Happy Valentine's Day at the Texas Roadhouse!

First of all...I did it y'all. I cut out my curls today. Can you believe it? Truthfully, they're still there, but I had my hair cut and straightened today. I like it so much better than my curls. Missy is the best!!


I told you the other day I won a dinner at the Texas Roadhouse for an essay I had written. They were having a contest and I entered the essay, honestly not expecting to win. I just liked writing our story. Anyway, tonight was the night we received the award for that it was the tastiest award I've had yet. LOL

Hannah took this pic of me and my Valentine. Good one, huh?


She took this one while he was talking. It just cracked us up so I thought I'd share it with you too.


This one is out of order somehow, but OK...

Me and my sweetheart.

We got tickled at this one too because he looks like a chicken ready to peck my head.

I played with the camera on the way and took some silly pics. This is Bruce singing with the radio.

Me

Hmmmm

Bruce says this is a "Hannah smile."

Blowing kisses at my Darlin'.

Final destination: Texas Roadhouse. We didn't have to wait in line at all. As soon as I told the young lady at the desk our name, she knew exactly who we were and they seated us immediately. Cool, huh?

I was totally shocked to see they had rose petals and little lighted candles on the table. I wasn't expecting that.

They also had this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

And balloons! We felt special that the servers would stop and say hi and congratulations to us. They were all so nice!

The waitress was kind enough to take our picture.

They started us with an appetizer of yeast rolls and cheese fries. Yum! We chose the 12 oz Ribeye smothered in onions, mushrooms, and cheese with loaded baked potato and salad.

Bruce enjoying his meal!

This was the manager and she was wonderful. Very sweet. She made sure everything was just right and romantic for us while we enjoyed our meal. Hopefully she'll remember what I wrote my blog addy on and see these pics.

Thank you so much for a wonderful evening. We love your restaurant and will definitely be back!

Me

This was Brandi. She was our waitress and she was GREAT! I don't think our glasses were empty at all. She was quick with the food too, making sure everything was to our liking. GREAT waitress! We made sure she had a GREAT tip! She deserved it.

Bruce and I were so full, but still managed to share a slice of strawberry cheesecake.

We had such a great time. If y'all have a Texas Roadhouse near you, be sure to stop by and order some of their yummy food. I know you'll love it!

Thanks again, Texas Roadhouse for a wonderful evening. We had a really good time and everything was PERFECT!

Going home

Here's a better shot of the flowers. Aren't they lovely?

OK, so several people asked me to show my essay. I would have shown it to you sooner, but I wanted to wait until our dinner. So for all you inquisitive minds.....here ya go!

I was working at Harris Teeter while in high school. I was in a horse riding accident and was out of work for several weeks. My first day back I was ringing up a customer and just felt like someone was staring at me. I looked up and there was this new guy standing at the time clock getting ready to punch out. Sure enough, he was the one staring!

Being the feisty red head that I am, I snarled my nose and asked, "What are you looking at?" He just smiled a goofy smile and shrugged his shoulders. I shook my head and went about my business.

Little did I know that he was going to go home and tell his mom he had met the girl he was going to marry. Regardless of the fact that his dad told him to NEVER get involved with a red head!

From that day on, Bruce became a thorn in my flesh. He was a stock boy but every chance he had, he would make his way to my register to bag groceries and bug the hound out of me. Asking me out every few minutes. Telling the customers that he knew he was going to marry me. Blah, blah blah! It was so annoying.

I told my mom about him. She just laughed.

I finally had enough of this bag boy and decided to talk to my manager about him. I told Mr. Smith that if Bruce Morrow did not leave me alone I was quitting my job because I just couldn't deal with him every single day. Mr. Smith was nice about it and said he would talk to Bruce for me.

Shortly thereafter, Bruce came to me and apologized. "Kristi, I'm sorry for bothering you. I promise I won't talk to you any more. I just really liked you."

At first I was happy that he actually got the point. However, several days passed without even a hello from him. This bothered me as much as him talking non stop to me. I remember laying in bed at night not being able to sleep and thinking how rude he had been.

I told my mom about it. Again, she just laughed.

