Believe in Yourself: April Events

April, the month where we play innocent pranks on April Fool’s Day; celebrate Springtime and Easter with egg hunts, brunches, and church; pay homage to mother earth on Earth Day; and welcome the return of America’s favorite pastime – Baseball. This month we embark on a new quarter in our Alive in All Seasons calendar where we celebrate Healthy Aging and will “Let Wellbeing Thrive”. Throughout April our focus is on the brain and honoring the theme “Believe in Yourself”. Did you know that activities that are good for your heart are also good for your brain? The American Heart Association tells us that protecting memory and brain health is a matter of keeping your heart and blood vessels healthy. Regular cardio exercise and a healthy diet not only keep your heart happy, but your brain too.

This month’s offerings include activities and events that will keep our bodies and brains healthy and renew our faith in ourselves. Educational opportunities will cover brain health topics such as brain booster activities and ways to keep fit. We will rejoice in our individuality and celebrate ourselves through life affirming reminiscent and creative activities while reminding each other to “Believe in Yourself”.

Please join us here at Juniper Village at Louisville for our Easter Brunch on April 12^th from 10:00 am to 11:30 am; our Cheese It Up Cheese Ball Day celebration on April 17^th from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm; and our Pulse of the Office Event on April 23^rd from noon to 1:30 pm (RSVP to 303-665-3722 for a free massage or drop by for lunch and drinks). See our newsletter calendar for a complete listing of events and come visit us during any that suit your fancy!

H'Art and Soul of Dining - New Menus with Delicious Recipes!

We are proud to announce that on April 5th our revitalized spring/summer menus will begin for our H’Art and Soul of Dining Signature Program at all of our communities.  This new signature program will help us improve quality of life and whole person wellness for the individuals that call Juniper Village home.  We are very excited this season since the offerings will feature a delicious 5-week entrée select option featuring fabulous new choices using some of the fresh products available through our food vendors. Also, on our updated menus, we have added many lighter alternatives as well as recipes specific to each community that take into account special diets, regional tastes, food committee requests and our resident’s special needs and personal requests.  These changes to our meal plans significantly increase the variety of selections provided for our residents while focusing upon scratch made offerings and heart-healthy meals.  Furthermore, in celebration of our AIAS spring quarter “Healthy Aging,” our Grill Menus will be re-vamped to highlight healthier offerings throughout the season. In addition we will be implementing an innovative hydration assurance program served from our “Oasis Carts,” featuring a variety of flavored waters using citrus or mint or cucumbers, fresh brewed iced tea, lemonade, punch, smoothies and juices as well as nutritious snacks.

Below are some of the recipes featured on our new menu:

Carrot-Currant Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour (to measure, spoon into a cup and level)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup carrot juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup dried currants
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk together butter, egg, milk, carrot juice and vanilla. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and gently fold just until moistened. Fold carrots and dried currants into the mix. Scoop batter into the muffin pan and bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan (cool on a wire rack if you have one).

Yellow Squash Soup

Cooking Spray

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

1 cup diced zucchini

1 cup diced yellow squash

3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 (15 ounce) can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 ounce) can diced no-salt-added tomatoes

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash; sauté 3 minutes. Add all other ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Little Musings

So...in our humble opinion, we have one of the best jobs in the world. What does that mean...well, we get to come to work every day and spend our time with some of the most fascinating people in the world; our residents. Our residents have such varied backgrounds, and rich stories to tell about things that they've experienced in their lives. It's incredibly enviable, as I am only all to aware that I will not have such rich life stories to tell when I'm their age...just fascinating.

But beyond their life stories, they are these amazing people, and every day we catch these glimpses of how incredibly caring and loving our residents are, and it really is touching to see them. So today, we want to show some pictures that we captured around the building that made our hearts warm and fuzzy just to see how our residents interact with one another. Every day is varied and lovely, and we wouldn't trade this experience for all of the most wonderful experiences throughout the world. These are the moments that make us unique.

At Juniper, we see things differently, and we think that you'll notice when you come by to visit. Please do not hesitate to come by at any time. We are always looking for volunteers too, if there is any interest out there!

