December, For Me

Christmas 2018

The final round-up of the year always seems like it is forgotten, because of the rush of running into the fresh 365 days. It’s tempting to forget about December all together, but I wanted to take the time to slow down before the new year and look back at December. So, here’s how December was for me.


Main Highlights

Work

  • ๐Ÿฅณ I officially hit my 4 month mark into my graduate development programme at BT Consumer.
  • ๐Ÿ’ฐ The benefit of side hustles? Getting paid twice in December which will help over the long period of January where every year I have been broke by the third week ๐Ÿ™ˆ I’m making the change in 2019!
  • ๐Ÿ› As part of my graduate programme, I had the opportunity to spend a day in one of EE’s retail store in Leeds to get an idea of the front-line customer services. It was a great change to the office for a day! I hadn’t realised how much I missed retail as well – it was a fun job at one point. ๐Ÿ˜†
  • ๐Ÿ“น I took part in BT Career’s Christmas Campaign, #12GradsOfChristmas. You can watch my feature here!

Community

  • ๐Ÿ’ป The Code First: Girls General course held at DWP in Leeds finished this month! Although I didn’t contribute greatly as I had hoped (because of work commitments, personal issues and illness on the days of the course ๐Ÿ˜ญ) I enjoyed seeing through another course to the end, and celebrating the women’s success. I’m sadly going to take a break from community course work with CFG for the new year, but no doubt will be supporting the community as they continue to head on to bigger and greater things!

Recognition and Features

Online

  • ๐Ÿ“ I wrote my favourite annual post, “5 Things I learnt in 2018.” Check it out! Also, tell me what your top 5 lessons are from this year.
  • ๐Ÿ’œ The final Inspiring Figures of the year was published earlier in December and features Women in Tech, Nathalia Rus who spoke to me about interdisciplinary technological potentials and the importance of balancing tech and health. I loved speaking to her – it was a great interview to end the year!
  • ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป I’ve also been working on my portfolio, PaulineNarvas.com this month. I’ve made some changes on the font, added a new section that details my current graduate scheme and some other projects and recognition.

Health

  • ๐Ÿคง Unfortunately, I did spend a whole week in bed in December with a weird stomach bug that caused me to literally experience the worse day of my life. Being sick is never fun, but it’s even worse when you pass it onto others (sorry Matt!) I didn’t eat properly for almost a week, and it took a while for my appetite to full come back (I said no to burritos! ๐Ÿ˜ฑ) This whole experience made me reflect on how many times I’ve been unwell this year, which caused me to do some serious self-reflection (as noted in my 5 lessons ๐Ÿ‘€)
  • ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ Despite this though, I’ve been doing my best to get my workout complete every week. On the days where it is hard to get out of bed, I’ve completed a workout at home to switch it up a bit and to remind myself that I don’t need a gym to stay fit and healthy.
  • ๐Ÿ‹๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ With that said, I committed to Personal Training starting in January. Talk about a switch up. Let’s see how this goes !

Personal

  • ๐ŸŽ„ Christmas break is here! I had a really relaxing Christmas with my family – all we did was eat and watch films. Definitely needed!

3 things I’m happy about

1๏ธโƒฃ My graduate scheme

This tweet reminded me of the time back in March, when I got a flood of new rejection emails from jobs I had applied to. I remember feeling fed up, frustrated and not good enough (which is the main reason I created that thread which I continue to update and read when I’m feeling low) but now, although Imposter Syndrome hits me in the face, I can’t help but feel grateful for getting through a competitive selection process and now, developing myself through an incredible experience.

I’m happy that I’ve been given the opportunity to work at an incredible, exciting company with a breadth of opportunities. I can’t believe that I’m 4 months in already, I’ve learnt so much around DevOps, Delivery, processes, governance, tech tools and the wider industry but there’s so much more out there to learn. It’s so incredibly exciting.

Beyond my day-to-day, I’ve been given the chance to continue doing what I love: going out to careers fairs, giving talks to young women about technology and filming videos for campaigns and projects. I’m so grateful!

2๏ธโƒฃ Living in Leeds

Even though I always talk about wanting to go back to Sheffield all the time, when I was leaving my Leeds apartment for Christmas, I couldn’t help but feel super happy to have 1) moved out, 2) moved out to Leeds – a city that is growing everyday, 3) moved out, with bae.

