Norman Transcript

Philip was in the Norman Transcipt and didn't even tell me. 

Here is the article and picture that was in the newspaper. 

September 21, 2011


Chick-fil-A president says better service means higher profits

By Andy Rieger

The Norman Transcript Wed Sep 21, 2011, 10:56 AM CDT

NORMAN — The president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A restaurants doesn’t mince words when it comes to his 65-year-old company’s business philosophy.

“We feel like we’re on a crusade trying to change the world one sandwich at a time,” Dan Cathy told a room full of business and civic leaders gathered for breakfast at Journey Church Wednesday morning. “We’re really a ministry disguised as a restaurant.”

The local operators’ workload often resembles that of a youth pastor, working with 70 young people who come in contact with 60,000 to 70,000 customers a week.

Cathy, the son of the restaurant’s founder Truett Cathy, was in Oklahoma this week speaking at various events, including the University of Oklahoma and Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City.

Founder Truett Cathy has visited Oklahoma. “He’s 90 years old and going strong. He still reminds me daily that he is the chairman,” Dan Cathy joked.

Cathy was hosted in Norman by local operators Mike Hilgenfeld, Brian Hilgenfeld and Philip Smith. A third generation of Cathy family members has joined the privately-owned company based in suburban Atlanta, Ga. They must work elsewhere for two years before joining the family business.

In Norman, Cathy used familiar Bible verses to emphasize modern operating principles taught to the company’s owner-operators. Businesses, he said, should strive to go the extra mile and extend customer service beyond expectations.

That will produce “raving fans” who will tweet about their experience before they leave the parking lot, Cathy said.

“We want our customers to be the ones to build our brand,” he said.

Customers are known to camp out for days before new stores open. He said the restaurant has achieved “cult status,” similar to Krispy Kreme and Starbucks.

“That’s a very heavy thing to get your arms around,” he said, noting the demise of Krispy Kreme. “Cult status is fleeting.”

Better customer service provided to the “cult” will produce more profits and loyalty, he said. The company, which started with The Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Ga., in 1946, has more than 1,500 locations in 39 states and Washington, D.C. Annual sales in 2010 topped $3.5 billion.

“It’s all based on the service. It ain’t about the cows. Sorry marketing people.”

He said teaching employees to be friendly, change their vocabulary and go beyond customer expectations doesn’t cost any more but it does take practice. Owner-operators learn better service practices at a warehouse designed to resemble a Chick-fil-A restaurant, complete with golf carts and make-believe drive through windows.

“Want a refill? Or may I refresh your beverage? Which has more cha ching, cha ching. From my experience, and from an accounting standpoint, it costs the same,” he said.

“But it takes a lot. We taught these heathen, barbaric teenagers how to say, ‘my pleasure.’”

Cathy said businesses need to make a profit to support churches.

“I just really think God wants us to win. We have to have a heart for this. It’s not just about the head.”

Raegan is 2 1/2 years old!

On Saturday September 24th you turned 2 1/2 years old! I think 1/2 birthdays are special and worth celebrating, mainly because waiting a whole year to celebrate your birthday just seems like too long to wait!

This will be the last time I share your new words/phrases because its getting too hard to keep up, everytime I hear you say something new I think oh I need to remember that for the blog, but I usually forget what it was.  You pretty much repeat anything and also come up with some pretty funny stuff on your own. 

Here are the new phrases I can remember:
-don't help me
-awww man
-I cut it
-i go work at my daddy's mall
-that's my mall (referring to her school), that's your big mall momma (referring to the shopping center near our home), that's my daddy's mall (anytime she sees the word chick-fil-a or the chick-fil-a symbol)
-that yellow choo choo stop, that white choo choo go
-that's your tea otay
-you otay momma
-i don't fall off the little one, i fall off the big one
-there's two babies at my mall
-that's my baby rae, she poop ewww
- i read that
-that's mine don't touch its hot
-mmm yum!
- i want lid off
-i need those bugs
-I'm spiderman!
- eat more chicken
-I need gas (for her toy car)
-I need that thing
-I need you
-not in my purse
-I do it myself
-my daddy made a big mess, not me I make little mess
-pet my dog
-dog lick me
-watch me do that
-you and me
-you little


