Christmas is just five days away...some of my favorite pics thus far...

I have been working nearly 40 hours these past few weeks and I still have two more 40 hour work weeks before classes begin. No bike rides lately. It has been snowing a little. More later!

Here are some pictures of my nephew Adam and my son Austin. I took the one of the boys together and I love it!

These past few weeks have been very busy for me. My hours at work are averaging 30 per week. My college final exams are over and I am just waiting on one of three grades. Black Friday at work has come and gone. I have been riding my bike to work much more than I was able to this time of year last year. However, the cold and brisk temperatures don't seem to bother me much when I am riding my bike. I just love to ride my bike and truly enjoy my ride to work and back. I have been wearing my Under Armor Cold Gear top and pants Chad bought for me five Christmases ago. The Cold Gear keeps me warm and dry. I made my great Aunt's lime jello salad this past Thanksgiving and it tasted great! My mother-in-law and father-in-law liked it, along with Chad's brother's fiance. I also made a corn casserole I enjoy to share along with some new pumpkin cream cupcakes that were a hit with Chad, his dad and brother. I will have to make them again so I can have one! Here are some pictures I took while riding on a 70 degree day (almost two weeks ago), where I was wearing my biker shorts and a short sleeve jersey in November! The other picture is after my ride home from work with my Cold Gear and a bright yellow t-shirt. I haven't been able to ride my bike in a week, but I will be able to soon this coming week. I went on a early morning ride and did not enjoy as much as I did my night ride. It was pitch black and almost everything was still. Not sure if I will do that again, though there was hardly any traffic!

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I have been busy with averaging 30 hours of work on top of full-time college classes. Thank goodness I only have two more weeks of classes! I am attaching the map of my ride plus three pictures: before my night ride(outside work), afer my night ride (at home) and a picture from a week ago...I may not look so great in my cycling gear and helmet, but thanks to my avid cycling I feel I look great otherwise. My first night ride was awesome! It was quite an adrenaline rush and I felt safe with my rear brake light flashing and my LED headlight flashing. My headlight was a small $25 investment well spent. It lit up the road around the front of my bike and it illuminated all the reflectors and reflective road signs the entire ride home. I felt extremely safe and only ended up with one bug or speck of something in my eye on mile 3 of 4. What a great bike ride! I now have a strong desire to ride at night, which I know should be taken into consideration very carefully. It wasn't completely dark, but pretty darn close to it between 5:40 and 6:00pm.

I am enjoying every second with my dear brother Tommy. He recently was deployed and now he is back on US soil! He surprised me on Friday, just three hours before I had to drive an hour for an interview for an executive internship with Target. We hadn't seen each other in almost 2 years, so it made my day 1,000 times better. Plus, I get to spend time with my sister-in-law and nephew who are currently residing in Virginia with her parents. Tommy is up for re-enlistment in April. If he re-enlists, he most likely will become a marine. He will be deployed again, most likely to Afghanistan. He is very smart and I am very proud of him. He wants to provide for his family and in this current economy, I don't see any other way that he can. It is just so nice having him "home". It is so nice to be able to go across town to find him at mom's. Anyone who has been separated from their family members who are in the service know exactly what I am talking about. I cry easily, I try to squeeze my brother when hugging him, yet he hugs me so tight he almost crushes me! Here is the picture from yesterday before I headed to work at BW3's taken by his best friend Zack-its a little out of focus, but I will treasure it!

Woo hoo! My 45 minute ride this past Thursday helped me burn 375 calories! That is awesome! Normally, I ride much more/longer than this when it is for pleasure; however, I was short on time this day!