I am now in the process of closing this blog, if anyone can help me figure out how to redirect anyone that comes here it would be much appreciated.
Please continue to read about our new journey at our new blog.

evanandmel.blogspot.com

Thanks everyone who read my blog and I am looking forward to seeing you at the new space!

New Blog

Here is the URL to our new family blog with all the juicy details about our leaving the country!

Check it out!

http://evanandmel.blogspot.com

So many of you have been asking for the details of our upcoming move to Kinshasa Congo. I promise I will be getting around to doing that post, I haven't forgotten!
Between finishing with Goodlife, packing and helping Evan renovate a basement we are 100% tapped for time.
We will be starting a brand new blog for this adventure so as soon as I get it up and running I will post the link here and the whole story will start to unfold!

Hope you will all stay posted!

Big Changes

I have decided to bring the Schellenberg family blog up to speed for one main reason. Evan and I are moving us and our kids across the Country and would love to keep friends and family updated with our lives.
On May 22nd we will be flying out of Calgary to start a new chapter in life, life in Kinshasa Congo!
Up you heard right, we are moving to Africa and not as missionaries!
Both Evan and I have found jobs and we have enrolled the kids in an American public school.

Please keep following us to see where this journey leads us, I will write a post in the next couples days to fill everyone in one how this process got started and how we are doing with getting ready.

Evan and Mel

A new beginning?

As I stumble back upon my blog I wonder if it is time to start back up, my last post of over a year ago.
So much has changed in the last year, so many good changes!

Hmmmmmmm, always something to think about!

Season

Well, I think this season is done in my life. Time to retire the Schellenberg family blog, yup you heard it right folks. It is not that I don't have anything to say I just don't have the time to sit down and write it. Between working mornings and 3 evenings a week plus Saturdays, taking care of the kiddos and the house blogging has become so low on my priority list that it is sad.

hopefully in the future I will start one again and actually keep it up to date a little better then this last one.

On a side note, life is definitely looking brighter and more promising. Evan and I had some really big struggles after he returned from San Fransisco but it made us deal with them head on and things are looking a lot better.

I will still be popping in our your blogs from time to time.

thanks everyone for the comments and support over the last three years.

much to say

I keep forming a post in my head but more stuff (exciting stuff) keeps popping up so I put the post on hold for the next couple days.

For now we are enjoying the last couple days of summer before Emmanuel starts grade one on Thursday. Man I feel like my kids are growing in leaps and bounds lately. I am excited for the changes in them but it slightly saddens me at the same time.
We have spent a couple more days at the water park with friends and have also hit the beach twice in the last week, we love the outdoors and sun in this house! :)

In my big update post I will have pictures from Micah's birthday and from our last couple days of summer.

Now off to meet a friend and school shopping this afternoon.

Little Girl

By the way my little girl turns 4 tomorrow. I don't have babies anymore.

** SOB **

Unsure

Do you ever want to post about life but feel like the time in your life in not that upbeat? I have been wanting to post for a couple weeks already, my first "excuse" is that my work is all consuming sometimes, Evan has been gone for 12 days ( got home last night) and I just don't have great things to say.
I feel like I am in a season that life keeps throwing crap my way, I have been standing tall and catching everything until last night. Now I feel like I am falling apart, my heart is broken.

Evan got home from San Fransisco last night at 9:00 p.m, I was excited until I picked him up we barely got a hello out and we were fighting. Long story short, I looked at him last night and realized that I barely know the man I love. It is heart breaking to realize that I was happier then I have been in a long time when he was gone, the kids drove me crazy and I was stressed but happy. I think this trip just brought to the surface the emotions and thought we both felt but didn't verbalize, this isn't a new problem just a new realization. We have been struggling since we lost our baby in March, we are in such different places in life right now and with out personal spiritual journeys we just don't know how to connect.

There is so much more to this story and so much that has added up to it and I feeling like I am drowning, every time I catch a breath of fresh air something comes up and I am down again. I am so not used to this, I am a strong person who hates being weak.

Okay that is my rant for right now, you want to hear about some good stuff?

I had an incredible time with my kids while Evan was gone, I told evan that is he gets to go away I take on a "holiday" attitdue with the kids for the time he is gone. I still had to go to work so that added so structure to my days but we just let loose. I spent 4 days at the spray park with my kids, packed food, sunscreen and toys and we didn't even look at the time we just played. It is so nice to really let loose sometimes.

Micah with her Monkey

Computer is not letting up upload more images, I will need to do them a different time.

I also found out this week that I passed my BodyStep video, It was a really hard discipline to train in a stretched me really far but I passed and now I will put it behind me. I don't enjoy the program enough to teach it a lot so I will stick to subbing for now.

Okay back to my week, in throwing out our schedule I think I gained 5 pounds at least and I was teaching at least twice a day. We ate Ice cream for supper, Chocolate anytime of the day, McDonalds ( only once, I can't stomach more)and so much other junk.
We also spent an evening with one of my good friends and her kids, I think we got home at 12:15 that night, so worth every moment they stayed up past their bedtime.

