Dream up a love letter

You don’t need a sample love letter or a free printable love letter. You’re going to dream up your own romantic love letters.

An indispensable tool for writing is a thesaurus. You’ll find many free ones online; they’re a wonderful aid to finding exactly the right word. Have paper and pen ready to jot notes, but forget about words and writing for now.

Sit in a comfortable chair or lie down, let your shoulders drop and take a few deep breaths, at least 5 or 6. Inhale deeply, feel the air going to the bottom of your belly, then slowly exhale as you pull in your abdomen.

Close your eyes and begin visualizing the one you love and create a movie of you slowly running your eyes over every inch of their body. What do you especially appreciate? View their eyes looking back at you, run your fingers through their hair, caress their cheek and softly brush your lips against theirs. See the smile of joy, the tilt of their head towards you, their arms around you. Feel their heart beat against yours and take in the warmth of their skin. Watch as they run towards you, eager to rush into your arms. How do you feel?

Let your movie continue running. Pull out the memories of when you had a lot of fun and laughter, your most passionate times together or when you were sad and your love silently held you close. Which of them brings up the most emotion in you? What do you see, hear, taste, touch and feel? What are they wearing . . . or not wearing?

Linger a little longer; let the feelings run throughout your entire body. Are you getting little tingles running up and down your spine?

First love letter steps

The most emotional memories are the ones that will fuel your love letter or poem. You should be in a better mood for writing, relaxed and smiling. Take a few more deep breaths before you begin to write.

You don’t have to get up; this might put you into “thinking” mode. Begin jotting notes down. Slowly replay each movie and describe the scenes with short, simple phrases, as a child would. Later on, you can link these shorter phrases into longer ones, but for now, you want to capture all the sensations, physically and emotionally, that being with the one you love means to you.

Love and emotions are abstract concepts so you need “furniture” to make it real. Your movie gives you this material. Relate the juicy details of the surrounding scenery, your love, what all your senses experience and add them to your love letter.

Now put it all together

Instead of “When you walk into a room and smile at me, I forget what I’m thinking,” add the furniture. “You quietly glide into the sunlight streaming through the window, your silky hair falls over your shoulder. And then you gently tilt your head towards me and flash me that quirky little half smile of yours that gets my heart beating faster, my lips tingling . . . and I forget everything I ever knew as our eyes meet and lock into an embrace.”

No fancy words, there’s only two words that have three syllables!

The “Laundry List” technique

If you find this difficult to do, the “laundry list” technique might work for you. Simply list all the qualities you appreciate about your love: physical, emotional, gestures, favourite sayings, funny habits. For physical, start at the top of their head and work down to their toes. For emotional, list different situations and how their response makes you feel.

Or you could make a list of all the dreams you both have and how you want to be together to share them.

Find a clip art heart (usually available in a word processing program) and use it as a bullet before each item in your list. Or give it a number, “101 Ways I Love You.” Then print out your list on fancy paper. Add a photo of you both, either digitally or glue it on afterwards. Spray on a little cologne (at a distance) and, voila, you have a romantic love letter.

Love Poems

A love poem can be the most daunting to attempt and many won’t even try. If you really want to make up a poem, but feel you have no talent, cheat a little! Look up a favourite poem and see if you can change a few lines to personalize it. Or do the same with a favourite song lyric, then perform it karaoke style. Go all out and dress up for the occasion.

If you have a special occasion you’re celebrating, you may want to have a poet put your feelings into a formal poem for you. Reciting the poem will make a bigger impact than just handing it over and as it may be gift wrapped, make sure you have a copy to read aloud.

we can make a conclusion that the market is standing still waiting for more cost dropping, though predicted by many analysts decrease is not anticipated. In such circumstances a customer is passing out of sight waiting for prices collapse. But as soon as a slight hint appears, demand will flow into the market and one more rise of prices is unavoidable.

A year ago the average price of one-room flat of new design on one of the central Khabarovsk streets – Lenina st. totaled 2300 kRUR, in June 2009 the cost of similar apartment was hardly less than 2250 kUSD. The explanation is that the demand for the apartments in Central part of Khabarovsk city was always high, and even during crisis period customers are not going to decrease their prices. If a bargain is not urgent, most people prefer to wait for better opportunity keeping the same level of price. In addition to that the accommodation price on the secondary market and on new building market doesn’t significantly differ: in the housing estate “Amurskiye zori” an average flat of 42 s.m. costs 2300 kUSD along with the so-called brezhnevka (old-design flat) of 32 s.m.

