Coldest month is almost over!

July is the coldest month here in WA, and it's almost over! The past couple days we haven't even turned the heater on :) It'll start warming up in September, and by December we'll be Christmas-ing on the beach. What a strange, strange way to spend Christmas day.

We had a very laid back weekend, doing laundry and some exploring. I keep forgetting to say this, but WA really knows where it's at when it comes to recycling. I'm sure if you buy a house, you're on your own as far as the big recycling cans go, but when you rent here, they provide you with a huge rolling trash can and a huge rolling recycling can. You can throw glass, paper, cardboard, aluminum, cans, flyers/catalogues into the recycling can and they come collect it once a week. They make it soooo easy. I asked Ben and some other people why we don't do that in the States and I guess it's because it's expensive. It's funny, because it feels like the States are always nagging about "going green" and recycling, and not wasting water, blah blah, but we won't spend the money on recycling cans to make it easier to do these things. Silly.

We think that Moses/Jamaal is actually our neighbor's cat. Here is the evidence we have collected (we have sweet detective skills):
1) There is another cat that has the same collar, and we see him sitting in the neighbor's window all the time.
2) That's pretty much the only piece of evidence. We won't be going into the Detective business anytime soon.

Here are some cute pictures of Moses/Jamaal snuggling with Ben:


I think we should rename the cat "Stewie". Look at his face in this one!


Like I've said before, we usually go down to the beach and watch the sunset at night. It's really beautiful here. Sometimes we see other people on the beach, but they are usually fishing off the jetty, running with dogs, or surfing in a full wetsuit. People look at us like we're crazy when we walk through the water on the beach. The ocean is so warm though, and it's a nice walk. Here are a few pictures of our last sunset adventure:

A picture of the beach---sand as far as you can see!



Proof that we're crazy Americans and like walking in the ocean in the winter



Dead jellyfish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ben's job is going well. He has been put on a project in a town nearby called Donnybrook. He has to log so many hours with another worker. They are reworking the drainage for the town. Not ideally what he wants to be doing, but it's a good start! Nancy continues to be an awesome boss. I am (still) in the process of getting my qualifications assessed. It will be a few weeks until I hear back, but I do have a couple of job prospects. I have been searching the web and posting ads on GumTree, which is like craigslist here. I think it'd be awesome to get a nannying job :)

Here are a few random pictures from last weekend:

For Kelly--she specifically requested a 'Roo Crossing sign :)


For Tammy and Steve--look, it's just like home!



This is Henry the Lizard. He lives outside our drain on our apartment. He's skiddish (skittish?) and we don't see him often. I'm not sure if his name is actually Henry, but that seems like a good name for a lizard. If it turns out HE is a SHE, we'll call her Henrietta--but I don't think we'll ever get close enough to find out the gender.


Well that's about it for now. I'm sure we'll have some fun new adventures soon. Miss you all!