Blog Posts

Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

With great food, cool weather, and a gathering with friends and loved ones, there’s a lot to be thankful for this time of year. If you’re having a hard time thinking of things that you’re thankful for, then today’s blog post might help! We’re happy to invite you on a gratitude scavenger hunt. The great thing is you don’t even have to leave our Liv Northgate apartment community. Invite a few friends to join in the fun. If you’d like, you can even make your own gratitude scavenger hunt! In this scavenger hunt, use a camera (either on your phone or another device) to capture the items. Gratitude Scavenger Hunt Rules: Find scavenger items in any order. The object in each photo will only count toward one scavenger item. No two things can be the same for different gratitude items. If a similar subject is photographed, a new photo must be taken in its place. Once all 10 items are complete, meet back at the apartment. If you’re doing the hunt with friends, compare pictures. Technically, everyone can win in this game, so don’t worry. The point is to find things to be thankful for. If you’d like to add your own rules, feel free to do so! The Items: — Something that brings laughter — Something you can’t live without — This has changed the world for the better — This represents Gilbert, AZ — Something that helps a lot of people — Something that makes life easier — Something that makes life harder — Something that can be used for multiple purposes — An item, image, person, or place that you love — Something that relates to a happy or funny memory Take a moment to leave a comment about your experience with this gratitude scavenger hunt, or share a few things that you’re thankful for. Thanks for reading. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Stories to Listen To

Thanksgiving is coming. That means great food, company, and a short amount of time that is perfect for reflecting on experiences. In today’s post, we thought it would be fun to share a few Thanksgiving stories that are available for listening online for free. Invite friends and family from Liv Northgate or nearby Gilbert, Arizona friends to join you in your apartment for a fun evening of great and inspiring stories. For even more fun, invite everyone to prepare a story of their own. The first story in our list is An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, who lived from 1832 to 1888. Enjoy listening to a dramatic reading with more than ten different people performing as the characters. Here’s the synopsis: “When a neighbor brings word that Grandma is sick, Mr. and Mrs. Bassett hurry off to tend to her, leaving their seven children to prepare for Thanksgiving on their own. The story of the adventures of Eph, Tilly, Prue, Seth, Sol, Roxy, and Rhody Bassett as they go sledding, face bears, tell old stories, and wrestle with plum puddings is a holiday treat fit to make anyone stop and count their own blessings.” There are two chapters for this story, each running around 20 minutes in length. Just click the play button next to the chapter selection at the bottom of the screen to begin. The second story on our list is The First Thanksgiving by Margaret Pumphrey, 1912. Enjoy this 10-minute story, which is narrated by G. Barrett. If you’d like, you can download it as an MP3. Look to the right of the screen after clicking on the link to find download options. The last story you can listen to can be found on YouTube. You can either watch while you listen, or just listen to ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving , a fun children’s book. Enjoy listening to this adaptation of the classic Christmas poem as it tells the story of eight boys and girls on a field trip to a turkey farm. Which Thanksgiving stories are your favorite? Share links to them in the comments below today’s post so we can all read or listen to them. Thanks for reading!

Five Football-Themed Movies that Will Warm Your Heart this Month

With November traditions comes the chance to watch some pretty great sports movies — specifically, football movies, in honor of football season and your Thanksgiving football games. So cozy up with your friends and family in or outside of your Liv Northgate apartment in Gilbert, AZ and watch any or all of these five notable and inspiring family-friendly football movies. Remember the Titans (2000) Watch the inspirational true story of two teams and coaches butting heads — but more importantly, coming together — in their first season as a newly integrated team at a high school in the 1970s. You’ll be singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” for days after watching this classic! Rudy (1993) Seen by many as one of the best and most tear-jerking college football stories, this movie follows Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger. Rudy was always told he couldn’t play football because of his lack of money, grades, and talent. Watch this classic underdog tale to see how he achieves his dream with the help of his mentor and friend, D-Bob. The Blind Side (2009) The movie follows the story of real-life NFL player Michael Oher and how he was taken in by a family, the Tuohys, after living on the streets in Tennessee. Oher starts to see his potential as a football player with their help and moves on to great things in this heartwarming story. There’s even a Thanksgiving scene in it! Little Giants (1994) A group of underdogs — headed by an all-star player rejected by the football team just because she’s a girl — struggle to take themselves seriously as they gather to play football against the team that’s rejected them. The Pee-Wee Cowboys and the Giants face off to decide which team gets to represent Ohio in the Peewee football playoffs. We Are Marshall (2006) After a plane crash kills most of the members of the Marshall University football team, the surviving players and coaches fight to save their football program and emerge victorious during a particularly brutal football season. What are some of your favorite football movies? Let us know in the comments so we can check them out! Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween Safety Tips

