I just wanted to let you all know that Preston and I have finally saved up enough money to purchase our first motorcycle (see the pictures). We have been saving for a while (and waited until we had enough to pay cash for everything...that was difficult, but worth the wait!!! Thanks to the Financial Peace University!), and have purchased riding gear for me (pants, jacket, helmet, boots, gloves), and poor ole Preston just has gloves and a helmet (we share that, since our heads are about the same size)! :o) He will be getting either a jacket and pants or a one piece suit. We really love what Carolina BMW has to offer and the people there are really nice!

I know what you are thinking.....a motorcycle.....What do they want with a motorcycle???? Isn't a motorcycle dangerous???? Well, Preston and I took a course through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (http://www.msf-usa.org/) called the Basic Rider Course. This course teaches you the basic skills needed to operate a motorcycle. You practice emergency braking, swerving, the use of a turn signal, and a very tight figure 8 pattern to practice U-turns. We both passed with perfect scores on the written test (it wasn't that hard), and Preston got a perfect score for the driving test. If you pass this class then you get to skip the riding test for the DMV (you still have to take the written test for the DMV). We both passed and got our motorcycle endorsements on our licenses' in late August.

The class was a lot of fun and VERY hot! We took it in August and have had the urge to get motorcycles ever since! We decided to start saving for the motorcycle that I wanted first because it was cheap as far as motorcycles go. We finally got a 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250 R (blue of course - that's my favorite color). Preston enjoys riding it, although he can only ride it in the neighborhood until he gets his riding gear. He wants a bike with ABS (he thinks), and they are more expensive.

We picked it up from the dealership Saturday and brought it home on a trailer due to rain. Once it cleared up and the roads dried, we made numerous laps around our neighborhood. It was fun! I am not sure when I will be ready to go out on "real roads," but perfect practice makes perfect.

My jacket (as you will see in the picture) is BRIGHT NEON yellowish-green. Saturday evening as we were riding in the neighborhood, I felt like a glow stick, but I could be seen!