Good Morning!! Everyday of the week I have certain regulars that usually only come on that particular day ... Yesterday, Thursday, in walked grandmother and granddaughter , Thursday has become their time together and they spend it with us. This started a few months ago. I remember, like it was yesterday, when I received the call that my precious regular had lost his battle and has slipped from this world into his eternity. She (grandmother) called to tell me the news that brought tears and heartache , not only to me but Alysha, who had served them for years... He was family . Yesterday as I walked them towards their table my precious friend says..."are you sad that the old location is almost completely torn down?" "Ya know, I think I would have been more upset if it would have happened last year when mentally & physically I was a little more fragile & missing the simplicity of the old place!" She asked a few question about my answer ...." Do you think you would have changed location if the building had not sold ?" ..."nope , I was happy and content so I needed proding from our Heavenly Father for all of this to happen!!" She laughs and really said something that we all struggle with and that my life has been based on..." I have trouble stepping out on Faith , I am fearful if I do something drastic what will happen!" Happy Beautiful Friday y'all.. How many times have we let fear take control over our faith. If I would not have had faith and trusted the direction he was pushing me (yes pushing and dragging) I would have missed out on so much ..... Stop resisting what he has for you, believe me I know how scary it is to let go and let God....but his rewards are great... He knew a lot more people needed to experience "His"grill.... & so he gave me a place that had room for a line, honestly unbelievable doesn't even describe my feelings but it All started with fear and then complete FAITH... Trust in The Lord with all your heart

Good Morning!! whew life's lessons everywhere & I have a question of the day.. Y'all can give me inspiration. If you do not get an apology, Where is the relationship ? If it is pure business and not personal should you expect an apology? Myself, being the head of this crazy place, is expected to apologize when I have hurt someone or is that my expectations of my self.. Yep my brain will not shut off!! Would love insight y'all. Happy beautiful Thursday y'all!!

Good Morning !!! ..... Things that are hard to bear are sweet to remember.... Heartache turns to compassion & compassion turns to strength, reminds me how great the God I serve is! Happy Beautiful Monday y'all...baseball is life in our house & my B has been blessed with the ability to play really well.. The last few games he has struggled at the plate.. He made some adjustments with his hands & feet and wow he has struggled. We recorded him this weekend so he could watch back and fix it, yesterday while we were at the cage recording and working I thought how tough it is to watch him struggle ....and how we truly take for granted how great he plays.... His struggles will only make this game we love sweeter when he comes out stronger. ..... Things that are hard to bare are sweet to remember .... Yep I will cherish these struggles because he will become stronger & more compassionate.... This is our heavenly Fathers plans for each of us.

Good Morning!! The last few weeks have felt like we are on a freight train barreling out of control. The last 15 shifts have been ran short handed & this amazing CIG crew has done the best they could with style and grace. Yesterday we were short 2 guys in the kitchen so guess who the winner was to take one of the spots.....,, yep that would be me. With Shelby at the wheel the tickets starting flowing and items being shouted out.... My job sandwiches, burgers, (Izack cooked them) salads & a whole plethora of other things, about an hour into the rush i am getting my butt kicked and i am frustrated, the new fry guy is behind & i feel as if we are on the brink of disaster, Shelby is shouting how long on 2 taco salads ... I holler back " almost up!!" I wrap the one Togo and hand it over and one of the girls says "no onions & sour cream on the side!"OH MYLANTA , are we serious!' I take the taco salad, which now I can't stand, and immediately chunk it hard into the trash ..... My boiling point has now been reached..... Happy Beautiful Friday yall, as I was opening my mouth to respond ( hateful of course) it's like my heavenly put his hand over mouth and said " really think how you are going to handle this"8 of my coworkers eyes were on me and my mind starting swirling with thoughts of how my actions were going to affect them & I realized I didn't want to blow it for all of them but I could have single handedly ruined everyone lunch rush... My mouth kept shut I put my head down and made another Taco Salad, this time the right way. I was so proud of ALL of the crew yesterday, we pulled together and worked hard. Izack & Krissy acted as if they were old pros ... They both carried their crew members through absolute chaos and they did it with CIG style, they stayed calm, these 2 
may be young but they teach me that I want to be better for them each day..... Yep just another day at the grill .... Amazing lessons of being better and doing better !!

