Hello, my name is Laura Beth, and I am an . . .

Ice-Cream-aholic.

There. I said it. I just can't help myself.

Although I would love to indulge in ice cream every single night, I try to hold back. Now that Chad has broken his no-desserts-at-all-streak after FOUR AND A HALF years, ice cream has been around the house a little bit more than it used to be. Mercy.

Have I ever told you that I love ice cream?

This summer, since the above mentioned streak has been broken, we have periodically tried out a few new ice cream flavors. . . but I would love to hear your suggestions about must try flavors. . . not that I really should because I have to fit into a certain size dress on October 17 for by brother-in-law's wedding. . . help me.

Temptation is a terrible thing.

My all time favorite ice cream which I have not been able to replace . . . drum roll, please . . .

Haagen Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice cream!!

My first experience with this ice cream was in Times Square in 1999. Oh my. It was love at first lick. This is not always easy to find, nor do I indulge often. The richness and smoothness of the ice cream and the big chunks of peanut butter - wowsa!

Earlier this summer we were heading somewhere and saw on a billboard advertising for Purity's special flavor - Choco Loco. Chocolate ice cream with chunks of peanut butter, chocolate covered peanuts and pretzels, and caramel, too if I'm not mistaken. Ummm. . . of course we stopped and got some on the way home because it looked THAT GOOD. It was good, but there wasn't enough crunch for me to buy it again.

I have decided that I like a mixture of textures in ice cream - super smooth ice cream, with some chunks of something (peanut butter, cookie dough, brownie, etc.) and then a crunch (some sort of nut) makes it super good!

Ben & Jerry's Good Bye Yellow Brickle Road was super good during our "taste tests", and I love some Chocolate Fudge Brownie, too. Chad has liked some Half Baked this summer. . .

Ice cream evokes many fond memories, too. In high school, my friend's dad owned a pharmacy with a "soda shop" in it. Those were the days. . . Anyways, on the occasion that I would get to go and get ice cream, I always chose either Butter Pecan or Mint Chocolate Chip. (There was no chocolate-peanut butter option.) After some orthodontist appointments when it was just me and my mom, we would stop at Baskin Robbins for a special treat to "ease the pain" of just having my braces tightened. I'm sure she was just easing the pain of having to pay for my braces. ha! :)

So, after explaining to the world why my posterior looks the way it does, (ha!) I want to know what ice cream flavors you flip over. Please don't let me think I'm the only one who loves ice cream the way I have drooled over in the writing of this post. (How sad am I to sit and do this on a Friday night?) If you're too timid to actually leave a comment, then you can go over to the sidebar and vote in the handy dandy poll.

Oh, and I promise, I don't really eat this much ice cream. The "taste tests" have occurred over months. Promise. (and I didn't even inhale some ice cream tonight! :)

***Updated***

I can't believe how I forgot to add my love for homemade ice cream! I have vivid memories of my grandfather and dad taking turns hand cranking ice cream for birthday parties. And, lucky for me, I married into a family that LOVES homemade ice cream, even receiving a White Mountain ice cream maker (the big daddy) for a wedding present!

Oh, and my favorite frozen treat at Sonic? Peanut Butter Fudge milkshake!! (of course!)

My favorite Dairy Queen treat? Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard - not one of the most common . . .

Okay, and one last memory of ice cream . . . when I worked at Camp Shiloh for two summers, on a rare occasions the staff would go to a local gas station, Stewart's (as in the root beer) about ten minutes away on our nights off. Four or five of us would buy a half gallon of ice cream (much cheaper than a hand dipped cone) and sit down with spoons and demolish the entire thing in minutes! Those were the days! (Annalee, do you remember this? :)