My Sacred Corazon

I HAVE A NEW BLOG

2009-04-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
I will no longer be posting here on My Sacred Corazon. I have a new blog and new blog name. I am slowly but surely starting my photography business so I will be posting more often. Come and stop by and dont forget to leave a comment.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MY NEW BLOG
Frances

Eddie & Renay Part 2

2009-02-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

Here is part 2 of Eddie and Renay's engagement pictures. I will be shooting their wedding in a few weeks. =) I cant wait!

Eddie & Renay Part 1

2009-02-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

I shot Eddie & Renay's engagement session this last weekend. Here are a few of my favorites. More to come.....

Jaylee

2008-12-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

I spent Saturday afternoon with Jaylee in Pasadena. She is by far one of my favorite models.

Brace yourself this is going to be a long post =)

silly girl

I have entitled this one "when babies attack"

FULL FRAME

2008-12-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

O.K. please don't ask me to explain what a full frame camera is. All I know is that I love it and it's better than my other camera. I received my Canon 5D yesterday and I am the happiest girl ever. I didn't have much time to play with my new toy yesterday but I did manage to take this shot of the box.

Baby Huffman

2008-10-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

I recently had the incredible privilege of capturing the beauty of this lovely mother to be. Maria, I cant wait to take pictures of your baby boy.

I love her expression on this one

This one is my absolute favorite

Military Christmas

2008-10-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

My church has a new ministry that will be sending out care packages to our men and women that are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. I had the honor of documenting as servants worked hard to put these care packages together.
The boxes were mailed a few weeks ago to insure that the soldiers would receive them in time for Christmas. Please pray that each and every one make their final destination.

Here are a few...

a decorated veteran is sending an encouraging note

The goodies

a proud mother

our oldest attending veteran

Trisha's bridal shower

2008-10-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here I am playing catch up again. These past 3 weeks have been crazy busy for me. I was on vacation earlier this month and I'm still fighting a bad cold that has turned into this horrendous cough. I'll be posting more in the days to come.

I shot a bridal shower about a month ago. The bride to be is absolutely beautiful so it wasn't hard getting great shots of her. Her friends and family were all very nice. Thank you for allowing me to document your bridal shower.

My Angels

2008-09-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back from the mountain top. I was so blessed this weekend and just to let you know, I did get closer to God. =) I'll post some pictures from my retreat later this week. But for now I would like to tell you all that I am sicker than a dog. I woke up with the worst head cold, sinus infection, or allergies you could think of. I don't know what's wrong with me, all I know is that I'm sicky and I don't feel good. ;( oh and I want my mommy.

I had a tissue stuck to my face all day long

Unfortunately my hubby is out of town so I'm all alone to fend for myself. Well not exactly, I thank God for giving me friends that love me. I'll start with my friend Paulina. She's from Ecuador and she knows that I love when she makes tostado and aji. Tostado is like a salty cornut but better. It has carnitas and onion mixed in it. I call them tosticornuts. Aji is a delicious salsa. It's guaranteed to clear my congestion. She was nice enough to come over after work to drop off her tasty treats.
This is a picture of my tosticornuts

Then there's Ruby my other angel.
She is a single mom who works full time and takes her son to football practice 5 or 6 times a week. Even with her busy schedule she is going to sacrifice her time to come over and bring me some chicken noodle soup and gatorade. I love my friends! Thank you Jesus for blessing me with these girls.

p.s. both of these pictures of you girls are a few years old. What's up with that? Photo shoot anyone?

Bigger pictures-Woo Hoo!!!

2008-09-19T08:14:00.003-07:00

I finally figured out how to post bigger pictures. I got help from some fellow photographers on OSP. Thanks again! So I've been dying to blog about something but I don't really have much time. So I will simply tell you about my weekend plans.

I'm going to my mom's church retreat in espanol. =) I'm excited about going to the mountains. I love the green trees, the clean air and the clear blue skies. Being at higher elevations, I hope to get closer to God. LOL!