Everynight we read two books unless you convince us that we really need one more and then we may read 3, then turn out the light and hold hands to say your prayers before you go to sleep.  Your prayers go like this: I say the words in green and you say the ones in purple
Dear Jesus
Dear Jesush
Thank you for this day
Tank u day
and thank you for daddy
tank you dada
and thank you for mommy
tank you, you
and thank you for Raegan
tank you me
and help Raegan to sleep good all night
help me night night
In Jesus name
ABEN
Amen

You spend most of your time trying to convince me you are a baby, you tell me "I'm a baby momma" and then you want for me to hold you in my arms or you crawl around and make silly sounds

You can get in the bath tub and turn the water on all by yourself and will lean back in the water to rinse the soap out of your hair on your own, you also like to get out on your own and run around the house saying "burrrrr"

We have a lot of birthdays going on and this is a video of you practicing one of your favorite songs

Acting so grown up, you take good care of your babies and like to wear my heels.

You are so little, you can't get up on the toilet by yourself yet and its a miracle to me that you don't fall in!

As a little treat for your half birthday, we went and got your nails done and you got to pick out the color.

We are enjoying watching your sweet and spunky personality emerge!

Smart Guy

Just wanted to say how thankful I am for a smart guy who took the time and figured out how to add this new song "You & me" by Frances England to the blog! Hope you enjoy!
<3
Tara

Kid Free Staycation!

This weekend my parents stopped through on the way to a wedding in Kansas and picked up Raegan and took her with them.  This was the first time Philip and I had the house to ourselves since she's been born.  I mean we've been on trips without her or she's gone to grandparents when one of us was out of town, but this was the first time both of us were home and she wasn't.  I mentioned to Philip while we were eating a late breakfast Saturday morning that the house was so quiet and he said this is how it will be when she goes to college, that Philip always thinking ahead!

Anyways, Philip had some big plans that included getting out of town and going site seeing for the weekend, but I was really enjoying just being able to be home and truly relax.  We did compromise and Friday night we went to dinner at Yamato, had our favorite chef, and sat at a table with all adults (usually a rarity when we go on a date) then we watched Roommate, a strange Netflix movie that I wouldn't really recommend.   Saturday morning we went out to the new outlet mall bought some clothes for Raegan but nothing else (this always happens) and had lunch at Smash Burger.  Philip got the All American and I got the Oklahoman Smash Burger - definitely not the healthiest meal we had all week but it was good! Then we went to Semptember Fest and toured the Govenor's Mansion - here are a couple of pics we took at September Fest. 

This bull was HUGE, literally his back was as tall as me, like a horse, but much, much more MASSIVE.  There were also dairy cows that children were standing in line to get a chance to milk.  (You know you're in Oklahoma when...)

This is the pool outside of the Governor's Mansion, its shaped like the state of Oklahoma.

This is the only picture I took while we were inside on the tour of the mansion.  Its the kitchen where Mary Fallin's male chef cooks for her family.  A man cooking for a female govenor - times sure have changed - right!?!

Picture of us in front of the Govenor's Mansion

Philip was quiet the gentleman this weekend - he always opened the car door for me! 

So thankful for the great times we spend together! 

The Wait Is Over

8AM - Dirt work done, getting instructions from playground installation company.

Black brick-looking border in place, ground covering and swing set construction in progress.

North side of ground area covered in wood chips (twice shredded) from Missouri and play set construction in progress (Philip is in the yellow shorts and gray shirt). Notice the Chick-fil-A tent aka cool down and snack station.

7PM - View from bridge of completed playground with caution tape (24 hr wait before playing).

Raegan enjoying the swings at her "daddy's big blue park" Sunday evening. 

Philip, Bryan, and David performing ribbon cutting duties.

Grand Opening!

(Raegan and Gavin were holding hands - so cute)

It's the little things...