Good Morning...up until I opened the grill, I made every special day extra special. ..,,,, beautiful hand made Easter baskets for my boys with a new outfit for each. Halloween they had the cutest candy sack and adorable costume and being my Valentine was a must with candy, some little trinket, dinner and whatever else they wanted. Flash forward to the grill opening and well let's just say it all went downhill and I never have received the mom of the year award again. A few years ago , when Taylor was a senior, I walked into a dark kitchen early on the morning of February 14th, stumbling half a sleep to make my coffee I turn on the light and low and behold the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. I squealed with delight .." Oh he did so good and yes precious.." He made me feel special after all these years. As I am walking out the door to the grill I don't want to leave his beautiful flowers behind, so I grab them, buckle them into the back seat and off I went. I brought them into the grill & proudly displayed them on the bar...... ummm, yes for all to see. 7:00 am rolls around and my phone starts barking( Taylor's ring) I answer and immediately say..." Oh Taylor thank you for the flowers , they are beautiful ".... But he didn't hear a word I said because in panic mode he is saying "oh my gosh mom, have you seen Mindy 's flower's.....oops!!!!!!!"... Happy beautiful Friday & happy Valentines day.... Who in the heck is Mindy was my first thought and then I burst out laughing ..... The flowers were for the young lady Taylor had just started dating..... & they were as beautiful as she was. I then realized he would not be valentine anymore ..... He had grown up. ........ I told Taylor that morning " just bring her to lunch and she can enjoy "our" flowers & yep the eye rolling started...... & the "oh my gosh mom".......yep just one of my favorite memories. I hope you all have a beautiful special day .....a day full of making memories that you can share with pure joy & laughter. 
BTW.... Mindy may have thought I was crazy but all these years later .... She still stuck with us💌
Happy Valentines y'all 

Good Morning!! The power of prayer.... Back in November I talked of a precious regular, him & I have been on a journey together for 6 years, we have shared tears of loosing his wife, we have celebrated his new marriage & he has walked away from me leaving me speechless the day he told me of his cancer diagnoses & then absolute broken hearted as he shared "I am stopping all treatment ... I am going to allow my body to heal & enjoy my holidays with my precious family", I will never forget that day.. him & I standing in the center of the grill, we were crazy busy & him sharing his decision , tears flowing from both of us . Yes I wrote of his journey back in November. During December he and his kids were constantly on my mind and in my prayers . Early one morning a few weeks ago I open my emails and there in my in box was an email from my precious friend and the subject was "remission". Happy Beautiful Friday y'all .... Tuesday is coconut cream day & his wife's favorite, he stopped in to grab a slice & fills me in..... The treatment, that he had taken & had stopped was still in his body and by the Grace of God & the power of prayer & a pure miracle started working,.... He pulls out his phone and shares a beautiful picture of his kids and grand kids, all gathered around him with hands laid on him praying, praying for absolute healing of their daddy and grandpa.... I love this family .... I am not sure what "the rest of his story" is going to be, of course none of us know, but what I do know is in the matter of a few months I have experienced two families, one being mine, that have lost their moms to this disease and now have faced reality that one day their sole parent will not always be there & then experience how powerful prayer is and when you experience healing & his grace... As my precious friend was leaving, tears of joy flowing I said ... The saying up there has new meaning huh..." See how beautiful GOD has added one more day, not because you need it, but because someone might need you." Thanks for your prayers y'all !!

Good Morning!! Hand Breaded Chicken Fried Steak is our #1 food item we serve. On a slow day, we hand bread and fry at least 90 plus and on a Friday....Oh Mylanta is all I can say. The Chicken fry steak is only 1 of many items that we fry.....a lot of our menu is hand breaded and made right when ordered so yall can imagine what a crazy stressful area the fry station is when 500 to 600 guest will pass through the doors on any given day. Needless to say it is the hardest job at the CIG & it is a position that is hard to fill. We lost our fry guy a while back & Shelby has been fryin up the CIG favorite's while we find someone that is qualified to take over. I hired a guy a while back, Stephen. He is prob my age or a little younger and he has become a great asset to the kitchen over the last few weeks but he was not hired to man the breading & fry station. The time between 10:30 & 11:00 is always pretty stressful for everyone, the girls are changing into lunch stations & the kitchen is trying to set up the line for lunch while still cooking breakfast, it is my least favorite time of day because this is when mistakes happen. Yesterday I hear through the CIG grapevine that Stephen was going to try to learn to fry......I was at first shocked, why would anyone volunteer for the worst job back there....OR was he being bullied by his co-workers, I make my way back & talked with Shelby & he was ok with it (of course no frying for Shelby makes him a happy camper....oh j/k).....We start lunch and Stephen is in my mind......my thoughts leave him as the line builds and the food start flowing, the cook time's where never over 10 minutes....the CIG kitchen crew did an amazing job. Happy Beautiful Friday yall.....gosh the reason for the long story about really nothing was to share what Stephen said to me yesterday when I went to find him.......The crazy lunch rush was over and I make my way to the kitchen, I find Stephen at the hand sink cleaning up. "Geez Stephen, I am so proud of you, you did a great job today, what made you want to fry or do you want to fry?" as he pulls the towels to dry his hand, his words stop me in my tracks...."Thanks, I had a lot of help...... no not that I really wanted to but what I want to do is be what you need Teresa.....so if that is what you need this is what I want to do."WOW" is all I can say......isn't this how we are suppose to answer our heavenly father......I may not want to: ....work with children, cut hair, deliver food, be a cashier, a garbage man/women,a missionary but if this is what you need I will......Have a beautiful blessed Friday yall!!