This was taken the last time I was up in the mountains. I was on my honeymoon-that would explain the big cheesy smile.

On the road

Lake Arrowhead

Jaylee and Jaiden

2008-09-08T00:54:00.000-07:00

Every so often I use my baby cousins as models. They love being in front of the camera and I love taking pictures of them.
Here are a few of my favorites.

Can you tell Jaylee has a gap in her bangs? LOL!!!

I love Jaylee's sandals

In this picture Jaylee is sitting with her hair stylist.

I love how Jaiden has his hand in his pocket.

Look what I can do!

2008-08-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

before

after

I love photoshop!!!

Griffith Observatory

2008-08-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures that I found as I was going through my iphoto library. (These pictures were taken in February.) I was scheduled to shoot a portrait session that day but it was canceled at the last minute. So armed with a rented wide angle lens Benny and I drove to the Griffith Observatory to shoot around.

Here are 2 of my favorites

Happy Anniversary!

2008-08-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

I've been going through my laptop trying to get rid of old files and I came across some pictures of a wedding I did last year. I just now realized that I never posted their wedding pictures on my blog (oops!). So here are a few.....

Happy Anniversary Anthony and Vanessa!

Weekend to Remember

2008-08-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

About a month ago my husband and I went to a Weekend to Remember conference in Las Vegas. It was a blessing to learn so much about marriage and about being a wife in the early stages of our marriage. I highly recommend this conference to anyone who is married or engaged. The second day of the conference all the husbands were given a homework assignment to take their wives out on a date. Benny took me to the strip for a gondola ride at the Venetian. My hubby had this all planned even before he was given his homework assignment. =) Needless to say it was a weekend to remember.

After our gondola ride we walked around for a while and I noticed a couple who had just got married. They were having their pictures taken by a family member with a point and shoot camera. I had my camera with me so I offered to take some pictures of them while my patient husband waited.

Here are a few.....

Thank you again for allowing me to be a part of your special day!

Aloha

2008-08-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

A month and a half after our wedding, Benny was forced by his boss to attend a 2 hour training class in Oahu, Hawaii. Benny was nice enough to bring me along so I took a few days off of work and we stayed 5 days. God is good! We had so much fun, we laughed and ate most of the time.
As many of you know I love to eat. I love going to restaurants but my tummy has a soft spot for what some people would call "a hole in the wall." I don't know what it is but food just taste so much better when it is sold out of a truck. I just got an idea! I will some day blog about all my favorite hole in the wall establishments.

Check out the blue truck

They had the best garlic shrimp. I hope to some day duplicate their recipe.

This is what Benny likes to call breakfast in Hawaii. This is a "loco moco" it is a hamburger patty on white rice topped with eggs and gravy. It's an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire.

This is pastor Francis of the Horizon Honolulu church. We met pastor Francis in December when we were there for the Jesus loves you outreach. For those of you who know him you know he loves his clapper.

We were blessed to be able to attend a bible study in pastor Francis' home and were even invited to return the next night for sweet fellowship.

Good times.

Jeremiah

2008-08-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

I was asked to photograph little Jeremiah's 1st b-day party in January. (Sorry, I know this is really late.)

Here are a few from his party.....

The Francos

Cant wait for next year! I love you guys!!!

I'm back.....

2008-07-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, Yes, I know it's been a long long time since I've blogged anything. So much has happened in these past months. My life has changed and taken a new direction. I am now a wife and mother of a 13 year. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and beautiful daughter.
Let's see where do I start........my hubby Benny and I were married on May 3rd and my wedding day was absolutely perfect.

We spent the first part of our honeymoon in a cabin in Running Springs. It was nice being secluded for the first few days.

