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brave

What courage looks like

Sometimes, at the end of a Girls Night Out (like the one we’re heading into TONIGHT) full of laughter, fun, connection . . . and a lot of hard work behind the scenes, I get to sneak into a photograph with the one who is always behind the camera photographing the rest of us.  And apparently, this is the face I decide to make?  I’m not sure if it was an “Oh my gosh, we got Vanessa in a photo!” type of face or a “Hey look Ma, I made it!” face.  Either way, after it was all over, I was feeling something strong about being in a photo with Vanessa Corral.  It could just be that Vanessa makes me feel strong.

She makes me feel brave and courageous.  

We had a chat yesterday about our “shot list” plan for tonight’s photography during the Football 101 GNO.  I’m always a little nervous to …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Jump, while you’re still afraid

I spent six hours yesterday with Hannah, one of the most patient, kind and helpful people I know.  She’s our HeartStories right-hand person. (We haven’t given her an official title yet because she’s basically our “boots-on-the-ground miracle worker” and that title seems a tad bit long.)  I wish this was a picture of her yesterday, but y’all she would kill me and I love her too much.  The point is, we spent six hours together, working on ALL the tech components for the “GNO at Home”  livestream workshop that we’re offering this Thursday for folks who weren’t able to attend the live event due to the early sell out.  It seemed like an easy idea to just grab a phone, stream the two workshops, and voila! . . . anyone who wants to join us, can now host their own girls night right along with us!

It’s funny how things seem so …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Words Our Story Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The Glorious Journey of The Ya-Ya’s

I got in a bit of a bind yesterday, needing to get my dog to the vet, at exactly the same time I needed to be picking up the kids from school.  Something had to give.  Thank goodness I have a circle of Ya-Ya’s who will come through at the drop of a dime.  Just in the last week, the girls in this pic have picked up my kids, hauled my mom’s plants (LOL), talked me off a particularly scary ledge, and mentored me in parenting.

These are the things our Ya-Ya’s do.  

I’m also insanely fortunate to have three blood-sisters as my original Ya-Ya’s.  We may not see each other as often, but we have a history of life that has joined us inseparably. We would undoubtedly give life and limb for one another, any day of the week.

It’s what sisters do.

I’m so grateful to be building new groups of …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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In your struggle, you find your courage . . . and your story

One of my very favorite things about what I get to do for a living, is the privilege of consistently meeting women who are courageously showing up in the world to make life better for others.  By the nature of being constantly on the lookout for women to share their stories and their talents with us at The Girls Night Out, I get to hear their stories.

Their real stories.  

Of course, we usually start with the obvious, their families, their history and the incredible work they do.  But that story always leads somewhere deeper, because these passionate women who show up bravely to make change happen, don’t get there on accident. They’ve always had to fight for it.

Always. 

And the story of the fight?  It’s usually personal.  They’ve had to personally face hardships and endure struggles that most people know nothing about.  It’s what made them strong.  It’s what gives them …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Yourself Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Connection is worth the price

image cred: Meggie Taylor Photography

Natalie Tuman is confident and kind.  She’s open and bubbly and just exudes feminine strength.  You’d never know part of her history includes stories of girls being incredibly mean to her.  You’d never know that she’s worked tirelessly to heal that part of herself and that’s why she’s devoted to helping other women find wholeness through her work as a health and fitness coach.  You might never know, unless you joined us last Thursday night at our GNO, where she so courageously shared her story with all of us.

Her courage is such a beautiful reminder.  

Because I’ve been immersed in HeartStories for nearly five years now, it’s easy for me to forget how unusual the whole thing is.  Sometimes I go about assuming that all women feel safe with each other.  Or that just because I say our community is kind, supporting and loving, everyone believes me.

I’ve …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Inspirational Words Love in Friendship Loving Others Loving Yourself Leave a comment chat
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The courage to ask

We stayed up way too late last night, painting “custom” Legos.  Yes, it was a wild night at the Gorntos.

I grew up going “Garage Sailing”.  We would wake up at the crack of dawn, on any given Thursday, Friday, or Saturday and rush out the door, to hit the sales.  You’d think as an adult, it’d be the very last thing I’d want to do with my time, but it’s not.

The treasure hunting aspect of garage sailing is really fun still.

So when the boys ask me to take them to the Lego store, I sometimes answer with, Let’s go try to find some Legos at garage sales.  We bust out the handy garage-sale-mapping-app and try to decipher which sales are most likely to have Legos, based on their descriptions.

Then we head out.

Legend has it that when I was a kid, we hunted and hunted for something called Precious Moments figurines.  Especially this one …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Words The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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