Good Morning!! "This is awkard but do you know the name _____ _____,"a womens name. This is a FB message that Shelby received 4 years ago, this simple message would put my precious little family in a tail spin.Shelby and I met over 20 years ago, of course like any couple, we dated, talked and got to know each other. Shelby and his mom sat me down one night and told me a story.....A one night stand, a pregnancy, lawyers and an adoption of a little girl. "Just wanted you to know in case the future has that little girl come into your life."After the conversation, Shelby and I talked a little more......he truly believed he was a scapgoat, that he was not the father... I believed him, heck I was 22, and he was 21. We married and started a family....a mom of two precious boys. Its funny how two people can live the exact same life and have a completely different reality. I do not remember over the years of our marriage us really discussing this little girl,I do remember him telling very close friends as we would sit and talk but Shelby says it happened and he thought of her often. 4 Years ago, life was pretty dern smooth...the CIG was growing, Shelby still had his car lots, Taylor was just a few months from turning 16....life was good. Shelby walks into the grill one afternoon and drags me to the computer..."Look at this?" and I read the message, I am not sure of what I am reading... I do not know this name do you?" he tells me its the name of the girl from many years ago, the biological mom. My mouth drops open and I ask "who is asking?"....its the little girl(now a college student) that his mom said may come asking questions. That day would change our family forever.... I had so many emotions... I looked at her pictures and it was like looking at a girl version of Shelby and Taylor,identical, my first reaction was anger and disbelief...." I am the only one to have someone look just like Shelby!!" (ok not one of my finer moments but I have had many moments through out this) Shelby and her connect immediatly...spending hours on the phone, getting to know each other, he was giddy and the more he was giddy over another female the more ticked off I became. When we had to share the news with our boys....oh yall can only imagine. Taylor was angry, his reality of not being his dad's oldest really threw him, he had 1 brother and never asked for a sister. We taught him abstinance before marriage and boy was he angry his dad had not followed that rule. My B really had no imput except he loves peace, he wants his family happy and since total chaos was irrupting he was angry. Through this process I felt Shelby was ignoring our feelings and building a bond and I was busy picking up the pieces of my precious boys. Yall, it was some of the darkest days I have been through, my heart was wrong and this child that had contacted us "Really what was the purpose....she had a great family...leave mine alone!!" Shelby and I went to counseling, because honestly I could not stand him....he was ripping apart everything I loved and he was angry, because geez he told me this could happen, its not a surpise Teresa!!! he basically would say get over it, you are hurting this childs feeling by your actions, really and why would I care what about our boys hurting!! Happy Beautiful Friday.... not some of my finer moments....life is messy. The counselor's best advice "Time". 4 years later that is where we are at....I still in someways do not understand a bond that can just happen, I understand history. For a few years now there has been no contact with this child and there has been peace in the family but great sorrow and sadness to Shelby.... but it is time....our boys are older and they get it and as a mom I do not want them to miss out on this amazing journey.... I share this story straight from my heart....there is no "happy ending yet" ..... but our heavenly father has a great plan for my family and I want with all my heart for Shelby to have peace. As yall now I can not stand change...and this is change at its biggest...but my prayer is that with this great change great blessing come... and I have an amazing opportunity to show my boys peace and love not only to Shelby but to this precious girl that has come into our life. Prayers for this journey yall!!

Good Morning!! Sticks and Stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. Wherever this originated from had never experienced the power of hurtful words..... May your words, thoughts and opinions be straight from our heavenly father because tomorrow you may be on the other end of hurtful unkind words. Happy Beautiful Thursday yall. I want my actions and words to reflect his grace...I want to choose wisely and boy is it hard.... He who lives in a glass house shouldnt throw stones...we are all vulnerable to sin and poor choices because we are of a sinful nature. Be kind yall.....those wounds from sticks and stones will heal...but gossip and words will make a lasting impression. My prayer today is that my words make a difference in someones eternity, not to break them!! May kind words pass from your lips to others ears.