Half way through our honeymoon we came home for one night, had dinner with our daughter and then drove to Santa Barbara to see Michael Buble' talk about ROMANTIC. It's funny because Benny bought our tickets 2 months before not knowing that we would be on our honeymoon the week of the concert. Yes, you read it right...we planned our wedding in less than two months. We actually planned our wedding in a few weeks. Let me tell you how.....Benny and I are so blessed to have amazing friends and family that pretty much did everything for us. I'm happy to say that I didn't do much and by the grace of God everything turned out exactly how I wanted it. To start off we had a male wedding planner--thanks Gus aka G-LO and heading up the decorations was Amber and her fearless crew--way too many names to mention but you know who you are and we will forever be indebted to you all for all you did for us. You made our day so special and unforgettable. I cant forget my maid of honor, Griz and Benny's best man Eddie who helped get us through till the very end. Then there's our wedding party-Marysol, Marie, Larissa, Gary, James, Gus and Vic, our nephew Ruben who was the cutest ring bearer, and we had the prettiest little flower girls Isabelle and Jaylee. I also want to give a special thanks to my friend Jeanette who along with my bridesmaids planned the most heart warming bridal shower. She unfortunately wasn't able to make it to my wedding she was off somewhere giving birth to her beautiful baby girl Mary. =) I also want to thank my momma and mother in law for being there to support us in presence and in prayer. Thank you mom and Nancy! Sorry but I had no idea this blog would turn into a thank you speech. So let me go on there's more. I want to thank my totally gifted make up artist and friend Paulina. Thank you for hooking me up. I would also like to thank Emily for the beautiful flowers and Patsy for the delicious cake.
Lastly I would like to thank our photographer Allison. The first two pictures on this blog post were taken by her. She is extremely talented and I was blessed to have her document our day. Check out her blog.

Here is a slideshow that she put together for us.

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone......sorry!! May God bless you all.

Nicusori

2008-01-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

I've been blessed to travel to Romania on four different occasions. I met Nicu on my last trip last July. While in Romania I took over 1700 pictures and I would like to share them with you from time to time.
Nicu's mommy abandoned him and he is now living in a government run hospital. Please pray that Nicu gets adopted by a christian family who will love and care for him.

Here are a few of my favorites

Nicu is feeding Aristita aka my baby girl. I'll post her pictures next time

I do all my own stunts

2008-01-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

This is my nephew Joseph and I absolutely love his t-shirt. I wonder if I could get one in my size? but my t-shirt would say "I used to do all my own stunts". I'm not as daring as I used to be. =)

Today as I was visiting with my nephew he looked at me and said "take picture tia Pances" You would not believe the joy that I felt as I heard my nephews deep raspy voice utter those words. He knows me as a photographer!! I immediately ran to my house and grabbed my camera and got started. Thank God I didnt have to run far--he's my neighbor.

I'm back!!

2008-01-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I'm back. I've missed you and i've missed blogging. I know it's been months since I've posted anything but I will do my very best to keep the pictures coming on a regular basis. I'll share with you what I've been doing with my time these last few months a little later but for now I just want to share some pictures I took while on a missions trip in Hawaii last month.

This one is by far my favorite

Romania 2007 part 2

2007-08-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

As you all know I went to Romania a few weeks ago. This was my 4th time visiting Bucharest. Every year we visit countless abandoned kids and babies that are housed in a state run hospital. This year I took over 1700 pictures that I hope to post from time to time. As I walked around the hospital one day I noticed that this little boy was tied to his crib. I couldnt help but just pray for him. I took these pictures not to exploit him but to expose what goes on in other parts of the world. There is a need and we can do something, we can pray and if you can you can visit these kids and just spend time with them.

There isnt much I can say about this little boy, I dont know his name or his story all I know is that he is by himself in a room tied to his crib and he will probably remain there till the day he dies.

Greetings from Romania

2007-07-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Yes, I'm blogging from Bucharest, Romania. I will be home on Wednesday the 25th. I cant wait to post the pictures that I took. I took soooo many pictures of the babies, the foster kids, and the gypsy kids that we did VBS for. Here are just a few that I took the first few days we were here. Thanks to my camera I was able to gain access to the where the gypsies live. You wouldnt believe the conditions these kids live in. Please pray for our team and for the people of Bucharest---Can you believe that it is 122 degrees with humidity?

