Chef Point Cafe

During the holidays I learned of a 4 star resturant located in a Conoco gas station Watauga.  I wanted to go as soon as the holidays were over.  The problem was, by then, I had forgotten who had mentioned the resturant and the name.  Friday morning I woke up knowing who told me....thank you Carolyn.  Today Hal and I took a little road trip to Watauga to search out and have lunch at Chef Point Cafe.

 Chef Franson Nwaeze and his wife own this gas station/resturant.  The food is outstanding.  There was a wait and sometimes you sit w/other people at your table but it's all worth it.  Because of package laws, they don't serve any beer or wine.  They are planning on expanding behind the station and offering a full bar.
Chef Point Cafe  Next time you want a 4 star meal and don't want to dress up, I highly recommend this place.  Also, be very hungry!

Happy 11th Anniversary Babe

Today is our 11th anniversary and it truly seems just like yesterday.  I'm so very thankful for Hal and our life together.  Of course the journey has been blessed with our kids and together we are thankful for them.
I have worked at Viewcast long enough that everyone knows when it's our anniversary as Hal sends me the most beautiful bouquet of long stem red roses to the office.  You can smell the roses cubes away.

 Our gift to each other was a piece of art work to go above the fireplace.  An empty space for the last year waiting on us to find the perfect picture for Herb to paint.  Still searching for the picture but for now, we have this piece and I love it.  Steel is the appropriate gift for your 11 anniversary.

Happy Anniversary Babe.  I love you dearly and look forward to another year together with you.

Cotton Bowl - Gig 'em Aggies

We had the opportunity to go to the Cotton Bowl this year, AGGIES vs lsu at the death star.  It's was great fun the weeks and days prior to the game as Rod is a rabid lsu fan.  This parking lot was filled with RVs all decked out. Now that's tailgating!

 Everyone has our colors on...It's show time.

 I thought the sunset was absolutely beautiful.

 Julie and KW invited Tina.  A friend Julie met at 2nd Baptist in Houston. 

 Lauren, John and friends....

 Tina and her family...I need to get their names.  What a special family and so happy to meet them.

 Julie and KW, so excited for the game to begin, so optimistic...

 The next evening everyone came over to the house for dinner. 

As we say at the end of each season.....there is always next year.  Great fun and we were close for a while.

Passion 2011

Passion is an opportunity for thousands of young adults (college aged) to come together from across the US and the world to celebrate their common faith and purpose.  KW, Julie, Hal and I volunteered this year together along w/1,300 other volunteers to serve the 22,000 kids.  What a humbling experience.  These kids came w/open hearts and minds to seek, understand and learn more about their journey to live and how to serve our Lord.  We were "Community Group" volunteers which meant we had a room of 970+ kids for 2 hours each morning and evening plus a Break Out Session for 3 days.  The 970 kids would break out into groups of 8 to create  "Family Groups".  In the beginning, this was not an easy thought for the kids to take in, however, by Tuesday, there were hugs, pictures taken and many tears as they said good-bye for now.  I too was right there with them with the hugs and tears.

 Each Community Group room had it's own audio/visual tech guy.  How awesome is that? I told Mark I would only move a few buttons on his console...

 On Monday the plan was for the students to eat lunch outside.  The temps were to get up to around 50, and they probably did later on in the day but not by lunch time.  They took their box lunch from our hands and found the sun and pavement w/o any grumbling.  Again....very humbling.

 Ben Stuart was speaking on Fighting For Holiness in our room the first Break Out session.  We packed as many kids as possible in our room and had to turn others away.  The next day Ben was moved to a ballroom that holds 4,500-5,000 and again, the room was filled to capacity.  Note, that everyone sits on the floor, there are no chairs w/exception to the Main Sessions held in the Phillips Arena and the Georgia World Conference Center.  Again, no grumbling.

This group of kids gave so much to the homeless shelters in Atlanta as well as many other mission organizations.  Each person, participant as well as volunteer was asked to bring a towel and socks.  Here is just the beginning of the pile that was being created. The total number of towels was, 17,478 and 85,358 pairs of socks.

The last night the kids were dismissed from their Worship service and asked to leave in silence.  It was a very moving scene to watch 22,000 kids walk in silence to their Community Group rooms.  When our kids arrived, they stood until most arrived and began to sing Amazing Grace.

Our Community Group leader, Aaron Coe, was outstanding w/the kids and us. 
When asked...how was Passion?  Answer....Jesus and let me share w/you how he touched my life.

In 2003, Blake, Camille (Blake's girlfriend at the time), Julie, Hal and myself served at the Passion held outdoors in Sherman, TX.  We were all touched by the event back then.

Happy New Year 2010 in Atlanta

Hal and I spent New Year Eve weekend in Atlanta and had a wonderful time.  Friday, Chris picked us up from the airport and took us to lunch at Six Feet Under.  The restaurant got it's name bc it's across the street from a beautiful cemetery.  Great food and we so enjoyed spending time with him.

Afterwards Chris dropped us off at the Omni were we would spend the next few days w/22,000 of our closest college friends, plus 1,300 other volunteers, Julie and KW...all of us attending Passion 2011. That's not all that was going on downtown Atlanta.  Friday night was the Chick Fil A Bowl at the Georgia Dome plus the dropping of the Peach for New Years Eve.  On Saturday all the kids starting arriving.  Sunday the Atlanta Falcons played Carolina at the Dome...it was just total mass humanity. 
Friday night we had dinner w/Julie and KW to celebrate New Years Eve.  We stayed up until midnight.

On Tuesday Chris came back to pick us up.  We stopped by his new office and visited w/Kristin, Jerry, the other Chris and Kim.  Love the new place.

The interior decorating is beautiful!  Hope to see you again and soon.

Happy New year!