Hi, again.

OK...here is my newest confession:

I love dinner plates. The kind you actually eat off of, not the kind that you hang on the wall (no fun there).

I fantasize about them, I yearn for them. I want to fill my cabinets with them. Lots of them. I am not a plate discriminator either. I like them all. Well, unless they are completely boring with no personality to them. An example would be like what I currently have. I have plain white ones and plain black ones. B-o-r-i-n-g. They just don't do it for me and they know it. They just sit there... wasting space... mocking me... laughing at me .

So, it is with much pleasure that I plan their demise. "Their eternal demise".

There are so many out there waiting for me to find them and love them and share them with the family that I love.

I want fancy ones:

Colorful ones:

Floral ones:

Vintage ones:

Textured ones:

and we must not forget my favorite


Crazy ones:

Wish me luck with my addiction and recovery.
And by recovery I mean, recovering them from where they are right now.

Hey! Remember me? I am back and I have a lot to catch up on. I have to remember that my blog is my journal, Facebook is not. So...on to the recap!

We were able to go to Disneyland at the end of April. I get the sinking feeling it will probably be our last time as a full family to go. Zachary will be leaving for his mission in less than 4 years and we (I)still NEED to go visit Texas. So, it is with a heavy heart that I post these last (most likely) pics of us at The Happiest Place on Earth. We picked a great time to go - no crowds!

We have never told our kids about our big trips. We like to keep it a surprise and it keeps the kids from asking if it's time to go yet for weeks before it is.  Here is a sample of their reactions. You'll have to pardon the messy bedroom, the drool, and the partial nudity (ish).

We heart Disneyland!! Oh, and when I say Disneyland, I really mean both DL and California Adventure. It takes too much verbal and too much thinking effort to differentiate between the two. So, it's a package deal for me. Seriously, if you time it right, Disneyland is amazing!!!

We stayed at a hotel directly acrooss the street from the park and it was really nice. The room was a tad warm, but would always cool down by bedtime. It also had three double beds, a pull out sofa bed, a kitchen table, and two flat screen TVs. We fit in one room!! We were on the 4th floor and the kids loved to tease me with the rickety balcony. NOT FUNNY! After about the 17th, "Look mom, no hands" type of joke, I started to get mad. My feet would sweat and I would get grabbing-ly angry. The hotel also had the typical free breakfast and there was a large King Kong movie poster in the eating room. Scotty just couldn't face it while he was eating because the gorilla's nose grossed him out too much. It was very odd, but funny.

Another thing we learned is that if a lady puts napkins on a table it then becomes reserved. Even weirder was that two of our sons were already sitting at said table.  She was pretty miffed that we sat at 'her' table. We refused to be pushed around and be intimidated - we're nice like that. She and her husband shot us crusty looks the rest of the time. Crazy.

Emily & Scotty taking a stroll with Jessie. They helped her call out Disneyland's pet turkey.

Tiana was the best princess Emily has met so far. Belle was a close second. Jasmine was decent, Mulan doesn't even count as a princess, and Ariel was a snotty girl who was bored with her job. Tiana had the role down pat and was perfect!

Mickey Mouse at his house - the much shorter line, unlike the guy mouse at the front of the park.

Emily loved the Teacups. I did better than I thought I would, but both Big Zack and Mikey decided it was in everyone's best interest if they didn't barf all over the other guests of the park. I think Zack even struggled with filming us.

BEST RIDE EVER!!!!  Thirteen story drops and lots of other story drops. Don't know of any other way of putting it. Also amazing was the entire ambiance of the whole theme/ride. It was a fancy, old Hollywood style hotel, with cobwebs and dust with unbelievably creepy looking constumes for the hotel bell boys and concierge servicemen. AWESOME!

SECOND BEST RIDE EVER!!!  We really had fun on this super fast and exciting roller coaster called California Screamin'. It's the smoothest coaster I have ever been on. It has speakers by your head so you have fun music the whole ride through and it includes a break neck speed start and stop (the tooth chipper), a loop, and many large hills. So fun. Scotty's goal was to scream the loudest to make sure that it deserved it's name.

Apparently, four days was the perfect amount of time. Plenty of time to ride all of your favorite rides, time to discover new ones, as well as having time to just goof around. What is with the chin holding?

Four days also allows time to plan funny poses for the cameras.

My very least favorite - look at Scotty's hands.  Ahhh!!

My favorite of me....ever seen the movie, The Mummy?

Now, everyone. This was not a staged one. Front row. This was our first time on The Tower of Terror. I didn't handle it too well. I lost control of my breathing/screaming rhythm which caused me to laugh and cry hysterically at the same time for about 3 to 4 minutes after the ride. I kind of made a fool out of myself. I created a scene. The 2nd time, I did much better. Though, about 2 minutes after I got off the ride, I again started to laugh uncontrollably for a period of time. Adrenalin can do crazy things. I still laugh whenever I see this pic of me.     COULD. NOT. STOP. SCREAMING.

So happy we went!!

A New Me

I love the start of a new year. I love fresh beginnings, re-do's, and start overs. Isn't that what this life is about? Anyway, one of my New Year's resolutions is to be a more positive person. It's kind of sad that this is on my list because I actually used to be a very positive thinker.

So far this year, I'm not doing too well and it's only the 5th day.

See? Even that! Think positively, Amber!

Start over: So far, I can do better!! It's been a tad difficult with the stresses that come with life, the weather that is as dull as can be, and I'm doing this mean, nasty Biggest Loser thing. I could go on and on. But, I won't. I am now a positive person.

From now on, I will try my dangdest to see the good in every situation. I will try to do the happy dance instead of wallow or fume. If you'd like to know what the happy dance is, I'll show you sometime (it's no big deal). I learned it from this amazing woman who lives in my ward.

I will take the council of our dear prophets and find joy in the journey, happiness in service, gratitude for everything, and peace through my Savior, Jesus Christ and by snarfing chocolate.

I found this today and love it...it helps me to remember to be grateful for everything.



Wish me luck!