Laser Tag @ Laser Assault

During our Finals' Week programs, we rented out a Laser Tag arena for our residents to let off some steam. Thanks to Laser Assault for being such great hosts for our group.

Penny War Conclusion

The Wolverine Crossing Penny War finally came to a conclusion two weeks ago. The residents were able to raise $305 for the Rocky Mountain Candlelighters Foundation of Utah. A special thank you goes out to all those residents.

The Penny War concluded with an evening where residents made holiday cards for the families that the foundation helps. Thank you to the residents who came to participate.

As promised, the building who scored the most points during the Penny War got to put a pie in their CAs' face. Building F won, and so Lauren and Jorden got pied.





Again, a special thanks goes out to all those who participated. Wolverine Crossing would especially like to thank the Rocky Mountain Candlelighters Foundation for allowing us to be a small part of what they do, and to thank them for the service that they offer. For more information on the Rocky Mountain Candlelighters Foundation, click here.

PENNY WAR

It's building vs. building and the war is on! Pennies are positive one, while nickels, dimes, and quarters are negative five, ten, and twenty five. The winning building will be the one with most positive points and their Community Ambassadors will get a pie in the face. If we raise an equal amount of dollars to residents, our Resident Director, Tiffany Peck, will also get a pie in the face! All proceeds are going to the Rocky Mountain Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer. Let's support a great cause!

The mission of the Rocky Mountain Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer is to enhance the lives of children with cancer and their families by providing hope, practical and emotional support, patient advocacy, research, and education. It was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with cancer who felt there were inadequate services for their families. It started off as a paraprofessional self-help support group within Primary Children's Medical Center. It then grew to services for children and families outside of Primary Children's as well as inside. As of 2006, the organization is independent of Primary Children's Medical Center and in its own offices in downtown Salt Lake City. The Rocky Mountain Candlelighters serves families of families in Utah, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, southern Montana and eastern Nevada; where approximately 150 children are newly diagnosed with cancer each year.

Some services provided by the Rocky Mountain Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer include:
-Carebags
-Parent's Pantry
-Survivorship Conferences
-Emotional Support through support groups and individual counseling
-Parent to Parent Mentoring
-Family Financial Education
-Community Education

A more complete list may be found on the website.

All of this information and more is found on the Rocky Mountain Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer website www.childhoodcancer.org

5 Ingredient Recipes!!!

Oh no!! Have you ever come home starving and looked in your fridge only to find it’s empty again?! Shoot! And mom’s hours away not available to fix you the delicious dinner your craving! We’ve all been there; it can be really hard living on your own for the first time! Here are some quick and easy recipes when the cupboard is looking pretty bare! Each of the following recipes can be whipped up with 5 ingredients or less! Good luck!
Fettuccine Alfredo
Ingredients:
• 10 oz. jar Alfredo sauce
• 1/4 cup milk
• 9 oz. pkg. fresh refrigerated fettuccine pasta
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
In heavy saucepan, combine sauce and milk and mix well to combine. Heat gently over low heat. Meanwhile, cook fettuccine according to package directions and drain well. Immediately stir into hot sauce mixture and toss gently to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese. Serves 4-6

Ooey Gooey Chewy Bars
Ingredients:
• 20 oz. pkg. refrigerated chocolate chip or white chocolate chunk cookie dough
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 12 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup caramel fudge ice cream topping
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice cookie dough into 1/2" slices and arrange in greased 15x10" pan. Press evenly into pan using floured fingers so dough covers bottom of pan.
Bake crust at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes until light golden brown. Sprinkle crust with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Return to oven and bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until marshmallows are puffy and light golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle caramel topping evenly over bars. Cool completely and cut into bars. 32 bars

Almond Joy Fudge Brownies

Ingredients:

1 (19.8 ounce) box Duncan Hines chewy
fudge brownie mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 (14 ounce) package Miniature Almond
Joy bars, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup toasted almonds

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan .

Prepare mix according to brownie package directions, except only use 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Pour into prepared pan. Pour and spread condensed milk over the top. Sprinkle with chopped candy bars and toasted almonds. Bake for 35 to 38 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into 2 dozen bars.
Easy Blueberry Pancakes

Make their morning with light, tender pancakes. Your fresh or frozen blueberries make them extra-special.

2 cups Original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) blueberries

Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat or electric griddle to 375 degrees F; grease with cooking spray, vegetable oil or shortening. (Surface is ready when a few drops of water sprinkled on it dance and disappear.)

Stir Bisquick, milk and eggs until blended; gently stir in blueberries. Pour by slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No changes.



