Tour de Cure 2009

Wow, its been a long time. I've been trying to think about what the next post would be and I considered posting a description and pictures from our trip to NYC back in December. I've decided to keep that one in my back pocket and instead, let you know about an important bike ride that is coming up in a few weeks.

TOUR DE CURE 2009 - Atlanta Ride


On Sunday May 17, Andrew and I will be participating in the Tour de Cure to raise support for the American Diabetes Association. Please visit our personal tour pages to learn more about the ride and donate if you feel led. We will be riding with Team Lockheed Martin.

Logan: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC218008030?px=4608481&pg=personal&fr_id=5592

Andrew: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC218008030?px=4608479&pg=personal&fr_id=5592

Team Lockheed Martin: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC218008030?team_id=351658&pg=team&fr_id=5592

Thanks for your support. This ride is for a great cause! Pictures to follow after the event...

Etsy

Logan has been been telling me for a while that I should try and sell some of my pictures. I finally warmed up to the idea and created an Etsy shop w/ my brother. I put the first two pictures up yesterday, so we'll see how it goes. I can't say that I'm expecting much volume, but it'll be a fun experiment. There isn't much up for sale yet, but check in often and maybe you'll see something you like.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5431052

PS - We need a new name because I found another Bsquared Photography. Who has some good ideas?

Have a Very Rosie Christmas

If you are anything like me, you get tired of of the usual Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving if not sooner. Logan has been keeping the car radio station on the 24-7 Christmas station and it drives me bonkers.

For those that wish for the Christmas cheer without all the jangle, I offer Rosie Thomas' A Very Rosie Christmas.



You can preview two tracks from the album on her MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/rosiethomasmusic

You can also listen to a full concert from the feature NPR did on her:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98619380

Merry Christmas from the Bickels!

Mexico!

A basic slideshow of our week-long vacation back in October...

Casa Yvonneka:

This ridonkulous house is where we spent our vacation in Puerto Vallarta.
We shared awesome meals every morning and night.

Not to mention the delicious fresh home-made guacamole and cheese quesadillas every afternoon for snack!

The infinity pool with a beautiful view was perfect for maxing and relaxing.

Our excursions included a day trip to Las Caletas.

And a Los Veranos Canopy tour (aka zip line)!

(Of course Andrew took pictures of himself...)
A good time was had by all. I'll leave you with a picture of Cosita, the chef's dog who paid us daily visits. Isn't she cute?

Hasta la Vista Baby!

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past month or so. Things have been busy with me coaching a U10 girls rec soccer team, playing tennis, Andrew traveling for work, running 5ks, etc. Saturday we leave for Mexico! Hopefully there will be fun stories and wonderful pictures to share when we return...

For now I'll leave you with this beautiful sunrise pic Andrew took at the Haleakala Crater in Maui:

Bike MS: Atlanta Ride - This Weekend!

This weekend we will both be riding in the Bike MS Atlanta at Callaway Gardens, a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. We are riding with the Lockheed Martin Team. This is a two day event with the option of different distances each day. My goal is to ride 62 miles on day one (yikes!) and 26 on day two. Andrew's goal is to ride 100 miles on day one and 61 miles on day two.

Every hour of every day, someone is diagnosed with MS. That's why we've registered for this event, and why we're asking you to support our fund raising efforts with a tax-deductible donation. Any amount, great or small, helps to make a difference in the lives of people with MS. We are trying to help our team reach their fundraising goal of $15,000. Many of you reading this blog have already donated. We appreciate your support and look forward to letting you know how we do.

If you would still like to donate you can follow the links below:

For Logan : http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/GAABikeEvents?px=5328104&pg=personal&fr_id=8885

For Andrew : http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/GAABikeEvents?px=5296183&pg=personal&fr_id=8885

We took a little trip...

In early August we took a trip up to the Northeast. On Wednesday we flew from Atlanta to Rochester, NY. We picked up our rental car at the airport and set out for Toronto. The drive is approximately 170 miles with a stop for the border crossing. I found it humorous that Andrew wanted to switch the GPS to metric once we were in Canada. (Note from Andrew: The metric system is cooler!) Mark, Janet and Parks were in Toronto when we got there so we met up with them for a late dinner. They had already spent the day in the city so they left after dinner to head back south towards the US. We would see them a few days later at the reunion.

During our first night, there was a 2:30 am hotel fire drill but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. We woke up Thursday morning and rode the subway down to the ferry to Centre Island. There we rented bicycles and did some geocaching.

Here is a view of the Toronto skyline from the ferry.

Afterward we wondered over to the CN Tower but didn't feel like paying $20 cad to go up.

Instead we toured the Steamwhistle Brewery and were happy with our decision.


That afternoon we went over to the Kensington Market area to visit a cute little yarn store called Lettuce Knit. Then it was back to the hotel for a rest. For dinner we decided to to to the Historical Distillery District. We had a nice dinner at the Mill St. Brewery with some tasty food and good local brews.


Friday morning we left Toronto and made a stop at Niagara Falls on our way to Geneseo, New York for the Bickel Family Reunion. We spent some time taking in the beauty of the falls and snapping some pics. We thought about riding the Maid of the Mist or doing the tour behind the falls but decided to save the money and head out for the reunion.

Geneseo is a cute little college town (SUNY-Geneseo) about an hour south of Rochester. The weather there was great! Sunny and warm with little humidity. We spent most of the reunion weekend outside under a tent visiting, eating, playing Euchre and horseshoes, and even playing Wii with the younger folk. This was our first experience with rock band and it was a hoot! Here's the whole group.


While in Geneseo, we rented the world's smallest cabin in Letchworth State Park. How cute!

This park is beautiful with an amazing gorge and nice scenery. We were only in the cabin a few hours at night for sleeping so the size didn't really bother us. We spent the rest of our time in the park hiking, geocaching, and of course taking pictures.


All in all it was a great trip and I enjoyed getting to meet the extended Bickel family. We're looking forward to the 2010 reunion in New Mexico!