Workin' 9 to 5...

...What a way to make a linvin' (love that movie!)

Hi All,

Well, I am a working girl again (have been for over a month now...I apologize for my delay :)

I took a position as the Program Coordinator with Utah Campus Compact!!!

Utah Campus Compact is a coalition of all 13 Utah college and university presidents and their campuses. UCC is one of 31 state compacts nationwide and kicked off its 10-year anniversary celebration on Nov. 21, 2006. This organization serves private and public higher education institutions, helping them develop a shared commitment to the public purpose of higher education and the value of integrating service with learning.
UCC's purpose is to:

1) assist college presidents in promoting service-learning and
student participation in civic and community service,
2) improve collaboration and build partnerships at the state level,
3) provide links with other state and national groups, and
4) offer resources, ideas and information to member campuses.

Good news is that I am working for an amazing organization, I am still in higher ed, I am still in service-learning and I am still impacting students (although a bit removed!)....AND I AM LOVING IT!!!

Another great thing about me going back to work, besides the paycheck :), is that on the day I started working, my mom started volunteering for the local boys and girls club down the street. She has been going over just about every afternoon and helping with their Power Hour which is when the kids do homework or reading. But not all the kids bring something to work on or read so she has been brining in poems for them to read aloud to her. They are loving it, infact many of them have started writing their own!!! It is great and it has filled her day with so much joy.

Till I write again, take care!

Never a dull moment...

There seems to never be a dull moment around the Mieremet/Williams household and today once again proved that. Bless my mom's heart, she decided (on a whim I think) that she wanted to make mustard pickles, the ones like her grandma and mom used to make. So, we went along for the ride...

4 different trips to the market for supplies

2 heads of cauliflower

5 lbs. of baby onions

5 lbs. of green peppers

7 large cucumbers

4 lbs. of green tomatoes

3 cups of brown sugar

1/2 gal. of vinegar

turmeric

mustard powder

black pepper

celery seed

and a few more things I must be forgetting :)

After a long evening of cutting all the veggies (mom was up till 2am, I only did a few I had had a few beers so I need much to go to sleep!!!) and a saltwater bath over night, we began the real process. Well, with all this food we must be canning and preserving all these mustard pickles we are attempting to make so, out came the mason jars and the pressure cooker!

Thinking that my mom was a pro at the canning process she says first let's read the directions! Come to find out that really meant she wanted to see how long to cook them for. Well we got the mustard sauce made and put all the veggies in the jars so on to the pressure cooking.

Now I am new to this pressure cooking thing so I was just standing back as Carrie and mom were getting ready to take the lid off. As we were moving slowly to not hurt anyone, all of the sudden there was this loud noise and there was water spraying through the top of the lid. We all jumped back and just watched "Old Faithful" spew. There was just too much pressure in the pot and we were not prepared. Well after it was all over and we all calmed down for a second, we realized that mom had some minor burns so we acted quickly and all is good now.

After that, our kitchen disasters continued...one cut finger and a broken glass. Needless to say, we closed up shop for the afternoon and moved on with our day!

While I know that these are only small things compared to other things going on in the world and even in our own country today, I must say that I am glad to say that they were only small things that happened today. And I am so grateful my mom is okay and it was not worse but I am happy that she was a part of this story today. Just a few days ago we celebrated an anniversary with my mom, the anniversary of her being cancer free. In 2001 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and a long road laid before us then. But now our road with her is full of stories about canning pickles and making multiple trips to the store. I love you mom and I am so happy you are here.

Bless those in Texas and those who are still being affected by hurrican IKE. My prayers go out to those being affected.

Till I write again, take care!

A brief stop...

It was the week before labor day weekend and my sister Carrie said to me that she really wanted to go to Red Rocks to see the Allman Bros. and Gov't Mule even though it was a trip and a weekend we had taken off the calendar about 3 months ago when it was announced. So, after some thought and looking at the calendar, we made a jump on the tickets and packed our bags.

While we only got tickets to the 2nd night of shows and missed the Allman Bros and Ratdog, we made it to Mule and everything else for the brief weekend was awesome. I got a much needed Denver fix and a much needed friend and music fix! We tried to get in to the Blue Bonnet but the line was not worth the wait so we went to our next favorite, Old Chicago.

On our drive out there we saw about 3 new wind farms which were spectacular and beautiful.

While I was in Denver, I was not able to see everyone but please know that next time I will plan ahead and plan for a much longer stay then our quick weekend (most of which was spent at the Rocks!). Here are some pics of the weekend.

Till I write again, take care!