What a wonderful year it has been….my first year of blogging! Just a few months before I started, I didn’t even know what a blog was! My sister Sherry from Prairie Home got me started and boy am I glad she did! It has been so fun sharing with y’all the things that have been on my heart…. hoping to bless you, sweet blog-girls, and yet it was my heart that was blessed by all of the welcoming, encouraging, heart-melting comments you have showered me with. Thank you!
I feel like I know so many of you, and yet we have never met in person! And some of you I have met…..what a delight that was, to see you face to beautiful face! It’s hard to explain this bond I feel with you all. As a homemaker (of 30 years) a wife and a mama of four (two boys, two girls) , I know the joys and the frustrations, the ups and downs of life, the bad hair days and worse….I’ve read your blogs and understand your feelings….I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt! I feel like we are all on this ever important, adventurous, keeper-of-the-home journey, together.
Recently, I just happened to stumble upon some comments about me on a chat-forum, (it was surreal…like overhearing people talk about you…I was like, hey! they’re talking about me! Little ole RuthAnn! What in the world?) and I had to chuckle when the question arose…”Is she for real?”. Who me? Okay, can I set the record straight …I am just a regular mom…..I have to fight clutter, clean out closets, figure out what I want to make for dinner, empty the trash…. I have bad hair days and struggle with PMS …. etc….. I just happen to have a sincere passion for the home and family and yes, I do decorate “over-the-top” a bit ( this was also a comment), but that’s what I love!!!! YA HOOOO! (y’all, don’t ya know, I love decorating so much I want to marry it!).
I grew up wanting to live on Main Street at Disneyland, but they won’t let me, so I’ve done the next best thing by giving my home sort of a whimsical-Disney-style spin. I want my home to be the happiest place on earth for my family…..it’s not so much about the “stuff” as it is about the feeling that I try to accomplish. Feelings of love, a sense of belonging, comfort and joy! 
I also wanted to be a pie-bakin’ mama, so five years ago I taught myself. Oh, I had a few flops….but with practice it has become easier! It is such a scrumptious feeling of true womanhood to pull a bubbling, golden-crusted pie, hot from the oven, and set it on my counter to cool….it just makes me feel so June Cleaver-ish! (can I be her when I grow up?)
Most of the comments on this above mentioned “chat-forum” were very complimentary, but there were a few that had a problem with my blog. One gal said that I talked too much about God. Bless her heart, she didn’t know that my faith in God was the secret to my joy! Jesus is my life, without Him, I am nothing.
Jesus is everything wonderful.
He is the reason joy-bells ring in my home. He gives me strength…courage… comfort… hope and a future…. protection… provision… creativity and passion… love and redemption… eternity with Him in Heaven. He lights my path. He is the lover of my soul… my hero… my rescuer… my healer. He is the best of what there is in life. Who wouldn’t want that? And why on earth would I not share this great and spectacular news with all of you dear sweet girls in blogland?
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16
I do hope that whatever faith you hold onto, that you feel welcome here. My goal is to share with you whatever I have learned ( and am still learning) as a woman, a wife, a mother, a homemaker, and a friend, and to give you a glimpse inside my home and life through my blog, in hopes that you would find encouragement, and motivation to turn your heart toward home.
I am so thankful that I’ve been given the opportunity to share a slice of my life with you through Warm Pie, Happy Home, and thankful too, for all of you who read it! So here is the good news! One of you gals is going to win my One Year Anniversary give-away….a package of 7 goodies!!!! Here is what the package includes….
1. A fabulous candle from the ever wonderful Warm Glow Candle Company! I picked this up in Indiana on my trip. The fragrance is Evening Mocha and is delicious!
2. A string of Pearls, so you too can feel June Cleaver-ish, and to remind you how precious and beautiful you are!
3. As a “Country Mother” myself, I am pleased to present this dear, old-timey, cookbook by Jane Watson Hopping. It’s filled with stories, poems, vintage pictures, and yummy farm-wife recipes…….take a peek….
It’s the kind of book you want to curl up with in your Jammies sipping a cup of Hot Chocolate with marshmallows!
This next set of three books are ones that I co-authored with my sister-in-law Linda. (Unfortunately, that was several years ago and are no longer in print. You can however, go on Amazon and find them very inexpensively.)
