window treatments, menu planning, bathroom flooring, local newspaper and awesome cabinets!!!

Since yesterday we have had so much going on! Grant and Savannah have put together a great lineup of "what's for dinner??" It may not sound like a tough thing to accomplish, but when you have to decide on each item and what goes into it or on it, that does take time. And lots of it. We have actually been working on the menu items for the entire time now. We may like something and it might sound good, but after we look at what goes into it, we have to decide whether or not it's a keeper or to just drop it. If it has too many ingredients that are hard to get, we have to let it go. We need items that will be easy to make and that are relatively easy to obtain. So we are in the final stages of making the menu. I can tell you this though...we're going to have BIG sandwiches and fresh salads, including chicken salad on a lovely, fresh bed of lettuce (or on a fluffy, buttery croissant, with no trans fat, of course) and thick, hearty soups...homemade. Mmmmm...yummie!! Last night, Ripley's father Tommy Fowler, came and helped us at the store, yet another time. He's really a talented guy! He came and laid some wood-look flooring down into the bathrooms. The flooring in there was just awful. Old and beaten up terribly. He pulled every bit of that stuff up and then put down some new kind of floating floor. WOW! Does it ever look different. He is a very giving person and his wife, Sueann has been so gracious to help us out. What a blessing they have been and we are so glad to get to know them better with this venture. Thanks Tommy and Sueann!! We love you guys!! You know, when your funds are limited and you don't really want to spend much on "decor", it makes sense to try to be as creative as possible. Well, that's exactly what we've done. I am trying to use as many different things as I can. Window treatments can be very costly and when you are opening up a restaurant, you know that $$$ do not need to go into alot of elaborate decorations. Sooooo, I've taken the left over parts of what we've used in other areas of the store and made use of it. These little panels will keep the light at bay during the afternoon and also add a special touch to the indoor decor. Yea!!! I hope you all like it. If you don't just keep it to yourself..lol...jk!! It kinda goes with the fencing wall we made and I may even use it to decoupage some ole time photos onto later. Today, I went to the local newspaper, The Arab Tribune. They were so helpful as I shared with them our story of what we're doing. They allowed me to look through all the 'archive' books that I wanted and said to take all the time I needed to look. They were great. I am looking for old photos of our town. I want to dress the restaurant up in a way that brings out the history of the town. I'm so excited!! I can't wait to share it with you!! It's going to take a bit of time to gather all the pics and info, but they are so helpful at the Tribune, it should move along quickly. More on that soon. This is the best part!! Bro Bo Alexander has made the most beautiful cabinet and countertops for our store! He brought them last week without the countertops and when I walked in, I just about cried. They were made so well and with such skill. It was amazing to look at his work. I know it must have taken him a very long time to do. You have got to come by just to see them. I love them!! He brought the countertops today and they are just gorgeous. I can't believe it. They are so pretty and go exactly with the decor of the store. If we ever move to another location, I'm taking them with me and using them there!!

It's the REAL THING!!

They say that 'Coke is the Real Thing'. Well, that may be true as far a soda's are concerned, but I'm gonna tell ya what...Jesus Christ is the Real Thing of EVERYTHING!! ABSOLUTELY ALL OF IT. That is why we are doing what we are doing, because of Him. He has given us power over all the darkness and over all the works of that dark world. Our pastor, Reverend Greg Wilbanks, just preached an awesome message that brought that into light once again. It was about "The Unchangeable Purpose of God" and the Word declares in Ps 8:1, Oh, Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! v.2 says, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, v.6, says(paraphrased) and we are to have dominion over the works of our hands. God's purpose for man upon the earth is for man to rule the darkness...satan. Since the 'fall' took place, it looked as if God's purpose couldn't be fulfilled. Darkness crept in and took over...so it thought. Was God's plan defeated? No!! God assigned and designed man to rule satan! Not for satan to dominate man. A defeated man is not in God's plan! A dominated man is not in God's plan! A ruling man IS in God's plan. To this day! Right NOW! Since God NEVER changes, how could his plan change. It could not. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He will never change. His plan is unchangeable and that is why he robed himself in flesh to be born of a virgin and take on the sins of the world. Jesus Christ!! The same yesterday, today and forever! He will never change and that is his plan. He is the real thing.

Walls are done, ice machine installed and now, the drink machines...

The walls are finally up! We got them done a few nights ago. Grant and Byram have been working on finishing up some of the details. It seems the little things take the longest and can often make the biggest impact. The ice machine is in place and yesterday we worked on getting the drink machines installed and completing the ceiling tile repair. Getting the drinks in is a very big thing. Grant called and said, "Bring your camera, we're installing the machines!" So we rushed down to the store and watched as the technician crawled into the tiny attic hole and up through the ceiling. We didn't want the piping for the coke fountains to show, so we needed to run the hoses through the walls and through the ceiling. That was a job! To say the least. But Rodney, the technician, was skilled at his job and helped us set it up so the hardward would not be seen. Grant even installed some electrical outlets on the wall behind the machines, so we could have electric access. WOW! I'm so proud of my husband. He can do anything! And with his faith God is doing great things through him. Mr. Rodney needed a little help with the cords and hoses. He asked if Austin would come and hold onto the big black piping so they could lift the machine into place. Of course, Austin didn't hesitate. He loves to help and get involved. And he was small enough to fit under the counter and into the cabinet. See his face peeking through the guys. Now we have a brand new soda machine, brand new tea and coffee urns and a lemonade pitcher. More coming soon. We've got to go right now and see how the progress is coming along.

