Scout and Jett go on vacay

If there's a word I hate, it's vacay. (Or if you don't like phonics "vaca".) But when referring to a dog's vacation, it's probably okay.

That's the only way I could think to title this post. They look forward to each and every hunting outing with Scott. He takes them as much as he possibly can; sometimes 2-3 days in a row on the weekends. But then, every year in September, they head out to the plains for several days to hunt. 

A few weeks ago, I was talking with a counselor (Insurance pays for it so I go once in awhile because I have nothing else to do) and she was wondering why I brought the baby with me if my husband was off work that day. I said Oh, he's hunting. She asked if I was okay with that. 

LOL. 

I, looking back, had no idea how much Scott wanted to hunt/fish in all of his spare time until after we got married. But the long and short of it is: he works 14 hour days, he rarely gets a day off, sometimes even works weekends, and we have two hunting dogs. So yes, I'm okay with it.

The counselor was just like "hmm most wives wouldn't be okay with him not taking the baby on a day off".  I believe her, based on her military clientele, but that still blows my mind. 

But really, the reason why I don't care how much he hunts is because of Jett and Scout. As long as they get to go, it's fine by me. 

They are dogs with a purpose. They look forward to this trip every year. They start running around the house from window to window when they see the camper getting packed. Scout saw Scott load up the guns one night and he did. not. sleep. for fear of missing his wake-up call. 

Opening weekend every September always happens to fall on our wedding anniversary, which Scott absolutely insists is not his fault and "take it up with the migration patterns". 

I didn't tell the counselor about that funny coincidence. 

(These are doves. I could show you the pictures of all the dead ducks too, but you're probably not here for that kind of content.)

(Leftover) Quesadillas

I'm going to do that annoying thing where a story precedes a recipe.


We're quarantined. We have time.

Scout the Dog is on a diet. This happens a few times a year, even when he was getting a mile or two through the fields each day in Colorado. He just tends to hold weight in a weird way. He gets so much human food from Wells...it's adding up.

So we skewered and grilled some NY strip steaks last week. I use this marinade, always, when preparing steak. Right before we put them on the grill, we sprinkled them with some Montreal steak seasoning. They were ah-mazing.

But the dogs also got their own skewer of plain steak tidbits, because they are ridiculously spoiled.

So don't feel too bad for Scout. He's permanently angry at me for "starving" him. And last night he took off across the front yard where Scott was spreading mulch, I grabbed him to haul him back in the house (slippers on and all) and we did the usual dance of him growling and pawing at me and me saying "go ahead, bite me, I dare you. seriously, do it". Scout kept growling and I kept lecturing him saying things like "I rocked you to sleep as a puppy...go ahead, bite me and you'll be in the basement for the night...you don't know how good you have it". (I hope Wells took notes.)

But anyway. Scout knows I love him because I make him steak and salmon quite often. We never grill meat without setting aside some for Scout and Jett.

The point of this recipe is that it's perfect for repurposing leftovers. Which is ideal for being stuck in the house all of the time and relying on what you have in the pantry.

I grilled some peppers and diced up the leftover steak and made quesadillas.

I squirted a bit of lime juice on the top and then served queso on the side. (I have a hoarded supply of queso in the pantry but that's a story for another blog post.)

Are you finding ways to repurpose your leftovers? I see many people talking about oddly enjoying the slower pace of life and this is part of it. I admit that I don't hate this side of quarantining. It's rewarding to become less wasteful. 

Happy birthday to Jett-Jett!

Yesterday was Jett's birthday.

He would not oblige me with a photo.

Scout did. He knows the drill.

Salmon for dinner.

Here's some poorly-lit pictures of Scout meeting Jett back in 2014. 

A few days later, they had kind of become friends. 

Then Scout spent some time contemplating his life and how this had happened to him. 

