Rough Week for Stells Bells

This week was a rather rough week for little miss Stella.
Tuesday I woke up  to her looking like this....

I just figured that she got bit by something and that the swelling would go down as the day went on. I gave her some Benadryl in hopes that the swelling on her poor little face would go down quickly.
But... as the day went on she only got worse and worse :(

The poor girl's whole face was swollen and burning up like she had a fever. She had huge welts all over her body. She was so miserable with scratching till she bleed and throwing up her breakfast.
I took her up to her vet in Park City, where her grandma Cori works so usually she doesn't mind it AS much but that day she hated it! She was always looking for an escape.
She was a great girl tho, and let them give her a cortisone shot (in exchange for a treat of course). They said she must have had an allergic reaction to a bug bite or bee sting as well has hives all over.
Although the medicine made her sick for a few days, her swelling went down rapidly and she is all back to normal.

What a great sport Stells!!

Happy Birthday Grandma

Two weeks ago Mom, Erik, Brittany and I took a trip to Ventura California to see my sweet grandma for her 84th Birthday.
Of course being a humble sweet lady, she really didn't want to do anything for her birthday but we made her dress up and go to dinner on the Pier for a great Salmon dinner. We had the best waiter, he just made her feel like the whole night was all about her. He brought her flower after flower that his dad grew in his own yard and had the whole restaurant singing to her. She was the happiest I had ever seen her.  In the morning she kept saying what a great celebration it was! It truly was a great celebration.

Here is an example of some of the beautiful flowers that our waiter brought all of the girls. Not only were they beautiful but the smelt amazing.

It was wonderful to see my cute cousins and spend quality time with them as well.

This is Teddy. I never liked little dogs all that much, because you all know how much I love my big Stella girl. But this little dog is the sweetest little dog you'll ever meet. He is so very grateful to have been rescued to a great and caring women (my grandma) and he shows it more than another dog.
                        We always say "it's great to be a Jensen animal."

Kitty Cats

Layla and Olivia

Our two princess kitties spent the weekend alone at the apartment while we went to Heber to house sit for Todd's parents. They were very very excited to when I came home to them a little bit early, which is different for them because they both have the typical cat personalities where they only show love on their terms. Don't get me wrong they are very sweet and loving, just typical cats. Now that I have been home with them for a few hours they both won't leave my side. They are very happy to not have a big black dog chasing them around or pinning them to the ground, thinking they want to play.  As I sit here I see both of them sprawled out within arms reach,  It's moments like this when I feel lucky to have two sweet kitties. 

Party People

We had my graduation dinner on Saturday at Bucca di Beppo and all of my good friends and family made it out to show their support. It also was a great day and I appreciate everyone that took the time to come spend with me as a little celebration for one of the biggest things in my life.

My amazing dad made it out despite not feeling well that day. Sure do love him!!

Life's best friends.

Todd and his great parents... More of my support system.

The cutest little grandma ever. She went around taking pictures of everyone there.

The night ended with a trip to the Hogswallow for a beer with Misty and Lucas.

University of Utah Graduation Day

May 6, 2011
I did it.
I finally graduated from college with my Bachelor Degree in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Strategic Communication.
I felt like a little kid before Christmas, I couldn't sleep at all the night before for fear that I would sleep through my alarm. I had my dress ready, my cheetah shoes (that ended up killing my feet), and all my jewelry ready for my big day. I was prepared and up early for the long day.
My Grandma Lappe flew in from New Jersey to be there for me since I am the first of 13 grandchildren to graduate from college. My dad, my mom, my brother, Brittany, Bill and Todd all made it out to support me. I felt very lucky to have all my family there.

 After graduation Todd took me up to the St. Regis for one of the most amazing dinners I've ever had. Everything about it was amazing, including the company :) It was one of the best days ever.

Stella's Spay

Oh the little Princess finally had to get fixed...
I don't believe in breeding animals. There are far too many unwanted and homeless animals in this world to breed animals just for money. We were supposed to get her fixed at six months old (that's what our vet told us due to research on their hips) but when she was six months we just didn't have enough time off to spend with her after the surgery so we ended up putting it off even longer.
Todd had taken Stella for a walk and came home to tell me that she had been playing with a male dog that was about her age which made me worry tremendously and I called the vet the next day to schedule her appointment.
I took her up to the vet where Todd's mom works, Stella loves to go there to see Grandma. She was very confused of why I was leaving her there tho. The nurses there said that she barked till her surgery, probably because she wanted to get out and play with the other dogs there, very naughty. When Todd and I picked her up she was so very happy to see us. She looked sore but that didn't stop her from showing her excitement for her dad and mom.
They told us that she needed to take it easy for about 10 days. The included no walks, no jumping on things or even walking up large stair cases such as ours up to our apartment. That all seemed pretty easy, except for that we found out that she weights 60 pounds!!! yikes. I sure couldn't carry her up the stairs....

