conquering a fear (or at least shaving off a bit of its bite)

Okay, so I have kind of an embarrassing fear. I really really really hate swimming with my head under water. As in, it kind of freaks me out. Luke and I went to the indoor pool today (since it's attached to our place of work) and did laps... by the end, Luke had convinced me to go under water and open my eyes, and put my nose in the water several times without physically plugging it. That's something I've never really learned to do. I never took swimming lessons and really was never taught how to correctly swim. I know the basic strokes, but I try to do them with my head above water. Doesn't always work so well (example... breast stroke). Anyway, it was a nice change and my body felt worked by the end, so it was successful. We plan to go more often in the coming months because we're trying to create new lifestyle habits for ourselves. Eating out is going to be at a MINIMUM and no (minimal) soda. Along with that, I just need to become active again. When I was in high school, playing soccer and just being active, I had so much more energy than I do now. I need to learn how to live better for myself, so that eventually when we have children, we will be able to not only teach it, but show its effects.