Thanks to everyone that has been super welcoming since I first moved to Leeds ๐Ÿ’œIt’s starting to feel like home. But never home-home. ๐Ÿ˜‰

3๏ธโƒฃ Having a Christmas break

I spent Christmas with my family, doing nothing but watching films and eating loads and loads of food. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. ๐Ÿ˜‹ It’s been such a productive year, with loads going on in my life (sometimes more than my capacity…) so this Christmas break is SO NEEDED.


December in Photos

December in pictures

#Pawsitivity

To the person that sent me this, you know how much I appreciate it but let me say it again: thank you. ๐Ÿ’œ


December Favourites

For all my favourite items each month, check out my Amazon list! Makinโ€™ it easier for you! ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • ๐ŸŽ 23andme: Matt got this for me for Christmas, I sent off my sample and can’t wait to see what I get back! I love stuff like this, my inner scientist is so hyped.
  • ๐ŸŽ„Christmas films: I finally watched The Holiday and Love Actually this month. Although both films were frustrating at times, I always love a romantic comedy! ๐Ÿ˜†
  • ๐ŸŽž Films:
    • Ralph Breaks The Internet. This film was so fun to watch – it’s exactly how I’d imagine if I could physically walk through the internet. ๐Ÿ˜‚
  • ๐Ÿ“šBooks:
    • The Rules of Love by Richard Templar. I’ve enjoyed his “Rules of” books this year – they’re clear and straight to the point. I also love books that make me want to action something ASAP, this series does that to me!
    • The 4 Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Tim Ferris. I love this crazy guy.
  • ๐ŸŽงMusic: It’s not Christmasy I’m afraid… but I’ve really enjoyed this song this month. Shoutout to Clark for introducing the song and the band to me! It could be a new favourite ๐Ÿ‘€
  • โ„๏ธWinter Jumper: I don’t usually talk about items of clothing on my favourites since I’ve tried to cut down in ~things~ but I have to shoutout about this jumper from ASOS. It’s so warm, cosy and I never want to take it off – perfect for winter, eh?

Quote of the Month

This has to be the theme of the last few months, but hey, I need reminders.


Next month: January 2019

I’m going to save this part for my first blog post of 2019.

But for now, thank you to everyone that has been reading this year and joining me on my journey to live my happiest, healthiest and most successful life. It’s been fun documenting my months and rounding them up for my sake but for anyone reading too.

This concludes my final post of 2018 – a Month for Paw – it’s been rad โœŒ๐ŸผHave a Happy New Year! ๐ŸŽ‰

10 responses to “December, For Me”

  1. When I read your blogs you seem like such a busy and fun person. You keep your life full of things to do. I admire you for that. It’s a fun read for me too. haha Hope that doesn’t sound weird! ๐Ÿ™‚
    That sucks that you got a stomach bug. That is one of the worsts. EW I got stuck with a Sinus Infection and then a Cold. It was horrible.
    Yay for getting paid twice! haha I love when our months here are long and we end up with three paychecks in a month. I hope you have a wonderful new year!

    1. Aww, thanks Ashley! Not weird at all, really appreciate it in fact ๐Ÿค—

  2. let’s hope in 2019 you get less sick especially on happy holidays and events <3
    Your posts are super inspiring and entertaining. you definitely make me want to do more and not be so comfortable with doing so little lol
    thank you for sharing xoxo
    โ€• Kiki | soyvirgo.com

    1. Thank you so much, keep it going girl, you got this!

  3. Congratulations on all your achievements and I’m glad you are doing better. Will you share your 23andme results? Have a happy new year! โ™ฅ

    PerlaGiselle | iamperlita.com

    Say hello and letโ€™s follow each other <3
    instagram.com/iamperlita

    1. Yes, I’ll select some data and share it with everyone for sure!

  4. It sounds like you had a great end to the year! (Bummer about getting sick though — that’s never fun!) It’s always inspiring to see the different opportunities that you’ve carved out for yourself, and I hope 2019 sees the same energy and drive.

    1. Thanks so much Cindy! ๐Ÿ˜€ Being sick is no fun, but positivity helps!

  5. I really enjoyed reading this little summary, kind of inspired me to think about writing my own. Thanks ๐Ÿ˜„

    1. No worries! I’m glad that it has been valuable ๐Ÿ˜‰

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.