Anthony loves Vanessa

2007-07-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little behind on my blogging. I've been really busy lately, I know that's the age old exuse--but it's true.
A few weeks ago I shot an engagement session in Laguna Beach with Anthony and Vanessa. They were a really fun couple to shoot. They are so cute! They're just ooozing with love for eachother. I'll be shooting their wedding in August so be sure and check back for more of them.
Here are a few of my fav's.

Just for you J.

Standing in the very spot where they got engaged

Issac and Isabelle

2007-06-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of taking pictures of my goddaughter Isabelle and her big brother Issac as a surprise father's day gift to their daddy. The next day (father's day) I received a voicemail from my friend Jr thanking me for making him cry with the DVD slideshow that I made. Needless to say he was happy.

deep thoughts......

little sister toes and big brother toes

Albert & Lea

2007-06-21T17:50:00.001-07:00

I shot my very first engagement session last Sunday with Albert and Lea. I will be shooting their wedding in 3 weeks. More to come....

Here are a few of my fav's

Albert thought it was corny to have his picture taken by a tree--he couldnt stop laughing.

end result

Bling!

Happy Birthday Mama!

2007-06-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

Te quiero mucho!

Happy Memorial Day!

2007-05-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Being that it's memorial day I thought I would post a picture of my late uncle Felipe Rodriguez. Thank you tio for serving in the Vietnam war. I also want to thank all the other men and women who have served our country.

I keep my promises

2007-05-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from my party last year. I have to give Gil props because he is the only guy I know that has the guts to pull something like this off and enjoy it at the same time.
Thanks for being the life of the party!

80's Flashback

2007-05-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

My buddy Gil turned 30 last week and to celebrate his over the hill status he had an 80's flashback party. Being the great friend that I am I had to dress up. I didnt really want to but I'm glad I did. After all he did dress up like Chapulin Colorado for my mexican fiesta last year. He had all the kids convinced that he was somekind of mexican super hero. I think I'll post some pictures on my next blog. Anyway back to his party because after all this post is all about Gilbert.
Happy Birthday G!!!

check out my purple eyeshadow

lovin the shorts (sorry Gil, I couldnt resist)

remind me never to wear polk a dots again

Jayden

2007-05-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

This is Jayden, she is the most adorable 17 month old that I know. From the moment I met her I somehow knew that I was going to enjoy taking her picture. I think the fact that she jumped straight into my arms with a great big smile had a little something to do with it.
Here are a few of my fav's.

Happy Birthday Jeanette

2007-05-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Jeanette's birthday. We spent the evening at the Cheesecake Factory in Brea.

Here are a few from her celebration

Happy Birthday my friend!!!

Happy Birthday Ruben

2007-04-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today is my nephew Ruben's 6th birthday. He had a birthday party yesterday that I was unable to attend so to make it up, I took him to Chuck E. Cheese today. I called my nephew early this morning before he went to school to invite him to spend the day with me. He was so happy that he told his teacher and his classmates that he had a date with his pretty tia Frances. This kid is wise beyond his years.

Here are a few from his special day.

skee ball is a must at Chuck E. Cheese

Happy Birthday Iliana!

2007-04-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

I want to wish Iliana a Happy Birthday! I first met Iliana 2 years ago at the LAX airport. We were on a church trip on our way to London then Israel.

This is a picture of us in London about 12 hours after we met

A few days later in Israel

2 years later.....

Feliz cumpleanos mi amiga!

Happy Birthday Andre!

2007-04-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Andre's b-day. The big 31, he finally caught up to me. A few of us hung out and had dinner at Tokyo Wako in Monrovia. Yummy! not only was the food great but our chef was funny and entertaining.

The Girls

2007-04-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

My weekend was great! I got my taxe$ done and I spent Saturday with my friend Marysol and her two beautiful daughters, Ana and Alina. From the moment I met them I knew we would get along great. We all enjoy eating and come to think of it, that is how we spend most of our time together. This time we went and had shrimp fajitas in San Pedro's Port's O Call. I was so hungry and excited to eat the spicy shrimp with veggies and bread that I forgot to take pictures of the food. ( I usually do that). After lunch I drove them to a park overlooking the ocean and we had a mini portrait session. It would've lasted longer but it was cold and windy up there.
Here are a few of my fav's.

