Kiersten at Y State

 Kiersten is such a fireball...she’s fiesty and totally competitive. She’s also the first one on deck ready to cheer on her teammates. This kid had a tremendous weekend. She aged up to the 11/12 group last month. She had to miss Y state last year, she qualified for USA regionals in several events this year...but it’s 2021 so that didn’t happen. She has taken it all in stride. 

She arrived in Champaign ready to compete and she surely did!!! She dropped time in every event but one. It seems like it’s been months since she dropped in her 50 breast and she finally got it this weekend! She dropped 1.45 and took 2nd. She had an excellent drop in her 100 breast as well, taking 3rd. Proud of this kid as a swimmer and love to see her enjoying the sport with her fantastic friends Bea and Ariel! 

Hattie at Y State

 Oh Miss Hattiecakes...she just marches to the beat of her own drum. I’m pretty certain she comes to swim meets for 2 reasons, snacks and socialization! 

She had two good time drops this weekend. Swimming 25’s this year was a bust. Timers aren’t permitted to move to the other end of the pool, so they have to start from the side...no blocks. They lose so much momentum, but it is what it is. What this girl lacks in speed she makes up for with heart. She’s always cheering on everyone else. 

Leah at Y State

 Wow...what a weekend! Less than a month ago Leah dislocated her knee cap (again) in PE. Our first thoughts were “there goes the rest of the swim season”. But we were soooo wrong!

I told her not to push it too hard...I told her it didn’t matter anyway because this is a stupid Covid year, and any other year swim would’ve been over with 5-6 weeks ago. But this kid gave it her all...her ALL!  

Not only did she swim beautifully with a taped up knee, but she dropped time in every single event. And took 1st in the 100 fly (dropping nearly 5 seconds) and the 100 back. I’m so incredibly proud of her hard work and determination, fighting through this set back. She killed it this weekend. So we celebrated with Boba Tea!!! Great things are happening at the Decatur Family YMCA. We are so incredibly grateful for all the hardwork that Coach Lauren, Coach K., Coach Erin and Melissa have put into making this season happen.

Youth Group

 Have I mentioned that our DCE (director of Children’s Education) at St. John’s is the absolute best?!?! She 100% is...we love her! She recently got a call to go serve at a church in Texas. While we prayed God put here where he needs her to be, we’re thrilled that she’s staying put, here at St. John’s! 

She knows all the tricks to keep this kids engaged and worshiping HIS name. They’ve had an “Among Us” event, an Escape Room night at the church and most recently an event at Outlook Adventure Park. Leah os growing in her faith...she usually invites Eleanor to come along. Kiersten is always happy to include her buddy Gabe. Keep up the great work, Malinda...you’re doing important work!

ASWB

 A lot of hard work came to fruition today. Fourteen years ago I completed my Masters in Social Work, but two years ago I started taking steps to get my school certification after loving a long term subbing gig at the Junior High. Last Spring, amid the outbreak of a global pandemic I finished grad school AGAIN! But with offices shut down all over the country I couldn’t get moving on the rest of the process. Finally in the Fall I was able to register for my exam...but the start of the school year was nuts!!! Remote or not? Masks and social distancing!!! I pushed my exam back to January. And then wouldn’t you know it I had to reschedule...because we had covid.

Today, finally, during an April snowstorm (because you can’t make this stuff up) I headed to Springfield for my Social Work boards. I couldn’t take in water, paper and pen, not even a fidget or gum...they locked up my phone and my jewelry. For about three hours I sat at a computer in a poorly lit room and I PASSED my boards!!! I’m my own worst critic. I didn’t think I’d get it the first time around, my test anxiety was getting the best of me but it’s done!!! 

Cute picture of my puppy included because she wanted my constant attention and really struggled to let me study. But she’s cute so there’s that. Thanks to the husband, my family, friends and awesome co-workers that were cheering me on. It feels so good to have that behind me. #finishschoolwhileyoureyoung #schultzfamilyescapades #socialworklife

Poor Pip

Well it happened again...We live in a semi-rural area with farmland directly behind us. Both of our dogs are 40+ pounds. Last night at the back of our yard Piper scrapped with a pack of coyotes. We heard something and opened our back door and the dogs came running in. We noticed she was bleeding almost immediately but were shocked at what the vet found. She’s lucky she’s fast and was able to outrun them. Her partner in crime, Zoey was shook up for quite a while. A big thank you to Dr. Travis Mansur at Fairview for taking such good care of our girl, late at night. This could have been so much worse. Two days later you’d never know this little fluff is lucky to be alive. Darn, Coyotes. 

Swim pics, 2021

 Just got our swim pictures for this season. The girls are looking much too grown. I threw in a few from this weekends swim meet just because...next up Y State!