Countdown to Christmas| Mid-Month Check-In

 

Hey my lovelies, hope you are all well and keeping safe! Can you believe we are already half-way through December? I honestly do not know where this month has gone, but we have officially entered the 7 day countdown to Christmas and I couldn't be more excited about it. I thought it was about time I checked in with you all again and shared what I have been up to so far this month and how I'm feeling. I just want this to be a little catch-up and check-in with you all, please let me know in the comments below how you're feeling at the minute and what you have been up to recently and let's have a chat!

🎄 How I'm Feeling - I thought I'd start with just a little check-up of how I have been feeling lately. I know in the last one of these I told you I got the job! Since then, I have been working with a new company, and to be honest, loving it! As a business, we stayed open for Click and Collect during Lockdown 2.0 so I was still going to work as normal, which in hindsight I was really grateful for retaining that bit of normality. Despite the job going well, I always feel like heading out of one year and into another always fills me with anxiety and panic, as I find myself sitting down and thinking, what have I actually achieved this year? Now, I know this is silly! We should never be this hard on ourselves, and especially after this year, but I think it's part and parcel of leaving one year behind and starting a new one. I have my own hopes and wishes for the new year, which I plan to share with you all within the next couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

🎄 December Bookstagram Challenge - So far (we are now on the 18th December when this post goes live) I have not missed a single daily upload over on my Instagram. Don't get me wrong, some days these posts have been a little later than I hoped for, or a bit more rushed than I would like them to be, but at the start of the month I really didn't think I would manage to upload every day so I'm super proud I've managed it so far. This month, I have created some of my favourite content yet and it would mean the world if you could visit my IG and give those posts some love! I've loved getting all festive with my backgrounds and flatlays, and actually think I've peaked with my Book Wreath (trust me, my creativity won't get much better than that).

 

🎄 Faith, Trust and Lots of Books' Twelve Days of Books - Additional to my daily December bookstagram challenge posts, I decided to create a mini series in the 12 day run up to Christmas: 'Twelve Days of Books'! Each day, I'm sharing a different book recommendation on my IG stories and saving them to a highlight on my page. These are ranging from all-time favourite stories, pieces of contemporary literature, and even some essays and poetry as we get closer to Christmas Day. Today marks the half-way point and although some days I wish I hadn't given myself ANOTHER job to do (she thinks as she's rushing to get her work uniform on and finish her tea), I think it will be really nice to look back on in years to come when I have added to my favourite books list and have found some new gems to join the ones featured in this series. 

🎄 Final Preparations and Working Through Christmas - As we enter the final week before Christmas, I have to be honest and admit that I do not feel prepared at all! I have work next week (including Boxing Day and the day after) and still need to finish content creating for the year, I still haven't wrapped a single present and I need to schedule at least two blog posts. Life has just been a bit hectic recently, what with a global pandemic and new job, and I've not been as prepared as I would like to have been. But, having said that, I'm looking forward to spending time with my loved ones (over the allowed 5 day period over here in the UK) and having a slower start to the New Year with some much needed rest time. 

So there we go guys, a quick little mid-month catch-up for you all. I really do hope you are all feeling well and keeping safe. I know the current situation is far from where we were this time last year, and Christmas will look very different for a lot of us, but just know that you're doing an amazing job, and that you deserve some "me" time over this festive period. I'll see you all next week (on Christmas Day!) for a 'Things I'm Grateful for in 2020' blog post. Lots of love xoxo