A couple of weeks ago, I remembered Philip needed more hair gel/paste/promenade (whatever you want to call it) and decided to make it an opportunity to also write him a thank you note.  I simply folded a piece of scrapbook paper in half, wrote a note to "My man who makes things happen" to thank him for his persistence and hard work in making the idea of our neighborhood park become a reality, and then tied a piece of ribbon around it to make it look fancy. : ) I think its little things like this that keep that spark alive in our marriage.  

Speaking of which, on 9-01-2011 we celebrated 4 years of marriage. Here's a photo of us at the John Maxwell event we attended that evening.  

Us four years ago...

Cruisin' to the Bahamas

Sunday – After enjoying a wonderful southern cooked homestyle meal made by my mother-in-law consisting of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, yellow squash, corn on the cob, green beans, and a roll Philip and I kissed Raegan goodbye and headed to Dallas.  We scoped out the hotel pool which although it had water flowing peacefully from the hottub into it, it wasn’t much larger than my bathtub and therefore we decided to forego swimming and go check out the Grapevine Mills mall.  I searched the map on my phone and saw that Uncle Julios was near there and figured we could waste some time at the mall and then head over there for dinner.  Gosh that mall is huge, I remember going there to shop for school clothes and the last time we were there was to buy our washer and dryer from the Sears outlet.  The place was packed, especially for a Sunday evening.  We went in at Rainforest Café because Philip had never seen it before, definitely a place we should go back to when we have Raegan with us.  We walked briskly through the mall, stopping only at Victoria’s Secret to check one more time if they had a certain swimsuit in my size – which just like the two other malls we had visited earlier this month and the VS website, they didn’t.  Note to self: don't wait until August to buy a swimsuit!

While checking out the new Sealife Adventure place Philip saw the AMC theater outside and suggested we go see a movie, I was excited because I had been wanting to see Crazy, Stupid, Love ever since a friend of mine commented on facebook that it was perhaps the best movie of the year.  So I was sold.  We actually decided to go with the Cinema Suites tickets which are only for 21 years and older, with recliners and full waitstaff service.  There were only 48 seats in the theater.  This was the way to go, the recliners were so nice and so was our waitress.  We ordered chips and blanco queso, fancy mac&cheese with grilled parmesean chicken, and a brownie Sunday for dessert!  

Monday: We woke up super early and caught the 4:15am shuttle to the airport (kinda reminded me of our honeymoon when we woke up super early to fly to Jamaica).  We flew from Dallas to Atlanta and then into Melbourne where we took another shuttle to the ship.  This was the first cruise Philip and I have ever taken, we were somewhat surprised by all the security measures and formalities and that we couldn't just get out of the car and walk onto the ship.  We had to stand in line and fill out forms promising we didn't have contagious diseases and then show our passports and other paperwork at a counter and then zigzag through another line before reaching the ship.  We were very lucky to have a room on the main deck floor which meant we didn't have to take the stairs when boarding or deboarding and that guest relations was right around the corner.  Even though I told Philip we didn't need a window in our room since we wouldn't be there much, we got a room with a large window which watching the waves out of it kinda made me nauseous at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. After checking out our room we went straight to the buffet! I probably ate more than my weight on this cruise and it was great!  One of my favorite parts was the free self serve ice cream.  Philip is a pro at making perfect ice cream cones and we probably had at least two ice cream cones a day each!  

That evening we attended the send off party and then met Daniel, Christina, Josh, and Kristen our dinner table friends and went to the production show with singing/dancing and then listened to a comedian, who's name I can't remember, but he was pretty good even though he did a lot of impressions of people before my time.  