But Colorado was really the only home Jett has known. We moved there after we'd had him for about 3 weeks. When we started living part-time in Laramie, he'd never seen a squirrel or had a neighbor or..wait for it...walked on a leash. Aside from a few realllllly terrible park/trail experiences when we first got to Colorado, we only used leashes for vet visits. #practicallyferal

Jett is the best dog you'd ever want by your side if you're outdoors. He doesn't leave you for a minute. He guards the stroller. He stays so close it is a hinderance to your own safety (meaning you will trip over him). He has "potential" to hunt. He just is too smart and uses his spent energy wisely; mostly on chasing rabbits and picking up whatever bird Scout has run back with or swam out to get and claiming it as his own.

He still loves to eat more than anything and tolerates Wells better than we expected he would. 

We love him dearly. 

His food-coma, after he got into the dog food bag at 9 weeks old and ate his fill when we weren't paying attention. 

5 on Friday 7/6

1. Tomorrow is Scout's Gotch-ya Day. We got him on July 7th. Oh, that sweet little puppy. Who now growls at me when I hug him and much MUCH prefers Scott to me.

5 years ago 

The self-timer made this not a great picture, but proof that he used to lick/like me. 

Last week, taken by Scott.

(Scott has a Google Pixel and I'm not a fan in any way. However, it takes better pictures than my iPhone..which is just a 6..I need to upgrade.)

2. Speaking of, I pulled out the DSLR again because I seem to have some time on my hands. 

These peonias grow all over the yards here. You can see the whole plant below.

This is the first house we've ever lived in without a deck.

3. We went "fishing" last week ( "  " because I don't fish). Scott calls it "swamping" for the dogs, but the bugs were so bad that we didn't stay long. 

This week, we tried again at a different lake and it was prettier and cooler because of the wind, but the mosquitoes were still bad. 

4. I took on the task of cleaning out the bookmarks on my laptop. I had dozens and dozens of recipes on there. I, instead, deleted them all after putting them on the Food to Make board on my Pinterest page. I encourage you to check it out. I have high hopes for all this time off work, apparently. 

I'm making this lo mein for dinner tonight. 

5. And, lastly, I'm selling my Clarisonic. I just don't use it and I hate to hold onto things I don't use when they have value, you know? I'm attempting to sell it to the college community here in Laramie, but who knows...if anyone wants it, $75 +shipping! It retails for $160ish on Amazon right now. 

Linking up for Five on Friday!

Puppies Make Life Significantly Better

They are a comfort, a joy, a hassle, a best friend, and a lovebug to cuddle up with at night. Dogs in general make life more enjoyable and I'll rarely not stop to pet a dog, but puppies are a whole different story.  There's something about taking a teeny baby dog and teaching it what you want it to know. The cuteness doesn't hurt either.

True story: There's a series on Netflix called Dogs with Jobs and we've watched a few episodes in my classroom because the theme fits in when a reading story in the curriculum. I CRY at these episodes. In fact, after this happening to me two years in a row, I banned Dogs with Jobs this past year. I cry thinking about how capable and worthwhile and helpful and life-saving dogs can be. It breaks my heart to think of their value.

Moving on from that...

Puppies are curious. I did some digging to find pictures I haven't posted before (you're welcome).

Scout in 2013.

Tucking his paws

And Jett in 2014. Jett moved like lightning as a puppy so most pictures I have of him are blurry.

Ear deep.

He had the sharpest puppy teeth ever.

Remember the awful flooring that was in this house when we moved in?

And let's not forget the puppy party our friends threw for their weimaraner. 

What do you think? Do dogs make your life better? I can't say where we'd be without these little guys.

via puppyspot.com

Scout is 4

Scout turned 4 on May 24th. I can't even put into words how much we love him. 

I'm much more likely to celebrate his Gotch-ya Day, which is July 7th, but I figured we might as well play this up too. 

So surly.

I've been drinking these protein shots lately because I've needed to increase my intake of protein. Scout was interested in this one. No, friend, you don't want that. It's disgusting.

(And while we're celebrating things....our EIGHT YEAR ANNIVERSARY was last Friday, May 26th. This is the 3rd year in a row Scott has been deployed for our anniversary so this pattern of events might be why I never post prose about anniversaries...To us, they're just days. 

Making it 8 years in this military life is the real celebration :)