New job!!

I began a new job as of August 1, 2016!

It's one that I think fits so nicely with what matters to me personally and professionally ~ Community Partnerships Coordinator in the office of Community Engaged Learning & Research! http://celr.unm.edu
After 10 years total of advising, this has been a real shift for me; the day to day and the mental and emotional adjustments. It's similar to the job I held at Tulane in which I learned so much and, I think, thrived in professionally.

So, onward and upward! 
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I sent the following letter to my fellow advisors:

I’ve learned so much from you all and gained wonderful experiences in both work and friendships over the cumulative 10 years in UNM advisement. It’s difficult to remember all the committees, conferences, workshops etc that have been a part of influencing my journey… but you, wonderful people, are the cream of the crop and why I am glad that I am not going too far (two doors down). You do amazing work every day for our students and I admire your generous hearts. 

I am excited to have an opportunity to work with my passion of bringing people together to facilitate campus/community development with a growing program, and being able to work more closely with Abq community organizations. Keep my contact info if you have any faculty who want to integrate service learning into their classes or are looking for ways to partner with an off campus org in unique ways; we can help! "The CELR is an interdisciplinary, university-wide office committed to supporting community engaged scholarship and teaching. The mission of CELR is to foster quality experiential learning opportunities for students, support faculty with their community-based teaching and scholarship, and facilitate mutually beneficial campus-community partnerships.”

**And I sent a similar email to my students:

Hello BLA students!

It’s exciting to have an opportunity to work with my passion of bringing people together to facilitate campus/community development with a growing program, and to be able to work more closely with Abq community organizations. Keep my contact info if you want to integrate research service learning courses into your program or are looking for ways to partner with an off-campus org in a unique way – I can help! 

In ten years of advising at UNM I’ve learned so much from YOU all and gained wonderful experiences in both work and friendships. You have been a part of influencing my journey, each of you in your own unique ways. Part of the joy of my job advising for a unique program was not knowing who I would get to meet each day, and then guiding our conversations as strangers into productive, inspiring experiences for us both. I am proud of you… and am humbled by the hard work you put into your lives and education. Thank you for sharing your ideas and goals with me! I hope you found our time together useful and supportive.

If you are interested… click the link and scroll to Dec 15 to see a blog I wrote for Career Services ~ Finding Your Passion:

https://unmcareerservices.wordpress.com/2014/12/

Sending you all my very best, in gratitude and service,

~Mariah

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So far the experience has truly been awesome. I have opportunities to meet new people, go to interesting events and even hit up two conferences so far. I'm writing this from Omaha, Nebraska at the Engaged Scholars Consortium conference, and we were in New Orleans two weeks ago. The Global Service Learning conference is in Kansas from the 23-25th of this month. 

Feeling blessed to work with an outstanding leader in our field, a woman who is down to Earth yet is incredibly productive and no-nonsense. I learn more and am full of gratitude every day for this opportunity. 

Grateful Project

I found a great article on FB about a woman who created a Grateful photo album with Polaroids for a year. Below are my first few entries in my own Grateful series.

January 1

Missy on my lap. Both of us enjoy this immensely and there is never enough lap time. 

January 2

Soul food from Tomasita's, lunch with Mom and Ann, two of my favorite people. 

January 3

The fam on my lap. 

January 4

Dad's hands. So many stories, so many adventures. 

January 5

Dinner with my sweetheart. Chai tea from Saffron. 

January 6

Christmas ornaments packed up nicely for the next unpacking. 

Research is painful - typing out loud back in Spring 2012

I'm in Boot Camp again this weekend working on my Professional Project... back from lunch... must get started...
Make sure people understand how peoples' experiences in New Orleans can help them.
I think I have carpel tunnel :-(
Crying from worry that I won't express my respect for Darren or his knowledge in high enough regards.
Messaged Darren to say hi.
Kitaro is tripping me out.
Forgetting my acronyms and notes three months later. *pulling hair out*
How is it already 3:14????
Making progress on my goals for the day.
The to-do list is never ending.

