Puppy Training 101

Tim has been around for about two and a half weeks now, I had no idea puppies were so cute, yet so destructive. I am currently reading two books on how to train this puppy the right way, some stuff works with him and some stuff does not. Overall he is a great dog, and just like a baby he pretty much eats, sleeps, poops, plays, and repeats. Most nights he wakes up at about 4am to go to the bathroom then he goes right back to sleep. He has been a real challenge at times though, it is just an adjustment getting used to a new body in the house, and a very needy one at that. Pointer's require a lot of exercise so my current days consist of long walks/jogs with him, running circles around the house, trying to get him house trained, and then sneaking around when he sleeps so I do not wake him.
He is really smart though, he already sits and lays down on command (usually because he gets a treat). He loves people when we are on walks if he sees another person he just wants to run up to them and play, so I am working on him trying to calm down a little. He gets distracted very easily, and loves to chew on EVERYTHING. We bought some bitter spray and it seems to be helping. He still thinks that peeing in the house is okay, so that is our biggest challenge as of current. He also freaks out if he thinks we left him, he has separation anxiety and it is bad.
The first 20 weeks of his life are the most crucial for the kind of dog he is going to be though, we are at week 12, so another 8 weeks of puppy bootcamp to whip him into tip top shape. He certainly knows right from wrong he just does not always choose correctly.

We took him to the beach this past weekend though and he loved it! I just can not get enough of his sweet face!

He loved the sand!

He kind of loved the ocean

Orange Chicken

One of my goals in starting this blog was to share some of my favorite recipes (old and new). I LOVE to cook and even more so I LOVE to cook new things. I always warn Chance (if it is a new recipe) this could be really great or really disastrous so, be prepared. He then reminds me that he lived on a ship and ate food prepared by guys who were not good at anything else, not sure this makes me feel better about my cooking, but I suppose the thought helps. I try to make one new recipe a week, mixed in with the usual's/our favorites.  I am not super creative and come up with my own recipes, but I do some research online then read reviews and mix and match until I get a solid recipe that I think will be delicious.. and it usually works. At then end of most new meals I will say something like "next time I will add more this, or less that" but overall we have had success!

Where we live currently the closest restaurants are about a half hour away, and the really nice ones are about an hour and a half away. One of our favorite places to go is P.F. Chang's and since there is not one near by I thought I would try to make their version of orange chicken at home. It was very successful and tasted great!

So here is the recipe I found, I was sort of paranoid because there is not actually any orange in the sauce, but it was okay. The peel is enough to add the orange flavor. I halved the sauce recipe because it was just two of us and I was not making that much chicken. Next time I think I would just make the entire recipe because it is certainly a sauce that can be frozen and reheated. The chili sauce does make it a little spicier than I remember, so depending on the level of heat you like you can use more or less. It was fairly simple to make and took maybe 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Ingredients Sauce: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 tablespoons minced garlic 4 green onions, sliced 1 cup tomato sauce 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Chicken: 1/2 cup vegetable oil 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 egg, beaten 1 cup milk 1 cup flour peel from 1/4 orange, julienned (into 1/8"-thick strips) cooked white or brown rice, to serve
Directions 1. Prepare the sauce: In medium saucepan, heat oil; add garlic and onions; do not let the garlic burn; add tomato sauce; bring to boil. 2. Add sugar, chili sauce and soy sauce; bring to boil; simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens; remove from heat. 3. Prepare chicken: In wok or large skillet, heat oil. Meanwhile cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. 4. In medium bowl combine egg and milk; mix well. Place flour in shallow dish. 5. Coat chicken pieces - first in the flour, then the egg wash and back into the flour. Cook in 2 or 3 batches until all chicken is cooked. 6. When chicken is done, remove oil and rinse out wok with water; reheat pan. When hot, add orange peel and chicken; heat through - about a minute - stirring gently. Add sauce; heat through. 7. Serve with white or brown rice. Serves 4

Hello World... Meet Tim :)

Tim :)

