Pregnant!

In case you did not know, Michelle is pregnant.

The news came one pleasant Saturday morning when Michelle insisted in taking yet another pregnancy test.
So while I was still sleeping, she tested, and came a pleasant surprise! My initial reaction to the news may not have been all that excited, but my head was still cloudy from just waking up, and while looking for the right words to say and describe my excitement, I instead chose to run out of the room, grab my camera, and tried to capture the exciting moment.
After all, the excitement will fade, memories will fade, but pictures will remain.
I am happy, for our family, for my wife, and for the child, but at this point, it still feels surreal; after all, I haven't seen the actual results of the ultrasound (still too early) and it's not like Michelle's tummy is going to show for another few months... but little by little, I think the idea of having an additional member to our family is settling in nicely, and we frequently play the baby name game, trying to come up with a good one, but I am sure all this thinking/worrying/planning will melt-away and be worth it simply when the baby arrives.

New Camera Toys!

So after selling my old car (1991 RX-7), I finally managed to make the following camera upgrades:

First is the lens: it is a Nikon camera lens with the focal length ranging from 18mm to 200mm at a relatively cheap price of ~$650. Although not the perfect lens and not quite as fast as other more expensive lens, it allows great range and flexibility.
Then I bought a flash to accompany the lens upgrade: Nikon Speedlight SB-600. Not quite the top of the line flash, but this simple flash has enough functionality to serve in most practical cases. And still quite affordable.
Lastly, I bought a set of HOYA filters, though I have yet to try out the other filters included in the set, including the polarizer.

So ultimately, my RX-7 was transformed(!?!) into a much smaller set of camera equipments. Have you ever heard of anyone selling their car to buy camera lens???

1st Year Anniversary

Time sure flies; it had already been one year since our wedding... (well, technically, the one year anniversary was about two months ago from today... but due to personal reasons I was not able to write about it until now...)
I had a few things planned out for the day, but when it came down to it, I ended up taking her out to a cute little restaurant, and giving her a small necklace as a present, which wasn't much but I wanted to share with her that although our beginning may be small, I was excited to see great things that God has in store for our family in the future...
So I had made a reservation at a small restaurant in SF called Cafe Jacqueline, which specializes in Souffle, and I thought, hey, what a great opportunity to find out what souffle is all about! And not to mention, the place had great lighting and romantic settings! Terrific place for dates and night-time photography enthusiasts!
Here is a picture of a dessert souffle that we had after our meal; for dinner, we had a mushroom souffle which was just as big and quite delicious! We were so full by the time we received the dessert that I actually had the time to take a picture of it before eating it. And we had to box most of the dessert back home, but when I had it a few days later, it was still just as good!!!
We were so full that by the time we got home and looked at our frozen cake, we were unable to complete our one-year-anniversary tradition of eating the cake... (you know, where you freeze the top portion of your cake for one year and then eat it at the one year anniversary day...) but we ended up eating it a day or two later.
In the end, I can say that we are still a happily married couple of one year, looking forward to many many years together, growing old together... and I can say that in many ways, I have learned to love my wife, more now than ever before.