So much to be Grateful and Thankful for...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and the upcoming Holiday Season I just wanted to send out a huge THANK YOU to all of my family, sponsors and supporters!!! I am happy to report that despite a number of health scares for my family and friends in the past year that everyone is stable and happy once again! I love hearing from everyone and I am already looking forward to seeing you all soon! I hope everyone who reads this is having a wonderful start to winter and I send my best from overseas :)

I am loving my time here in Finland! Although dark, the weather has been very mild and the snow plentiful so training has been very pleasant. Logistics have been smooth and I am feeling very good. While on the World Cup the USST stays at some of the nicest hotels/ condos I have ever been to! They get 3 catered meals a day with a variety of healthy and tasty choices. Sometimes I have to laugh to myself when people start complaining about the coffee or lack of variety because I think of where I was last year at this time! I was alone in a $30/ night hotel in Bozeman, sick and eating out of a microwave. Which I realize is also much better than some of the kid's situations back in Minneapolis who we work with at the Boys and Girls Club. 

I am so grateful to get this opportunity to travel the World and to get a taste of the incredible cultural and regional difference each place offers! 

Today we pack up and head to Lillehammer, Norway. This will be my first time to this race venue and I am very excited! Although we will be traveling to a new country, the trip is fairly relaxed and straight forward. We are so lucky because the incredible US World Cup staff packs up all of our wax room and all of our personal ski gear!!! All I have to worry about is making it to lunch by 11:30 and then rolling my duffle bag to the shuttle pick-up!!! Once there we (the entire team and remaining staff not driving the cargo van) get a ride to the airport for our flight. I don't even have to check a ski bag!!! When we arrive in Oslo we will be picked up by another shuttle that will take us directly to our next hotel in Lillehammer!!! When we arrive I am guessing dinner will be ready and waiting for us. Life on the World Cup is pretty cushy!!!

This past weekend I got to watch Brian race his first events in West Yellowstone. In contrast to my travel experiences so far, Brian has been working like a dog before his first events. He has been hosting clinics, working at the expo and sorting through all of his fleet and running his own travel logistics. He is truly amazing in that he can do so much and still perform!!! He was 8th in his first race and then 2nd in his second event!

I am so proud of him!!! I almost get more excited for his races than my own at this point. I am so thankful that we can be living this lifestyle together even if it is many thousands of miles a part!