The talk of getting a dog has been going for a while now, we knew we could not have one in Hawaii and decided once we had a house we would get one. When talking about what kind of dog we wanted we both wanted one that was tall, dark, and handsome that loved frisbee fetching and ocean swimming. We talked about German Shepherds, Chocolate Labs, Retrievers... something along these lines of canine breeds. Then fate stepped in and pointed out to us exactly what we wanted. When we went to Zion for Carrie's wedding the ceremony was held at her brother-in-law Randy's house, well Randy had this dog, this beautiful, smart, cuddly kind of dog. I think within about 10 minutes of meeting Tess the German Shorthair Pointer, Chance and I both looked at each other across the room and gave the look... you know the "yup this is exactly the dog we want" kind of look. And the rest is history.

After arriving to Virginia we had to wait for our stuff and internet which seemed like forever, but we both had tried looking up dog breeders on our phones and we just were not having much luck. We got the internet up and running and it took a few solid hours to find anything that was close to what we were looking for. We wanted a male, we wanted a pup, a German Shorthair Pointer, we did not necessarily want a purebred because we heard that they often have more problems, so we continued to look. A lot of the new pups were from championship dogs and they wanted us to fill out these huge applications and pay a fortune. We just wanted a dog we could play and hunt with, not one that can collect blue ribbons. Then I found him! He came from a litter of  four, two girls and two boys. I sort of liked the other boy more at first, but Chance liked the darker coloring on Tim. We called up the owner the pups were born May 1st and had just become available for purchase a few days before we called. We put a deposit down and decided the 5 and a half hour drive to Pennsylvania would be worth it. So Saturday we spent a total of 12 hours in the car driving. Saturday evening we introduced our puppy to his new home. He is already learning more and more each day, he is such a cuddly dog, and we are so happy to have him finally! :)

Tim Loves to Play with His Squeaky Fox 

So Handsome 

2400 Miles Away

Well it took us 4.5 days to travel 2400 miles, through 11 different states. It was a long grueling ride and we were so glad when we had finally reached our destination (our new home). I have a lot of pictures/video of our trip and I will be posting that eventually. We have arrived in Virginia! We had to live two weeks without internet and our stuff so that was kind of rough. We had two camping chairs, an air mattress, and a lot of peanut butter and jelly to get by. Our stuff is now here and we are still settling in. I will post pictures of our house when it is all put together. Our lawn is a work in progress, but this place is quickly growing on me. It is very rural, we live in a golf/yacht club community so there are a lot of retired people here, but my old soul does not mind that a bit. We have a nice club house with a restaurant, indoor/outdoor pool, and other amenities which is nice. It took us some time to adjust to how quiet it is around here, certainly no ambient noise. We see deer on a daily basis right in our front yard and we are less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean! We have done a little bit of exploring, but our goal right now is to get settled in first. This weekend coming up is very exciting! We are driving five hours north to pick up our new puppy!!!! YAY! he is an 8-week-old German Shorthair/Brittany Spaniel Mix. I will be posting pictures of that as soon as he arrives!

I think that is it for updates as of now. I will be posting some videos soon!

And so begins chapter 2....Our first night in our new home! 

Happy Birthday Chance!

After six long years of being in the military and either spending birthdays out to sea, at bootcamp, or alone, Carrie and I were excited to throw Chance an actual birthday party! We invited over our closest friends and family to celebrate! We grilled up a lot of kabobs, and made his favorite chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. It was so nice to spend that time with everyone because it was our last weekend in town. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

The Boys (Chance, Donnie, Glenn)

John and Tammy

This Day Would Not Have Been Possible Without Her Help! Thank you Carrie

Me and Lo

A group of Great Friends! (who can come visit anytime)

Happy Birthday to Chance!!! I am so happy to have known you as long as I have and to have spent the last two years of my life with you. We are beginning chapter 2 of our adventure now and I am looking forward to everything that is to come. I am so thankful for you, for the man that your parents have brought you up to be, and for the love that you have shown me. I am one amazingly lucky girl to have such a handsome stud like you! I look forward to many many more birthdays to come with you. Love you to the farthest galaxy in the universe and back!

Schmoopy ;)