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priorities

Not the mom you want to be?

It’s always funny to me how the school system decides it’s “Fair Day”,  but they take no one to the fair.  It’s really just an extra day off school that clearly should be spent by mamas and kids frolicking happily at the fair, snapping photos to post to Instagram.

I don’t know about you, but at my house, it was still a Monday and the grownups around here work on Mondays. 

I love that I get to work from home and be physically present with my kids.  At the same time, running a business at this stage in the game means that I actually have to “do work” to keep the thing going.  That inevitably means I felt guilty about not frolicking at said “fair”.   I have every intention of beng a great mom on all the days, but that some days, I’m just doing the best I can.  That negative …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Inspirational Words Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself Motherhood Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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The problem with tomorrow

As I walked through the living room this morning collecting trash from last night’s apparent frat party, this whiteboard suddenly caught my eye.

I stopped to read the top and it took my breath away.

As I wrote about on the blog yesterday, I’ve been trying to create intentional moments of connection with the boys.  Realizing that I cannot stop life to be with them 24/7, I’m simply taking pauses where I can, to connect.   Yesterday during lunch I asked the boys if they wanted to play a game or something together.  Noah and I decided to play a game of cards.  While I was cleaning up the final dishes, I looked over and saw that he’d erased my family “to-do” list on the whiteboard and written something at the top.

My heart sank.

My brain is too full to remember anything so I’d been scribbling notes there for the last few days, of …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Words Love In Action Love in Family Love in Friendship Motherhood Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Pick one

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have two basic speeds: On or Off.  I either need to be moving and shaking, getting stuff done.  OR completely chilling and disconnected from the rest of the world.  It’s actually one of the reasons I’m pretty terrible at the social media game.  The always-on, always posting, always sharing, never-ending buzz of the online world is hard for me to just dip a toe in.  I’m either all in or completely out, so I avoid social media often so that I don’t allow myself to get sucked in.  (The word “boundaries” comes to mind here.)

I like to batch my work for efficiency so I can sit down to focus and then get up and be finished. 

Obviously, this is not how the life of a wife, mother, and entrepreneur naturally flows.  At some level, all of those roles demand a constant buzz for attention.  …

by Crystal Gornto Inspirational Words Loving Others Loving Yourself Motherhood Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Seek joy and you will find it

When Vanessa shared her first look, “sneak peek” images from last week’s girls night out, this one made my heart smile so big.  That joyful soul looking up at you is Lauren, the coordinator of all the things.  I’m telling you, she keeps HeartStories running smoothly like an Olympic figure skater gliding in for the gold.  It’s fast and furious, hard work.  Obviously, it’s a lot just working directly with me, but she’s also coordinating all of our staff, sponsors, vendors, members and attendees.  She shores up the platform that makes ALL the magic happen for our community, month after month.

And she could do it in her sleep, with one arm tied behind her back.

There’s so much happening behind the scenes to create our monthly GNO and Lauren makes it all seem so effortless.  You’d think this is her full time job, plus some.  But in reality, it’s her side …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Friendship Loving Others Priorities Leave a comment chat
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“Holiday Ready” is more than meets the eye

I spent the day yesterday hanging around a hospital, while my beloved Daddy had a (long overdue) knee surgery.  It had been a family juggling act for me to be able get down to the hospital before they took Dad back.( Thankfully, I made it and Dad did great!) But while I was trying to focus on my laptop and the final preparations for our “Holiday Ready” GNO tonight, the funeral of President Bush was airing live on all the waiting room TVs.  The focus of almost everyone in the room was up on those screens.  I wanted to listen to the eulogies of the legacy of such a wonderful man, but I needed to prioritize my work.  Then I noticed an elderly man, a couple of chairs down from me, he must have been more than 80, who was waiting for his wife to come out of surgery.  He was …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Women Love In Action Love in Family Loving Others Loving Yourself Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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When saying “no” isn’t fun

I’m supposed to be going on a field trip with one of my babies today.  It’s going to be a fun one too, they’re going to the butterfly gardens!  But I just can’t.  Thank goodness I’m not an “official chaperone” because then, I wouldn’t have a choice.  I was just planning to tag along.  Because of course, the chaperone sign-up went out on the day of the last HeartStories GNO, which means it got buried in my inbox so I didn’t see it until it was much too late to sign up.  But that’s a whole other story.  Today let’s just talk about the fact that momming is hard.  (Yes, “momming” is a word now.)  

Momming (momm-ing) v.: 1. Tapping into the reserves of strength you never knew you had. 2. Juggling all the things.

I spent the last three days with a house full of handy-people, and all of their mess, working to …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Loving Others Loving Yourself Motherhood Priorities Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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