My First Wedding

2007-04-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

When I bought my camera 6 months ago I never imagined that I would be shooting a wedding this fast. I dont think it has actually hit me yet but I'm sure it will soon. It was truly a blessing to be a part of Rick and Lucy's day. The exchange of their vows was very intimate in the backyard of their new home in Montclair.

Here are a few from their special day.

Yo!

2007-04-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

I spent 4 days in Philadelphia 2 weeks ago with the L.A. Heat football team. The team was there to play against the Philadeliphia police department. Wait, let me rephrase that what I should've said was The Los Angeles Heat was there to WOOP the philadelphia police deptartment because that's exactly what they did.
Here are a few from my trip

Catch up

2007-03-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

I realized that I hadn’t blogged in a while when I went to log in on blogger.com and forgot my password. I do want to take this time to apologize for my lack of blogging. I can start by giving a million excuses but that won’t change anything. I still have not blogged in almost a month. So here is my attempt at catching up. Let me know how I do.

Retreat
A few weeks ago I went to my church’s women’s retreat. I was asked to be the weekend photographer, I of course was ecstatic. Not only did I get to retreat in a beautiful place but I got to take pictures too.
Here are a few of my favorites.

Encore
A few days ago my church’s women’s ministry had an encore presentation of the dance drama from the retreat. This time I was there as the girls got ready to perform.

Melinda working her magic

Training Camp 2007

2007-02-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

As I drove to Santa Barbara last Friday morning for the Los Angeles Heat training camp it hit me that this was training camp for me too. I was excited to use my new lens and try out the image stabilization feature. My friend Derek let me borrow his monopod which came in handy and not to mention made me look like a pro. I was a bit worried that I wouldnt get a chance to take pictures because of the forecasted rain but thank God it didnt rain all weekend. When I arrived the guys were already on the field practicing. The location was amazing, It was at the Santa Barbara City College football field directly across the street from the beach. (which is where we had lunch) I took lots of pictures and I wish I could share them all with you but these will have to do for now.

After practice we all went out to dinner
These guys love to have their picture taken--I hope they love to buy pictures too!

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine called me this morning to wish me a "Happy single awarness day". I chuckled and thought to myself I know I'm single and I dont need a holiday to make me aware of that fact. I dont know what it is about this day that makes people crazy. (I think it's the caffeine in the chocolate) Now I dont want you to think that I am anti-love or anti-valentine's day because I'm not. I do enjoy receiving valentine cards, balloons, cookies, camera equipment, food, etc.....For example my heart went pitter patter when my mom called this morning and with laughter in her voice she yelled "Happy Valentine's day mama, I love you!" and when my friends daughter Mystique brought me this balloon that you see above. It's the little things like this that make me thank God that I have family and friends that show me LOVE all year around and not just today. Going back to being single and aware of it. It's o.k. to be single on a day like today, enjoy it! It's not like you have a choice. I myself will wait on the Lord till He thinks I'm ready to be in love.

This was my heart before and I thank God for restoring it and making it whole.

For those of you that are nursing a broken heart remember this
THE LORD IS NEAR TO THOSE WHO HAVE A BROKEN HEART
PSALM 34:18
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Need? or Want?

2007-02-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

Need? or Want?
Have you ever asked yourself that question before a major purchase? I did this past weekend as I drove to Samy’s camera in Pasadena . I knew the day would come when I would have to buy another lens but I didnt expect it to be so soon. You see now that I am employed by the Los Angeles Heat =) I need a telephoto lens. There's the magic word again "need" as in a necessity not a want. I had some serious anxiety about this purchase, I remember feeling this way when I was signing the contract for my first new car. I took my friend Derek along for moral support and I want to thank him for documenting my purchase.