Resolutions... A lot of 'em

Unfortunately I don't remember where I found this :-/ but here is some inspiration for the year. 
I chose some from the list that made sense for me. 

Grow

1. Start learning a language not spoken in Western Europe


3. Join a book club or writer’s group


4. Memorize all the international capital cities


5. Discover the meaning of ‘classical’ in classical art/literature/music


6. Trace your roots — discover more about your heritage


7. Teach yourself Morse Code


Take care of yourself

11. Drink more water everyday


12. Learn to meditate and form a routine


13. Use more sunscreen



16. Record your thoughts in a journal (or any handy piece of scrap paper)


17. Eat big, healthy breakfasts


18. Bike instead of drive


19. Add 30 minutes to the beginning or end of your night’s sleep


20. Drink tea instead of coffee

Take care of others

21. Meet your neighbors


24. Pack a healthy bag lunch and give it to a homeless person


26. Forgive that grudge you’ve been hanging on to


27. Give ‘I love you’ gifts (gifts without a specific occasion)


28. Listen more, speak less


29. Do foreseeable favors before people ask


30. Say what you mean and mean what you say

Slow your speed, lengthen the ride


36. Start a compost pile instead of throwing scraps away


37. Take the scenic route


39. Have more picnics


40. Show up several minutes early to everything

Detach from material things

42. Investigate a philosophical movement in history (transcendentalism, stoicism, phenomenology) and consider it in relation to your life


43. Go on dates that require no money


44. Eradicate noise pollution in your home



46. Unplug, in general


47. Separate your material wants from your material needs — and focus on the latter


48. Volunteer some place close to home


Live in the moment

53. Take the words ‘someday’ and ‘soon’ out of your vocabulary Acknowledge pleasure


58. Learn to shut your mind off when resting


59. Get out of your comfort zone more often


Love more

63. Keep a list of things that make you instantly happy



69. Try to stop comparing yourself to others


70. Ask your parents for advice more often

Get creative

71. Write one poem a week


73. Fingerpaint, sketch, or watercolor on weekends


74. Make your own jewelry out of antique or discarded items


76. Draw up a plan for your dream home — and incorporate some of it into your current home


77. Finish a crossword puzzle


78. Give gifts that are homemade, not bought


79. Write a letter to your future self, put it in a box, and lose it on purpose


Be aware


82. Back up your files


83. Buy produce at Farmer’s Markets


84. Unsubscribe from everything that creates clutter


87. Make your means as worthy as your ends


89. Support family-owned businesses instead of chains


90. VOTE (and know what you’re voting for)

Keep an open mind

94. Watch more foreign films and documentaries

98. Hear people out (fully)

lizrunaroundaroundaround: My friends are faster than your friends :)

lizrunaroundaroundaround: My friends are faster than your friends :): Loving Tuesday mornings!  The Dukes Track Club is a...

Just found this awesome blog by a local elite runner.
If there ever was a day that I needed this kind of inspiration this is it. Thanks, Liz!

last Studio paper

The following post was drafted last December. I am leaving the document rough, as I found it today 4/28/2012, but I've included the final poster I created for that class. I had a really rough time in this Studio course. My post reads like a stream of consiousness piece, but is indicative of my own creativity... and inability to focus. Today I am in a writing boot camp feeling much the same, but there is no TV to distract me and many grad students to keep me in line. After publishing this post I'll create a new one to document my experience this weekend.
~

