Mai Gems: November

For the month of November, one word to sum it up is: eventful.

• To start off in the beginning, the Vietnamese congregation hosted a get together at my house It has been long months since the Vietnamese group and congregation had gotten together since the split. It was so nice to see everyone and to catch up! I had the best bacon mac and cheese. Yes, bacon.  I invited a few friends from my congregation to attend and we all had lots of fun with games.

amazing bacon mac and cheese

• Rosie’s to die for cherry pie. The first time I had it was over a year ago and I fell in love. I finally got to eat it again. Did I fall in love? Yes.

• Catching up with a dear friend. I hadn’t been in contact with a dear friend for almost five years. Then one day I received an surprise text from her. It made me smile a lot and we made plans for dinner to catch up on what’s been going on throughout these years.

• I found out I really like aged cheese! I am not a big cheese fan. I do not like eating cheese alone. There’s this bistro box at work that for the longest, I cringe when looking at it, because I didn’t enjoy what was in it. There’s one specific cheese, two year aged cheddar. The one I least enjoyed. The first time I had it, it tasted like rubber. Second time, still tasted like rubber. I didn’t understand why my coworkers enjoyed this cheese. Finally after giving it four tries, I finally liked it! The texture is gooey and taste is bland. But it’s the kind of bland that you end up getting addicted to it. It’s so weird.. but I’d like to add it to my highlights since it was an important moment for me.

• I’ve never been the type of girl who goes to the salon to get my nails done nor do I like going. I’ve always enjoyed doing it at home since it saves money and I enjoy pampering myself. But during this month, a very sweet regular customer at the store had surprised me with a manicure. It was my first time getting them done differently other than gel. I love love the color so much!

• In the congregation, there’s an older couple Cardona’s. The brother has been sick so they haven’t been able to make it to the meeting regularly. But for the past month, he’s gotten better and they both have made it to the meetings every week. All thanks to Jehovah. It makes me very happy seeing them at each meeting. It’s encouraging to see the strength they have and faith they put into Jehovah. I always feel encouraged when I am with them.

• Sister date. It’s very important to me to try to make time for my sister and catch up. Even though we both live in the same house, we have very different schedules. There’d be days when we don’t see each other. I try to have a date with her at least one or twice a month to catch up.

• Another highlight during this month was going out with a lovely sister in my congregation, hermana Vasquez. I’ve been trying to make plans with her for a month, but due to our different schedules, it never worked out. Until we were both off for the holiday! It was perfect. I really enjoyed getting to know her better and spending some quality time in service.

• Attended a graduation party with friends in the congregation. What was special about that night was that I realized, it didn’t matter how much people you were with. What matter was who. You can have so much people with you, but with the right encouraging people who you are with is important. Wholesome fun isn’t about the quantity, it’s the quality.

• Ended the month with a wonderful night with my best friend. We finally got to spend time together after a long time with a movie, Whip It and some wings. Hanging out with her is never a dull moment. Just filled with highlights.