Meet Tian.

Meet Tian. She's made some appearances in different music videos, but I have a feeling something much bigger is around the corner! ;) For those of you who haven't seen the music video Kiss Me Thru The Phone by Soulja Boy, check it out!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhwQay4QiOw. Very cute song! Especially for you long distance couples. ;)

Here are a few teasers from the session yesterday (the two on the left are from the music vid):





There are flowery fields everywhere. It may have just been a small one, but I'm definitely glad we stumbled upon it. :) I was threatening to move to Cali, but Atlanta does have them afterall. haha





On the way back to go grab some food:



Needless to say, after rolling around on the grass all day, we deserved a big meal an Donqui's.




More pictures from her session to come soon (I may post a few more here and there on facebook before I write my next post about her).

Now, off to an e-session today. It's rainy weather, so wish me luck!

One of those mornings.

What a tiring night. I stayed up all night trying to clean my room. My project to clean out my entire room and sell my stuff turned into a disaster. I can't believe I destroyed my room. But nothing a few all nighters cannot fix.

Yeah. It was just one of those mornings. I slept at 9AM and woke up at 1PM. lol I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.



So it went from this...



to this:



Quite a huge improvement. This is what is left of my clothes. I think I tossed 80% of my clothes!! Did I mention that I love scarves? :)



I like how with these kinds of projects, you always dig up interesting gems! ie my Care Bears record player that actually works!! lol



And allows for creative ways to decorate the room. I used to have bare walls. It was time to do something about them? I'm starting with the wall above my desk and filling it with postcards of places I've visited. Hoping to add to it soon. :)



I'm also selling lots of books and DVDs. I started putting them up on Amazon yesterday, and they are already selling. Craziness! I wrapped them in calendar pages to add a nice touch to them. lol Beautiful, huh? It just saves me shipping when I don't put them in boxes. :P

Camels and Pyramids!

Awesome day to ride camels and see pyramids. Horrible day for skirts.



My view. These guys are a lot harder to ride than you would think.



Buddy would not get in line. He kept bumping his head into my leg and threatening to spit on me. :(



My fav pic of the day. It takes skills to ride a camel and take photos. LOL In all seriousness, though, I almost fell off several times!



Das ist Julia.



That's me!





Breath mint, anyone?



Group pictures!





Hmm not so happy ending for this fella. We saw him on the way back.



Think I may have a few more photos up on facebook. If you're interested in checking them out, feel free to add me! :) Link on the right (navigation bar).

Days like these.

I went to have lunch with a dongseng (younger "brother"), because I had promised to buy him lunch for almost an entire year and never got around to it. When I began heading to midtown (which is maybe 45-50 mins away from where I live), I realized that I never put the number in my cellphone. The only place that the number was saved was in my facebook inbox. Problem.

I called several people to see if they could help me out. For some reason, they happened to ALL be busy (coincidence?). Then, I called my dad at home and tried to talk him through facebook to get the number. This was for about thirty to forty minutes with no avail. He had no idea to navigate through facebook. We were so close... yet so far! God bless him for his efforts, though. I was so stressed out and frustrated. I know I took it out on him, and we hung up knowing that the conversation was not going anywhere.

Good thing that this was not the end of the story. I came home and folded my pride and apologized for being a jerk and for being impatient with him. It was completely my fault for leaving the number, and he was trying to help me the best way he knew how, but he just couldn't. As I was driving back and preparing myself to talk to him, I was so thankful to realize how gracious God has been to me. How patient He has been with me. I have SO much more to grow... especially in this special area of patience, but God gently pushes me to grow through these types of challenges. I can actually say that I am thankful for times like these. Even though it shows me that I have a lot more to grow, I know the direction I'm walking, and I know that God is faithful. Therefore, I can boast all the more in my weaknesses! haha So thankfully my crazy morning just pointed me back to Him and now I can be more hopeful. I love days like these.