This is me reluctantly handing over my credit card

The look on my face says it all as I sign for my purchase

I couldnt wait to get home to open the box so I did it at the store

TA DAAA!!!!

Los Angeles Heat

2007-01-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

I got a job! Well I already have a 9-5 or in my case a 5-1 kind of job but I got my first job as a photographer. A while back I hung out with some old friends at a high school football game.

Earlier that day I was at the Operation Christmas Child warehouse taking pictures so I had my camera with me. I didn't want to leave my baby in my car so I brought it with me to the game. As I sat on the bleachers watching this game I took pictures of everything and everyone around me, including my friends. I drove home that night knowing that I had annoyed one of my friends by trying to get a picture of him and not focusing on the game. As a result of that night that same friend recruited me to take pictures of a football team that he helps coach. Now this is no ordinary team with ordinary guys. This is the Los Angeles Heat football team. This team is comprised of fire fighters and guys from other law enforcement agencies. Now before you start jumping to conclusions let me clarify something, this is not a calendar shoot and ladies I do not need help carrying my camera bag...I got this one covered. Saturday morning was my first official shoot. I was really nervous and I still had anxiety that started the night before. As I got out of my car I prayed and asked God to give me a supernatural ability to take great pictures. I got my camera out, walked on the field and did my thing. I absolutely loved it. I never thought that I would get a rush or high from taking pictures but I did and I have to say it's addicting. I cant wait to get out there and do it again.

La Posada 2007

2007-01-19T14:05:00.000-08:00

I had the awesome opportunity of spending the first weekend of the year at an orphanage in Ensenada, Mexico.

This is my daughter Ana...o.k. so she's not really mine but I love her like she is. She's wants to become a photographer... hmm...I wonder who she's trying to take after?

I was blessed to find out that my daughter spent the day with these girls and ended it with a prayer session.

This little boy was so happy that he now had his own bar of soap that he wanted me to take a picture of it

Rewind to Dec. 2006

2007-01-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

Let me start by apologizing for falling behind on my blog. Please allow me to rewind to December 2006. I went on a trip with my church to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi the week before Christmas. Our mission was to work and fellowship with members of a church that was started due to the Katrina disaster. Our group painted their sanctuary, we spent two days at local toy drive, we organized their kitchen and tool shed, and on our last night we hosted a Christmas party. I had the pleasure of being the trip photographer. I took lots of pictures, here are a few.

These were taken at an optometrist office right next door to the church

If you look closely at the wall you can see a line around the room marking how high the water level got

While there it rained for 24 hours straight as in NON STOP! We took a drive after the rain was over.

The day after the rain

The owner of this Rolls Royce is living in this FEMA trailer

The last day we were there the Pastor of the church took us to try Po Boys.
I being a seafood lover had the shrimp Po Boy.
It was delicious!

Operation Christmas Child

2007-01-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

My friend Iliana is a regional manager for Samaritan's Purse Operatation Christmas Child. Every year this christian non profit organization collects millions of shoe boxes filled with gifts. They then distribute these boxes to children in different parts of the world. But before they ship them out they have to go through one of the six processing centers in the U.S. I happened to visit the one in Orange County. This is where boxes are inspected to make sure that each child will have an adequate amount of toys. Each child also receives a book telling them about the love of God. There are many churches that participate every year and thousands of people volunteer their time at the processing center. This year they sent out over 7.6 million shoeboxes. I didn't get a chance to help process shoe boxes this year but I did volunteer my camera and my time as a photographer. My pictures will be sent to the headquarter office in Boone, North Carolina and they might even be used on their website and their brochures for Operation Christmas Child. That would be cool.

This shoe box will be going to a girl

An ocean of boxes

Volunteers pose for my camera

Boxes zooming down a conveyer

I am so proud of my friend Iliana. She was in charge of running the show at this processing center. Can you say Gift of Administration??
Boxes are ready to be shipped out in containers and taken to the Port in Long Beach.

