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Keep believing

I can’t even begin to describe how much I’ve learned since starting HeartStories in 2012 (officially 2013).  I was in it for what I could do to help others, but sitting here, looking back, it’s been almost seven years of the most intense season of growth of my life.  And I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon.  I live in a constant state of walking in the unknown.

Nothing is sure to work. 

Every risky choice I make is made from layers of experience, seeking wise counsel, praying earnestly, and then simply deciding it’s worth it to jump.  Merely choosing to do the next right thing. Sometimes that process turns out beautifully, even better than I could have hoped.  But it also often leads to painful lessons, challenges, and struggles I didn’t see coming.   IT’s the essence of the John Ortberg quote that you’ve surely heard me say a million times.  I still …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Our Story Purpose Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Why Football?

As I plan out the content for our Girls Night Out events each month, I ask a lot of questions.  I try to get in women’s heads about what’s going to be top of mind during that month.  When it came time to plan the September 5th GNO, the answer I kept getting was: “Football”!  To which I answered, “Well that’s all fine and dandy, but I’m talking about GNO here.”

Many answers were very similar: 

Look, I grew up around football.  My husband is glued to the game all season.  My son has been playing since he could walk.  My daughter cheers for all the games.  And of course, I know enough to get by, or at least pretend to.  But if I’m honest, I’m not really sure what’s going on out there.    

I am right there with them. 

I mentioned in a live video I made last week, that I …

by Crystal Gornto Community Girl's Night Out Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Thank them for their service

When I arrived at our venue to set up Thursday night for Girls Night Out, I was pleasantly surprised to find the room decked out with festive holiday decor.  A fully dressed Christmas tree reached up to the ceiling, and two life-size nutcracker soldiers stood guard at the front of the room.

We always bring our own design theme, but this was a welcome addition.  

As is tradition during our Holiday Ready GNO, we needed to screencast a little closed circuit tv presentation of our hair & makeup artist’s tips and tricks, so that everyone in the room could see the techniques they were using on models, up close and personal.  It’s also been a tradition that my camera skills, combined with a our not-so-professional equipment have sometimes made this part of the evening a comedy of errors.  So this year, I was determined to get it all set up and do …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Words Love In Action Love in Family Loving Others Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The evolution of beauty

Meeting these beautiful women for brunch at UP Inspired Kitchen on Friday was one of the most fun and exciting experiences I’ve had in a very long time.  It was full of very open conversation, laughter, and maybe a few little tears.   They are our treasured featured guests for the upcoming “Let’s Get Together” HeartStories GNO. (Meet them all here!) We met up to chat about the ways in which we all approach beauty differently and laugh about the hilarious beauty routines we each embrace.

But something different emerged, and it was even more beautiful. 

We ended up talking our own individual evolutions of understanding of beauty.  We shared stories from what we were told about beauty as little girls, to what we understand is beautiful no, as grown women (some with little girls and boys of our own).  We shared how we talk about and represent beauty to our kids.  We laughed …

by Crystal Gornto Female Social Entrepreneurs Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Our Story Leave a comment chat
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A fresh perspective

Oddly, we’ve had several discussions about money over Spring Break this year.  The boys and I stayed up late one night calculating the amount of money they’ll need to save to pay for their part of a car when they turn 16, if they decide they want one.  We broke that down into an annual, monthly and hourly rate.

They were astonished. 

It turned out that they really needed to get to work, and soon.  As a result, they asked how they could earn money around the house.  I asked them to make a list of jobs and what they thought those jobs were worth.  It was quite a humorous exercise, but in the end, we came up with a list of jobs that would actually help the family beyond their usual responsibilities.  Things like: washing windows, sweeping the garage, washing the car, removing and cleaning the wasp nests etc. . .

We …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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What are you looking for?

Thursday night was a bit of a riot.  I don’t know if it was a sugar rush from the cookies and icing or what, but I literally had to steal a whistle (that resembled a tiny red recorder) from Ginger in order to rally the troops.  Laughter filled the air at GNO from every corner of the room.

But this table was one of my favorites. 

They win the prize for being the rowdiest table of the bunch.  They were laughing loud and enacting all sorts of shenanigans.  But that’s not why they were one of my favorites.  It because only two of these ladies knew each other before they walked in and that’s typically not the case.  Most women who attend our girls nights come with at least one friend.

It takes guts to walk into that room full of laughing women all by yourself. 

But these ladies did it.  Some were …

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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