I tell him I’m fine, but we needed to exit because I saw the sign. The Vista Point sign.

A few weeks ago, on my way home from Santa Maria, I saw the same sign on the 101 South Freeway. As I was driving, I had a mini conversation with myself on whether I should take that Vista Point exit and enjoy the sunset or go straight home. Usually my conversation with myself at making these decisions would be, “Nah, you can just do it NEXT TIME”… But I realized that I always concluded to that thinking, so I decided to just exit and enjoy the sunset. Even though I was alone because Ryan had to go to work, I figured to treat myself to something beautiful.. something relaxing.. a simple joy in life since the following day was my birthday. I decided from then on that I was tired of saying, “NEXT TIME” because truthfully, what if there was no next time?

So as we exited, I told Ryan that I promised myself that if we weren’t in a hurry to get somewhere and I saw a Vista Point sign, we should take that exit and see what it is to see. I turned off the engine, turned up the volume, and kept the music playing as we enjoyed the views on that Vista Point.

One thing that I didn’t want to forget was our drive back home. I wanted Ryan to rest so I decided to drive first.. but whenever that happens, he ends up bothering me while I’m driving. How? Well, he would recline the passenger seat way back and just stare at me. I can feel it. His stare.

It bothers me because he’s suppose to be sleeping/resting but instead he just stares at me. When he realizes that I’m about to check if he is sleeping, he immediately closes his eyes! However, my peripheral vision is better than his reflex so I always catch him “pretending to sleep”. Then I ask him why he isn’t sleeping. Usually he starts laughing, but this time he reasons out saying that he was asleep, but he “blinked opposite”.

Blinking Opposite?? Is there even such a thing?  He said it’s like a regular blink, but instead his eyes were closed and he meant to open it quickly and close his eyes right away but it’s just not as fast as a regular blink.  I know.. confusing huh?? Oh well… whatever makes him happy…

ANYWAYS… I wanted to remember that moment, so now it’s on my blog! Speaking of which… I also wanted to remember another thing and share another moment on my blog which is another engagement session with Golda and Robert. When she found out that Ryan and I would be visiting Northern California for the weekend, we scheduled another engagement session because we wanted to hang out and get to know one another even more before the wedding.  So…Here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come… until then, please try to avoid blinking opposite like Ryan.. :)

The moment we arrived at their home, Ka Jere started her mission in preparing a home cooked meal.

Ryan and I decided to tag along with Anafe and Lisa to see the chapel. They had choir practice and we wanted to also hear the choir sing.

When we got home, I was AMAZED to see what we had for dinner. Sinigang and Palabok! YES! Ka Jeri prepared that on her own! It was really delicious!

Jacob’s birthday was that day, so we had a small family dinner celebration for his birthday. Here he is doing the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”.

This was when Lisa was trying to get him to sing, “Oh Mr. Sun”, but Jacob kept insisting on the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. I love how they interact with one another!

Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Jacob :)

He blew out the candle himself!! It was really exciting heheh :)

The following morning, we got ready to visit Papa (Ryan and Anafe’s lolo). We were still waiting for everyone else to get ready, so I did a mini-tiny-photoshoot of Jacob. Here he is with one of his lola’s :).

Then Mark, Jacob’s dad, started posing him… :)

Visiting Papa and Lola Ising.

The many faces of Jacob :D

Here are two photos of me and Ryan in our San Francisco hotel room. We couldn’t help but take photos of the view of the city and we didn’t want to forget where we were so we took silhouette shots of one another looking out the window.

Special thank you to Kuya Richard for referring them my way! I’m so glad I got to know these two amazing people.

Earl and Cristina: Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU So much for giving us this opportunity.  Your wedding was so beautiful and everything about it just makes me want to cry happy tears because it was just amazing! :) We hope you enjoy these photos and as promised, here is the slideshow that we prepared for you on your wedding day.

This was one of my favorite moments of their day.. when Cristina got into her dress… She was SO HAPPY!

One of the most beautiful chapels I’ve been fortunate to cover a wedding at….

Now, after so many weddings later… I am still amazed at how some kids just seem like pros walking down the aisle with smiles and all! I wish I was as confident as them back then… :)

Here a photo of three of the most cutest flower girls from the last wedding I covered this year. They were so adorable. They had found a few tiny caterpillars in their flower baskets which kept them preoccupied while the adults were getting ready for the wedding.

One thing is for sure… I left my heart in San Francisco four years ago and I haven’t found it since…

If my family didn’t live in Long Beach and if I didn’t love Long Beach so much, San Francisco would be the place for us!

Here’s a panoramic photo I took of the city a few weeks ago…

What about you? Care to share? What places do YOU love visiting?

At first, I thought about staying inside my rented red Toyota Matrix because it was cold, but I realized how much better it would be if  stayed outside, taking in the cool, fresh air that the rain had left behind. Yes, it rained that morning, but the day left us with a beautiful sunset and a picturesque San Francisco skyline that I will never forget.

The moment made me forget how tired or hungry I was. Instead, it seemed to have given me more strength and energy for the rest of the night. I felt so at peace. 

Here’s a quick picture that I wanted to share and I hope I’ll have another moment like this to enjoy with my husband, my family, and friends. From a distance, you can see the rain clouds behind the buildings, giving us a clear, perfect view of the city and the Bay Bridge (and the Golden Gate Bridge (not shown)) from Treasure Island.

Lastly, the winner for the Starbucks giftcard is Janine because a wife who sits out in a cold garage just to spend time with her husband definitely deserves a hot coffee/cocoa  from Starbucks.  However, I also appreciate those who left a comment to share their ways of relaxation, so I’ll be sending $5 starbucks cards to the following commenters for participating before I made this announcement: Erika, Dean, Jay R, Roeben, Alain, and Amy. Please send your mailing address to info@es-sense.com so I can send the GC to you. Thank you so much!

I am so honored to be their photographer! They are just two amazingly warm and friendly and if Ryan and I had a few more hours to hang out with them after their engagement session, I know we would’ve had a blast eating dinner somewhere in San Francisco.

Thank you Earl and Cristina for giving me and Ryan this opportunity! I’m excited to witness you both becoming husband and wife! :D Below are some of my favorite photos of you both! To view the slideshow, please click here.

Special thank you to Kuya Richard for sending them along our way! Thank you so much kuya!! :D