Good Morning!! When the CIG opened 5 years ago I was the breakfast server and with very little business I was able to get to know the guys coming in....relationships were being built, we were investing in each others lives. There was an older guy that started coming in, big loud voice and a wonderful smile. I started to get to know him and looked forward to seeing him when he came in. He works full time for a big company here. He is a husband, a dad and a grandpa. My boys would come in every morning for breakfast and he would spend time talking to them, really getting to know them. Over the last 5 years I have learned that he was a widow for a time, loosing his 1st wife to cancer. His grandson is going to medical school and boy is he proud when telling me of his accomplishments. He climbs big ladders and works off the ground a lot, very dangerous. Last year I learned that his current wife is batteling cancer, we have talked many times about her diagnoises, treatment and progress. I have never met his precious wife, yet I have prayed for her on numerous days. When I ask of her, his reponse is always positive...sometimes he answers with tears but always in a way that glorifies our heavenly father. No matter what kind of day he is having emotionally or mentally my boys always come to the conversation...he wants to know how they are because he took the time to be invested in their lives. Last week, I receive a private message from a mutual friend of ours, his words were letting me know my precious friend and his wife received bad news from the doctor..." He prob. does'nt want you to know, but I know you would want to know and pray." My heart sank.... Happy Beautiful Wednesday....the title of the sermon on Sunday was "When life seems to be falling apart"...throughout this life we will suffer great just a Jesus suffered when he was a man living on this earth but its not about the suffering it is about relying on him, our relationship with him becomes stronger and we become better. I have often sat and thought of my sweet friend, on his journey he has lost 1 wife to this horrible disease and now has a 2nd fighting to beat this disease and yet his life reflects kindness and love. He has joy even through great sorrow. We all will suffer it is a promise....but what we do with it is what counts. My friend has taught me so much about life over the last 5 years and the amazing thing about it, it has not been with words, it has been with his actions. Knowing the diagnoises of his precious wife, I ask how she was doing....with a beautiful smile on his face and tears shining through his blue eyes..."We hit a bump, but we are good....we will just keep doing what we are doing.... we have prayer and hope." Hope and prayer yall....its the only way to live!!

Good Morning!! The longer I work in this crazy business the harder it seems to get it right. Last Friday we had an issue with our catfish...everything we do is hand breaded and our own recipe's. I start picking up plates and asking how things tasted and my precious guest reply "It was alright", not the words I want to hear. I go to the kitchen after the 3rd comment and taste and re-taste and yes I thought their words of "alright" were kind....it was not good. We pull the special for the day, and move on, I was very frustrated. I talk to Sam about the breading and we come up with a solution. Yesterday we tested this new method, getting ready for todays special, my goal to hear, "it was fantastic." Our crazy lunch starts and the taste test of the catfish forgotten. I start watching plates come across the line and the beans and rice do not look right, I grab a spoon and ask Cindy to taste and her words made me want to jump out of my skin, they were not good. I take a spoon and realize she is exactly right, I tell the kitchen to pull them and fix these two sides, now I my heart it racing.. "why yall?"...their reply "we thought they were alright"...oh mylanta the exact same words my guest used the week before about the special. "Alright puts you out of business", I know not a nice reply but I was angry. In the middle of this mess, one of my girls had a large party in my tech room and when asked what the special of the day was she replied,"Hand breaded catfish," when in all reality it was stacked beef enchilada's with rice and beans. Well you can just imagine the chaos that caused in the kitchen....they plate up ALL the special plates and it hits the server...."Oh no I told them catfish!!" Happy Beauitful Friday....just another day at the CIG, the guest were so kind and understanding, even though the server took alot of kidding for her mistake we were able to make them happy and to settle the guys in the kitchen down. I have a sign hanging in my office that was written by Vince Lombardi, the title What it takes to be NO 1, I read this often, it talks of winning, that it is habit forming to win or it is habit forming to loose. We were raise to achieve greatness or to be the best we can be, and I will be the first to say its hard what we do and to get it right but this is how our heavenly father made us, not to settle or to become complacent. I know my staff wants to say.." be quiet!!" when things start going south but if I start settling for less, we then become less. Are you settling because you dont want to upset others or your exhausted from trying to be better and do better? Like I said, the longer I work in this easy bake oven, the harder it is to get it right....but as long as I do not settle we will become better....I want to strive everyday to be the best, I want that to be habit forming!! May your friday be amazing and you strive for greatness because when you get it right there is no better feeling. Here is to hoping the catfish receives great reviews and the staff will realize it is a great feeling to not settle!

