A race and a BABY!

Well, a lot has sure been going on around here! Some good news about us is spreading very quickly...

We're expecting! 

Baby Winn is due 3/3/2014. I am 13 1/2 weeks along... so close to the 2nd trimester! We could not be more excited for our little bundle of joy to join the fam. 

I have been very tired and fairly sick over the past 3 months, so I'm hoping all of that starts to fade soon. Other than that, I have had a great pregnancy so far! Thank you everyone for all of your support, we are very blessed to have such great friends and family to support us. 

A special shout out to my partner in crime... Matt has been absolutely amazing and understanding as I deal with all the pleasant and not-so-pleasant changes of being pregnant. He is such a wonderful husband and will be the best father. I am so lucky to have married such a patient man! 

Here is a cute (at least I think it's cute!) pic from my latest ultrasound... it's a view of the top of the baby's head and two hands. I just thought it was the most adorable thing ever so my midwife took a couple of pictures for me :) Little hands!!

Last weekend, we went up north to Vancouver with my parents to run the Lulu lemon half marathon! I use the word run loosely, as it means "run as much as you can but walk a lot" for a pregnant lady like me. But Matt and my dad actually ran and did great! I tried to train for the race and I was doing a good job until I hit about the 7th week of pregnancy and I just became too tired to run very much. But, it was a fun race, my mom was a good sport and hung out with me the whole time, and the course was beautiful! I would really love to go back and run it again sometime when I can actually run the whole thing! 

Here are some pictures from that fun and exhausting weekend!

Also, yay for my awesome parents... today is their 25th Anniversary! I am so glad I've got their example of marriage that always made me believe in true love. I love you guys!!

Have a wonderful labor day weekend! 

Escaping

Hola amigos! I am back from a 3-month-long hiatus... mostly because life was pretty ho-hum, same old same old until this happened: our big vacation of the year! 

I've been on my last summer break from school since June, and I have been enjoying every minute of it. Being able to take time off of work and relax with my sweetheart and some great friends was just what the doctor ordered!

We went on a Caribbean cruise with our friends, Jim and Natalie Cannon. (Jim and Matt were mission companions and they are bromance soulmates!) Because of both of our last names, we dubbed out official trip hashtag as #cannwinn2014. WAHOOO!

We left out of Cape Canaveral in Florida and visited Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We had a blast on the ship and off the ship... it's always a great day when the sun is shining, the ocean is turquoise and there's a water slide right outside of your room!

(hairy chest competition runner up right here ^)

And now, let the picture overload commence. I had my camera but Jim and Matt brought their go pro cameras and got some UH-MAZING and fun shots, so I'm going to share some of those too. Plus they're perfect for selfies!

Grand Turk: we hopped on ATVs and rode around the island, saw a lighthouse, waved at a lot of donkeys and played at a gorgeous beach. This place was not touristy and reminded me a lot of San Salvador, Bahamas (where I've been before for a coral reef research trip). 

obligatory cruise ship pic

Natalie leaving Jim in the dust!

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico: This place was beautiful! We all thought it was like being dropped off in an old, Carribbean version of Seattle... busy and full of life! 

(Jim and I are very biased with our love of Seattle)

We walked around the old San Juan and wandered through cathedrals, fortresses, alleyways that looked like rainforests and beautiful colored buildings. It was so fun! 

St. Thomas: We went on a snorkeling excursion for the morning while we were in St. Thomas, and it was a blast! We saw some turtles, rays and LOTS of fish. I love snorkeling! There was so, so much fire coral (my research buddies know what I'm talking about... nasty stuff) but luckily non of us got "burned." We then walked to town and ate at a little local Caribbean place. 

 The "turts"

 St. Maarten: This was an interesting stop... we made our own perfume! We took a mini-tour of the island with a great tour guide and ended up at a perfume shop/lab. We all got to smell hundreds of scents and concoct our own original perfume or cologne. Super original and we have a pretty unique keepsake!

  

  

 Some other fun things...

Matt was particularly outgoing on the cruise ship! He went up to get hypnotized and participated in the hairy chest competition - he got 2nd place! It is so fun and hilarious to watch him put himself out there! (insert cry-laughing emoji here.)

So that covers the first 9 days of our trip... we stopped at HARRY POTTER WORLD before we left Florida, but I will have to blog that another time. It was positively magical, I assure you. But you're probably sick of reading this/looking at pictures of us for now. 

I hope you are enjoying the rest of our quickly-fading summer! Bye for now :)

Celebrating marriage!

Hello, hello. Hope this finds you all well :)

Between school and work, we are trying to fit in some fun - as always! We celebrated our 2nd Anniversary on March 10th! My, how time flies. It seriously feels like just a few months ago that we were sealed in the Seattle temple and the whirlwind of our wedding day happened... but at the same time, I can hardly imagine my life without Matt. I am so incredibly grateful for Matt and our marriage. It has been really fun to watch almost all of my friends fall in love, get engaged and tie the knot over the past few years. To think that I've now become someone who is asked for newlywed/marital advice is so hard for me to believe, but that has happened quite a few times! 