Anyway, small glimpse into my life, hopefully I will post soon with more pictures.

It is about time

I have so much to say but really little time to write and my head is completely spinning.

As a fitness instructor for Goodlife we are required to learn, memorize and teach new releases every 3 months. New releases are new Choreography that we get from head office to show our classes. Sounds easy right? Not exactly, while we are learning our new stuff for release week we are required to still teach our regular classes, prep for those classes, attend team practices and be ready to release.
When we have our release week, you have a couple instructors teaching each class to make it really special. I normally teach 10 times a week ( from Tuesday-Saturday, I have Monday and Sunday off), this week I only have Sunday off and I will be teaching/releasing a total of 17 classes.

I am hoping to get back into blogging really soon, this is just not the week to do it. I have so many topic I want to talk about, so much updating but I am thinking it will have to wait.

hopefully there are still some people out there.

I am still here and still alive.
Nothing really new to report or talk about, I am happy with my life being on the boring side right now.
I am leaving my family this afternoon for the next 2 days to head to Toronto for Step training this weekend. I am going to miss my family but I am looking forward to learning something new and occupying my thoughts and mind for the next little while.

Hopefully I will have the energy and drive to post again after I return, no one hole their breath. I am returning right before our release weeks at Goodlife and will be running full swing. Oh to torture the body, wouldn't want my job any different.

I have decided that I will not stop blogging. I don't want to leave my blog on the depressing note down swing that it has been on lately.
I have no news to share, no feelings to talk about, and nothing in general to share.

I am just trying to live life one day at a time.
I will be back when I have something upbeat and interesting to say.

update

Yesterday morning I needed to go in for an ultrasound because my doctor didn't think that my uterus was totally cleared out. I got a call from my doctor's office yesterday afternoon to find out that not everything is gone but is right at the edge of my uterus and looks like it will makes it's way out really soon. As for right now I don not need a D&C ( * insert happy dance, or as happy as I get), I am supposed to wait it out for a couple more weeks to see what happens.

Thank you for every one's thoughts, everyday is hard, everyday presents new challenges all I can do is keep breathing.

New Post

I have not posted since the beginning of January, do I have things to say? So many things, so little drive to actually sit down and write. I wounder what is the point, why put my feelings into words, what does it really matter?
Right now as I sit here I wonder if this is a new beginning post to kick off more entrees on the blog or is it a farewell post to let everyone know what has been going on and say my good byes?

Anyone have any ideas?

My life in a nut shell - January to present

I have completed my Newbody and BodyAttack training, I have sent in my video on both and passed both. I am now a certified instructor with Goodlife fitness.
On Dec 27- Jan 1 we were in Las Vegas with Evan's family for Christmas. It was busy, crazy, relaxing and wonderful all at the same time. It was great to spend time with family catching up and letting our children play together.

On January 4th Evan and I found out that we were expecting our third baby, due on September 15 2009. We were excited and nervous at the same time. I was approved by my doctor to keep teaching right up until my due date. I had a very rough go in the first couple weeks, very nauseous and teaching was interesting. I was exhausted all the time and huffing and puffing by the end of the warm up in my classes. Lets just say the members knew what was going on very soon. I think it was out by the time I hit 8 weeks, I was also starting to show a little bit. Slightly bummed out for showing so soon but my doctor said that it was because I was lean and have lower body fat. Also all women show at different times.

On the last Monday in February I was teaching a class with another instructor and had crazy energy, she looked at me and all she had to say was welcome back. I was 12 weeks at that point and thought that I was seeing the end of my morning sickness and intense fatigue. Sunday March 1 I started bleeding really badly and went to the ER, after a long wait and an even longer wait in a room every inch of me was checked. I was told my hormone levels were great and all looked okay, I was sent home after 10 hours and told to come back early Monday morning for an ultra sound.
On Monday morning Evan and I said good bye to our little baby at 12 weeks 5 days.
I am not going to get into feelings or emotions an I am also not going to get into what we have been through this week. I would never want to do it again and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. No one should have to take medication to put there bodies into labor at 13 weeks and deliver your baby. NO ONE.
I don't have a lot to say on losing our baby, I know that I will one day just not right now.

Hopefully this will not be my last post but no promises, we will have to see what happens.

things to say

I really do have a lot of stuff to say, from my work to new disciplines I am studying, things we did over Christmas, our trip to Las Vegas and many other things. Biggest problem I have little to no time to blog and when I do have time I want to sit on my rear end and watch t.v.

I don't know if anyone is reading but I will come back.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy new year.

Curious Minds

Just a quick post as I should be in bed. This is for anyone who might be remotely curious about what I do at the gym sometimes for hours on end, until my joints hurt and my feet don't want to support my body anymore ( sorry it is release week and I am swamped).

