Miracle Does Exist

It was a tough week for expected parents that your OB Dr. told you that your baby would be 99% miscarriage and told us to hope for a miracle.

The hCG level was abnormal and it didn’t rises normally after a three blood tests. We were told by the OB Dr. that the chance of miscarriage would be 99%. There was a bunch of why questions but nothing got answered. We were confused and I was scared. It was going to be the second time of miscarriage and I started to have doubt in my manhood or Is it something wrong with me or Carrie. I never been that confused and scared and my anxiety weren’t helping Carrie at all. Neither that I was being not supportive nor facing this issue with Carrie. I was running away from the problem and feeling worthless. It was hurting our relationship but I know soon it will be recovered.

The real deal happened last night. Carrie had a bad cramps and abdominal pain when we were watching TV around 11pm. We were rushed to ER and I expected we would had a D&C perform that day. My anxiety was gone because I knew after this miscarriage we will start to rebuild our relationship and new hope. Most importantly Carrie will be safe in ER. I pray after she checked in and I asked GOD to give Carrie the courage and give us a safe journey in this process. I didn’t hope for a miracle to happen, I just don’t want to hope too much and be more disappointed.

After 3 hours or wait we finally got an official ultra sound done. I was watching the monitor and I did see something beating. Could it be our baby’s heart? I can’t hope too much because I don’t believe in “Miracle” nor miracle could happen to us.

The ER Dr (Chin) finally showed up and we told him the story that the OB Dr told us. Dr. Chin told us he has a different story (a good story) and he said there is a baby and it is a living baby.
The joy was indescribable and it was a truly miracle happened. Tears were in our eyes and it was and relieve.

This was a life experience and what a lesson to learn on how I did wrong and how to handle the situation better.

God, please let our baby be healthy and give me wisdom on how to comfort my wife and be a supportive husband.

Carrie:

"You are not alone, together we stand"
"I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand"
"And it feels like the end, there's no place to go"
"You know I won't give in"

"Keep holding on, cause you know we'll make it through, just stay strong"

Photoshop Eyeshadow & Eyelashes

I found some brushes for eyelash and eyeshadow. It is a very usually tools for edit head shot.
http://www.brushes.obsidiandawn.com/people.htm


Before:

After:

Photoshop Tutorial: Eye Make-up

This tutorial will show you how to add eyeshadow and eyeliner to your picture.


Step 1: Create a new layer then choose "color" as the blending mode for eyeliner

Step 2: Select a brush, for this tutorial I'm using Size 17 with Color "4c4912" for the eyeliner.

Step 3: Start a new layer then choose "Soft Light" as the blending mode for eyeshadow

Step 4: Select a brush, for this step I'm using Size 65 with Color "88952e" for the eyeshadow.

And the final result...

Short Lighting

Carrie #1, originally uploaded by snaperture.

Short light is type of studio lighting setup, where the face side which is further from the camera gets the main light. see the diagram for details. In this type of lighting setup, the side of the face which is toward the camera gets less light then the side facing away form the camera.

32" x 40" Softbox
20 Degree Honey Comb Grid
42" White Circular Reflector

ISO 200, 1/80 F7.1

Here is the diagram:

Photoshop Tutorial: Smooth Skin Foundation

Before



After


Here are the steps to smooth skin / apply foundation:

Create a new layer.
Use Filter Highpass and set 9.0 (Filter, Other)
Use Filter Gaussian Blur 3.0
Invert the Image (Image, Adjustment)
Change the blending mode to Overlay.
Add layer mask fill with black.
Select skin use Magic Wand Tool and fill it with White.
(you can also use brush and paint the mask white on the skin area)

Make sure don't select hair, lip, and eyes beacause you want those area to be sharp.

Season of Love

DSC_3373, originally uploaded by snaperture.

In most of my past relationships I through it was true love but in fact it’s not. If that wasn’t love than what it is? Maybe just infatuation and after the lover’s phase I felt we were nothing in common and sometimes we didn’t even know what to talk with each other. After a while our connection and communication closed and we no longer shared our life. I felt like we were apart in fact we were sleep on the same bed. Love ended and something we were confused was I in love. When time goes by, we have forgotten the feeling of love.

But than what does real love feels like? Maybe it’s when two people seem to know each other for ages. Their conversation never lacks of topics and never gets dull. People don’t have to say anything because they understand each other without words. And those silence and boring moments never feels uncomfortable. True love is when two people complete one another and putting partner in the first place. The most important things are action and communication. Love is a verb, not a noun. It requires actions and not how times you said to a person.

I know this time is "true love" because I never love one person that much before us, and I know I will never love in the same way after us. Therefore I know she is the one and my last one.
She is my best friend who I can share my thoughts, wisdom, and life with. When she is around everything feels better, everything tastes better, everything sounds better, everything smells better, and everything looks brighter.

Feels Like Home

My Family Room #2, originally uploaded by snaperture.

I have been living in my house for 2 and a half years and I never felt like home before. It was a place to get my work done and sleep. I had no purpose and desire to stay this empty big house. It felt like I was staying in someone else’s house.

When she was present this big cold house no long cold and empty but as my home. The three days she was there gave me the purpose to come home because I knew there was someone special was waiting for me. She didn’t just change my house but she re-defined, she made this house feels like home to me.

I got back from Hawaii last night and I saw her stuffs in my bathroom it warms my heart. Suddenly I can smell her present and I felt I was not alone anymore. I just can’t put it in word to describe how much this moment means to me. It feels like home to me….

I have always felt lucky for all the wonderful things and people I have in my life, but last night I felt extra blessed because of her little things in the bathroom. I wish we can make a lot of wonderful memories here in the house I finally call home now.