Click Good Morning!! Words are powerful sometimes mightier than any weapon......... Yesterday my heart was broken as one of my friend's (regular) proclaimed loudly, not once but 4 times, that one of the items s*cked.......many of my guest were looking at him & then me. I was completely humiliated and embarrassed. I went to the kitchen with tears streaming down my face.....I was shocked that he thought is was ok to talk that way, not shocked that he did not like one of my food items. As much as I would like to, I know I will never please all the people all the time. I made my rounds during lunch scared to ask how everything was and plates were licked clean of this particular item and the words.. " absolutely delicious" were used when asked..... Happy Beautiful Thursday ya'll .....Yesterday afternoon I had a food vendor meeting set-up.....these guys bring different items in, we cook them, taste test them and then we have another meeting so they can find out what we thought. I was not wanting to meet with anyone....I was blah.....they arrived promptly on time & they sat in the faith room with great anticipation written across their faces....."surely I liked their product, because they believed in it"........ I was dreading the meeting, these guys are great guys & I have an amazing relationship with them but I did not enjoy their food items they brought me.....with the events from lunch still swirling in my head I sat down in the meeting.......and by the grace of God my words came out kind and apologetic that their items just were not for me......and it hit me......lesson learned on words to others...they are so powerful & I do not want to make anyone feel the way my guest made me feel. When I went to the kitchen with tears streaming down my face Shelby left the fryers to see what was wrong......I describe the events and told him who...."I thought we were friends.....and his words hurt" Shelby then reminds me its business &. Gosh he is right....but I want to be kind in business also and I am not always. I was interviewed a couple of days ago and one of the questions asked to me was .."What is the toughest challenge you face everyday?" & ironically my answer was" to be kind and nice in everything on a daily basis." I love our guest's every hug, every giggle, every moment shared and I also love the truth about their experience at the grill because I take everything to heart to make things better.... I want people to like us and I have learned there is a fine line between the honest truth and being rude.......WOW I love what I learned yesterday.......Gods grace and life's lessons........through a broken heart and tears shed I have learned how I want to talk to others.......put the broken heart aside ya'll and learn the lesson God is giving you!!! to edit.

Woot woot another day with amazing specials and delicious pies.... Luv luv luv the verse Deni chose to put on the board. You have know idea how it touched my heart the day she asked if she could write a verse on the board, little did she know I use to keep a verse up at the other place but life around here started getting crazy..... Yep back to old school and I it. Thanks Deni for sharing his words with the amazing guest. Come see us y'all, it us a great day in our hood  — with Deni Wright.

Good Morning y'all!!!.......... Under the blanket of darkness and stars I drive to work every morning, I don't live in town & so I travel farm roads that are deserted and quiet .... A few mornings a week my voice cuts through the darkness as I yell ......"good morning Mr.daniels. I flash my headlights and swerve away from the traveler....... Last year driving in every morning I started seeing a man,I couldn't tell anything about him except he wore a reflective vest like a road worker. At first I thought he was walking to work, but I always thought "where does he work way out here?" Quite a few mornings this stranger became Shelby 's and I topic of conversation...... I wonder where he is if I don't see him & I wonder what his journey is ?"..... Happy beautiful Friday y'all...... A few weeks ago Shelby and I were running late and my walker was turning around at the intersection" now is your chance Teresa , stop and meet him, u know you want too."" No"was my response, I didn't want to scare him or bother him... I drove for a second and then turned my big red truck right around and headed straight back....... I pulled up slowly and Shelby lowered his window and I met this stranger that had been apart of my mornings for so long. His name Mr.Daniels, he retired 3 years ago and was in very poor health, "a heart attack waiting to happen " came from his lips . He started walking.... He now walks 14 miles a day...". Why on these roads ?".."quiet and safe" we're his answer . We both shared a little of our lives and then it was time for me to get going..... How ironic that I met this man on a dark lonely road and Shelby and I now talk of concern when we miss him a few days...." Geez , Teresa, we never should have met him, it just gives us someone else to worry about!!".....we all get so busy that we don't take the time to meet that stranger that gets coffee everyday the same place we do or walks their kids into school the same time you do........ I am thankful Shelby told me to stop ..... Who would have thought just taking a minute out of my day to make a connection would make a difference in my life .... Mr Daniels knows someone on that dark cold road cares about him every morning...... Gosh isn't this really what God wants for us...... Connections with others y'all, it makes a huge difference in your lives & so every morning I flash my headlights, swerve away and greet a man that was once a stranger & yell out "Good morning Mr.Daniels "and my heart smiles with every word..... Yep connection it's good for the soul ...