Your Treasure is Within: March Events

Our Alive in All Seasons program is alive and well at Juniper Village. This quarter’s seasonal theme is on Creative Expression: “Explore Your Creativity” and serves to promote our philosophy of encouraging an active body, an engaged mind and a fulfilled spirit. For March, we will turn our focus to Performance: “Your Treasure is Within”.

This month on March 2, 2014 we look forward to the 86^th celebration of the Academy Awards. As we watch popular comedian and talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres host the festivities while the beautiful stars dressed in their finery walk the red carpet we can’t help to stop, to pause and reminisce of all of the great performances of past years. Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Vivien Leigh, Meryl Streep, Peter Ustinov and Dustin Hoffman; the list goes on! In addition to guessing who might win the Oscars for 2014, this month we will be learning about and experiencing all different types of great performance art, enjoying cultural events and trying our hand at acting in drama club.

It’s going to be a theatrical month at Juniper Village at Louisville filled with creativity, great experiences and memorable performances! You are cordially invited to attend our Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday Celebration on March 4^th at 5:30 pm, our Moriaty-Moffitt School Irish Dancers performance on March 17^th at 3:00 pm, our 2nd Annual Suessical Night at the Oscars on March 19^th at 6:00 pm, our Village Volunteering activity on March 28^th at 2:30 pm, or any of our other activities (see our Newsletter for a complete listing).

So come in, and join in on the act to find that “Your Treasure is Within”.

National Pancake Day Celebration, Yes Please!!!

We focus a lot on our residents and put a lot of effort into making sure that there are always fun events for them to attend. One of the things that we don’t blog nearly often enough about is our staff…and to be honest, we have the best staff around. They work hard and truly provide the best care possible for the residents who live here, and that is praise worthy in and of itself.  And, to be honest, we celebrate them often, but we don’t always remember to get our camera out as those celebrations are not always as photo worthy. This year, 2014, we will work harder to post more often about our staff.

So, with that in mind, every month we have at least one big celebration…this month we chose National Pancake Day…because who doesn't love pancakes! (Or at least that’s what we were thinking when we were planning this event). Of course, it’s never limited to just the staff, we often make sure vendors and residents celebrate with us for any and all of these events.

Our chef made the pancake mix, the leadership team cooked them up, we had a toppings bar, and the staff came, they saw…and devoured. It was a lot of fun, and we always would encourage you to join us for these events, the more the merrier! Join us next month when we celebrate with the staff again…naturally, we will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day all day long with cheesy themed food to eat…and of course pinches for anyone not wearing green. (Thank goodness our Juniper Polo shirts are green!)

Masked and Ready and Spreading the Love

Valentine’s Day comes around the same time every year…and this year we decided that there was no better way to celebrate than by hosting a Masquerade. The Leadership Team came dressed in their fanciest of dresses to help set the tone for this event. We enjoyed frolicking around the building in our masks with the residents in hand and of course, there had to be a photo booth, because what better way can we capture the spirit than by setting up an area to take pictures and enjoy ourselves.

If events like these sound like fun to you, please come to our Mardi Gras Celebration on March 4^th. We will be celebrating all day long by enjoying junk food; after all, it’s Fat Tuesday, and we should enjoy ourselves on this day.

Awaken Your Passion: February Events

This February our Alive in All Seasons’ theme is Art: “Awaken Your Passion”. In a moving quote from Honoré de Balzac we are reminded that art and passion are inextricably linked; he states, “passion is universal humanity; without it, religion, history, romance and art would be useless.” Art is truly a conduit that allows us to experience the richness and brilliance of all that life has to offer. Art can have a profound effect upon us by providing nourishment to our spirit and soul.

As you know there is always something special going on here at Juniper Village at Louisville and this February we will celebrate another wonderful month filled with memories, laughter and the opportunity to create! This month we will open ourselves to various forms of art. We will be taking field trips to local museums, learning about the Great Masters, and creating masterpieces of our own using various mediums.

Please join us for our Awaken Your Passion Art Therapy Happy Hour from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm on February 12^th, our Juniper Art Walk Happy Hour from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm on February 19^th, and our National Pancake Day celebration featuring pancakes at each meal on February 20^th. We encourage you to review our newsletter calendar for other offerings and attend any or all of the activities that are of interest to you.

Come get together with us for our Alive in All Seasons programs this February and Awaken Your Passion!