Good Morning!! Its funny how you can sit in silence(yes I can do that) and then you notice something around you and your mind takes you back.....Going to my dad and MJ's house was something the boys and I always looked forward to.The house that I grew up in was "home". I would always wander around this house and remember my childhood. I would notice the vacuum marks that were still noticable after the task had been done a day, a few days or the week before. This was now a house without children in it full time. Being a mom of 2 rambunctious boys, my vacuum marks barely stayed an hour before they were trambled, rolled or wrestled away. The other day I am sitting in my living room and I realize my vacuum marks are exactly the way they were the week before.....no one had trambled across them, pinned a sibling down until they yelled uncle or crashed a toy car into a piece of furniture.....this is now a house without little children in it full time. Happy Beautiful Wednesday yall!! Its funny....in all reality I never expected to have vauum marks that were left undisturbed but this is the cycle of life and this is where I am at. I often talk of memories, they are a gift from our heavenly father, they are a video of life that can never be erased and so I remember and cherish the marks that are not there anymore. If you are waking up this morning to pure frustration that was created from your kids.... or have not been to sleep because of your kids.....this to shall pass. Gosh, I love being a mom it is absolutly this biggest gift I have been given.... In some ways I miss the messy house and the chaos that happens with younger kids and then I am grateful for this cycle of life....to watch your kids become who the Lord created them to be, ahhh now that is a gift!! Its amazing how pure silence and some vacuum marks can recall so many great things. Cherish this time yall, mess and all, because it changes without you even noticing and one day when you realize you have vacuum marks, you want to be able to cherish this journey you have been on with those precious gifts from our heavenly father!

Good Morning!! At our family lunch on Sunday I am trying to tell the kids about the plans for the upcoming holidays. "Things will be a little different this year..... No we are not doing our usual trip to Dallas for Thanksgving and I tell them why....I also go over Christmas." This family lunch consist of Taylor(my oldest), his precious girlfriend Mindy(that I usually like more than my boys), My B & Shelby. I am getting frustrated as no one seems to be listening to me. My B is thinking about the bat he is going to buy, Taylor is irritating Mindy with crab legs(actually pretty funny when I think about it) and Shelby is engrossed in the utube feed of Felix jumping. I ask if anyone was listening to me...."yes we heard you!!" was their reponse, oh mylanta they were irritated with me!! Yesterday I receive a text message from Mindy, "what are the dates for Thanksgiving in Dallas?" ok she is my favorite I will answer nicely. I respond to her and I press send, immediatly I receive a call from Taylor..."Why are we not going to Dallas?" Happy Beautiful Tuesday yall, I know yall have all experienced days like these especially if you are a parent. I know this is how our heavenly father feels when telling us his plans for us.... I have questioned him more in the last few months than I ever have. I have ignored him and his steps for me because I feel exhausted, preoccupied, scared or I just didnt want to go there, I felt frustrated with him. Just as Taylor wanted to know why things were different this year, I have felt this way. "Why throw great change into something that I feel is pretty great just the way it is." Over the last week he has made it impossible to ignore him and his plans for me and I honestly have to say my heart is full of relief and I know he has been frustrated with me but as I had patience with my children, he has had great patience with me. Put down the phones, shut off the noise and listen.... his plan is perfect and ignoring him is absoultely exhausting. I have called upon him this week and said "ok about these plans?".....quit ignoring and ask him and then listen:) may your day be full!!