This is an old pic of my dad. Maybe from 3 years ago? Seriously! I cannot believe I had such a hard time finding a photo of him. I need to reorganize my photo library. It is a mess!

Just wanted to say: Dad, you are still very awesome! Thanks for always being there. :)



I still need to update my Egypt photos! I promise at least ONE update this week. :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

This was my very first time making a cake. The results? Partial success. lol I'm sure it tastes better than it looks.

So basically, it was a 9x13inch cake that broke apart while I was trying to move it from the pan to a tray. Somehow, I managed to salvage a square portion of it, and with enough frosting, you can cover up most of the mistakes! ;)



Thankfully, Mom is not that picky, and she much appreciated the efforts.



The artist and her cake. This chic is probably not going to be pursuing a career as a baker.





I think I'm realizing more and more that I actually enjoy expressing my love for people in ways like this. Putting time and TLC into it, when before I would just buy nice/expensive things and call it a day. lol It was just way easier that way and required much less thinking and creativity. Hoping to let the creative juices flow!

I'm still learning how to love people in their love language, but I think I'm off to decent start. lol Happy birthday and may you have a blessed year! Love you, Mom!

What's your love language?

Mine would be... Words of affirmation (especially written in letter/note-form) > Acts of service (like cooking! hehe) > Receiving gifts > Quality time > Physical touch (I have to mention that I've made a lot of progress in this area. lol My friends really broke me and taught me how to hug.)

Making a difference.

I'm feeling so heavy after watching slum dog millionaire. I really don't know what to think. I couldn't sleep well last night just trying to process it all. The movie was well-made. There was a happy ending between the two main characters. Too bad the rest of the people were not as fortunate. That is just the reality of it.



I know that six months is not nearly long enough to see the world in all the beauty it contains, as well as all the poverty and suffering. It's not long enough to experience what others experience. But for me, it was long enough to realize that I can't go back and live the same way I did in this bubble of security while the rest of the world might be wasting away. There are bigger issues than the ones I carry in my day-to-day life.

I have big dreams. Dreams that go beyond a photography career. Who knows where God will carry me? Finally I am completely open for Him to move and direct my life wherever. I met some people throughout the past six months who have powerfully impacted my life. Being among them and seeing them give, not just money or material things, but give of themselves like none of it was their own. It really challenged me in the way I live and made me want to re-evaluate everything in my own life. I don't want to live for myself anymore. There has to be more to life than a nice house, a nice car... and, of course, nice shoes and bags! lol

I know that even in America we are facing an economic crisis. People are losing jobs. It's just not a pretty place to enter into. Still, I'm so grateful for the abundance we do have even through an economic crisis. Maybe this is just an opportunity for us to learn and relate and see the need that is outside of our own selves. And in our need, instead of drawing into ourselves, maybe we can begin to extend our hand out to others in need.

I know I can't be a part of everything because there is a need everywhere. I can't save everyone's life... I suppose. But I don't want to let that stop me from doing anything about it. It might all sound pretty crazy, but I want to live radically. I want to live counter-culturally. How God will use my photography to make a difference in the world? I don't know. Can one life like mine even make a difference? I sure hope so.

First things first! I started a house-cleaning project to sell, donate, or throw out all the things I don't need. This junk has got to go!! lol How ever did I accumulate so much of it? I am looking forward to a clean, non-cluttered room! Before and after pics to come. :)

Dina and Sameh Wedding - Cairo, Egypt

Thought it was about time for a wedding update! :) I got so carried away with my travels the past six months. I got to experience so much and got to capture a lot of my experiences. I just had so much I wanted to share. Still do.

But now that I'm back, a part of me knows I need to get back to business. hehe Weddings and engagement shoots will be back into the mix! :)

Here are some teasers from Dina and Sameh's wedding. I had the great pleasure of shooting their wedding when I was in Cairo. How I stumbled upon this opportunity, only God knows.