Hey, gang. Shelley here. So, what’s new with you?!? Been anywhere fun lately? Yeah, me neither. The world looks a little different than I thought it would over the past few months. My favorite video during quarantine is the woman who is talking to a version of herself in late December, questioning the year ahead. “What’s the big story of 2020? The Australian wildfires?” The 2020 version replies “yeah, not even close.” Man, what a true statement. Then I thought the banner story for 2020 may be the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and the others in the helicopter crash from February. Now we’re talking about murder hornets and Tiger King, plus I haven’t seen the inside of a retail store in MONTHS. And you know what? I’m okay with that.

If you know anything about us personally, we are a family who is on the go constantly. It is not uncommon for Mike and I to drive past each other in the neighborhood. One of us headed to soccer or the gym with one kid, the other is coming from soccer or martial arts with the other. We do our best to have dinner as a family at least 3x a week, often that’s at a restaurant on the way home from soccer. Add in a business, middle and elementary school activities… don’t be mistaken, we love every moment (well, almost). I love spending my weekend watching my kids and their friends tear it up on the soccer field, I love watching our son go through the 40 moves of his martial arts pattern, I love the people we have met along the way.

Then March hit, and it all came to a screeching halt. After we realized that this thing may have us home for longer than a few weeks, I pulled out the LIST. You know which one I’m talking about. The “if I ever have a free few weeks” list. Things like clean the blinds, steam clean that spot in the carpet, organize the junk drawer in the kitchen, clean out the hall closet… and we all started working on it. And here’s the best part. We got through the WHOLE ENTIRE LIST! Then we made another one! This one came at a cost, literally. This list was more about changing out and upgrading the little things around our home. We have plans to upgrade ceiling fans, install new doors, change the outlets. Slowly but surely, we are working our way down the list. We have had dinner as a family every single night. We often watch an old soccer game on TV, together.

Do I want it all back? Of course. I can’t wait to scream for my kiddos when they get back on the soccer pitch. Our son is 3 months away from a black belt in martial arts. I miss my friends, my family, my cheese dip at Mexican restaurants (don’t judge me, I said it). I hope you have similar experiences. Was it all laughing and holding hands? Goodness, no. It’s been a struggle-distance learning is hard, working from home full time with kids ain’t easy, and I’m getting a little tired of these same walls. But we’ve been together, done it all as a unit. For me? These past few months have been awesome, and I’m not quite ready to give them up, so take your time. I’ll be over here hanging up a new door in my bedroom, dreaming of queso.

I’m a failure…. So we’re popping our head up over here to say hello and make some much needed confessions about our “goals.” How dumb is that, I thought not saying the word “resolutions” would somehow make keeping them more likely?  Yeesh. So, one of my goals was to take better care of myself. Find time to get more exercise, eat better. Nope. I had Chick-Fil-A for breakfast. I was also supposed to be better about my social media posting and writing more in this space. Certainly not in the last few weeks. We have been swamped (which is fantastic) but it hasn’t left a ton of extra time for salads and long walks. Last night we had big plans to set up shop with our laptops and work on the business, but we got sidetracked by the Atlanta United game on television. In our defense, we are big supporters of Atlanta United and it was their first televised match of the season-how could we pass that up?

Now that the self-loathing and public flogging is out of the way…onto good news! Every day is a new day!  So each day is an opportunity to set and meet new goals. One of the goals for the new year was to start making some products on our own. Well, that we can say is a go!  Today on our website (and a newly opened Etsy page) you can find our first item!  It’s a super soft Tee showing some love for the state that we love. Check out the tab for West Cobb Provisions to see your next favorite Tee. 

We all fall down, it’s what you do when you get up that matters! 

Well, another year is about to pass. We are in the purgatory portion of the year, a week and a half filled with disorientation, confusion, too much, and not enough sleep. When you wake up not sure what day it is and not quite sure what you were thinking when you said, “I can’t wait to spend some time relaxing,” knowing full well you have yet to relax. Despite the jellotic state that my brain has found itself in, this truly is still the most wonderful time of the year. It is a time when we look around at the people that we have found ourselves lucky to have, maybe look back at the year of choices and some things we could have done better. But the real gift from this time of year is the turning over of the calendar. A new year, a fresh start, this year a new decade!  It’s a chance to drop the weight of this past year’s burdens and start fresh with a clean slate. So, for me, I take a look back and I am immensely thankful for this year. It’s been an amazing rollercoaster, filled with no shortage of positives and negatives. But in the end, I have learned, I have grown, I have survived, and I honestly don’t think I could ask for more. 

Looking forward to 2020, I think my goals are to build on 2019, I want to learn as much as I can. For Sweet Tees, this year’s focus (as witnessed by the creation of this blog) is marketing. I want to find the best ways to show people what we do, who we are, and how we can create a great customer experience for them. As far as personal growth, I would like to find some calm. I would like to carve out just a little more time to improve my both mental and physical health. Running a business and carting around kids usually means that my needs take a back seat. That will probably continue, but I will try to be better when it comes to prioritizing some time for my health and wellness. What is one thing that you want to work on this coming year?  I promise we won’t use the cliché “R” word, instead we’ll call it growth goals. What are your growth goals for 2020?  

We really do hope that you and yours had a wonderful holiday season and we truly wish all of you the best in the coming year! 

-Mike

First let me say, THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking a look at our new feature. In this space we are going to share our knowledge of the apparel decoration and promotional goods industry, as well as a little bit about who we are and the vison for the future of our company. We are a family-owned small business, based outside of Atlanta, and we service a large local area as well as do some nation-wide shipping, including Alaska. We have a few goals for this new space- first is to engage with our clients and prospective clients. Second is to create a space where we share our collective knowledge on our industry, along with some sweet little nuggets about the community we love. Please stay tuned-we will be posting once or twice a month. We will do our best to bring you information that will help you understand what it is that we do, and how we can help solve your challenges. At the end of the day we are a provider of a service. Our number one goal is to help you, so with that being said, please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions. We love hearing from ya’ll!!