Building Some Walls

The room was completely open and basically just one, big space. The only division was the kitchen wall and hallway. We really needed to divide up the room and add some walls. So the first wall we added was at the front entrance. It's just a little divider and the guest table and chairs will sit on the other side, in front of the window. Painted to match the trim and roughed up to look worn-hopefully. The next wall we built was for behind the register and counter area. This is the frame/backing for the wall itself. We're placing fabric of various colors on it. How cool!! The biggest wall we built divided the left side of the room from the right side. The guest tables will sit on the left side of this wall. It's painted to match the trim and then roughed up a bit.

Continued...

cleaning the kitchen...top to bottom...even the walls were scoured. every piece of equipment was thoroughly gone over and disinfected two times. mmmm...it smells so much better now. re-covering all the chair cushions took several days. we had to choose just the right fabric to hold up to many guests and something that would clean easily too. wow! they look and feel great! the color is a burnt red. i love it! after hours of preparing the floor on our hands and knees, we were able to lay carpet. it wasn't just any carpet either...it was just the right color. GOD did that for us in a wonderful way! notice the walls now...they aren't brite white any more~~yaaaaeeee!!! you didn't really notice the sign/frame housing out front, but now you can see it from the overpass @ hwy 69!!! it's bright yellow and the sign we're placing in it going to be gorgeous. look closely at Jordan's shades. did your glasses fall into the paint?

The work in progress

With stark white walls, 3 different types of flooring (2 colors of pink tile and then an aged terra cotta tile-HA! I'm making that sound kinda good...aged, that's being tactful :). ), a ceiling that's slightly falling, teal colored chair cushions just to name a few, we really had our work cut out for us. Not to mention the counter tops and cabinets were some kind of green and dark brown. This was the start of the store and actually these pics make it look pretty good...compared to what we walked into. lol-really. Sometimes if we just look past the surface we can see the potential. I guess we must like a challenge. God brings people, things and situations into our lives to show us there can be potential in anything, anyone, anytime...just like he sees in us. I know it may sound melancholy, but I don't mind. It's still true!! And we've had some great days together while we've worked on this place. Together...isn't that something! I love that. Now, here are 5 of our most industrious laborers...LOL!! I'm not sure they could see the potential~are you? Hee Hee!!

We Are Opening A Restaurant!!

It's true! We have begun the work in the building and are so excited about what God is doing for us and through us. It's going to be fantastic! I don't even know where to start sharing the story. My husband, Grant, has always wanted to have his own business. He has worked in the industry for many, many years. Even longer in retail. (30+ yrs) He has an excellent business operations mind and can deal with numbers so well. I'm so very proud of him for stepping out on faith and completely trusting the Lord in such a beautiful way as he has. He has always had a steady, 'I know where the $ is coming from' income. He has provided for our family so lovingly. Day in and day out. Faithfully. This time it's different. He said, "Good-bye", to his corporate peers and the 'status-quo' that dictates how successful you are...according to the world's view. He stepped out and said, "My value is not measured by the numbers meeting the deadline or the bottom line of this or that. He said, "NO!!" to it all. He stepped out in faith of the almighty God who calls us to another place. A better, higher place. This is a portion of his resignation letter... "...My job does not dictate my decisions in life. I live by a higher law. My job is only the field that I am placed in for specific seasons to effectively change the lives of people God places in my pathway. When I am called to a new field and more lives to touch, I must go. This is not a choice for me. I am called to a new place to effectively change lives for the kingdom. This is the measure of success by which I choose to live my life by. This is the example of success that my wife and children will see in me. I will not allow the world's opinion of success to influence how they feel about themselves. This opinion will never allow them to achieve the level of success that God has called them to..." Every day I am thankful for all that the Lord has done for me and all that HE has blessed me with by way of family, church family, friends, neighbors, my community, just everything, but in writing this today I must admit I feel more admiration for my husband than any other time I can think of. He is standing on the Word of God and it is alive. God is using him in a miraculous way. Oh, I'm not going to lie and tell you I haven't been afraid. I have! And I cast it into outer darkness. By the blood of Jesus. We have just jumped off of the corporate 'band-wagon' so to speak. And completely into the arms of our loving Savior and our dearest, most trusted best friend! He is our Jehovah-Jireh! He is Jehovah-Nissi, our Jehovah-EVERYTHING!! He will show us the way. Now we are going straight to where God is calling us. WITH GOD!! COMPLETELY!! NOT LOOKING BACK AND NOT LOOKING DOWN. We may not ....know... where our feet are being planted either. But we know we are walking on ...SOLID GROUND... Because we're standing on the solid rock. The chief Cornerstone. The Alpha and Omega. We don't have to see...to really see where we are going. Just trust. Trust in, trust on. And we do, we will and we are!! So here we go. OUR RESTAURANT IS CALLED... "THE CORNERSTONE DELI". Bring it on!! And that's just the beginning of sharing the story.