4. Dusty’s Beary Tales (my other sister-in-law did the illustrations in this children’s book…she is an amazing artist…check out her new blog at Mara Mattia Art. Please welcome her to blogland and tell her I sent you!
5. 101 Ideas For Making Family Memories
6. Giving Love A Memory
Take a peek inside these books…..
And last but not least….
It has a voluptuous bow in the back and it’s also lined!
A cute apron and a string of pearls,
is just what a gal needs to perk up her day!
If you would like to have a chance at winning these goodies,
all you have to do is leave a comment describing
your family’s
favorite Holiday tradition.
I may share some of these ideas in a future post, so if you leave a comment, I will regard it as your permission to use it.(If you don’t have a blog, please leave me your email address so I can contact you if you’re the winner.)
November 8th will be the last day to enter this give-away. I will then put all of your names in my favorite mixing bowl and draw one name at random. The winner will be announced on my next post.
Here are a few answers to questions I’ve been asked:
1. The Bible translation that I read is usually Amplified, but I also read New Living, The Message, New King James and NIV.
2. Regarding the Snickerdoodle Recipe, (or any cookie recipe) do not melt the butter! It will make the cookies spread out thin and flat. I chop the butter into large chunks and cream it with the sugar in my Kitchen Aid mixer. Also make sure you chill the dough 20 minutes in freezer, or else the dough will be too sticky to handle.
3. My story of moving to the Ozarks is in an earlier post…in the search engine at the top of my blog, type in Branson Missouri and scroll down toward the bottom to find out how we moved from California to Southern Missouri!
4. My camera is a Sony, Cyber Shot 12x zoom, Model no. DSC-H5. I also keep a smaller camera in my purse, it’s aFuji, Finepix Z10.
5. The phrase in my great-room dining area is “Come Gather At Our Table”.
6. As long as pumpkins are not bruised, they should last the whole autumn season.
7. Yes, please do add a link from your blog to mine!! I encourage you to add Warm Pie, Happy Home to your list of blog-reads. There are a lot of Mama’s out there that need encouragement, and a pat on the back!
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If I missed your question, please ask again!
God Bless all of you Cutie-Pies!
Hugs!
RuthAnn
Whew! My-oh-my, did I have a whirlwind of a trip with my sassy sister-in-law Linda (I’m married to her cute brother!)…why, we were a couple of tornadoes-in-blue jeans ripping down the road in her lipstick-red Mom-Van…stopping whenever we wanted to….(which was every time we saw a sign for antiques or billboards for Foot-Hi pie) in fact the motto of our trip was….”Nobody’s the boss of us!”. You see, there wasn’t anyone to tell us “no, we don’t have time to stop”. 
Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE our husbands and LOVE to travel with them, and they will stop for us, from time to time,(bless their hearts!) but it’s hard to relax and enjoy a 50,000 square foot Antique mall when hubby is in the car waiting. Y’all know what I mean!
And don’t your eyes get real big, and your mouth open wide to catch your breath, as you zoom passed a fabulous place at 75 mph that you just know would make your heart skip a beat if you could only take a peek inside! (just one peek, pretty please, with a cherry on top!)
Men are hunters, they focus on one thing until they conquer it. My hubby admits it. Our destination is his prey (or quest) when traveling, so it’s peddle-to-the-metal until he conquers it. Women are gatherers, we like to take our time to gather ideas, gather inspiration, gather knowledge, gather beauty, smell the roses and eat some yummy things along the way, then gather some more sweet moments, gather chocolate, gather pretty things that warm and delight our hearts…so we can bring them home to beautify and bring comfort to our nest. And then we like to savor those moments and chat about it, over sweet tea or a hot cup of coffee, and share with each other all the things we’ve gathered! Yes, we women thrive on gathering goodness. And goodness knows, that’s what Linda and I did! (‘cuz…… nobody was the boss of us!)
Saint Louis wasn’t our first stop, but it’s where we landed for a couple of days..
The St. Louis Arch over looking the Mississippi River is so spectacular….you could actually take an elevator ride to the top!
Underneath the Arch is a fascinating museum about the American Frontier. It’s all about the Pioneers who braved the unknown as they headed West for a better life.
A darling General Store next to the Museum….
We met up with some girls from Church to enjoy the Fabulous Joyce Meyer Women’s Conference….click here to see a quick video of it.
