Lifting weights doesnt hurt. If you are worried about become freaky looking and huge, dont worry, its extremely hard to get that way for a woman. Having more muscle, even just a little, burns more fat. Muscle burns fat for fuel.
And for cardio, you may already know this, but doing cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning will burn alot more fat than any other time. There's a type of Cardio called HIIT (High Intenstity Interval Training). It burns more calories faster than normal cardio, and boost your metabolism for the rest of the day. Heres the link for more info on it- http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/justin6.... ,but basically you do this:
Warm up with your cardio activity of choice, whether that be a treadmill, running, swimming, or in your case, jumproping, at a moderate pace for about 5 minutes.
Then take time to stretch so you dont hurt yourself
start out at a moderate pace for about 1 minute. Then kick it into high gear, and go all out for 15-20 seconds. Slow back down to normal speed for another minute, and then kick it back up for another 15-20 secs. Continue this for the next 15 mins at the most.
Another tip- Eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day also keeps your metabolism going high. 5 to 6 meals a day is generaly a good rule, but not always easy to do, especially while going to school. There alot of diet and exercise articles on bodybuilding.com. You dont need to be a body builder to apply these to your life. They have an entire section dedicated to womens fitness. So check it out.
Good luck with your goals! : )

Exercise is a great starting point. I'd recommend 3-4 times per week for 45-60 minutes. However, I would not recommend intense jumprope immediately after dinner, unless you are looking for a way to through-up (which would not be a healthy way to lose weight)!
As far as diet is concerned, I would recommend something structured to ensure you eat the right food at the right time of day. There's one at http://www.UltraSimpleFatLoss.com. It comes with an on-line diet generator which tells you exactly what to eat and when.
Good Luck!
Ren??
PS Please, quit the jumprope immediately after eating!

cold showers/baths-- make the body try to heat up and use food to burn for heat...
lots of exercise- always be active
muscle burns fat so build muscle
could go to the local GMC vitamin store and ask for pills that have minerals and vitamins essential for maximum weight loss magnesium, things like that