July so far

I haven't posted in a while.
We've had a lot of fun things happen this month, and it's time I shared them.
We got rid of our internet since it was way to expensive, so we are having a harder time keeping all this up to date.

Right after we got back from Hawaii we had Eric and Steve up for a visit, which was great! I worked a few days and then had a few off, so I was able to hang out while they were here. We really didn't do much but watch a ton of movies, and get through a good chunk of Flight of the Conchords. It was great.
Jeff worked really hard and completely organized the garage before they got here, so we were able to enjoy it for the first time in a while. Here's some pics of ping pong, Jeff standing proudly next to his garage "aquarium", and Jeff putting up his black lights (that's Steve's hand... I don't know). It's pretty fun in there right now.





While the guys were playing ping pong Eric and I whipped out my X-files "obsession box". It is a remnant of the old days when I was addicted. Really - addicted. I think everyone was surprised that I actually own X-files trading cards and action figures. Crazy, huh? Here's a picture to prove it.



Other very nerdy nuances about Elaine include:
I have been to a Star-Trek Convention, loved it, and would go again in a heart beat if one was coming to Portland.
Some of the best money I ever spent:


Yes, I met Chewbacca!

I also play Magic cards. Not very well, I admit, but I’m slowly learning. We are establishing a modest collection. I love anime! We own a lot. My family regularly would watch all three Star Wars in a row to discover nuances in costume changes, plot and character connections etc. We also watched Star Trek… my mother is responsible for my Voyager addiction. I am an avid sci-fi reader. I have a level 82 Sorceress in Diablo II, a Night Elf WOW character, have attempted Starcraft, Halo and various other games. I’m currently engrossed in Persona 3. I regularly check out the current issues of National Geographic, Discover, Smithsonian and Science from our local library. Yes, we go to the library… a lot.
So there ya go... I'm definitely a nerd.

ANYHOO,
After the guys left we took it pretty easy. We went with our good friends to Manzanita on July 4th to watch the fireworks on the beach. I don't have pics, but look here and see what we were up to!

July 5th was Jeff's mom's birthday. We met the family and a few friends of Joy's at their house and went wine tasting for the afternoon. We had an incredible BBQ when we got back to the house, played with a giant sling shot and water balloons, and went in the hot tub. It was a really good day. Here's some pics of the wine tasting and the sling shot!

The weather's been beautiful so Jeff and I have gone on many walks, played Frisbee, and just had a great time outside. I'm really bummed because I accidentally deleted a bunch of pictures from our amazing date the other day. Grr! I don't know how in heck it happened! I had some good pics of us too.

Anyway, we went to the art museum in the morning, had a picnic at the Hoyt Arboretum, and went out to a fancy dinner downtown. It was great!

I had this entire last week off work because of how the scheduling worked out. Jeff and I got a lot of work done in our yard, which was nice.

I also went out to McMinnville to visit my aunt. We went downtown for the concert in the square, the farmer's market, and then just hung out a bit at her place. We picked a ton of cherry's, which I'm enjoying right now actually. It was great!

Hope you all are having as good of a summer as I am!