Around Here: Im Back Edition

Around here I am finally feeling settled again, but only in time for the most insane time of the year. Concerts every night of the week. Christmas parties every day of the weekend. Gifts to order online. Travels to plan. But thankfully I took the time to level out, so I'm going into this crazy season in a much better state of mind, staying balanced and mostly using the power of NO.Around here I am teaching art journaling to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders and it is just amazing. A student told me today "My parents wanted me to stay home today because I was sick but I said I had to come to school because it was art journal day!" Then my heart exploded. It is such an amazing reminder of how kids truly are artists with no insecurities to hold them back, they are bursting with inspiration and are willing to try anything.Around here Caylee and I are working around the clock on Get Messy 3.0! The new site launches mid January and it is going to rock your socks off. It is amazing and we have so much work to do but it truly, truly is a labor of love. I love this group so much and I could not have a better partner to work with in this world.Around here I am in disbelief that we head to New Zealand in 16 days. I have no plans and I am SO happy about that. I have a paper map that I plan to circle a few places on and other than that our whole three weeks is just about rest, listening to audiobooks and driving in whichever direction interests us that day. HEAVEN.Around here I am making goals, checking things off my to do list and feeling really good about my current state of affairs. Taking some time off of social media and the blog pressure has really helped me gain some clarity and focus and get back my productivity mojo. Feels good and it feels even better to not feel like I have SO much stuff I HAVE to do that I don't really have to do...Around here I am reading a ton! Full app review and tons of book reviews to come. Currently I'm reading Room and just finished Wildflower. Spoiler alert: I cried on 2 flights all the way home from a trip recently while listening to Drew Barrymore's voice. I think my hormones were on the fritz, but it was a beautiful book in every sense.Around here I have finally, finally! started scrapbooking again. I tossed out all preconceived ideas and rules and just started making again. It feels great.Around here I am realigning all my goals/life/plans to actual fit MY life. Duh. I've never been big on new years resolutions and everything is always centered around the new year (planners, goals, scrapbooks etc). But I finally realized that my life does not follow the ebb and flow of everyone else's. My life follows the strict school year calendar. I was always so frustrated that I would be halfway through a planner or goal and then go on this amazing summer break, get totally off track and come back feeling like a whole new person and not know what to do. Duh. I am rearranging everything to be focused on the school year calendar now. Planners, goals, scrapbooks. (though I do have some fun things starting in January, but it just works out that way sometimes)Around here I am getting super-duper organized in my day job (elementary school counseling). I'm halfway through the year, feeling a little more settled and am able to look ahead and see the bigger picture. It feels great to have a plan and more of a grasp. I know doing all these type things feels like a ton of work while you're in the thick of it (organizing tons of files, writing curriculum, etc) but a year from now, when I can find everything I need at the simple click of a button, I will be ever so grateful to the Lauren of December 2015.Around here we are cleaning out and reorganizing. We made a big trip to ikea this weekend and are redoing more rooms in our house and it feels SO GOOD to have functional spaces that are also nice to look at it. I am also redoing my office at work (tiny bit) and rearranging my craft office and it feels amazing. Totally new, fresh and inspired. I have the mojo to work again. It's just that time when you need a change.Around here we had the BEST thanksgiving, quite possibly ever. We were late. The food wasn't ready. Someone else (who lived at the house we were at) was even later than us. No one complained. The food was OH-MY-GOSH delicious. It was all real grandma food. We were so impressed a bunch of hobo, grown up wannabes put together such a legit meal. (Costco cooked our chickens for us, but everyone knows the sides are where it's at) We laid on the couch for 8 hours after eating and watching 8 out of 10 of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes. (we decided the Brad Pitt one with the rumor was the funniest so far) We looked around and realized we had found and made a real family here.Around here it's snowing. Huge chunks of beautiful flakes. I cant stop starting out of the window. This must be why people live in cold places. No wonder Loralai was so enchanted by it. It is a perfect blanket for the world.