Good Morning!! My favorite thing about Sunday is being with my family, yesterday was no different. We sat in church together and then headed to lunch. I turn from good mom to crazy mom when they do not put their phones down during our family lunch time. Taylor starts telling us of the guy that is jumping.... Felix Baumgartner. My first thought is this for real...why would anyone do this? We all broke the phone rule and started watching Felix ascend to the heavens being carried by a metallic capsule and a white baloon. Watching the live coverage from our phones we paid for our lunch and went our separate ways. Funny.....out of my family, 4 of the 5 of us ended up in a parking lot watching history happen. My heart was racing and my lips were saying prayers for his safety, it was absolutely riveting. Happy Beautiful Monday!! My thoughts went to Felix's mom, as a mom of 2 boys, I cant even imagine where her mind was, but as a parent, watching our kids live out their passion there is nothing more rewarding, this is what we want for our children. I sat in church yesterday morning, not even knowing about Felix and I watched and listened to the young man leading worship. He was amazing, he was living his passion and he was fantastic. He not only loved to sing but he loved who he was singing about, I know his mom is proud. Our heavenly father blessed us with amazing gifts, we were created to be passionate. When I watch my B on a baseball field, it fills my heart with joy because he is using the gifts the Lord gave him. If it moves our heart to watch our children live their passions, can you imagine the joy it brings our heavenly father. Its not about free falling and breaking the sound barrier(but that is pretty awesome) or singing in church, or playing baseball, it is about living up to your potential. Our heavenly father takes ordinary people and does extrodinary things with them.....live your passion yall, when others watch your passion come to life, it inspires!!!

Good Morning!! 4 couples on different journey's....yet the same in so many ways. 2 couples knew each other from church. They were married to what they felt were their life long mates....they were happy. They worked and were rasing their kids in loving christian homes. Both couples reality shifted when cancer entered into their marriage. These spouses became care takers....life as they knew it stopped and making sure their mates beat this disease became priority....they learned how to love with their whole heart. Within a 1yr and 1/2 cancer took a spouse from each couple.....and the grieving spouses left with great sorrow found each other. The other 2 couples grew up in the same town, knowing each other through out their whole childhood. They became adults & married their sweethearts, 1 couple moved away and life began.... working, raising children,traveling. They also thought they had married their life long mate....actually both of these couples were married for 46 years. One became a widow from her precious husband suffering a heart attack....the other watched his precious wife lose her battle with cancer. Life long school friends, she reached out to him.... she knew his grief. The first 2 couples that I write about are my dad and my MJ( she is more than a step mom). The other 2 couples....well half of them were my regulars. Over two years I watched this couple love each other....he cared for her in every way and when she passed, his grief in ways, were more than I could stand....I saw my dad sitting their grieving. Happy Beautiful Thursday yall.... I had the great opportunity to sit and visit with this last couple the other day. Their story so much like my parents..... finding absolute love.....feeling absolute grief and sorrow over loosing that love and then finding love and joy again. I had to apologize to them for my tears that were sliding down my face.... my thoughts were many & my heart was full. Our heavenly father loves us so much and he made us to be filled with love and joy, he gave these 2 precious couples love and joy again. When you witness first hand his healing.... I have now words. Over my lifetime, I have experienced so many spouses become widowed.... but I have also witnessed his perfect peace and healing of their hearts. I often pray for the widows that surround me that they experience absolute pure joy. If you are in the midst of grieving.....I promise their is hope....he will replace your sorrow with his love and his joy...I have seen it first hand. There is a season of great sorrow but then a season of great joy and peace will come. In so many ways, I cant imagine my life with my MJ..... but my dad and I had to go through great sorrow to have her in our life's. So much pain.....brings so much joy!!

Woot woot!!! Heading to the balloon festival in NM with Shelby... Oh mylanta I'm Giddy as a school girl. Deuces y'all, be back Monday:)
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Road Trip done .... Can't wait to crawl in bed AND we are not in the computer system for our reservation.... Oh there we are our new name is Eldorado Domingez... That's the name our confirmation # was under... I always thought Shelby looked like an Eldorado... Bahaha
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Up at 3:00 am, sat in traffic .... Yes for 1 hour.... Braved the cold and a million people     (ok not that many) we sat in absolute anticipation , our excitement building ( to where I believe we were almost doing the "happy dance"...,, and then nothing....CANCELED oh my I'm from Lubbock and what they considered windy ah let's just say... Yes with a kind heart and gritted teeth, I do understand safety!!! Bucket list still not checked. Happy Saturday... Eldorado and I are going to hang out.,, Albuquerque style:)
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Good Morning!! Eldorado and I are going to try this one more time this morning .... It's windy.. We will see!!!
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SUCCESS!!!!!

