Hot tea. Iced tea. Sweet tea. This is beginning to sound like a Dr. Seuss book, but bare with me. I will drink tea any way, every way, all day long! My interest with tea is a new found hobby, but its roots are based back from when I was a child.

Growing up in the south, sweet tea is like water to fish and air to every Southerner's lungs. Are you getting the picture? We need our sweet tea! As a child, I had sweet tea with every meal almost every day. It was what we were used to, and I never questioned it.

It wasn't until later that I was introduced to the art of drinking hot tea and tea parties as a child.

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Once my eyes were opened to all of the possibilities tea had to offer, there was no turning back! My real interest began only a few years ago. It started out with heating my southern sweet tea (how taboo) and enjoying hot tea in the winter. Sometimes I would be really scandalous and try hot tea during the summer! *Gasp*

Slowly, but surely, my palate grew and I began to experiment with different flavored teas besides the black tea that I was accustomed to. I started to try flavored black tea, camomile tea, and others found at my local grocery store.

History began to repeat itself and my interest in tea grew more and more. I was done trying bagged tea of assorted flavors. I thought I was ready for the big leagues: loose leaf teas. I remember when this all started my freshman year of college. My roommate was a tea fanatic and her interest in tea inspired me. I though how cool and sophisticated it was that she could make delicious, warm beverages from leaves of various scents, sizes and caffeine strengths.

One weekend I found myself at the local mall and I wandered upon a Teavana store. Who would have thought that my tea journey would truly begin then and there? Certainly not me! Before I knew it, I was leaving the store with a tea starter kit. I was thrilled! I now had my very own tea maker, tea leaves, and rock sugar to sweeten the tea.

Since then, I have over 10 different loose leaf teas in my collection along with various bagged teas. To say that I love creating different tasTEA -- I couldn't help myself -- concoctions, would be an understatement. I enjoy mixing temperatures, sweeteners, flavors, and don't get me started on my tea cups and tea mugs! That will have to be for another time, dear reader.

Why am I so interested in tea?

I love to imagine the history of tea. I think of the conversations shared among two friends over a cup of tea. I enjoy the memories made from sharing tea with friends and loved ones as much as I enjoy the flavor of the tea. There are many reasons why we each have a favorite hobby, and part of the fun is figuring it out along the way!

The moral of this story, is sometimes your newfound hobby could be right under your nose. You may be a child accustomed to one thing that years later may become your new favorite activity. Never be afraid to try new things, but it is also perfectly fine to transform within your comfort zone and what you are familiar with.