They are then delivered to the hands of a child. (picture courtesy of Operation Christmas Child)

Iliana took this picture of me. Do I look like a pro?

Merry Christmas

2006-12-26T20:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I know I'm a day late but I arrived from Mississippi late Saturday night and I'm still trying to adjust. I will post some pictures from my trip soon. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas. I spent time with my family on Christmas eve and on Christmas day. Here are a few...

The all time classic

My mom's yummy champurrado

My brother bought my nephews a jumper. They loved it. I was getting ready to jump in myself. (yes, the jumper is inside the house)

Happy Anniversary Dre and J

2006-12-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

My Christmas Decorations

2006-12-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

I would like to share the extent of my Christmas decorations this year. (These pictures were taken in my office at work) I wont be buying a real christmas tree this year. I figure why buy a tree and run the risk of starting a fire in my living room while I'm gone. The weather has been crazy lately and my place is like an oven when it's hot.

On Monday the 18th I will be traveling to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. This will be a missions/work trip with my church. I will also be the official photographer for our group. Woo Hoo! I will post some pictures when I get back.

I hope you guys have a great week and a half before Christmas. Dont let the long lines and crowded parking lots get to you.
Try and remember the real reason behind this Christmas season.

It's JESUS!

Mystique

2006-12-11T20:07:00.000-08:00

Mystique is my friend Paulina's 6 year old daughter. Mystique is also a walking miracle and we are all blessed to have her. I had so much fun not only celebrating another year of her life but also documenting her special Super Hero day.

Mystique hanging out with Superman

Running at the speed of light

killing the pinata

Mmmm cake!

Happy Birthday Mystique!!!!

Jaiden

2006-11-27T20:43:00.000-08:00

I had a mini photo session with my cousins baby Jaiden aka "the boy".

His smile lights up a room

He got his eyelashes from me =)

This is one of Jaiden's favorite toys. He likes to chew on her head.

MOST

2006-11-27T20:10:00.000-08:00

Here is the cover I promised you. I found the website but I still dont know how to put it on my blog so you can just click on the link. Here is the website www.mostthemovie.com or google it under "most the movie".

My 4 day weekend

2006-11-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

Thursday
Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm late but I had a really busy weekend. Let me explain....We celebrated Thanksgiving at my brother's house next door. My only duty that day was to bring the bread. I woke up and had nothing to worry about but the bread. Well a series of events happened that I cant get into and I ended up cooking with my brother all day. I roasted a turkey, baked a ham and made the potato salad. I really feel that I bonded with my brother that day and I thank God for every moment.
Friday
Friday was a very productive day. I organized my room and rearranged my furniture. I also hung a set of Potterybarn sconces that my friend Iliana gave me. (I love Potterybarn!)

Friday evening
I hung out with some friends in Newport Beach. We celebrated a friends birthday. Flemings has great steaks! Steaks are one of my favorite things to eat (medium rare). Seafood is the other. But enough about me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!!!

The lovely couple J and Dre

Saturday
I stayed home and rested most of the day. I spent the evening at Borders books in a corner somewhere reading photography books. I don't have any pictures of that because I took my camera but I forgot my CF card at home. Duh!

Sunday
I went to church in the morning and returned for the evening service. Our pastor showed us an academy award nominated short film called MOST. (It is a remake of a movie I saw in elementary school.) I highly recommend this movie. It can be used as a witnessing tool, I bought a copy and plan to show it to my family for Christmas. I wont try and explain what the movie is about, I don't want to ruin it for you. I am horrible at explaining movie plots. =) I don't have a link but I will post a picture of the DVD cover.

Runners High

2006-11-18T20:32:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard of runner's high? I just heard about it myself. It was explained to me as "a feeling of euphoria that a person gets from running." It must be the endorphins. I think of running as God's natural antidepressant. Well I think I have it. I have to confess, I didn't run today but I feel like I ran 10 miles. Today was a good day. It all started when my brother/neighbor made breakfast.