Who knows if my career as a fitness Instructor just doesn't do it for me in the next couple years, maybe I will try the circus.
I am prepping for my NewBody certification video that I am filming on Monday, October 13. I will blog again with an update very soon after that, for right now I have a one track mind and that is how it is going to stay.
Off to bed with an ice pack...fun filled Saturday night :)

New Stage

I have just recently started a new journey in my career as a fitness instructor.
I have been teaching for almost 6 months now and I am just getting my feet wet. Last Friday I completed my NewBody training, NewBody is a program exclusive to Goodlife Fitness. Training was difficult to say the least, I spent 12 hours in the gym and most of the time we were moving. NewBody is my first discipline that I am training for. In the next couple weeks I will be flying to Toronto for a weekend of Attack training and a weekend of combat training. These trainings are so intense that you don't eat all weekend and you live off of power aid or some other supplement drink. I am totally physiced for the Attack training, it is so up my ally. Attack is super high cardio, I wore my heart rate monitor last week to class and worked so hard that I took my body from a aerobic workout to an anaerobic workout. Anaerobic doesn't burn as many calories but builds muscle, it all has to do with your heart rate. At one point my heart rate was at 101 % ( which is possible, it means that for my age and size my peak heart rate is 190 beats per minute, I was above that for a time being).

Going back to NewBody, I don't think anyone realizes what fitness instructors do to get ready for there classes. I am in the process of getting my video ready to become totally certified. I eat, sleep and breath NewBody right now. I team teach as many classes as I possibly can and have spent countless hours in front of the video at home.
A couple nights ago I woke Evan at 2:00 a.m. just to practice, lets just say he wasn't to happy with me at the time.
All I think about is NewBody, which is good at the moment but it worries me for the next couple weeks. My Attack and combat training are only two weeks apart and they are far more intense then the NewBody training.
At this time I am also running a skipping program on Friday evenings and I teach anywhere from 4-8 time per week, starting to feel stretched a little thin.
At the moment I am thinking about dropping the skipping program and just focusing on my disciplines at least until after Christmas.

I don't think this post is going anywhere I just needed to write and get things out of my head. It is also midnight and I am team teaching tomorrow morning so have about an hour of work to do yet tonight.

I love my job and wouldn't ever want to change anything, I need to figure out how to structure my life better. My family has eaten out for the last 3 night because I haven't had time to cook. We pride ourselves on eating healthy so this week has been a huge blow. My house also looks like a bomb went off in it, no time to clean and when Evan gets home in the evening I leave and he takes care of the kids. Evan works extremely hard at his job and I totally understand why all he wants to do is lay down on the couch.
If anyone has any suggestions about how to better stream line my house please let me know, I am open to anything right now.

Pictures as promised

Emmanuel getting ready to leave the house ( above)

Trying to get a hug in ( above)

Standing in line waiting to go in with the teacher ( above)

Having story time on the special squares ( above)

Totally couldn't resist putting this one of Micah, sleeping with her hand down her panties.
She doesn't I took this picture! Love her.

What life is like

Many times I have caught myself wondering if my life is turning out the way I wanted it to. Did I want to have kids young, did/do I want to be a stay at home mom, am I married to the man of my dreams, did I want to live in Calgary, am I happy as a fitness instructor.
I don't have all the answers for the way my life is turning out but I would never take anything back good or bad. As a adult you need to learn to deal with what you have been given and make the best of it. So much that happens in life is out of our control and in God's hands, and I would not want it any other way.
We do have choices in our life though, I feel like I am struggling with many of those choices right now.
I know that I made the right choice to start working as a fitness instructor, I am a happier person and a better mom. I knew before I had kids that I wanted to work after the first year and I took on small jobs here and there. I was never fulfilled still, I felt smothered and resentful towards my family. Now that I am with Goodlife I am gone approximately 16 hours per week, that is not even like working 3 full days and I have never been happier. Because I am happier my family is happier, I am healthier and way more confident.
Starting to work has brought on more choices with my life, do I want to work more, am I over doing it, do I need to give my body a rest, etc.
I am so happy as a fitness instructor but wasn't prepared for everything that goes along with it. Some weeks depending on how much I teach I am taking pain killers just to get through the next class then there are weeks that I don't teach very much at all and I feel like I need to get in to the gym to get a hard workout.
Another issue is body image, I am a great weight and healthy but deep inside I feel like it isn't enough, I can lose a couple more pounds, teach a couple more cardio classes or run a couple more miles. This isn't an issue that I am alone in, it is through out the entire fitness industry.

* please don't judge me, I just need to be honest. I would love to hear your comments, please keep them kind.

update on Emmanuel starting school.
Emmanuel is one his 2 full week of school and is loving it. He has adjusted so well to going to school every morning. This morning when I walked him to the school he took off running to his friends on the play ground and only came back to where I was standing to get his backpack. After he got his backpack he went and lined up and didn't look back.
When I go and pick him up from school he walks out of the doors gives his teacher a high-five throws me his backpack and takes off running with 4 other kindergarten boys. This group is inseparable, so cute.
Hopefully I can post some pictures in a couple days of his first day at kindergarten.
Micah is also loving her mornings at home. We are home Monday, Thursday and Friday morning. The other mornings I am teaching so Micah is in play group. We have spent many hours coloring, playing barbies and painting her nails, she is such a little girl.