Good Morning!!! As I stood and watched these magnificent balloons ascend to the sky my heart and mind had so many emotions. I was thankful for my sight and sound to experience this beauty.... I thought of absolute faith. The pilots of these beautiful balloons have absolute faith that the basket, the gas and the balloon will stand up to the task ahead of them. They have a healthy fear of their passion but go up with great delight . Happy beautiful Monday y'all!!! My faith has been tested lately... Our Heavenly Father blessed Shelby and I to experience this amazing display of absolute faith. Sometimes I do feel I am being suspended above ground,just hanging on, but I realized as the basket was carrying these balloonist my basket is my precious heavenly fathers hands..... And he has got All of my fears.... Instead of just hanging on.... Would it not be great to bask and delight in his beauty that is passing us by on this journey of life . Faith is not believing God can, it is knowing he will!! The thought of living my life with absolute faith and sitting back like those balloonist and actually enjoy being suspended above ground .... Oh it so changes my perspective. Enjoy this beautiful ride he has placed you on... The comfort of being surround by his hands makes being suspended above ground... A beautiful sight. It's all about faith y'all:)

Good Morning!! It will be 18 years in November that my family moved to Lubbock. I was pregnant with my B and Taylor was 2. I honestly at the time thought Shelby had moved me to the armpit of America.....really the sky turns brown because of dirt and the great citizens of this city kept right on with life.....like this was normal. We were looking for a church and Shelby's family told us of a different kind of church that had just started, Live Oak Community Church. We were told the pastor that started this "new" church had a baptist background and had been a youth minister.We pull up on that Sunday morning to a shopping center, about 30 people in attendance, this is where our journey would start with 2 of the most amazing, life changing people I have had the opportunity to meet. Chuck Williams & Ann Glazener Williamswere the founder's of this small church, they immediately became part of my family. This small church is where my precious babies were dedicated to our heavenly father.... that beautiful Sunday, with all of our families present, Chuck held my boys and prayed for my family...for our journey of raising two boys. My boys accepted Christ while attending this church and with family and friends gathered in a beautiful back yard we witnessed Chuck baptize my precious Shelby, Taylor and Branum..... Needless to say thru all of B's surgery, normal everyday heartache, the death of Shelby's mom and lifes celebration's Chuck and Ann were there. We attended this church for 10 years and felt the stirring to worship elsewhere, this precious couple supported us wherever we chose.... I shrieked with giddyness on Tuesday morning as I see my precious friends pull up to the CIG.... Their life in the last year changing drastically ..... Chuck "retired" from full time ministry and they have taken their love for our heavenly father..."on the road." They sold their home and minimized their life, purchased an RV and for the last year have traveled, worked & worshipped with people all across the country..... they are doing our heavenly father's work and making a difference in strangers lives. I sat and caught up with my precious friends....they truly feel they are living the plan the Lord set out for them and sometimes its just not easy, there have been surprises..they knew they would miss their friends and family in Lubbock....but they never expected to make connections with strangers and when they leave for their next distination to miss them....relationships are being built all across this country and our heavenly father is the connection. Ann shared that it has been difficult in ways of living "full time" in an rv. Small kitchen.....and a big truck that pulls the rv is their only transportation..... Happy Beautiful Friday yall...as I sat and listened to their great journey, I realize even though they are doing the Lord's work,they, in some ways, are unsure of their journey, everyday they allow the Lord to guide their footsteps. Lately I have felt unsure about his plans for me and catching up with my precious friends I realized it is ok to be unsure as long as you let him lead and guide. I love this precious couple, that have done "life" with me for 18 yrs and I celebrate and pray for this journey they are on..they are making a difference for our heaveny father..WOOT WOOT that makes me giddy.....