for the animals. I've fallen off the wagon a few times (cheese is so hard to kick, and a couple times we've gone to get sushi for dinner to celebrate job promotions), but when I'm at home I eat completely vegan, it's just when I go out it's trickier. I don't think I'll ever go back to eating meat and I wish I had done it sooner! So I definitely recommend you jumping back on the wagon :)

First, I am not vegan (I like meat and dairy too much). If you are able to, try gardening if you are able to (don't know if you live in an apartment or not). If you are not sure how to start, try herbs first. They are very easy to grow then work your way up to vegetables. I love to garden and watch things grow. The best part is when you pick the food and then eat it. It tastes so much different than when you buy it at the store. I also raise Monarch butterflies, which is especially gratifying.

? I'm trying to get back on that wagon, for sure. Once we've used up the cheese we have, I figured that would be the last of my dairy-filled cheese. =P I definitely felt better, dairy-free. I've not gone completely meat free in a long time. I'm nervous about that. =P

I'd love to grow my own vegetables and though I live in apt, I'm sure I could get away with it. We are long time residents. xD We have done tomatoes before and nothing compares to home grown tomatoes. Okay, raising butterflies... that is way cool! How'd you get yourself into that? =)

I had a garden once that had 2 different kinds of tomatoes, peas, green beans, corn, squash and pumpkins. Half the food never made it past the back door because we were eating it straight from the plants. Peas tasted like candy because they were so sweet. That was when I lived in Illinois and you can grow anything there. Now I live in Florida and believe it or not vegetables don't grow well here. As far as the butterflies, I saw some milkweed at a nursery with caterpillars on it, bought it and it took off from there (sorry for the pun, lol).

That is really interesting. o= I really like gardening and now that the season is here, I will probably look into doing that. ?

Good luck and have fun.

I second starting a garden. I can't wait for the weather to be warm again so we can plant ours. If nothing else then plant a few pots of herbs or flowers just to have something to nurture.

You should also check out youtube for crafting/art videos. I could watch painting tutorials for hours (and often do) and it motivates me to go create which gives me a sense of accomplishment and even pride when I'm finished.

Check on facebook for ways to get involved in things in your city so you can make new friends. I am not very facebook savvy, but there's a way to see what businesses and organizations are in your area and if you follow them you'll find fun things to do that maybe you wouldn't have otherwise known about. Around here there's lots of free events that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. It's a great way to get involved and find new friends that are interested in the same stuff as you.

I researched milkweed and definitely want to see if that is something I can get at a local nursery. <3

I'm excited for the weather to be warm again, as well. I miss my outdoor activities. I've noticed recently that they do have all sorts of crafts on youtube, now. ? The town I live in is fairly small and there's not much going on, but I was thinking about trying to start a get together of some kind. =P

Hopefully you'll find some where you live. And if you have any questions, just ping me, I'll be happy to try and help you.

Have you checked out Pinterest? They have great ideas for just about everything. If I'm not on Subeta, I'm on Pinterest.

I live in a tiny town too. I was shocked at how much was actually out there and in neighboring towns to do that wasn't advertised anywhere.

If you are interested in raising butterflies, but can't find any caterpillars/milkweed you should check out a company called Insect Lore. You can buy Painted Lady caterpillars from them and raise them until they turn into butterflies. My husband and I got an Insect Lore kit from Hobby Lobby last year for like $12 using one of their 40% off coupons. We use the certificate in the kit to send off for the caterpillars and got 5 of them in the mail a few days later. It was so fun to watch them change and emerge as butterflies and then release them. We're going to do it again this year once it's warm enough to ship them. That same company also has kits for ladybugs, ants, and praying mantis. I really want to do the praying mantis, but... they kind of explode by the hundreds from their little pod and it's sort of gross looking, so we'll probably stick with butterflies. :P

I hadn't really thought about checking pinterest. Baha. ? I'm sure they've got a million ideas. o___o

Oooooh. o= That'd be a bunch of fun. My husband and little sisters would love it, too. =P Except, my husband will be particularly drawn towards the praying mantis. Haha. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm really glad that you're waking up. Sometimes it takes the hardest of situations to realize there's something more inside of you (if that makes sense).

I live in an apartment also. I'm fortunate that I have a balcony and I grow some veggies in pots. I usually plant beans and tomatoes. I really want to grow some carrots but I need to either buy a box that's deep enough for them, or ask my dad to make me a box. I enjoy the vegetables that I grow, but last summer was disappointing. We had weird weather and I didn't get any tomatoes.

I'm not vegan... I like meat way too much. Good luck getting back on that wagon.