Writing my last paper for CRP Studio. Due in 1.5 hours. Very little accomplished so far.
Sitting in bed with laptop seems to be a surprisingly productive setting for my work. Lots of light, TV or music, warm and comfy, enough room to spread out my papers and a place for tea. I need to go get some tea.
No, I need to keep typing.
My honey made me coffee.
Got sidetracked by reportage - Annie Liebowitz photography
Making Bibliography sucks.
Paper will be late today.
Took honest pictures to document the writing process. Inspired by Leibowitz who likes to photograph people in their home or work environments.
Paper is officially late. 12:04
I drafted a schedule for the day to include running at 5:30 am...
Sidetracked to find out Tom Ford has a mansion in Santa Fe.
Honey left for work.
Typed more.
Texted Sandra.
Called Mom to tell her the latest about Contract Towers being on the chopping block.
Found out paper is due at 5, not 12. Second time in a week I've screwed up times, but at least this one's good news.
Still a lot to do.
Watching OWN's series on the Creative Mind is inspiring me.
Annie Leibowitz, Tom Ford, James Cameron, Will.I.Am.
Will.I.Am. mentioned ADD - he makes order out of disorder - he can't slow down
Uploaded pic of Drew Barrymore by Leibowitz to FB page.
"Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and something wonderful will happen."
Will. I. Am. - "Protect your dream, like a candle in the wind. Be focused, hungry, tenatious. go go go."
Tyler Perry. On my 5th hour of OWN Creative Minds.
Making good progress on paper. Must be done in next 30 minutes so I can get ready to go babysit Marcus and Amelia.
Started One Note page for inspiring pictures.
Sent in at 4:15. not done yet. going to babysit.

My final poster for ideas on Neighborhood Stabilization in the Bridge Boulevard area

Japan earthquakes & tsunamis

An 8.9 earthquake rocked Japan yesterday, March 10, 2011, causing tsunamis across the Pacific, with Sendai, Japan being hit the worst. Some reports say it was an 8.4 quake... regardless, there have been reports of at least 50 or so aftershocks as high as 7.2.

I first read about the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan and tsunami in Hawaii on Facebook - from a friend who lives in Nigeria! I woke Aaron to watch the news with me and ached in horror at the video and reports of 200 hundred bodies already being found, at least 100 missing.

I quietly drove to the bus stop and continued following the news on my iPhone on the ride to work. Thankfully the news was on in the lobby at work and I quickly found the BBC and Hawaii live news reports online.

The destruction is massive. The loss of life is devastating beyond comprehension. It may not be near the magnitude of loss of life that there was in Indonesia, but a massive loss to those in the islands of Japan nonetheless.

The nuclear power plant has lost cooling. Massive fires at oil refineries. Gas lines breaking in neighborhoods producing moving fires among the floods.

I continue to keep the live news on while I work. It's good to finally hear that they are downgrading the tsunami warnings in Hawaii to "watch".

Obama: "Today's events remind us just how fragile life can be."

It hit so close to home... I spoke to Aaron's father, Larry, who lives in Honolulu with his wife, Aaron's mom, Kozue. They lived through an earthquake of a 6.2 magnitude several years ago in Japan when Aaron was young. They were on the ground floor watching the ground waves; they were rocked a full minute. Larry said he could not imagine what an 8.9 would be like. Last night, he and Kozue gathered candles, batteries, water jugs, the land line telephone, a short wave radio, filled the bathtub with water in their 12th floor condo. Trying to reach out to friends and family, they could only hear the active recordings on the phone lines stating that emergency personnel were using the phone lines through this morning. Larry told me that the surge receded at least 100 yards and that a harbor was the worse hit so far; no major damage in the cities. From what he heard, Tokyo lost 4 million building telephones, internet etc. He also said that an interesting side effect of his earthquake and subsequent tsunamis is that the price of oil dropped a whole $1 per barrel due to perceived decrease of fuel use in Japan. The entire pacific basin was affected - from northern Japan down to the southern-most part of Australia, up to Alaska, and across the west coast of the US, Canada and Central America.

This has been the 7th most powerful earthquake in recorded history. My Japanese neighbor, who spoke to her family in Japan, said that they are expecting another earthquake of possibly the same magnitude within one to six months...

As I type, the official death toll is 350, another 500 missing in Sendai. Amazing video looping that shows sea water taking out entire neighborhoods, people attempting to drive away, a motorcycle stopped short of the wave but the video pulled out just then so we couldn't see what happened to him. The Sendai air port is flooded and some trains are... unaccounted for.