It is so amazing that I have such a strong, faithful man in my life everyday, forever. He puts up with me when I'm selfish, tired, moody, clingy, sassy or otherwise hard to live with. I really got lucky with this one and I look back on my life in gratitude to Heavenly Father for guiding me in my dating years so that I would end up in the arms of my most perfect soulmate. No one can bring out more passion in me than Matt - whether it's laughing, excitement, crying, or love. He is the BEST! 

Okay, sorry for the sappiness... cheers to marriage and many, many more years of love, laughter, growth, fights, make-ups and adventure! 

To celebrate, we spent a nice weekend at a little french-themed B&B called L'Auberge in Woodinville. We had a great time, and even got breakfast in bed! The food was to die for... our hostess was seriously the best cook ever. 

Matt's almost-finished breakfast (3rd course). We spent some time writing in a "couple's journal" that Mallory bought for us. A fun way to remember our weekend!

Nothin' better than some Martinelli's and fresh flowers on your nightstand. 

My food. Almost gone as well... I couldn't stop eating for a picture earlier, it was too good. 

The lovely bowl we found in our room. This has kind of a funny story behind it...As we checked in, the hostess told Matt, "I really hope you guys brought some champagne, or at least some wine, for dinner!" When we told her we don't drink wine, her chin hit the floor. "AT ALL?! I've never met anyone that doesn't drink wine at all!"

Guess she's never met a mormon! Haha we told her we were LDS, and she didn't really know what that meant. When we said mormon, she goes, "Oh, like Mitt Romney? Okay." She wasn't nearly as friendly to us after that, but it's okay. We found it quite humorous that she was so off-put that we choose not to drink wine! And then we found this dish in our room and our new favorite saying is, "A dinner without wine is like a day without sunshine!" :)

Speaking of marriage... my sister is getting married THIS SATURDAY! I am so, so, soooooo happy for Mall and Tyler! I will take lots of pics and post about that soon!

Otherwise, I have been thoroughly enjoying my spring break (woohoo, two quarters down!) and gearing up to start my third and final quarter this year of my DNP program! That is so good to say. 

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Lost in another world...

One of my favorite things to do is to read. I have loved reading my whole life. 

I would have to say that the first time I've ever gotten lost in another world of reading was when I started the Harry Potter series for the first time at the age of 8. I have read that entire series many, many more times (about seven, I think). 

I have fond memories of being unable to put down the intellectual books in the Artemis Fowl series, or the witty novels of the Series of Unfortunate Events. I guess I have a thing for series. 

When I started college, my hunger for books faltered because, as a lot of you may know, you have so. much. reading. to do for classes. Reading anything else for pleasure seems like I am being a slacker, and I could be reading my school books instead. 

My sister, my dad and I all share this passion. It is really fun that we can all speak in what seems like a totally different language when talking about books we're reading. Matt, however, does not share this hobby with me... that's for sure! He doesn't like reading at all. My insatiable desire to be reading is pretty foreign to him but I think it is something that makes him love me more, as it is truly who I am. 

(I love how being in love can do that to us... we really love people for all the little quirks and hobbies they have, even if we don't "get them.")

Anyways, I've been on a particularly obsessive reading kick lately. Somehow, in the midst of school and work, I have found the ability to steal a few hours here and there to devour a new plot. The books I've read lately include: 

A Discovery of Witches

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

The Book Thief

The Divergent Series: Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant

and I've just barely finished The Husband's Secret. 

I think they are all great reads, but I have to talk a little bit about the Divergent series. 

Oh. My. Goodness. Saying I was "in another world" is really a gross understatement. I legitimately dreamed I was in this book every night for the whole week it took me to finish the series. I kept thinking that my husband reminded me so much of one of the main characters, Four. I told him that like 100 times and I'm sure he was getting creeped out.  I read through class last week because that's all I could think about. And without spoiling the end, I sobbed like a baby as I finished the series. The end ........ ugh. It is so sad but so poetically perfect. In short, I highly recommend it. Fun, fast read. And now I am super excited for the movie to come out in a few weeks. That's how I get Matt involved! ;)

Have a great week... and share with me some of your current favorite books! I'm flying through my list like wildfire right now:)

Speaking up

Today I had class at UW. We meet every other week at the beautiful Seattle campus and our class days are long. Classes this quarter is not too lengthy, however, which is nice. We're there about 7-8 hours for two classes. 

Confession: I have a fears. One prominent fear is speaking up, mostly in front of a lot of people. In high school, I put myself in front of other people because I love to lead... behind the scenes. I learned early on to be a leader you still had to put up with some public speaking and some embarrassment and some "being different."

This is when I was a counselor at a WA state leadership camp the summer after my senior year in high school. It was a few weeks definitely full of stand-up-in-front-of-a-bunch-of-people-and-make-a-fool-of-yourself, but it was one of the best experiences of my life.

