Blog - Shevonne Polastre

A laptop displaying a personal finance tracker application integrated with Notion. The screen shows expense logging features, a recent expenses table, and a pie chart of spending by category, with a calculator placed nearby on a wooden desk

How I Built a Personal Finance Tracker That Talks to Notion (And Why You Should Try It)

I finally finished my CS50 final project—a Financial Tracker that syncs with Notion to manage my budget! At first, I was overwhelmed, thinking, ‘Can I actually build this?’ But I leaned on my business analyst skills, broke the project into smaller pieces, and built an MVP that logs income, expenses, and savings directly into Notion databases. The process wasn’t perfect—I forgot to save files in VS Code and wrestled with Notion’s API—but troubleshooting taught me so much. Watching my dashboard update with transactions I coded myself was thrilling! This project is just the start, as I’m eyeing AI-102 next to add AI components to the tracker.

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Learning Azure AI by Building a Chatbot with RAG | My First AI Project

Technical, Videos

Hey everyone! One piece of advice I highly recommend is having mentors. They can truly guide you, especially when you’re navigating changes in your career or learning journey. I personally have several mentors—five, to be exact. One is my overall career mentor, who is absolutely amazing. Then, I have four technical mentors who help me

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Web Form to Notion Using Azure App Service

Technical

I started this as a fun way to organize my Minecraft world, but it turned into a full-stack learning experience using Azure, Notion, and GitHub Actions.AZ-104 concepts like App Services, VNet integration, infrastructure as code, and deployment automation were on my mind. You can use Notion to build web apps and deploy them to Azure

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Creating Users and Groups with Microsoft Graph PowerShell (Minecraft Server Admin AZ-104 Quest)

Studying, Technical

I’m diving into identity management with Microsoft Graph PowerShell. Managing users and groups in Azure is like organizing your server’s ranks in Minecraft. If you’re prepping for the AZ-104 exam or just wanna automate identity tasks in Azure, you’re in the right place. Let’s go! By the way, if you want to see all the

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Using NotebookLM to Pass Certifications (Like the AZ-104)

Studying

AZ-104 is tough to study for. It’s just a lot of info. While Microsoft Learn is available during the exam, searching on Microsoft Learn isn’t the best option and you don’t have all the time in the world Traditional study methods involve taking notes and reading through tons of paperwork, but new tools like Google’s

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How I Developed Cloud Skills (and Bonded with My Kid) Deploying a Minecraft Server on Azure

Growth

With a full-time tech job, and a curious preschooler, I’m always looking for ways to make learning fun. It’s been awesome combining playtime and professional growth: deploying a Minecraft server on Azure. Why Minecraft? I have a 4-year-old who’s obsessed with building, breaking, and exploring. For me, I’m studying to retake AZ-104. When I didn’t

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How I Goal Plan Using Notion (Free Template Included!)

Growth

Setting goals is one thing—actually achieving them is another. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by goal planning, struggling to break down big dreams into actionable steps, you’re not alone. That’s why I use Notion to streamline my goal-setting process and stay on track throughout the year. In this post, I’m walking you through my complete

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a woman in brown shirt typing on her laptop while sitting beside her kids

5 Productivity Hacks for Busy Moms: Get More Done in Less Time

Working Moms

Here are five game-changing productivity hacks that will help you stay on top of your to-do list without feeling exhausted.

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6 Note-Taking Methods to Pass Your Next Certification Exam

Studying

Discover six powerful note-taking methods—Cornell, Outline, Charting, Box and Bullet, Boxing, and Hybrid approaches—that can transform the way you study for certifications. Learn how to organize your notes, boost retention, and tackle complex topics with confidence!

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Working mom balancing her day with a laptop, coffee, and a notebook, preparing for a certification exam while managing family responsibilities.

A Day in the Life of a Working Mom: Balancing Career, Family, and Certification Prep

Growth

The struggle to balance work, motherhood, and personal goals is real! I’ll share a day in my life as I juggle a full-time career, parenting duties, and certification exam prep. Find out how I stay organized and on track with my game-changing Certification Exam Notebook.

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