Tuesday - When we woke up this morning we arrived at Coco Cay, which is a small (1 mile long, 1/2 mile wide) island that the cruise line actually owns, so the people with us on our ship were the only ones on the island with us.  We swam in the ocean sum, but I'm not a fan of seaweed touching my feet so I only enjoyed it when we were far enough out to actually swim.  The island was a pretty neat place, being early riser we got there pretty early and found a PERFECT hammock with a great view of the beach, we got everything set up, laid down, and less than 10 minutes later it started sprinkling.  My weather man of a husband told me it would only last 10 minutes and then about 10 minutes later the sprinklers turned into heavy rain.  Some people were still in the ocean, others parasailing or on jet skis, but we hid under our towels on the hammock afraid to seek real shelter as our hammock may get claimed , but eventually we figured it wasn't worth it and about 10 minutes later it had stopped the sunshine was intense!  We scouted out the island, saw some hermit crabs, fish, iguanas, chickens, yes chickens?!?  Then we met one of the cruise entertainers and a couple other groups for a scavenger hunt of the island.  I was glad we had already scouted out the island and knew where to find most of the items!  I've never seen Philip run so fast, after hearing one of the clues Philip ran so fast his flip flops flew off his feet and he beat a high school cross country runner with tennis shoes on!  I guess you could call that a competitive nature?  The last item we were asked to find was "talent" i.e. a dance contest, which I'm proud to say I got 2nd place in! I think I'm getting too old for that stuff! After all that running around we ate a delicious lunch (the rice was my favorite part, I need to find the recipe for it) and then relaxed in the shade on a hammock before heading back on to the ship for afternoon BINGO.

We paid $16 for BINGO that afternoon in hopes of winning $300, but to no avail; however, that didn't stop us from coming back, stay continued... We had dinner again with the honeymooners and dating couple and learned more about them and found out we are getting old as the honeymooners who we assumed were probably about our age, maybe older, were actually the same age we were when we got married!
Wednesday morning when we woke up we were docking at Nassau, Bahamas next to the Norwegian cruise liner.  We had scheduled a snorkeling trip prior to our trip for this morning so we got up early, had breakfast and then de-boarded the ship and found our group for the snorkeling trip.  We loaded up onto a Catamaran with about 25 other people and listened to island music as we sailed out a ways to a coral reef.  This was the first time Philip had ever snorkeled so it took awhile for him to feel comfortable with it, but once he did we were off like fish ourselves.  The fish didn't seem scared of us at all, they'd swim right up to us and then Philip would reach out his hands and try to touch one and they'd dart off.  I was literally laughing through my snorkel at how hard Philip was trying to touch the fish.  After snorkeling and browsing through the market place we headed back to the ship for lunch.  After lunch we rested awhile, enjoyed the nearly empty pool while others were out exploring and then headed back out to Nassau and tried out the mopeds which we planned on using to be able to quickly explore more of the island; however after a rocky test drive that scared me to death we decided that could end poorly and we'd just walk.  Philip is very protective of me esp in foreign countries although I felt completely safe.  He likes for me to walk on the inside of the sidewalk with my arm locked with his.  He's a good guy!  They have nice stores right there near the port including: Fendi, Gucci, Coach, Rolex etc... they also have a Burger King, Starbucks, McDonalds, Hard Rock Cafe, and Senor Frogs.  We shared a snocone while browsing through all the little shops and then spent a little time at Senor Frogs and Hard Rock before it started pouring and we ran (literally ran back to the ship)!  My dress was soaked and I froze when we walked back in to the cold air conditioning on the ship!  That evening I was too tired to get up and go to dinner so we ordered 2 spinach cheese dip appetizers, chicken strips, a cheeseburger and two lemonades for dinner and took a nap before heading to BINGO.
At BINGO that night Philip won 2 of the 4 sessions for total winnings of $300 woohoo - what a lucky guy!

Thursday was our last day on the ship and was spent crusing, relaxing, reading, playing more bingo, a game of war before dinner, watching the sexiest man contest, taking a tour of the galley (kitchen was SPOTLESS!), dancing, eating, and watching the live Love & Marriage game show.

Friday morning we packed up, ate breakfast, and got in line to de-board (that was probably my least favorite part of the cruise was safety procedures and crowded lines - much different than an all inclusive island resort).  However it was nice to get away and just spend time as a couple without all the normal distractions of life.  We did miss Raegan though and called her as soon as we were back at the port!