He makes the best chilaquiles

I went to my photoshop class. Then I spent the day with my mom. We went shoe shopping in Long Beach. We got lost and as we drove around looking for the shoe store, Runner's High. We ended up in Bay Shore. It looked so familiar. Then it hit me. I turned to my mom and we both yelled "this is the place!!" Where you may ask? This is the place where I got baptized 15 years ago. I remember it vividly. It was mother's day, my mom was pregnant from my little brother Isaac and I was only 15 years old. Being there gave me great joy to know that I loved the Lord at that age, and that even though I walked away from Him for many years God is so gracious to forgive and restore. I rededicated my life to Jesus 3 years ago and have since then been baptized again in the Jordan River in Israel. Awesome experience!!!

Bay Shore, Long Beach

We did find Runner's High after our short detour. My mom and I both bought running shoes. This is Kaylin who was nice enough to put my shoes on and tie my shoe laces. Great customer service! Runner's High also let's you go outside and give the shoes a little test run.

My new running shoes. Does this mean I have to start working out?

We ended the evening by going to Ikea in Carson. This shot was taken from their outdoor escalator.

Sunsets in East L.A.

2006-11-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

The other day I was browsing the internet looking at different photography sites. All of a sudden I got totally inspired to take some pictures. I looked out the window to check the lightning situation. I was in awe. All I could see was this mesmerizing orange and blue sky. It was Gods way of saying "here I Am". You see, I see God in His creation. I love cumulus clouds (the big white fluffy ones), sunrise, sunsets, sunshine, and a clear blue sky. ( I guess you can say everything from above, still working on rain) I immediately put my slippers on, I grabbed my baby and off I went to shoot some pictures in lovely East L.A.

isn't God amazing? The answer is YES!!!

There are more pictures of Gods creation to come......

A Family Affair

2006-11-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

My uncle Reyes owns an art gallery/art space in Los Angeles. Every fall he holds this huge event with music, art exhibits and an art fashion show. Runway and everything. Well this year he asked my brother to participate by cooking his famous greasy tacos. I guess he wanted his patrons to have the complete East L.A. experience. I was there to show my family support and to eat. My little brother loves to cook and I love to eat. We make a good team. I have been to many of my uncle's art shows, but this time was different. I was armed with my 30D. I was also there as a photographer. Amateur yes, but no one knew that. There must of been a couple hundred people there that night. It was kind of cool to have people move out of the way just because I had a camera. Now that's what I call PHOTO POWER! I was even able to get into the exclusive front row of the catwalk. The seats were pretty expensive but I didn't pay. Photographers never pay! Sorry tio!

My mom and brother cooking up a storm. Mmmm!

A Time for Harvest

2006-11-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

First things first. Please keep Katrina (Cinderella) and her mommy in your prayers. They were in a car accident on Tuesday night. They are physically well but understandably shaken up.

My family asked me to photograph their kids before they left to their harvest festivities. I must admit it was a bit chaotic and challenging but fun.

It was hard to shoot a 6 month old that just learned how to crawl and wont sit still. Can you believe my cousin trained the little lion to roar? It took a few months but on October 31st "ROARRR" was the only sound that was coming out of his mouth. Can you say ADORABLE?!

Then there's Jo-jo my nephew who has a two second attention span. When I said it was challenging Jo-jo is who I had in mind. It was all worth it when he gave me besitos before he left.

Lastly there's my little mexican Dorothy Jaylee who also happens to be my god daughter. Her mommy woke her up because the photographer (me) was coming over. Isn't she cute?

All in all it was a good night. I had a delicious home cooked spaghetti meal (thank you, Jeanette) and hung out with friends at the Harvest Festival in Downey.

Commentary: CCD's harvest has nothing on CCM's.

The place of rest

2006-10-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

I spent the weekend at El Descanso womens shelter in Rosarito, Mexico. Here are a few from my trip.

My new baby arrived via Fed ex

2006-10-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received my Canon 30D with a 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens. First impression? WOW!!! I immediately started taking pictures. Here are a few of my nephew Ruben. He is such a ham. He's also my new model.