This may seem like a totally random topic to write about on my 25th wedding anniversary, but actually if you have time to read to the bottom you might think it makes sense somehow.......

See, it all started Sunday morning right after the invitation hymn when my sweet friend Trish turned to my pew and invited me to try one of her homemade truffles and I'm pretty sure I bit into a little piece of Heaven.

I immediately asked for the recipe and of course neighbors share recipes, not on cards but on Facebook, so later in the day I had an inbox message with a link to the recipe.  A link that I will break down and share later in this blog.

I clicked on the link thinking I'd go to a site like "Taste of Home"or "Betty Crocker," but ended up on a blog written by a lady who calls herself "Pioneer Woman."

As I read through the recipe and then popped around a bit on her blog, I embarrassingly am going to share that I became OVERWHELMED with blog/life ENVY.

I am so humiliated to admit that in spite of all I have been through as a human being another woman's blog brought me down.......

See, Pioneer Woman is living one of my dreams. 

She lives on a ranch..

She married a rugged rancher.

And she home schools four beautiful children while also being an amazing writer, photographer, and cook.  Honestly, how did a recipe for truffles take me down such a road of self pity????

As a child we lived on my grandpa's 3,000 acre farm in Oklahoma which we continued to visit every year after moving to Kentucky.  In my little girl heart, I just knew that I would end up living on this farm my whole life married to a rodeo cowboy...

Well, fate, destiny, Providence, or whatever you want to call it, led me to college in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I met Tim and am now married to a professor/accountant/minister.

No rodeos for me.

Poor Tammy.

I'm just amazed at how the devil stepped in during the invitation hymn at church (not you Trish!) and offered me a bite of something that definitely could have caused a middle-aged woman venturing into her 25-year anniversary to doubt everything about her choices in life.

So, as I stumbled through Walmart yesterday trying to finish up Christmas shopping, I thought, "I'm going to try to make those truffles!"  If I can't BE Pioneer Woman, I can at least make her truffles!"

I called Trish to find out exactly what I needed and she graciously offered to supply the sea salt if I would stop by her house.  When I stopped, she then graciously offered to come down later and HELP ME!!!  Since I am NOT Pioneer Woman, I decided that having help was a better choice than taking a chance on totally destroying my self-esteem by not even being able to pull off a truffle recipe....not to mention Olivia was with me and as soon as she heard Trish offer to help she began begging, "Please mom, let her help you."  Not only am I NOT Pioneer Woman, my children are fully aware of all of the other things about me that are lacking-one of which is a talent for cooking. :(

Trish arrived around 9:30 last night.

I had eagerly pulled out the pans we would be needing, and we got our first laugh when we realized that I had chosen my strainer as the top part to my double boiler!

I'm pretty sure chocolate chips would not have melted so well in here! So was Trish! We then placed the appropriate pan on top of the bottom pan, dumped out our chocolate chips and turned on the burner when I realized that there was no water in the bottom of the double boiler......AAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!  I scare myself.

We finally took all necessary steps to begin the process of melting the chocolate. As Trish poured in the sweetened condensed milk, I got tickled realizing that I will never be asked to advertise for any baking supply companies since I buy generic every chance I get.... Every chance! When Trish asked for the vanilla, she seemed shocked when I handed her the above utensil as a measuring tool!  I thought for sure the lid to my vanilla was a teaspoon......maybe this is why I do not have a lot of luck in the kitchen.

After getting the chocolate mixture ready, we placed it in the frig to firm up and all the while I was somewhat panicked because I could not for the life of me find the sea salt that I had picked up from Trish just a few hours before.

As I was digging in the trash for the Ziploc bag, I once again realized that there are so many things about me that disqualify me from being Pioneer Woman..

Finally, on about the fourth dig, I discovered the little bag buried under all the other things that I must feel need to be not-so-easily located in the outside pocket of my purse.

At the same time that I was searching for this mysterious bag, I was also searching for baking soda because Olivia decided that since Trish was here it would be a great time to have "good" chocolate chip cookies....I love that Olivia is so confident in my ability not to cook anything well.

Of course, I could find no baking soda and had to send Olivia tromping through the snow at 10 p.m. to our neighbor Jennie's house (Thank you, Jennie, for always having what I  need!).

Now I have two Ziploc bags containing white baking supplies...thankfully and shockingly, I thought to label them! 

Trish began combining ingredients for the cookies.  I didn't know you could use your hands like this when making cookies, but Trish says it is the secret to yummy cookies! :)     I've never seen Olivia look like this while I am cooking...

Of course, I've never doubled the amount of chocolate chips that are needed, so I've learned yet another trick to making my kids smile.

As Trish opened the preheated oven to place the first sheet of cookies in, we found a very overdone batch of cinnamon rolls that I forgotten that I had placed in the oven that morning......Honestly, I am admitting way too much today. After all of that, Trish turned out the most delicious chocolate chip cookies!

  We then turned our attention back to the truffles and Trish made perfect little chocolate balls from our refrigerated mixture. She then dipped them all in yet another type of chocolate.. And there it was!!! A beautiful truffle....

In my kitchen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We ended up with two pans filled with yummy truffles and of course had to pour a glass of milk to enjoy with them!

Now, I write all of this to say this:

I AM NOT PIONEER WOMAN.

I AM TAMMY.

No cute nickname.

No exciting rancher life.

Just Tammy.

And Tim is not the Marlboro Man.

He's  not the rodeo rider I dreamed of as a little girl.

But I think God is telling me that I am not the June Cleaver he dreamed of either....

No, we're just two people who love God more than each other and try desperately to do the right thing in the midst of all of life's crazy, disappointing, and even tragic events.

I do not have a blog about cooking because if I did it would have to be a comedy.

I do not have a blog about home schooling because if I did it would have to be a comedy.

I have a blog about my journey with God through a life that often feels very routine, tough, and even DIFFICULT.

I am thankful today for Pioneer Woman.

And I am going to share a link to her blog even though I know I am taking a risk that I may never have you visit my blog again........

I love you all so much, and it was good for me to remember why I stared blogging in the first place.

It wasn't about what I had to say.

It was about what He had so say.

I just use My Heart to share His Words...

That's been the reason I've blogged since 2007, and it will continue to be the reason until the Internet is shut down or my fingers quit working......

So much love to all of you!

Oh, and here is the link for the truffle recipe!

TRUFFLES BY PIONEER WOMAN