Attending community events is a great way to support local vendors and the local economy while having fun and bonding with your loved ones. There are tons of fun events to enjoy here in Gilbert, Arizona this month. Along with attending these events, we at Liv Northgate hope you’ll have a safe Halloween! Stay safe during the holiday by remembering these tips: Dressing Up Costumes are perfect for expressing yourself and doing something wacky and fun. But remember while you’re making or buying your outfit that you accommodate it for your environment and what you’ll be doing. Ensure that your costume and any accompanying props are flame resistant, that they don’t block your senses, that it fits (you don’t want to struggle with tripping over it all day!), and that you wear light or brightly colored clothing that enables you to be seen in the dark. Trick-or-Treating Whether you’re going with kids to beg for candy from neighbors or you’re instructing them on best practices, make safety a top priority! Remind young ones of any allergies they have or even let neighbors know ahead of time as a word of caution. Have a responsible adult accompany kids and set expectations for when they should be back home. And only visit people you know in familiar areas. Carry a flashlight, avoid cutting across lawns, walk on the right side of the road (along with the flow of traffic), and cross at crosswalks and intersections. Decorating The crafts and decor you put in your apartment should also be conducive to a safe and functional living environment for you. Use glow sticks or battery-powered candles inside jack-o-lanterns instead of open flame candles. Always blow out any flames from candles use when you’re finished with them. And keep flames from candles well away from combustible decorations or curtains. Create a clear pathway for people to reach your door. Prepare yourself and you’ll have a great time! What safety tips do you have for the rest of the apartment community? Let us know in the comments!

Popcorn! America’s Snack

America eats approximately seventeen billion quarts of popcorn a year, which is enough to fill the Empire State Building eighteen times. That’s a lot of popcorn! Typically, popcorn consumption in America picks up in late summer, rises through the fall and winter and begins waning in the late spring and summer months. October is National Popping Popcorn Month, and we thought it would be fun in today’s blog to bring our readers at Liv Northgate some fun facts about and recipes for popcorn. Fun Popcorn Facts Popcorn kernels can pop up to 3 feet in the air. Contrary to popular belief, popcorn is not the only corn able to pop. Many flint and dent corns also pop, but their flakes are smaller. Additionally, some varieties of rice, milo, millet, and sorghum also pop. Some varieties of quinoa, a sacred Incan food, also pops like popcorn, as does amaranth. A 1,700-year-old funeral urn was discovered in Mexico that shows a corn god wearing a popcorn headdress. When television became popular in the early 1950s, popcorn sales decreased because people stayed home to watch movies rather than go to a theater. However, when popcorn was more readily available at home, popcorn again became popular. Popcorn Recipes Try this Easy Caramel Corn recipe which can be made so the popcorn turns out either “warm and soft . . . or crisp and crunchy.” Popcorn is delicious with butter and salt, but why stop with that? Try these flavored popcorn recipes ; there are fifty of them, nearly enough to have a different flavor every week for a year. This recipe adapts the traditional crispy rice cereal treat, using popcorn instead of the cereal. Try it tonight: Marshmallow Popcorn Bars . What is your favorite way to eat popcorn? Share in the comments so we can all try it out! Thanks for reading today’s blog post and for being a part of our Gilbert, AZ apartment community.

Apps to Make Your Life Easier

From how we eat to how we travel apps are an important part of the modern world. In fact here at Liv Northgate, we offer online payments, you can tap to pay your rent! There are helpful apps for many of the things we do on a daily basis. Today we’re going to share some of our favorite apps with members of our Gilbert, Arizona apartment community! In the Kitchen There are a multitude of pantry-supply lists , such as this one from the Food Network, which you can use as a base for creating your individualized pantry. Allrecipes Dinner Spinner We also love this Allrecipes Dinner Spinner. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an app that could just scan what you already have and then make a shopping list of what you need for your recipe? Thankfully, someone had an idea. Just scan the barcodes of what you’ve already got and you’re ready to get the rest. Decorating Your Apartment Palettes This is a great free app for creating color schemes. Maybe you were inspired by a lovely bouquet of flowers or by a friend’s adorable outfit — just snap a picture, and the app will create an instant collection of color swatches based on your photo. Photo Measures Don’t get to the store and then realize that you left your list of measurements at home! Just snap a picture of the room with Photo Measures and then jot down all the measurements right on the photo. Finding what you need is even easier when you can refer back to the real site. Travel Kayak Hold the world in the palm of your hand with Kayak an app that lets you find, compare, book, and monitor travel-related services including flights, hotels, cars, and more. Available for both iPHONE and ANDROID, you’ll wonder how you ever traveled without this app. Sleep Apps Calm Sleep Stories Calm is a meditation app that is now featuring sleep stories. “Sleep stories are soothing tales that mix music, sound fx and incredible voice talent to help you drift into dreamland.” If you ever have trouble sleeping, just turn on one of their relaxing stories and drift off! Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock Sleep Cycle is one of our favorite sleep apps. “Sleep Cycle alarm clock tracks your sleep patterns and wakes you up during light sleep. Waking up during light sleep feels like waking up naturally rested without an alarm clock.” Your Sleep Cycle app can help you regulate your sleep in a healthy and natural way. What apps do you find the most helpful in your daily life? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read our post.