I Need Help

June 8th I turn 30.  Yep.  The big Three-O.  I'm really not sad about it.  Really.  I'm hoping to make my thirties my best decade ever.  I feel like I spent a lot of my twenties self conscious, overwhelmed, and well... lost.   It's when I started working out, losing weight, and doing things I never thought I could, that a switch was flipped in my head and I began to feel more comfortable in my own skin.  I've also learned a few things about myself.  I'm independent.  I'm strong.  I know I'm capable of great things.  And so geared with that knowledge, I'm looking forward to a healthier, happier 30-year-old me.

I've thought long and hard about what I want for my birthday and I have come up with the best birthday present ever.  (Now this is where YOU come in.)  Join me in a 100-Day Challenge.  Now before you moan and groan and decide to go click out of my blog, hear me out!  I need some inspiration right now, and I know all of you out there can inspire me.  When I found out I had lung cancer last summer, I was blown away by the outpouring of love and support I felt during that hard time in my life.  Now that the cancer is gone, times are happier, and I feel this is a small way I can give back to all you who carried me last year, and of course, this gives me a chance to get inspired by all of you!

So here is the deal, starting Tuesday, March 1st the 100 Days-to-30 Challenge begins.  I will post every day beginning March 1st for 100 days, (the 100th day being June 8th, my 30th birthday.)  I will post my stats (weight, measurements), my workouts, food I'm eating, my goals, tips and tricks, pics, answer questions, whatever.  Then I would like those of you who will commit to do this challenge with me to set at least ONE goal, and no goal is too big or too small.  Whether it's walking a couple times a week, attempting a Couch-2-5K program, or training for a marathon.  Just set a goal.  Then leave comments on my posts about your goals, your diet, your workouts, your progress, etc.  You can post as often or as little as you want.  Then on my birthday, June 8th, I will post all of your stories.  If you're comfortable, you can even email me pics and I will post them along with your story.  Of course, I'll post my before & after pics, all my stats, and talk about my goals, too.  I'm so excited about this and I hope a lot of you participate.  If you already have a regular exercise routine and healthy diet, or you don't, it doesn't matter, we ALL can be better.  We ALL can push a little harder.  I can't wait to get this started, and hear all about you guys, and get inspired.

SO?  Who is with me???!!!  (Please leave a comment so I know who is participating.)  You have SIX days to get yourself mentally ready for this, so think about it, think about your goals and commit to making a change NOW!  

6 more days and counting...  ;)

The January Blahs

Does anyone else feel like January is the worst month of the year?!  You get the letdown from the holidays, back to the daily grind, while dealing with snow storms and weather in the single digits.  I've looked over my blog the past 19 days and kept trying to think of something awesome, or funny, or inspiring to say... and nothing ever came.  I blame my lack of creative juices on January, sucking the life out of me.

And now it's February.  It's still cold.  But the fact we are one month closer to spring makes me happy.

So what have we been up to?  The same old, same old.

Ben is still taking taekwondo Tuesday and Thursday nights.  He loves it so much, which is not his personality, to love something so much (besides games, he loves any and all games.)  We were hoping to get him into a team sport since Jake and I both feel that a lot of good life lessons are learned playing a team sport and having to work together with other people.  We gave Ben the choice of soccer, baseball, or taekwondo, and he didn't even give it a second thought as he blurted out "taekwondo."  So, taekwondo it is.  Ben started cub scouts last month and is enjoying that.  I think he feels like a big boy now, going to scouts like dad (Jake's the scoutmaster for our ward.)

Emma goes to dance Tuesdays and Wednesdays (and lately it's been Fridays, too, since the teams are getting ready for competitions coming up next month.)  When Emma isn't at dance, she is home with the radio cranked, dancing freestyle and doing handstands and cartwheels all over the living room.  She's been working on her back-walkover and actually did it once all by herself.  She tried it again and went too fast and fell and it scared her, so she's a little more cautious now.

I was thinking about Josh this morning, as I watched him play with his little learning laptop he got for Christmas.  The mouse can be moved to the left side or right side, which we didn't know it had that capability until we pulled it out of the box.  We are very glad it moves as we have discovered we have a "lefty" in our family.  Jake and I have talked about how we need to buy lefty scissors and a baseball mitt he can wear.  He puts Ben's on his right hand and it just doesn't work.  The poor guy.  He will have to take tips from Aunt Whitney on how to be a lefty in a right-handed world.

Jake is plugging along at his work.  He is planning to go to Eugene, Oregon in a few weeks for a work conference.  He has tried to plan a few campouts for his scouts the past couple months and each one has fallen through.  Winter is just a tough time for campouts.  Hopefully when it gets warmer, the boys will get more excited about it.

I'm still going to the gym every day and feel I'm getting stronger and stronger.  I have been working on my breathing exercises this week and eating better breakfasts and it seems both of these things have had a pretty big impact on my workouts.  I told myself I was going to run a 5K on the treadmill today, and I did it in 32:15.  Not my fastest by far, but my fastest post-lung surgery run and I'm proud of myself.  I'm trying to build my base back up and then see where I can go from there.  This is all new territory for me.  I'm trying not to set any expectations, just see how far I can push myself.  Something else that is new for me: not getting sick, not even ONCE this winter.  I've been so used to getting pneumonia or bronchitis at least twice in the winter, but not this time.  (knock on wood!)  So nice to feel healthy and not worry about catching every little cold the kids bring home.

The gym, work, and my mom/wife duties take up all my time at the moment.  I had a talk with Polly, my good friend and boss, and told her I need to take an Udder Ointment break.  Not sure if this will be permanent or not, but for now it's off the table.  As I've taken on more responsibilities at the dance studio, it's become a bigger time commitment than when I started and I have really felt pulled in every direction.  Taking one thing off my plate has been a good decision.  I have felt less stressed, and feel I can put more time into being "mom" during the day, and "office manager" at night.  I love my job at the studio.  We are getting costumes ready for competitions, planning out a Spring Review performance in a few weeks, and you can just feel the tension and energy in the studio.  I can't wait to see the kids perform.  They have all worked so hard these past few months to learn and perfect their routines.

And that's about it for the Schip's right now.  So glad spring is just around the corner!

PS I'm posting this picture because I told my friend, Selena, I would.  For our RS meeting last night we had a professional cake decorator come and teach us some of her tips and tricks.  Then we all got to decorate our own cupcake using fondant and molding chocolate.  I chose to do a birthday cupcake and thought it turned out really cute.  Josh and Emma were so excited to eat it after lunch today.