Love

The gift of authentic connection

Leading a Girls Night Out once a month requires more behind the scenes effort than most people realize. Especially our brand of GNO, because it’s really more like a mini-retreat, entertaining workshop, TV talk show style interview, and a done-for-you dinner with girlfriends, all rolled into one. There are what seems a million details and logistics to coordinate, on top of the heart of it all to reconnect busy women to inspire joy and courage. Even so, you would think that since we’ve done it every single month for three years, we would have it down and it would run like a well-oiled machine.

To a certain extent we do, and it does.

But somehow, the cascade of surprises on event day never cease to amaze. Most often my best laid plans for a relaxing day of finessing the content for the evening, and taking time to actually make myself at …

You might have seen on social media that I got to spend a little time with these two ladies last week, over at AR Workshop Frisco. From the moment I walked in, it was peaceful, bright, and open. They were working their tails off with multiple projects going on and I was bringing them an entire trunk load of wood, that I scavenged for our centerpieces. Lindsay was trying to wrap things up to get out of town on a deadline, and Leah was assembling 128 lazy susans! Yet, they were both completely at peace. Not even a hint of stress in the air.

That workshop really is their happy place, and now I know why.

It’s the aesthetic, of course; the crisp white tables, darling blue chandeliers, cozy chunky knit blankets, and bright colors, luring you to explore every corner. But it’s something more. It’s the kindness in their voices. It’s not …

by Crystal Gornto Community Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Loving Others Loving Yourself The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

I don’t know about you, but over the years, I’ve employed about one million tricks/bribes in an effort to coax my kids into loving fruits and vegetables. I’ve tried everything from subbing with cauliflower or mixing in sweet potatoes to allowing, even encouraging, berries to be covered in sugar before ingesting. (why I buy “organic” fruit for this activity, I will never understand) Nonetheless, when the pediatrician asks if they’ve been eating their fruits and vegetables, at least there are a few of those bases covered.

In my book, this is #winningatmomming.

Amid all my efforts to make healthy food enjoyable, at times I must succumb to the gentle white snow of powdered sugar gracing my kitchen. From the countertop, all the way to the floor, covering at least a nine square foot area, lies the evidence of an entire pint of strawberries enjoyed in a single sitting. As you can imagine I’m …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Words Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself Motherhood Priorities Leave a comment chat

It’s officially spring break in Texas, which means mamas everywhere are doing all the things. They run the gamut of family trips, mission trips, staycations, squeezed in experiences, to simple strategies for keeping kids safe and alive while mama continues to fulfill her grown-up adult responsibilities. I’m somewhere in the middle all of it. Since we snuck in an early long weekend trip, the boys are finding fun ways to entertain themselves at home, while I’m trying to find times to be fully present and engaged, while also catching up on all the things I got behind on during our trip.

It’s the ever-shifting of the “mama priorities”.

A fun new activity for us this spring break is playing Texas Hold’em. Our new neighbors (who are not from Texas) taught the boys how to play one night, a month or so ago, and they’ve loved it ever since. So much so that they were …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Leaders Inspirational Women Love In Action Loving Yourself Motherhood Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

When you choose a mate and start a family, most of the time, you really have no clue what you’re getting into. If you’re smart, you do your due diligence, and date for at least 4 months, like I did. Then you get married within the first year and hope for the best.

Not really of course.

I mean, really that’s what I did. But I wouldn’t go around recommending that as a strategy. What I would recommend however, is to get clear on the core values that matter most to you, and look for those things, over all others. Because no matter how long you date before you tie the knot, I’m convinced you still have no clue what you’re getting yourself into.

Because over the years, life happens, and it’s hard.

Years and kids change a lot of things. People respond in ways you never expected. You respond in ways you never …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Love in Family Loving Others Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

If you’re on the outside, looking in, it may appear that all we do is horse around at HeartStories. We throw fun parties, laugh and tell stories all day every day. But the reality is we work our booties off to make things happen. It seems like we’re constantly learning to navigate new curveballs. Over here, behind the scenes at HeartStories HQ of late, we’ve been dealing with an ongoing issue, that is requiring lots of extra grace. As a means of comic relief from the stress of it, Lauren and I have been sending each other ridiculous gifs via text message. Nothing cruel or demeaning of anyone, simply our personal reactions to each other. Right in the middle of our text conversation yesterday, I opened Instagram, looking for something in particular, and this quote was the first thing I saw:

“Patience is when you are supposed to be mad, but …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Women Loving Others Our Story Priorities Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The gift of authentic connection

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