One day I decided to speak to Bruce about him not speaking to me. I told him he did not have to totally ignore me. A hello would be nice. Even a simple wave would be something. Just some kind of acknowledgement. Anything! He did start telling me hello. Eventually his hellos became more and he asked me out one more time. I told him I would go out with him if he would go to church with me and my family. He came! I was really surprised. That same Sunday after church, we walked the battleground at Kings Mountain state park. He walked me to a clearing overlooking a beautiful valley and asked me to wear his high school ring. I accepted it. I became his girlfriend March 12, 1989.

The first time he told me he loved me, he blurted it out in front of a customer at work. My eyes grew big when I looked up at him and his eyes were big too. Neither of us could believe he had just said it. Especially since his dad had always told him to "NEVER tell 'em you love 'em!" I thought it was cute that Bruce was blushing.

Our first kiss was in the break room of Harris Teeter. We were reading the newspaper together and our heads were getting closer and closer the longer we read. Finally, we turned to look at each other and it happened. He kissed me. And I kissed him right back! During this wonderful, very first kiss, we heard Mr. Smith's voice ringing behind us, "You better tell that Bruce Morrow to leave me alone or I'm going to quit." We all looked at each other with big smiles. Mr. Smith rolled his eyes and walked away. We continued kissing!

Bruce left for the Air Force two months later. What should have been a time of dates and getting to know each other was filled with lots of letters and phone calls. He graduated from Satellite Communications School in Biloxi, Mississippi, leaving for Germany soon after. But it wasn't long before he called to say he was coming home. He was home for a month and on February 13, 1990, we walked the battleground once again. We had not walked the battleground since he asked me to be his girlfriend. He walked me to that same clearing, overlooking that same beautiful valley, bent down on one knee and asked me to be his wife, replacing his class ring with an engagement ring.

We were married December 22, 1990.

It's been eighteen wonderful years with the good and the bad. And I wouldn't trade a single day for another.

I'm Loved

Pam, from Midnight Musings, awarded me the I Love Your Blog award. Thank you, Pam! Pam is my twin seperated at birth. We have so much in common as far as our upbringings and backgrounds, it really is scary. I'm surprised our parents don't know each other. Anyway, here's what you have to do to accept the award....

As a recipient of this award, there are rules to follow. I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others! The questions are as follows:


1. Where is your cell phone? phoneless


2. Where is your significant other? work


3. Your hair color? red


4. Your mother? Janice


5. Your father? Larry


6. Your favorite thing? family


7. Your dream last night? forgot


8. Your dream/goal? mothering


9. The room you're in? livingroom


10. Your hobby? BLOGGING


11. Your fear? hmmm


12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here


13. Where were you last night? church


14. What you're not? materialistic


15. One of your wish-list items? dunno


16. Where you grew up? NC


17. The last thing you did? supper


18. What are you wearing? clothes


19. Your TV? SHARP


20. Your pet? lab


21. Your computer? laptop


22. Your mood? cheerful


23. Missing someone? nah


24. Your car? Contour


25. Something you're not wearing? make-up


26. Favorite store? Cato's


27. Your summer? fast


28. Love someone? much


29. Your favorite color? PINK!


30. When is the last time you laughed? tonight


31. Last time you cried? Sunday





I love all of the blogs I visit and therefore, I am giving each of you this award from me. SO! If you accept this award, please follow the rules and let me know when you post about it.

Award!

Lisa, from A Place to Land, gave me this award. Thank you, Lisa! I've known Lisa for several years. We met outside of the blogging world when she and her family started coming to our church. They don't get to come anymore because they live so far away, but every once in a while they show up and bring a smile to our faces. We wish they were closer!!!!

The rules for this award are to tell six things you value and six things you do NOT support. After sharing these things, you pass the award to six blogging buddies.

Six Things I Value...

*I value my salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, there is no hope for the future beyond this life.

*I value my husband. I have seen several marriages fall apart in recent years and I have learned to never take Bruce for granted. To always put him before myself. And to give him the time and attention he needs from me.

*I value my children. They are such a responsibility and God chose me to raise them in His WORD. I must die to self to show them Christ.

