Happy New Years!

My gosh... I can't believe we're saying goodbye to 2008 and welcoming in 2009 tonight!

2008 has been especially a good year for me. I've been very fortunate to be able to pursue my love for photography and I have to thank all of you for EVERYTHING!

THANK YOU to you, the new parents, who chose me to enter your home to take precious moments with your newborn baby (and allowing me to move your furniture around lol), to the parents who had me capture their baby's laughter and at milestones during the 1st year, to the families who I had so much fun with taking silly family portraits that it was hard for me to keep a straight face!

A HUGE thank you to the couples who had me document their big day, their wedding day! Wow, it was amazing to be part of each wedding and I found myself on more than a few occasions a little bit teary eyed from the emotions and the love that I was witnessing.

Also a BIG thanks to those who referred me to their friends! My photography services took off because of word of mouth referrals. Yes, my gazillions postings on facebook did help a bit but it was the REFERRALS that made 2008 a success. Thank you for believing in me.

To Vinster and my friends who put up with me with all my photography chatter - THANK YOU for being my soundboard and being my support system and pushing me to do better. You guys are my rock!

Wow... I started off this blog entry thinking that I was going to do something short but there are lots of people to thank and there are even more people that I would like to thank too for all their support in the present and the past.

I'm learning and growing everyday as a photographer and I feel as though I have just begun this journey because there's so much that I want to do. Thank you for sharing this journey with me so far. I am so THRILLED to see what 2009 brings!

Happy New Year to all of you!!!

Love,
mika

oh Vegas, here I come... (and an update from my post vacation)

I'll be in Vegas tomorrow after THREE legs of flight..

flight #1: Vancouver to Portland
flight #2: Portland to Seattle
flight #3: Seattle to Vegas

In my defense, these Alaska Airlines tickets were the cheapest and most convenient when we purchased it 4 months ago! Now, on Allegiant Air, they are 1/3 of the price and of course one flight will get you there! Hmphh!


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UPDATE! As of Jan 1 , 2009

Have you ever had that feeling after a vacation, you need a vacation from your vacation?? Don't know if that makes sense but I think I had the vacation blues after coming back from Vegas!

Vegas on a whole was great!!! The flight there was good - I don't remember most of the three legs of flight there which I guess is a good thing. Awesome shopping at the Fashion Mall and the outlets - an unfortunate sign of the recession times but for the shopper like me, not bad! I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show "Mystiere" at Treasure Island and I felt like I wanted to join them bouncing around!!! Gosh, does Cirque breed these super people? I imagine that they have some factory in the middle of nowhere where they manufacture these acrobats. Incredible!

It snowed while we were in Vegas - but it didn't stick to the ground so it was more like a sprinkle of snow but the locals were amazed. They said it only happens once every couple of years.

Anyway, back to the vacation blues. I guess that once you step away from what you're doing everyday and you go off on a vacation and you come back to your "regular routine", you feel an overwhelming sense of "holy moly, I can't believe I've been doing ALL of this this whole time!". Well, that's the feeling that I got when I returned so for about a week and a half I took it easy and let my brain take a vacation meaning I was still working my full time job but no endless hours of post processing or shoots. Just having oodles of quality time with the people around me and especially my baby nephew Kaden during Christmas.

This was my first time that I haven't blogged for more than 2 weeks! So I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and made memories that will keep you laughing for years to come.

MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS!!

:) mika

Newborn Baby Taye at almost 4 weeks old! Baby Photography Session

Okay, I admit it... I've been bad! This photo session was taken a couple of months ago and I got behind on my updates!

Newborn baby Taye is such a little sweetie...a beautiful little boy! We did this photo session when he was almost 4 weeks old so he still curled up at times. If a baby room can be described as "baller", his would be! Such a cozy room and he already has his jackets hung up for when he's older.

Thank you to mom Jenn & dad Kevin...it was a pleasure taking photos of your new family!

Mary & Cuong - Wedding Sneak Peek!

Mary and Cuong got married after 11 years together!!! Yes, that's ELEVEN years! Here's a sneak peek from their wedding on November 15th...I'm in the midst of post processing the photos :)

Congrats Mary & Cuong! Can't wait to show you all the photos!