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girlfriends

You, are a queen

I didn’t grow up loving fresh-cut flower arrangements.  In fact, I’ve always mostly thought they were a poor choice for a gift because they die so quickly and they make more work for the receiver who has to water them and care for them.

That is until I met florist, Lauren Sorden of Blue Posy Floral Design.

You think I’m kidding or exaggerating, but I’m not.  For our first six months, to one year of HeartStories Girls Night Out, I would cut wildflowers and drop them in little Edison bulb vases on each of the tables. Voila!  We had flowers! But when Kelly Simants temporarily joined the team to elevate the entire experience, my wildflower dreams quickly transformed into the fresh-cut professional floral arrangements.  They were stunning, but I knew they weren’t sustainable without a long-term floral partner.

That’s when I met Lauren. 

Not only did she begin creating stunning displays for Girls Night …

by Crystal Gornto Community Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Leave a comment chat
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Give us Galentines or give us death!

Does Valentine’s day sometimes feel like an over-commercialized, forced attempt to celebrate a holiday for lovers? 

The tradition started simply because Chaucer, in The Canterbury Tales, decreed the February feast of St. Valentinus to the mating of birds (because English birds paired off to produce eggs in February).  This led to nature-minded European nobility sending love notes during bird-mating season and eventually lovers everywhere began celebrating love on Feb. 14.  Industrialization has increased expectations with mass-produced cards, gifts, flowers, and chocolates. Nonetheless, the idea of celebrating Valentine’s Day has become second-nature as we shower the ones we love with declarations of love and that’s certainly not a bad thing.

But today on February 13th, we celebrate a newer (and more fun) tradition called Galentine’s Day!

Galentines Day is a celebration of female friendship.  February 13th is the day women across the world celebrate female friendship! Women, both single and in relationships, use the …

by Crystal Gornto Community Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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When it rains . . .

This is a moment of behind-the-scenes truth being told.

We had wildly different plans for our Galentines Sip & Stroll GNO.  It wasn’t supposed to be a Sip ‘n Stroll at all.  It was supposed to be a “Galentine’s Pamper Party”.  We had all the fun plans for how it was going down.  Until, at the last minute, the week of Christmas, with a house full of guests, I found out about an unexpected change that upset the entire apple cart.  Suddenly we needed a new location to host our giant pamper party.  You know the saying.

When it rains . . . it pours.

In moments like these, I try to practice breathing deeply and remembering that every problem has a solution.  It may look very different than the solution I was expecting, but every problem has a solution . . . as long as I’m open to discovering it.  It will …

by Crystal Gornto Female Social Entrepreneurs Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others Our Story Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Time to try something new!

When you visit the same vacation spot every year, one of the very best perks is the friends you make over time.  This is Vincent, who has become a dear friend of our family, especially the boys.  They talk about him all year and look forward to seeing him during our summer visits.  Vincent lives in Hungary and the boys LOVE asking him questions about his life there.  A hilarious tradition they have is asking him questions about food.  They try food from Hungary that they’ve never tried before and he tries American foods he’s never tried before.

This trip was no exception. 

There were many laughs at ridiculous questions.  Thankfully Vincent doesn’t get insulted when they ask if he’s ever had an apple or milk, or some other basic food type.  But one thing we discovered he’d never tried is a root beer float!  It’s a family favorite around our house …

by Crystal Gornto Community Inspirational Words Love In Action Love in Friendship The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Sometimes you need a tow

A weekend of scuba instruction taught me something I didn’t expect.  If you watched my social stories over the weekend, you saw that I *might* have been a little overexcited that my boys are finally getting certified to scuba dive.  Yes, they are still young, but they’ve been participating with us each year in very shallow scuba after many “bubble” courses and they beg to dive with us each year.

This was finally the year we decided to put in the work for them to become officially certified.  

There are many reasons for this.  Of course, the first and most important is their safety.  Another incredible life lesson involved in learning to scuba is the skill of learning to stay calm in difficult situations.  It’s learning to stop, think, and take action quickly.  It teaches you to have fun, always stay with a buddy, and appreciate the vast underwater world.

One of my …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others Loving Yourself Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Let’s get out of here!

A couple of summers ago, we gathered for a family reunion.  We coordinated all the schedules to meet in Colorado for a week.  It was, of course, a bit chaotic trying to wrangle kids of all ages for activities and adventures, but that experience is one of the fondest memories of my adult life.  We explored.  We got sweaty.  We played cards.  We pulled pranks.  We prayed and sang.  We stayed up talking into the night.

We laughed and laughed and laughed.  

There’s something so special about gathering with your people somewhere outside of your normal life and routine.  When everyone is out of reach of their desk and their grocery list, there’s a sense of calm that makes space for connectedness.   Date nights, girls nights and small groups are wonderful.  They fan the flames of connectedness, no doubt.  But when there’s no cutoff time, no babysitter waiting, and no morning alarm …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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