Better than Dreaming

Saturday was a day of Dream fulfillment.  We opened our first store.  The Grand Opening was more than spectacular, from the ribbon cutting with a sword, to a line of around 250 people waiting to get into our store.  Wow!  Words cannot describe our amazement and gratitude for all the support. 

This dream has been in the works for 2 years and our friend Chris prompted us earlier this year to go for it.  So here we are. Princess and Hope couldn't come because of Covid.  

We were all overwhelmed with gratitude for so much support.  

 Lea even stepped in on her day off to help for our Grand Opening.

We want our store to be a fun place for people of all levels of geekiness to come hang out, play games, have fun, and feel safe.  Light-hearted signs seem to help.

The name 'Geek Together' originally was a description of our family of Geeks, who each supplied a different item for our vendor tent started at Evermore.  Evo-man and I were the leather Geeks, Abner was the DnD and 3-D printer geek,  Prince Erik was the Magic Geek, Lea was the Rune Engraved Stones and Wire Artist Geek, T-Rev was the Wand Geek, Hope was the Sticker Geek, and Princess was Candle Geek.  But our store has expanded to try and help support the wonderful community of Local Geeky Artists we have come to know and love.  Sea Dragon Cove, who not only made our incredible store sign, also contributed their slate engraved coasters and freeze-dried candy.  GMDice has some amazing dice and unforgettable Gaming atmosphere candles.  Other local artists we highlight are Shielded Empire, Uber Dungeons, Petulant Puggies, Madame M Apothecary, Dwarven Fire Forge, Die Hard Dice, ValRock Miniatures, and more.

Because of the long line, our whole family pitched in.  Prince Erik had to help us run our new POS system.

The store was busy the entire day, and we had to stagger entrance for all the guests.  Some waited another hour or more to come in.

T-rev, our Dice Wizard ran free games of Liars Dice.

My parents traveled down from Idaho to cheer us on and my sisters Sandy and Chante, along with my mom stepped into the back room to help us restock when shelves got low.

Of course, we came away after day one with a lot of thoughts, where to improve lighting, displays, signs, etc.  It will be a never ending learning, this business of walking out our door to see where adventure takes us.  I'm beyond blessed that this guy calls me Captain and is so supportive.

Our company heart has to be Abner.  He is our face, our link, our social media guru.

He's created a system where people can come and learn how to play, and enjoy 'Living the Adventure.'

Evo-man helps with the 'Create Your Fantasy' part of our Mission Statement with his handcrafted Leather armor and accessories.  Finally, a huge thank you to many of our family, friends and partners, some shown here.  Geek's Unite!

Come visit our store in the Provo Towne Center Mall,  second floor, next to the food court.

Finding the Silver Lining

 

In prepping for the opening of our store we borrowed a trailer from our business partner.  Monday, I was taking the last light load from our home to the mall when I noticed a screeching sound a mile from my home.  I pulled over and realized the bolts holding the trailer away from the axel were missing.  Of course I was overwhelmed with anxiety.  What would our partner think?  Would he be upset.  An hour and a half later he met me with a trailer repair service and I was immediately grateful we have such a forgiving and amazing business partner.  Turns out this whole mishap was a tender mercy.  Two bolts that were not properly tightened at the factory fell out, but it happened on a slow street with a light trailer load.  Had it happened on the freeway or with a heavy load the results could have been disastrous.  So this unexpected event which lifted my anxiety to the boiling point was really proof that I was indeed blessed.  The trailer was jacked up, the bolts were replaced with no damage at all.  A tender mercy was discovered and gratitude was felt on my part for such a gracious business partner.

Tuesday, things went from stressful to mega stressful.  My son tested positive for Covid.  I was really counting on him full time to help get ready for our store opening.  Our only full time employee was now out of the picture.  Thursday two more kids tested positive.  How am I going to do everything that needs to be done and get it done on time?  How am I going to help my daughter who got Covid the day before her school play premiered.   She lives for theater and now she is sidelined and may miss the whole run.  

Find gratitude.  How can that be possible?  My husband is in India with his work so it's just me to take care of sick adult and teenage kids, and set up a new store.  Here is what I came up with.  I'm grateful that I got Covid last month.  I've been able to slowly regain my health and I know what to do to take care of my family and limit my exposure to getting it a second time.  I'm grateful they are sick this week.  Had they been sick next week then they would not be able to participate in our store opening.  I'm grateful that I've been trying so hard to do so well in school.  It made the choice to focus on family, and business and have school take a backseat for this week easier.  It's been hard not having the time to work on what I want to, but I have worked on what I've needed too.  

I've been able to update inventory prior to store opening.

Prep our tent for Aurora Season at Evermore

I've been blessed to have a contractor working for us that could pick up a little more in order to help us get ready.

I've been blessed to find other entrepreneurs and use their talents to add the the atmosphere of our store.

It's happening.  Somehow, our store will open and it will open on time.  Everything might not be perfect, but we will get what needed done.  How does this tie into this weeks reading with college about disciple leadership.  Well to be honest, I'm not sure.  But I know putting my family first is a start.

Fighting Dragons

 So this week in school we learned about fighting dragons.  Some can leave their mark.  My Covid turned into pneumonia and my sweet husband took me to Urgent Care because my cough was non-stop.  The medicine they gave has been helping.   I'm into this illness a month and realize that I was one of the few that got the long-haul version of Covid.  I don't know when I'll get my old energy back or when the hack will be gone.  It's been a battle non-stop with this dragon. 

The part that frustrates me the most is that I have a brand new store to put together and no energy to do it.  Fortunately I have some world-class help.  Evo-man and Abner have been working non-stop to help me achieve this dream we share.

Yesterday Evo-man burned 40 crates and we rearranged them and our other displays to make a Soda/Candy Counter in our new gaming store.

Here is another dragon that the previous store tenants left - this beast of a stage/closet.  Well it's a dragon I can't tackle on my own so we asked for help.

Abner put out a call on TikTok asking for help in our store.  And guess who showed up...

We were thinking we may get 5 or 6 people.  But the first wave of over 30 people (most we have never met in person) had in less than an hour and a half, washed 40 chairs, took apart that monster stage, moved the closet, painted 4 sections of slat wall, removed soundproof tiles from a display wall, built 2 Ikea tables, put up a 9 ft Christmas tree and added lights, put together dice goodie bags and so, so much more.  More and more people kept coming and offering to help so we painted another storage bin.  It was incredible how many total strangers showed up just to be apart of a store that will help draw people together through Table top gaming.  Amazing!  

So it's ok to ask for help.  Just be willing to be overwhelmed with gratitude!  We slew that dragon!