The cost of smoking to a country such as Russia will also be linked to the cost of looking after those who fall ill due to smoking. Smoking diseases such as cancers and respiratory infections severely eats into national health budgets of countries with millions of smokers such as Russia.

At least for Russia, the leaders have come out condemning smoking calling it a tragedy for the nation. This is hardly the case in developing countries where leaders can not openly shame smoking due to fears of revenues drying up. This is particularly the case in China where 350million smokers contributes up to 8% in tax income to national coffers.

In June 2010 it was reported that Russia was introducing compulsory “Smoking Kills” signs on cigarette packaging. In addition packaging will also indicate the dangers of smoking such as cancers, wrinkles and impotence amongst men. The government of Russia through the ministry of finance is also aiming to increase tobacco taxes fully by 2011 as a way of discouraging smoking. Tobacco taxes have been shown to be very effective in reducing the numbers of people who smoke.

In fact there are two leading reasons why people who smoke stop smoking namely the fear of diseases associated with smoking and the financial burden of continued smoking. In Japan in particular the government there has evidently been able to cut back on smoking by simply increasing taxes. Smoking in Russia is so serious it is predicted should the trend continue the population will shrink from 142 million in 2010 to about 116 million in 2050.

As is the case in many other countries, the tragedy in Russia is that the government is still putting a lot more emphasis on reducing smoking cigarettes. Big tobacco appears to have since devised new strategies to get many more people hooked on smoking especially the young people. The new frontiers of the tobacco fight are now smokeless tobacco which is mostly chewing tobacco.

The Russian economy is no doubt that the Russian economy as it stands is based upon the country’s massive natural resources which include oil, gas and precious metals. The country has a massive stake in the worldwide supply of gas, something we saw when a gas line was “switched off” due to a dispute with a neighbouring country, and this is likely to continue for some time to come. However, annual economic growth in Russia has been averaging around 8%, prior to the credit crunch and worldwide recession, which is certainly something which warrants further investigation.

There are a number of very prominent and very strong economic sectors in the Russian economy which include the aircraft industry, electronics, telecoms and agriculture to name but a few. The country also has very strong trading relations with China, the US and the majority of the leading worldwide economies which bodes well for the future. It will be interesting to see how these strong overseas partnerships develop because there is very much a public face and a private life for the Russian economy.

Ways to invest in Russia are a number of relatively easy ways to invest in Russia which include direct shares, collective investments as well as index tracking investment vehicles. Direct shares attract the highest risk/reward ratio while collective investments and index tracking investments will give a general return linked to some specific index or economic indicator. So depending upon your personal risk/reward ratio profile there are options to mix and match the above investment vehicles.

The future of the Russian economy: After many years in the “cold” there is no doubt that the Russian economy is now well and truly back in the international fold although work still needs to be done with regards to regulations and business practices. As time progresses and trading relationships with the US, China and other leading economies continue to strengthen there is no doubt that the Russian economy is well-positioned for the future. The massive array of natural resources available to the Russian authorities will forever be in the minds of overseas investors and overseas governments, keen to have access to these potential riches.

On the surface the risk/reward ratio with associated to investing in Russia would seem to be towards the higher end of the scale but in reality it may be very different. The public face of Russia is very different to the private face with the authorities keen to develop the economy and various business arenas.

Moscow – Since Moscow is the capital of Russia, it is also the main gateway to the country and its provinces and tourist will usually start their sight-seeing tours here exploring Russia from this ancient city. Moscow itself is also home to several tourist attractions such as the Kremlin and the Red Square amongst many others.

Moscow buildings are rather unique because its architectural style combines the features of Eastern as well as Western cultures and features. The Vysantium styles are mixed with architectural styles of Britain, Italy and other West-European countries.

A visit to some of Moscow’s 80 museums are indeed eye openers as these museums preserve invaluable treasures ranging from rich collections of Russian and foreign art and culture. The Kremlin, the symbol of Russian might and power stands proudly towering over the left bank of the Moskva river. It is the oldest part of the city and is its political, historic and cultural center and the seat of Russia’s legislative power. It is also the site of several museums.

Another tourist attraction in Moscow is the famous The Red Square which is the main square in Moscow and Russia not unlike what Tian An Men square is to China.