Joyce was an inspiration, as was, the music by Darlene Zschech from Hillsong! If you are needing to find more joy in your life, I recommend any Joyce Meyer books!
As you may know, the Palin / Biden debate was held in St. Louis,( the same night I was there ) so I went with some Church gals to the After-The-Debate Rally to see V.P. hopeful, Mrs. Sarah Palin and family. It was exciting to say the least!
You can see Mr. Palin in the center shaking hands and signing autographs.
Love my Sarah Palin souvenir!
I even got to see old Abe Lincoln in person!
Imagine that! See if you can find him!
We crossed The mighty Mississippi and into Illinois….
…for the Best Pie in America.
In the middle of a corn field, just off Interstate 70, in Highland, Illinois is a darling restaurant called Blue Springs Cafe…home of the Foot High Pies. 
It was my birthday….and normally I would love
to have a big piece of German Chocolate cake…..
….but on this day I settled for a slice of Heaven
(actually two slices, we shared Coconut Cream and Banana Cream)
……yumm….
The crust was amazing… flaky, golden crisp… the filling and foot-high meringue were simply, sweet perfection. The baker said they use 12 egg whites per pie to swirl a cloud of meringue 12 inches high!
The meals are served family style….just like at Grandma’s house!
(We passed on the Livers and Gizzards! ew!)
We oooed and ahhhed as we soared by acres of corn fields
and quaint white farmhouses….
and lots and lots of gorgeous barns!! 
The homes in the Midwest are so adorable….like sweet doll houses! Notice the candles in the windows! Lots of the homes we saw had them…so warm and welcoming! I wanted to knock on their door to see what they were having for dinner! (Probably, Chicken’n’Dumplin’s, with Pumpkin pie for dessert!)
Speaking of candles…we hit the mother load at the Warm Glow candle outlet in Centerville, Indiana! Oh my goodness! Come take a look……….
I am told that the flame on the giant candle actually flickers at night!
Okay…you know what I’m going to say right?
I love this place so much I want to marry it!
It was very Disneyland-ish!
(Don’t get me started about Disneyland!)
On the road again….passing through old fashioned small towns with storybook charm….
Stopping for a bite to eat at one of our favorite joys…..Cracker Barrel! 
Such a friendly down-home happy place…
filled with little antique shops and history!
This was once the house of the town doctor in the 1800’s. 
Just look at this Town Hall! Love it!
We stopped for some much needed Creme Brule’ at this very famous Inn…established in 1803. The Golden Lamb, served hospitality, nourishment and overnight stay to 12 Presidents including U.S. Grant, J.Q. Adams and Ronald Reagan. Other famous guests of the Inn included Samuel Clemmons (Mark Twain) and Charles Dickens. You can go upstairs and view the rooms they stayed in. Most of what you see is original, and has been preserved…including the handrail up to Charles Dickens and Samuel Clemmons rooms, which I am sure they held onto since the steps are a bit steep….so as I held onto this same smooth beam of wood it was a bit awe-inspiring! 
On the way back we took a wrong turn (oopsie doopsie!)….we drove about an hour on this little skinny road that led deep into the woods without seeing any sign of civilization! We were a bit concerned…if we had needed help it would have been difficult to tell anyone where we were! We did have a GPS, fortunately, (and God’s guardian angels…more importantly!) so we could see there was a way out! 
We finally rounded a corner to find a little town with people!
And just a few blocks further we found
Indiana’s largest Antique mall ( Webb’s)….huh! what do ya know!
Do you think we stopped? Of course!
Because….nobody was the boss of us!
Now that I am home, my heart is full with giggle-filled memories…I am thankful to be back with my wonderful hubby and daughter….I missed them too much!
Come visit me next week for my One-Year-Of-Blogging Anniversary Give Away!! I will also address some of the questions I’ve been asked.
God Bless you!
Ruthann
What a wonderful year it has been….my first year of blogging! Just a few months before I started, I didn’t even know what a blog was! My sister Sherry from Prairie Home got me started and boy am I glad she did! It has been so fun sharing with y’all the things that have been on my heart…. hoping to bless you, sweet blog-girls, and yet it was my heart that was blessed by all of the welcoming, encouraging, heart-melting comments you have showered me with. Thank you!
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