What I think that is so amazing is how humans are so closely connected all over the world, but it takes something like this to remind us...

Thankfully Aaron's family and friends are alright. However, we have yet to hear about Kozue's friends in Sendai. It could be days, and the waiting is the worst part. It's almost impossible to concentrate at work.

New Year 2010

January 1, 2010!
Can you believe it!?
I made my second batch of black eyed pea soup today. A tradition that apparently comes from my grandfather, passed to me from my mother. We had Dad over today just like last year and we watched Slumdog Millionaire and ate banana pudding for dessert. Then I passed along some books back to Dad from way back when; at some point he gave them to me to read and they ended up in my mom's library in Santa Fe. I recently reorganized the bookshelves and brought these back for him to put his library again. I'm also sending some books back to Bonne that, somehow, I knew were hers.
After Dad went home Aaron and I tag-teamed the Christmas decorations and tree and put everything away for next year, nice and tidy. We've made some progress on the extra room and all the junk that was in it. A bit more to go and then it will be clear, though we're not sure what for yet. I'd like a reading room with a work table if possible - I'll call it "the international room," with all our worldly pictures hung up. Aaron would like a work out room. We'll see.
Now, we've eaten again, yakisoba and brownies, while watching Resident Evil: Extinction. It's way past my bed time and I have a feeling I'm coming down with something because I have a sore throat, sneezes and sniffles. I wonder if this is why I've been so down the last few days??
We went to Masood and Stephanie's place last night for New Year's. We were supposed to meet some other friends in Nob Hill but we got too full of fabulous Afghan food and decided to stay. Val and Aaron came as well and it was a nice evening in, champagne and all.
Tomorrow I'll work on the junk room a bit as well as my resume. I'm going to apply to the Regional and Community Planning program at UNM for the Fall. Deadline is Jan 30th and no GRE required! Wish me luck!

Soul food

I hovered over my green chile and beans with cheese today. Passers-by might think I was praying... or smelling... or looking for a bug.

I was smelling. I was taking in the scent of my childhood. My olfactory memory was in full swing. This particular smell was the same as the most memorable enchilada I'd had from Tesuque Market [before it became an overpriced, undertasty, tourist trap with management who apparently doesn't understand the importance of having the support of the locals]. I was growing like a weed at that age and finally finishing everything on my plate. We were eating out on the porch during what I like to believe was Fall, when Tesuque becomes even more magical than it is in every day life.

In fact, today I had to stop typing in order to finish my green chile and beans from Dos Hermanos. C'mon, I had to concentrate on the food. It's healthy to eat consciously, with purpose. My warm tortilla complimented my spoon like they were made in the same kitchen, both supporting each bite from the plastic bowl to my mouth.

Real chile, the chile from my favorite restaurant (see my pic of Tomasita's christmas enchilada), and the kind I find in my favorite kitchens, is THE most comforting food for me. There have been times when the comfort, the savoring, the emotions of the experience of covering my taste buds with the redest red or chopped green have simply been overwhelming. My stepdad makes the most wonderful red chile sauce and a pequi, recipes I've been enjoying for decades. Since I was 13 years old I could be found happily standing over his stove and soaking up the chile with french bread or a doughy tortilla. I make special trips to Tomasita's when I'm in Santa Fe; and believe me, the wait is always worth it.

So, this is my brief and semi-emotional ode to my comfort food. These feelings helped me to recognize my boyfriend's emotions when we finally found a real Japanese restaraunt here in Albuquerque Mirai Express. It was like all the years of his youth in Japan and his mother's kitchen come, flooding back to him. He could barely get the words out to explain how he felt, or all that he wanted for me to take from this experience. We were both elated to have stumbled upon this place near the UNM campus where he could order our meal and speak with the owner in Japanese. We oogled at the food, each other, and sighed with happy tummies as we walked out with our to-go boxes and green tea shake. Here's to soul food in our own metro!

'Bout time for some Mardi Gras pics, no?