To this day I rarely, if EVER, ask a question in a college class. At BYU, most classes start out with a prayer beforehand and even that gave me intense anxiety. I would never, ever volunteer. Praying... something I do multiple times a day and something that is a normal part of every function in my church. When a teacher says, "We are going to call on random students to answer questions and participate," it makes me want to get up and run out of the classroom. I've realized a few reasons why this real-life scenario actually scares me:

1. I'm afraid that I will ask/say something that was just talked about 5 minutes ago when I wasn't paying attention 

2. I'm afraid that what I will ask/say will sound stupid

3. Every time I speak in front of people my face turns really really red and I start sweating and my heart beats so loudly that I can't hear anything else

To add to my fears, in my current DNP program I am the youngest one. I am the least experienced one. I get to learn from an incredible group of colleagues, peers and professors that have what seems like a million times more nursing, professional, and "real life" experience than I do. It is really intimidating. I have been reassured by my fantastic program director many times that I can and will succeed in this program even with my limited background (and I really do believe her!) and the process of feeling comfortable putting my two baby cents in is coming along well. Slowly, but it'll get there. 

So today, I have a small triumph to share with you. I spoke up! Not in front of the class, but in a small group. Hey, it's progress right? I took charge of my group of eight or so students as we planned our final project that is due in three weeks. It took a few tries for me to voice my ideas without being intimidated by objections and critical comments by my group members. But I stuck with it and voiced a vision for our project that everyone actually liked, and then I proceeded to organize who would do each part of the project with the group. I felt like a ringleader for the first time in years. I used to feel that way all the time. It felt awesome to be listened to and valued among amazing nurses that I respect so much. It felt exhilarating to know that what I had to say was worth something, my ideas were good and I knew what the heck I was talking about. And my group seemed surprisingly very happy to be a little bit more organized, cohesive and to have someone taking the extra responsibility of "being in charge." 

Being a leader is a very important part of who I am. I reference high school a lot in my posts (and in real life) because I feel like that is when I developed a very strong sense of who I really am. I was very active in leadership in high school and that made me happy. Those skills and interests became dormant when I suddenly was just a face in a student body of 33,000 at only 18 years old. I am giddy after taking such a small but rewarding risk today and I am excited that as I get older, my confidence in my knowledge and abilities is resurfacing. I hope you can do something that makes you a little bit nervous and overcome a fear today - however small it is.

Have a happy weekend! 

Our Weekend of Love

Hope everyone had a LOVELY Valentine's Day! We had such a great weekend celebrating. 

I never really liked Valentine's Day too much when I was growing up because I never had a valentine. Now that I look back, I had it all wrong. I admire all the people who are not in relationships and they utilize this holiday to express love to everyone in their lives, not just romantically! My biggest valentine growing up was my mom. She really, really loves Valentine's Day. Her first date with my dad was a Valentine's dance in high school and she has gone all-out ever since I can remember on the holiday. I am so blessed to have such loving parents and such a good example of a mom who expresses her love to everyone in her life!

Matt and I have had some pretty great Valentine's Days, and this one - although it was laid back - was no exception. We both worked all day on Friday but were able to come home a little early. Matt had cleaned our room, turned on some music and set up the bed with a bunch of presents. When I walked up to the room, he was standing there dressed up and holding a rose for me. He is the sweetest!

I mean these orange/red flowers are uh-mazing. I love love love them. 

He got me this necklace that I am obsessed with... we call ourselves "Em & M" a lot so it is very fitting. He is so thoughtful!

I got him some go-pro toys and a Team USA shirt. We went out and ate pizza at our favorite pizza place in Redmond, Flying Saucer Pizza and watched a red box at home (I told you it was low-key!). 

I know this is blurry... only pic we took at dinner that night! haha

Yesterday we planned on going to the Glass Museum in Tacoma but the traffic was too bad, so we ended up shopping a bit and going to see the LEGO movie. It was a cute movie. I probably had too high of expectations after reading a bunch of reviews but it still is a really good movie. After that, we went to a little sushi restaurant here in Bothell. We love our sushi!

So there it is, our fun V-day weekend. It really is a treat for us to spend so much time together because we work so much. Any date at all is so fun!!

I've been struggling with some pretty bad back pain for the past 2+ weeks. I hurt my back on Christmas day and while that injury healed quickly, I re-injured it again two Saturdays ago. I was working out with Matt and he didn't keep his eyes on me while I was doing ball slams... apparently I was doing the squats/lifts all wrong and by the end my back was killing me. It was the same pain as before: really sharp on my spine, tension in my muscles all around it, and I can't sit down. The pain gets much better while standing or laying down flat. The problem is that I sit all day every day at work. So, needless to say it has been a pretty miserable last two weeks as I try braces, icy hot and meds to get me though my work and school days. I went to a doctor last week and he ordered some xrays. I'm going back to see him next week. I'm a little worried because in the past week or so it has not seemed to get better at all and I am really sick of all this pain. Meanwhile, I sit as long as I can and then take a lot of little walks. Hopefully it all gets better soon :(

Have a fantastic week!