 Luckily we had Todd to carry her up and down the stairs for a few days.

My little Camera Ham

Today I pulled out my camera to upload some pictures and Stella ran right up me to get her picture taken.

I didn't realize how much he loves her picture taken until today! 

What a cute little picture poser 

A Special Shout Out...

This is a special shout out to my ONLY follower here on my blog... Kara Peterson Higley.
It was Kara's birthday yesterday, so Happy Birthday!! It sounded like it was going to be a great day for her, which she very much deserves! Kara and I work together but I don't just think of her as a coworker, I think of her as a really great friend. She always knows when something is wrong and she knows just what to say. Kara is very caring and would do anything for her family. She always knows how to make everyone in the office laugh, even on not so funny days. Todd and I always have a great time when we go out with Kara and her husband Brian because they are both so funny, especially together. Kara and I are also brace face sisters... so we can totally relate to the pain but also progress of these everyday annoyances.
Well anyways this is my special birthday shout out to my #1 follower :)

Oh yeah and I had to steal this pic from her facebook because I don't even have a picture of us! Sad.

Stella's Day visiting the St. Regis

Today I brought Stella to visit her dad at work. She was a little social butterfly and loved the attention and treats she received.
OF COURSE my dog has to step in a bunch of mud right before she walks into a Five Star hotel... I get her to walk in the snow to try to get it off but she got excited and ran right in, leaving some foot prints...oops!
Her visit consisted of :

Hangin' out with her Daddy out on the slopes

Watching the skiers headed down the slopes. (She wanted to ski down with them)

Acting "high class" feeling like she already owns the place.

She also rode the Funicular up and down, taking in the view of beautiful Deer Valley.

Magically by the time we left someone had cleaned up her foot prints. Too bad her muddy footprints at home don't magically disappear :) But sorry to whoever had to clean up after her.

Overall it was a very fun day for Stella up at the St. Regis... maybe her dad will take her again.

Graduation around the corner....

Graduation is 2 months and 3 days away!!! wow, it seems like I've been in school forever but at the same time it flew by. I will be graduating with my Bachelors of Science in Mass Communication, with an emphases in Strategic Communication. I'm ordering  my graduation announcements today, which is one of the final steps in making this the all official. Yay. I'm so excited. Although this means it's time to grow up a bit more.... or maybe not :) It's also a time to celebrate and have some fun, without the homework looming over my head 24/7. Now just trying to figure out a graduation party so that everyone can help me celebrate!!!

Soul Sisters

My cousin Kelsi should have been my sister. We are so alike, it's crazy. If anyone understands me, it's her! She is my best friend and always will be. 

Utah Jazz

The Lappe family is a BIG Jazz family. I can remember our outings to Jazz games as I grew up. It was our family "thing," it was our bonding time. We went to so many games and I remember going to the Jazz vs. Bulls game during the finals... it was so so so fun! we made posters and hung a beanie baby bull on a rope, it was so much fun. I was an honorary Jazz dancer once (Karl Malone almost fell on me :) ) Erik was a ball boy once. Anywhoooo... we just loved the Jazz and everything fun about them. Jerry Sloan is the only coach i've known as a Jazz fan. It was a complete surprise when he announced that he was leaving, I mean we all knew it was coming someday soon but it was just so sudden. It made me quiet sad to see him go!! He is a part of the whole Jazz memory. Hopefully it will bring new opportunities for the Jazz.

Thanks Jerry Sloan for all you've done, it's been a great run. 

Wino.....

My cute little wino....

 She loves to nap with her daddy. Yes, this is how she really sleeps too. She thinks she is a human. 

Best Friends

Stella loves her best buddy Harper boy.  She wants to be just like him. Lucky for me, he is a great dog to wanna be like. 

Very First Post!

This is my first post of many to come. I don't know that I have too many interesting things to share with everyone but here goes it....

Todd and I got our cute little Stella puppy in September, she is the best little gift that we could have ever picked out.
We had originally wanted a puppy that was at the shelter in Heber, but his owner finally went and picked him up after about 5 days without him. Todd's dad called and said that Dr. Prince's black lab had a litter of puppies that were just about ready to find their homes, which made us very very excited! Todd has always wanted a black lab so this was perfect. I had always vowed that I would never pay money for a puppy, even a pure lab, and Todd knew this. We found out that he was going give them all away for free! yay for us.
When we arrived to pick her out there were about 7 all black puppies, we didn't know how in the world we would choose which one we wanted to take home with us. But Stella was so friendly, and interested in us. Then she went to lay on a large stack of blankets, but she didn't try to get on top of them and lay down, she tried to lay down on them straight from the side hoping that somehow she'd end up on top of them... but instead she just slid down. Todd and I both said "we'll take that one," she just seem quirky with a goofy personality. She has turned out to be exactly that, and we love it.

                                                          She is our little love bug.