St. Petersburg – St Petersburg is another well known city in Russia popular with tourists because it is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe and affectionately called Venice of the North. St Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia after Moscow. St.Petersburg is an impressive display of remarkable architectures which can be seen from the cathedral of the Peter-Paul Fortress, the Summer Palace, the Winter Palace, the Smolny Convent, the Vorontsov and Strogonov palaces, the Kazan and St.Isaacs Cathedrals. It is also the soul of Russian fine arts in its rich world class music, ballet, and theatre performances.

Velikiy Novgorod – Velikiy Novgorod is located on the banks of the river Volkhov River which is about 120 miles (about 190 km) south of St.Petersburg. This amazing ancient city was founded more than 11 centuries ago and is a popular tourist attraction today. Velikiy Novgorod suffered severe damage from German bombing runs in the Second World. The good news is that many of the historical monuments are now restored to its former splendor and glory.

Murmansk – The town of Murmansk is located in northwestern Russia and has a population of almost half a million people. This town is now an important fishing port and is home to one of the largest its fish-processing plant in Europe. The best time to visit Murmansk is during the Festival of the North, which is celebrated in the last week of March with a ski marathon and reindeer races.

Sochi – After touring some of Russia’s city and towns, let’s take a look at Sochi, Russia’s favorite resort by the Black Sea with towering Caucasus Mountains serving as the beautiful resort’s backdrop.

What makes Sochi such a popular resort in Russia is because of its cool subtropical climate, warm blue sea and the modern resort complexes. This resort also attracts dignitaries like local and foreign head of states and movie stars as its guests.

To cater to the demands of tourists, you can find dozens of hotels and campsites with more than 50 sanatoriums. There are also natural beauties to enjoy such as picturesque waterfalls, wonderful hilltop views, mineral springs spas and alpine vistas to stroll in.

Vladivostok – This is also another important Russian town that is worth visiting. Vladivostok is an important seaport and administrative center of Primorsky Kray region, in southeastern Russia and is extremely rich in Russian military history.
The town was founded in 1860 and is now the chief educational and cultural centre of the Russian Far East. The city is famous for its performing art theatres and its philharmonic symphony orchestra.Vladivostok is surrounded by the Ussuri Nature Reserve and the Far East Maritime Reserve. Nature lovers can find bumbling black and brown bears, Siberian boars, majestic Ussuri tigers, the rare Amur leopard and colorful migratory birds in these reserves.

The Trans-Siberian Railway – The best way for tourists to discover and tour the vast expanse of Russia is by The Trans-Siberian Railway. The rail trip on the train from Moscow to Nakhodka takes about eight fascinating days, passing through forests of birch and pine, quaint Russian villages and beautiful steppes.

The train will also rumble past Siberia’s Lake Baikal which is as big as Belgium and is home to the world’s only freshwater seal. Other tourist attractions along the journey are the multicultural town of Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude city which is Russia’s center of Buddhism.

When watching the world news, especially the international business news, one needs to understand there is a lot to know, more than any one person could, or most likely would. It is for this reason I like to discuss such world events with the experts. Imagine my good fortune to meet a scholar of US-Russian post cold war relations? Indeed, Jesse Giraldo was on hand to answer a few of my questions recently. First, I asked; Have you been following the recent Russian economic summit?Jesse replied; Loosely. I’ve read a few reports on the discussions being held between the E.U and Russia. Greece’s fiscal instability, and the

Euros weakening performance seem to be the major issues under review. However so far that’s all that seems to be going on, quite a bit of discussion on what wrong, I haven’t heard anything of actual substance come about other then abstract statements such as their firm resolve to “move forward in their partnership”. The media by and large though seem to feel that this summit has a more harmonic atmosphere to it. I suppose that’s a plus.

Well, all good points, and it certainly beats the previous attacks at the last economic summit where the US was the punching bag for the global economic melt-down. Russian Television seems to be keeping things positive I’ve noted, along with BBC, and CNN International. Too the papers in Taiwan, India, and throughout Europe seem to be playing positive news. So, I concur. It seems folks are so focused on the World Cup Soccer Tournament and the US Open that many are not following the Russian Economic Summit.

China had announced it “will” allow the Yuan to float in coming weeks, right as their banking stocks took a hit, and the Agricultural Bank of China is going for an IPO worth some $33 Billion. Still, the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India, and China are discussing a new reserve currency to settle accounts with, something that was the main theme at last year’s summit. Luckily, this time it is just muddled chit-chat, while the big talk in Russia was about innovation and attracting investment capital into Russia to take advantage of the uptick in commerce.