Pepperoni Pizza
1 (13-inch) uncooked dough crust
1/2 cup pizza sauce or tomato sauce
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil
Thin pepperoni slices

Top dough crust with sauce and cheese. Drizzle with oil. Bake in preheated 500 degree F oven on pizza stone for 8 to 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Remove from oven, add pepperoni slices and cool on a wire rack for 2 or 3 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Resident Referral Program!!!

For a limited time, Wolverine Crossing will also waive the security deposit for new residents*!! Call the office for details!

*some restrictions may apply*

Wolverine Crossing Carnival

Wolverine Crossing had it's opening social on Wednesday, September 2, 2009. We celebrated the new school year by holding a carnival. Residents got to enjoy hotdogs, candy, cotton candy, pingpong, games and even a photo booth. Thanks to all the Community Ambassadors who made it happen and especially the residents for bringing so much life and energy to the event! Below are a few shots of the carnival. To see more, visit our FACEBOOK PAGE.

Move in Day 2!

Well our big Move-in Weekend is winding down and coming to an end. Our office will be open tomorrow to accommodate anyone who needs to move-in on a Sunday.

We welcomed 60 more residents to the community (we're anticipating a lot more this week as well), and are excited to have them all in our community.

We had another BBQ and hypnotist show. The turnout was great, the residents were wonderful, and we all shared a great night of laughs.

Here are some pictures of some of our amazing residents:

Move-In Day #1

The long awaited day has arrived. We successfully moved in 240 of our new residents today! What an exciting day it was. Students were able to interact with representatives from UVU Athletics, local church organizations, and COSTCO was kind enough to supply all the water for our day. Most importantly, residents were able to meet and interact with family, friends and new neighbors. For many, this will be the first time living away from home. What a great way to start this wonderful time of growth.

We'd like to welcome every one of our new friends to Wolverine Crossing. We are so excited to have you join our community, and want you to know that much lies ahead for you! We have a staff here that is dedicated to helping you succeed and make the best of your university experience. Thank you for making Wolverine Crossing your home!

Now that they've moved in, many of the residents are taking time to make their four walls a new home!

The day was full of excited and anxious residents and parents, employees working hard, smiles and laughter, and was capped off by a fun and entertaining BBQ (we even had a hypnotist out tonight)!

Here are some fun pictures from the day...

Thank you again to all our residents, both old and new; you're what makes Wolverine Crossing the best Student Living Community in Utah Valley.

Wolverine Crossing's first "Dive-in" Movie

To finish up our summer contract season, the Wolverine Crossing Community Ambassadors put on a "dive-in" movie at the pool. Get it? "Dive-in Movie" like a "Drive-in Movie"? Anyways, we thought is was pretty witty.

We rented a huge blow up projection screen and sound system to set up by our east pool. The movie (JAWS) started at about 9:30, and was preceded by hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. Here are some pictures from the event.







Thanks to those who planned the event and to those who attended. We've tentatively got another movie night planned for later this month or early next so stay tuned for an announcement on the date.

Resident Spotlight: Whitney Merrifield a.k.a. Miss Utah 2009

As one of the proud sponsors of the Miss Utah Pageant, Wolverine Crossing has become the "Home of Miss Utah". We became a sponsor midway through Miss Utah 2008, Kayla Barclay's reign, and are now proud and ecstatic to have Whitney Merrifield join our community. Whitney was crowned miss Utah on June 20, 2009. Here's Whitney's bio and some pictures of her crowning:

Whitney Merrifield is a student at Brigham Young University, majoring in communications with an emphasis in Broadcast Journalism and is a trained classical pianist. As a junior in High School, she was honored to find herself as Miss Pleasant Grove; which led to the opportunity to represent Utah at the National Sweethearts pageant in Illinois, competing against other women who placed first runner-up in their respective state pageants across the country. During that national pageant, Whitney took home a preliminary talent award and a spot in the top ten. As Miss Utah County, Whitney competed again on the state level and in June, was crowned Miss Utah 2009. During her reign, she will spend the year serving as an ambassador of service for the Miss Utah Organization, the Children’s Miracle Network and the Child Protection Registry of Utah. Travelling thousands of miles, speaking and performing at several events per day, Whitney will get the chance to spread her message and continue working on her service platform entitled “Be the Change Utah!” Her goal is to get the Challenge Day program into as many high schools as possible during her year. A native of Lindon, Utah, Whitney is the oldest of seven children. In her spare time, she enjoys singing, dancing, and writing poetry and is fluent in Spanish.

Whitney receiving the crown from Kayla. Kayla we'll miss you!

