Hi folks, enthusiastic new guy here looking for some purchase advice for a camera.

Budget: ~$750USD would make me happy but I am OK with going up to 1k if it gets my wife and I what we want/need. If this can be done for less then even better!

Uses: Family shots, vacations, sports (kids), motorcycle adventures (scenic shots on trips, action shots as bikes go by, etc.), close ups of electronic components (I'm a tech nerd) and my wife is thinking of starting a photography business on the side for play money (portraits, events, weddings, etc - I realize that's a topic of it's own, but for now it's on the table and something we want to keep in mind). Video capabilities would be great, but that is secondary to the photographic capabilities.

Details: I took photography years ago in high school and enjoyed and appreciated it. I tend to dig into my technology and learn what I can about it so I'm not intimidated by features and will probably appreciate them.

I spent two weeks in Thailand recently and my friend gave me a D7000 for the duration of the trip. It had no flash (broken) but I made it work and got a lot of decent photos out of it. I enjoyed what I was able to do with it and the quality of photos. That trip is what has got us looking into a good camera as all we have right now is a point and shoot.

Brand doesn't matter but I think my choices are between Nikon and Cannon, correct? Also we have nothing so the budget needs to include the body, strap, at least one lens (18 - 55 is the basic standard, correct?), memory, and a case. I'm OK with buying a kit that will cover a range of uses even if some things could be better. This isn't going to be an every day use camera and I can always upgrade components over time. I see kits like this and this all the time on Amazon and Ebay. Are they worth looking into or is it better to go a la cart for everything?

I hope I provided enough info for some help but if you need anything else let me know.

Thanks!