I would like to tell you how much I appreciate Emilie and Edwin, from the bottom of my heart. I did not know them until they booked me as their wedding photographer a year ago. And yet, Ricky and I were being treated as two of their honored guests on their wedding day. They are a couple with big hearts, big smiles. Two of the most loving people on earth. They are the type of people who say “thank you” for everything possible because they truly mean it. It’s amazing how far those two little words can go with me.

Even their family treated everyone like family. They were warm, caring and truly joyful. I cannot forget Edwin’s dad telling me at the reception, “Drink water. You must drink some water.” And my heart melted, right into my cup of water.

At the ceremony, there were several moments that I shed a few tears because their love for one another was overwhelming in the best possible sense of the word. My tears could not hold but rolled down my cheek as I heard those words that Edwin sang to Emilie.They had dated each other for almost a decade but their love has not faded for a single day.

My favorite part of the day was at the reception that took place at the Universal City Hilton.  Edwin’s best man honestly gave the most epic toast I have ever experienced, people were rolling. The chicken dance was no doubt highlight of the night. I was all having fun and dancing right along.

I can’t say enough about the amazing quality of Emilie and Edwin. No wonder they were so loved by everyone at their wedding. They love, because God first loved them.

Edwin and his sister. One of my favorites of the day…

Their idea to take photos in a laundromat. Everyone here was totally cute!

They have all sorts of fun ideas at their wedding. This “photo booth” was one of them…

Emilie is simply gorgeous inside out…

These two were hilarious…

See more photos in this slideshow.

Whew! To say that I had a crazy week is an understatement. I will be babbling to myself in the next few minutes. Just to vent out a million emotions that I have experienced in this past week: joyful…grateful…loved…excited…stressed…terrified…guilty…ashamed…doubtful…sad. What a roller coaster! I think that’s enough emotional words in one blog post.

The happiest thing – my brother accepted Jesus as his Savior. When I learned about this on Facebook, I was crying and screaming so hysterically that I scared my son.

The saddest thing – I made a mistake that I will remember for the rest of my life. Don’t ask!

The most grateful thing – God has been with me all along. And that was all I needed.

If you ask me what is one important trait that I want my kids to have, I would answer without thinking, spirituality. If they are God-fearing, then I know everything else will fall in place.

Now let’s say if I can be greedy and wish for one more good quality in them. I will definitely ask for creativity. I’m not saying that I want them to become an artist, a musician, or a photographer. To me, having a creative mind and being able to think outside a box is a gift. An invaluable gift. Not that I have one, but I would totally trade a 3 karat bling bling on my finger for a creative seed planted in my brain.

I once read a book on how to develop creativity in kids. The book pointed out a research study that shows 90% of creativity is developed at the age of 5. Most people only has 2% of creativity left when they reach the age of 8. Okay, now I want to cry. Although this is not good news to me, I still have a little time left to work on my kids.

Another research shows sleep helps boosts creativity by 33%. That’s such a good reason for me to start sleeping more! I can’t wait to be 33% more creative than right now when I wake up in the morning.

Christian was taking a picture with his pretend camera, and a pretend flash provided by mommy…

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the LA Shoot This! event at the Balboa Peninsula. It was a group of the most friendly and amazing photographers who gathered together to share their passion, and to have fun.

I also met some incredibly awesome models who have a such a professional attitude. While I was freezing my butt off, they jumped into the water without hesitation. That’s professionalism! I cannot even take anything less than a hot shower at home. My hats off to these girls! I cannot tell you how much fun I had. Not only the shooting part, but shooting and getting chased by the waves at the same time. Almost died of a heart attack right there.

Special thanks to the following for making this event happen, and for giving me an almost-heart-attack-kind-of-fun.

Event organizer: Joelle Ledder Photography

Group Leaders: Chris Diset, Tamara Young, Lloyd Graves, Thomas Frank Pellicer

Models: Rudy Curry, Ashley Rush, Amanda Goraleski, Mera Zero, JK Delapp, Alex Cranmer

HAIR and MAKEUP ARTIST TEAM: Michelle Cheng, Shirley Vazquez, Shannon Ely, Katie M & team

Location for the models to get ready: Salon TM 2

Clothing Provided by: Joanna with Blue Violet Boutique, Kim with BabyKakes

Yesterday, Annabelle created a mask at school. From the minute we walked out of the classroom, she hid her face behind it and roared at every one who passed by us. As we arrived home and before entering the house, she said she wanted to scare Christian with a big roar. Holding out the mask in front of her face, she excitedly opened the door. Christian was standing right there ready to greet us.

“ROAR!!!” She howled loudly at him.

“That’s beautiful.” My fearless boy responded with a smile from the bottom of his heart.

That’s how funny he is, but not so funny for his sister.

I hide in a cave every day.

This cave is where I work.  Imagine me holding a bat in here and knocking down things on my to-do list all day. 

This cave is also the place where I sing, pray, meditate, eat, daydream, fall asleep, and connect with the world. I only don’t go to the bathroom here.

I love my cave in the winter. With the heat generated from two computers and three monitors, it is the warmest place in the house.

My cave sometimes get intruded. Annabelle and Christian will come in and ask to see an Elmo show. They also bring their shopping cart in here and pretend they’re grocery shopping.

Every day at noon, my mom delivers lunch to my cave, along with my favorite chili sauce. I am so spoiled by her these days when she is with us. What am I gonna do without her in a few months?

Yesterday was a very special mothers’ day because I have not had a chance to spend mothers’ day with my mom for so many years. I truly hope that I get to spend it with her every year from now on.

Kristina and Eric are two of a kind total awesomeness. No kidding. Kristina has the traits of a girl that I envy…playful…funny…AND beautiful. Eric is authentic; has the sweetest smile that a big and tall guy can have. At the start of our session, Eric said they preferred me to give them posing directions. Sure, no problem. But after I shot for approximately 30 seconds, they started putting on their own show. These two totally rocked the session as we strolled through the streets of Old Towne Orange and Chapman University. I absolutely love them together.  Six more months until their wedding and I simply can’t wait to laugh with them again.

Last weekend, we spent a wonderful time with our families who came to visit us from Toronto. These were shot in the hotel room when we were in Las Vegas. Annabelle and her cousin were best buddies even though they don’t get to see each other often.

These two were having a BLAST…

They enjoyed their time together so much. So were we adults!