December – the most magical time of the year!
But is it really this year? Yesterday was the last day of the UK lockdown and for sure Christmas season this year is going to be so much different… it definitely will! My little town is now in Tier 3, which mean that there is not a big change anyway and most of the places are still closed till further notice. I am doing my best to feel festive anyway! Are you ready for Christmas this year?
But first, let’s talk about how my November went?
Ohh where shall I start… it’s been a month full of surprised for sure!
Working from home
This month I started to work from home. It’s only temporary, thankfully… Covid situation went a bit beyond our expectation and my little town became 4th highest in positive Covid cases places in the UK and as I work in recruitment we couldn’t totally close our door. So in this case one of us was asked to isolate from the rest of the office. Sound complicated, but it simply had to happen, as at the moment nothing is the same… so I was even busier than usual, as when you have a company laptop at home, you just cannot stop working. Especially that in this job tasks never finish.
A positive thing from remote working was that I finally got myself a nice desk chair and organise my office space. But I also learned that working from home is not as easy as everyone thinks and I became grateful for the possibility to work most of the pandemic time from office and having a work-life balance, which I am lacking since I brought office laptop home.
The Read + Grow Book Club
In November I joined a book club run by Abbie.
This month book was ‘You are a Badass Every Day’ by Jen Sincero. This book is full of amazing quotes and short chapters which helped me to implement many little positive habits. I will definitely return to it and next time concentrate on reading page per day and completing all tasks recommended in the book.
I’ve decided not to join for the next book, as I still have a few I would like to finish before the end of the year. But definitely jumping onto it again in January. Are you in a book club? What’s your favourite self-development book ever?
November was all about implementing new habits
This year has been challenging for everyone for sure. When we feel overwhelmed with life, it’s often because there are too many things going on in our lives and our mind just can’t seem to keep up with all of them at the same time. So I tried to implement a new evening habit to help me ease my anxiety, attaining mental clarity and calm me down before bedtime. Our mind doesn’t have to struggle with worrying about everything all the time. So if there is anything that could help, why not give it a try, I thought.
Journaling is that new habit I’ve introduced to my evening routine last month and genuinely, it really helped me to go to sleep with a clear mind and wake up fresh each morning, or at least most of the mornings.
Journaling is an amazing tool to identify thoughts you might not even know you have that are operating in your subconscious. Getting these thoughts out then allows you to process them in a nonjudgmental way and to seek clarity in stressful situations. There have been many times where I have been facing overwhelm and I’ve turned to my journal for support. Simply writing my feelings out has allowed me to find peace in situations and get less swept away in my own thoughts.
But this month I did it a bit different. Instead of starting another paper journal, I created a little digital journal with journaling prompts I am using daily. If any of you would like my template, please let me know. I found it much better and definitely easier way of journaling than just an empty journal page. I would highly recommend it to everyone who is new to journaling world.
How am I making this Christmas season magical?
It’s a time to be jolly! But is it really this year? Even Christmas this year feel strange and different, we should make them as happy and as positive experience as we can. Let’s make the end of 2020, the best part of the year!
It’s a time for Christmas film marathon
Who doesn’t love a good Christmas film? For me watching films is everything right now. Cosy jumper, blanket, warm hot chocolate and a film marathon on Saturday night. That’s like my weekends look like right now. I love to spend time in our cinema room. So, let me share my Netflix 2020 Christmas films/programs list. Yeah, November is Christmas films month and we’ve enjoyed so many amazing films during it.
So here’s my recommendations:
- Holidate
- Midnight at the Magnolia
- Operation Christmas Drop
- Dash & Lili (Season 1)
- Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
- The Princess Switch: Switched Again
- The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two
- Over Christmas (Season 1)
And on my list for the coming week are:
What about you, do you usually wait till December to start watching them?
What’s on my Christmas menu?
Cookidoo is so helpful if we talk Christmas Menu planning. You know how much I love my Thermomix and I keep recommending it all the time. But thinking about Christmas menu in November? It’s maybe a bit too early, but I really want to be more organised this year. I am not thinking about spending a whole week before Christmas to cook and bake for sure, but it’s great to feel that everything is under control. So I have already picked a few recipes I am going to make and start preparing a shopping list soon.
On my menu so far are:
- Steamed Turkey Breast with Ricotta, Spinach and Walnut
- Spiced Red Cabbage
- Red Onion Gravy
- Mulled Wine
- Mincemeat Crumble Cake
What are you planning to prepare for Christmas? Do you have a favourite dish?
Here’s how my table looked like last year.
My DIY Advent Calendar
This year I also created a DIY advent calendar just for me and I had so much fun while making it. What about you, do you like advent time? It took me two evenings to make it, but I had a clear vision of how I want it to look. And what do you think? Maybe I create tutorial next year, would you like one? This was for sure my favourite DIY project ever!
3 journaling prompts for December
I’ve been journaling a lot in November not only in the evenings but also nearly every morning. So just thought I would share a few journaling prompts for you to journal on before the end of this year. What do you actually think about journaling? Have you ever tried it? Maybe you have some prompts you like to journal on each day? Please share them in the comment section below.
So here are 3 journaling prompts for December:
1 – What are your accomplishments and victories of 2020?
Even with 2020 being a strange year there is something for sure you have accomplish an you are proud of. For me, creating this blog was my biggest goal of 2020! So as you are here, reading this post, you can tell it’s been accomplished.
2 – What are 3 things you would still like to accomplish or work on before the end of this year?
These could be the smallest three things you would like to do before the end of 2020, like finishing this book you have started to read in the summer or creating something new. One of my goals is to complete the Shakti Yoga course which I commence in October.
3 – What is it exactly you are waiting for to make 2020 your year?
A month is plenty of time to take an action and create something good. Make 2020 to be remembered by you as a good year after all.
That’s all from me. I wish you an amazing last month of 2020
Love, Monika xx
0 Comments