Speaking in Church

Today Jeff and I spoke in our new ward. After almost six years of marriage this is the first time we've been asked to speak as a couple. Jeff and I had two completely different approaches to our assignment.
Jeff is the type of person who makes a broad outline of what he's going to be speaking on and done. He has the talent of impromptu speech. I think he spent maybe an hour on this talk. Me? I'm so embarassed to tell.
I'm afraid the perfectionist side of me comes out in full display when I prepare talks. The problem is I tend to overprepare. By that, I mean I fully immerse myself in research. I find one brilliant quote after brilliant quote that I HAVE to some how incorporate into my talk. WHen I'm finally ready to organize my talk two things happen. First, I completely forget what the point of my talk is and I have to refocus my efforts. Second, I'm forced to whittle down the piles of information that I've accumulated into something coherent.
This is where the funny part comes in. To our surprise we arrive to Sacrament meeting and find that there is not one but two more speakers on the program. Add on a congregational hymn and we have a full slate. By the time it was my turn to speak (I was the third and Jeff the last) we had about 15 minutes left.
After hours of preparation (and I do mean hours) I was forced to whittle down my talk so that I could give Jeff time to speak. How kind of me, right? Believe me, I was completely fine with it. The problem was I wasn't sure how to shorten my talk. I skipped a few things but I still noticed that time was running short. I finally, just looked at the clock and then abruptly stopped my talk and said, "You know - I want to make sure my husband has time to talk so let me end this." Next thing you know, I bear my testimony and sit down.
It was definitely not the smoothest transitions but it worked and I think everything turned out okay. Someday I'll be able to ease up on the preparation. Until then it just gives Jeff a reason to laugh at me.

Christmas Photos

I was perusing our photos and realized there were a handfull of pictures that some family in Alaska might love.

It's official. She now knows to pose for pictures.

Party!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite Christmas memories...Jeff and I stayed up late into Christmas Eve setting up her presents. We had bought a furry Elmo chair and set it in front of the tree. Jeff was sure she was going to squeal with delight when she laid eyes on it. Jeff had the video recorder set as I brought her into our living room once she awoke. She took one look at her surroundings then looked at me and set her head on my shoulder. It was so anticlimatic. After an hour of cuddling with mommy we finally coaxed her into opening her gifts.

Happy New Year!

It's the beginning of a new decade and things are great. We feel settled into our new home, we're focused on our goals for the year and Sofía makes everything we do well worth it. Today Jeff returned to work. He will be working 60 to 70 hour weeks until tax season is over. Luckily, I finished my busy work schedule last week and so I'll be home to pick up the slack. Jeff has been putting in overtime hours watching Sofía while I've been at work during the holidays. The time away from Sofía made me appreciate her all the more.

Speaking of holidays...here's a picture of our little daughter in her Halloween costume. We do realize Halloween was two months ago but it's never too late for pictures, right? Enjoy!

This picture was taken in our new backyard. Yayyy! Our little shark was able to play out there for a few weeks before the cold hit. Can't wait 'til spring.

This is a slightly altered version of her costume. She's a little kid being eaten by a shark. For some reason she kept sticking her arm out of the mouth. This was taken at a Halloween party at her little gym. She takes a tumbling class there. She enjoys it...as you can clearly tell.

Sofía loves to play dress up. It doesn't matter what it is she'll find a way to use it in her wardrobe. Maybe she'll take after her aunt (wink...wink). The scary thing is she already looks for the mirror to check herself out. Uh-oh.