We are so happy to have Whitney join our community. Residents can look forward to activities and events featuring Whitney over the course of the next year.

For more information on the Miss Utah Pageant and Whitney's community appearances and platform, please visit the Miss Utah Website. You can also learn more about Whitney on her blog, "Whit's Whit and Words".

Congratulations Whitney and welcome to Wolverine Crossing.

Moving in...

We have been getting a lot of questions in the office about move-in day: what to bring, what not to bring, where to go, etc. We are going to be sending every one of our future residents a move-in packet in a week or so. It will include very helpful information about move-in day, and be able to answer majority of the general questions that our future residents may have. We know there are those who are starting to buy things for their apartment, so to help, below is some information about what you need to bring (all of this will be included in the move-in packet, but for those who can't wait...here you go):

- Shower curtains (and rings) Towels, hair dryer, etc.
- Pillow sheets, blanket and comforter (beds are normal single beds)
- Laundry detergent, basket and clothes hangers
- Trash cans, trash bags and cleaning supplies
- Alarm clock
- Toiletries, sewing kit and tissues
- Computer and Printer
- Ethernet cables (CAT5E) for wired internet access, cable hook up chord
- Money, checkbook, credit or debit card
- Social Security card, birth certificate, or passport and driver's license (needed for employment)
- Kitchen items such as plates, cups, silverware, pots and pans
- Umbrella
- First-aid items, prescriptions
- Power strip (fused surge protector w/reset button/circuit breaker only)
- Mini tool set
- Stackable crates (for storage in room)
- Address book, stationery and postage stamps
- School supplies and backpack
- Small appliances: toasters, toaster ovens, etc... (not microwave)

Remember, these are only suggested items, you may not need all of them, but we suggest you to bring them. There also may be other items that you'll want to bring that are not on this list... the key is to plan ahead. You'll be given your future roomates' contact information to coordinate things like small appliances and kitchen ware.

Be sure to check back on the blog for more helpful information as we get closer to move-in day!

On Saturday, Wolverine Crossing held a training for our Community Ambassadors. After spending some time getting to know each other better, we spent some time covering several topics that will be helpful in our jobs within the community during the coming year. Some of those topics included office procedures, policy enforcement, student development theory and program planning. Our faculty-in-residence, Dr. Smit, spent some time with us sharing his wisdom. We also decided to take a staff picture to include in the Move-In-Guide that we're working on. Check us out below (we're just missing our lovely Jessica)!

A Fresh New Look

With our change in management last April, recent name change in February, new group of community ambassadors, and a new fresh group of students, we felt it necessary to update our website.

This is what it looked like before:





We wanted our new site to be updated in design, speak more to the overall lifestyle of the community, and highlight resident living. We did a photoshoot in-house with residents and employees, and have been working for the last two months on design and content.

This is the result:





The site includes information on our rates, floorplans and community, as well as helpful links for students: information on local hospitals, tutoring services, financial aid services, employment services and much more.

We hope that the site will serve as:

1.) A good face for our community and
2.) A resource for our residents and their families.

The site can be viewed at www.wolverinecrossing.com.

Waking up to a beat...

Friday morning, July 3, 2009, many of our resident woke up to drumming in the parking lot. Wondering what it was, our management staff quickly ran outside to look. Marching and dancing through the parking lot was "The Voice of Africa".

The Voice of Africa (VOACA for short), is an organization which stands as an advocate for African culture through dance, music and song. VOACA strives to provide educational opportunities for its members by granting scholarships that are funded by donations and fund raising events. They have performed at campus events at both BYU and UVU as well as community events and fundraisers.

The members of The Voice of Africa were practicing for the 4th of July Parade in which they marched the next day. We were pleased, and rather refreshed to see such a great display of culture and passion on our property. Among the members of the group were some of our current residents.

The VOACA is currently applying for a grant with the "Nike Back Your Block" program for additional funding for their organization. If you're interested in getting involved, and/or learning more, visit their website at www.thevoaca.com.

To The Voice of Africa and its members...thanks for stopping by.

Open Mic Night

What a wealth of talent we have here at Wolverine Crossing. On June 25 we hosted our second Wolverine Crossing Open Mic Night. The event was a great success; talented performers, awesome venue, great crowd, and a great time. Thanks goes out to Gray Aydelott and Ephraim Moore for taking the lead on planning the event, and to our other CAs for helping with publicity. A great thanks goes out to Wiseguys Comedy Club for opening their doors for us and being such awesome hosts! Most importantly, thanks to all the residents and guests for supporting the activity.