*I value my Christian heritage. It was given to me by my Christian parents who love the Lord and showed me the importance of giving my time and effort to serving the One who died for me. I want to pass that down to my children.

*I value my church and my Pastor. There are many good churches in the area that we could attend and be a part of. But I value my church because our Pastor councils us from the pulpit through the foolishness of preaching. I am disturbed at those that sit under this kind of preaching and when their lives falls apart, they think that counseling sessions with the Pastor is going to help, when they've been receiving counseling all along. They just waited too long to hit the alter and get their lives with God straightened out. If they aren't listening to the Pastor while they're sitting in the pew, why would they listen to him while sitting in his office? I don't get it. My church is not perfect, for I am its member. But church days are God's days. And I'm thankful that God is first there and that the Holy Spirit is honored.

*I value my friends. I have many friends. Some on different levels of friendship, but all my friends just the same. Each one holds a special place in my heart and each one is valued for different reasons. I know who I can count on when I need a laugh, a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, and someone to pray with me. I don't have a best friend outside of my sweet Bruce. But all of my friends are the best!

Six Things I do NOT Support (Uhh, this one is a little rough, so...read at your own will.)

*I do NOT support Barack Obama...'nuff said!

*I do NOT support abortion! Life begins at conception. There is ALWAYS a beating heart before abortion takes place. That heart does not belong to a kitten, a puppy, a bird, or any other living creature that has a heartbeat. It belongs to a human life. Never in the history of a woman giving birth has there been anything OTHER than a human being born. Even in the "blob" state that so many abortionists like to call it, there is a human life inside of the womb that God placed there for a reason. And that reason was not to be murdered.

*I do NOT support prisons where inmates are given TVs, college education, work out equipments, and steak dinners. Why should I and the rest of the country support a life of luxury for a PRISONER when a majority of this country can't provide those things for themselves and their own families?! The whole point of being in prison is to be punished. What kind of punishment are they learning from, when they have all kinds of amenities to enjoy while they're in prison? What happened to chain gangs and keeping idle hands busy? And please, liberals, don't comment on how bad life can get that would cause people to do bad things. Or how bad life is in prison when you're locked behind walls and electric fences, unable to see your family on a day to day basis. If it's so bad, then why do we have such a turnover in the prisons. No sooner do they get out, they're right back in.

*I do NOT support the public school system. At one time our government run schools taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. They taught our children the basics of education and left the rest up to the parents. NOW, we (tax payers) spend billions of dollars on educational institutions where our children are taught abstinence or at least good birth control methods. A lot of good that's done! We're still pushing thousands of under-aged pregnant girls through the school systems. And a lot of these school systems have day care programs where the girls can "check in" on their children between switching classes. Not to mention the total disrespect in the kids. Not all of them, but most of them have a disrespect toward those in authority over them, including their parents at home. Our schools are nothing more than over populated, government run day care centers.

*I do NOT support prime time TV dramas geared toward our children. Something that has gotten under my skin is that our society has become overly sympathetic. There's a new show on TV now called The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She's pregnant and now they're "dealing" with it. Of course this airs on ABC "family" where liberal views like pro choice are sponged into the thinking of our kids watching this show. And on the other side, there is Lincoln Heights. Another liberal show that takes a mixed teenage couple and puts them in adult situations. Now she thinks SHE's pregnant. Ratings must have dropped when American Teenager premiered. I understand that "these things happen." But we, as parents, need to take a Biblical stand when dealing with these situations. Why in the world a parent would allow their child's head to be filled with this junk is beyond me. Garbage in...garbage out!

*I do NOT support political correctness. Besides our society becoming overly sympathetic, we have also become overly sensitive. We have become a country of cry babies. Let's just go back to calling it like it is and let's stop walking on egg shells around everybody. You can still be nice and say your mind. If you are always offended by what others say or do, it sounds like a personal problem that you need to learn to deal with.

Oh me....did I just say all of that?

I'm going to pass this award to all of my blogging buddies. I can't keep track of who wants awards and who has award free blogs. So if you'd like to participate, put the award in your sidebar and let me know when you post.