Terrible Two's

It's what you think that made things happen for you. if you were cautioned by people to wait till your child reaches the age of 2 because that’s when the child becomes a headache to parents, or so as they had called it Terrible Two’s, then the choice is really yours. It’s either you expect things to happen as what these people had set in your mind or you believe in to your own capacity as a parent. It’s better to expect good things than bad about our child. You are the only one who knows your child; other people can’t tell what your child really is capable of. I can say that those are the kinds of people who pretend they know everything. I’d rather set my mind that 2 year olds belong to Terrific Two’s than to what they harshly called it as Terrible. It is what you believe that make things possible. This is my son when he 'was' two years old...



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Finding Your Mr./Ms. Right

5 Golden Rules for finding your life partner
by Rabbi Dov Heller, M.A.

A relationships coach lays out his 5 golden rules for evaluating the prospects of long-term marital success. When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50 percent, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Ms.Right!

If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say: "We're in love." I believe this is the #1 mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love. Though this may sound not politically correct, there's a profound truth here.

Love is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come.

Let me say it again: You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone. You need a lot more. Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner.

QUESTION #1: Do we share a common life purpose?

Why is this so important? Let me put it this way: If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a long time to live with someone. What do you plan to do with each other all that time? Travel, eat and jog together? You need to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a common life purpose.

Two things can happen in a marriage. You can grow together, or you can grow apart. 50 percent of the people out there are growing apart. To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life bottom line-and marry someone who wants the same thing.

QUESTION #2: Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person?

This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship. Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person. The basis of having good communication is trust - i.e. trust that I won't get "punished" or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings. A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the
person you plan to marry.

QUESTION #3: Is he/she a mensch?

A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test? Here are some suggestions. Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis? Are they serious about improving themselves? A teacher of mine defines a good person as "someone who is always striving to be good and do the right thing."

So ask about your significant other: What do they do with their time? Is this person materialistic? Usually a materialistic person is not someone whose top priority is character refinement. There are essentially two types of people in the world: People who are dedicated to personal growth and people who are dedicated to seeking comfort. Someone whose goal in life is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing. You need to know that before walking down the aisle.

QUESTION #4: How does he/she treat other people?

The one most important thing that makes any relationship work is the ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure.

Ask: Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self-absorbed? To measure this, think about the following: How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as a waiters, bus boy, taxi driver, etc. How do they treat parents and siblings? Do they have gratitude and appreciation? If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them
everything, you cannot expect that they'll have gratitude for you --who can't do nearly as much for them!

Do they gossip and speak badly about others? Someone who gossips cannot be someone who loves others. You can be sure that someone who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly as well.

QUESTION #5: Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married?

Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to "improve" them after they're married. As a colleague of mine puts it, "You can probably expect someone to change after marriage ... for the worse!" If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them.

In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous. The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you are dating, to be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues.

Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself in trouble because you didn't do your homework.

I'm a Houseband

Houseband. There's a big misconception on this term. Always used as a joke since it is depicted from the word Husband. Some used it to mock men who don’t work in the corporate world. Those who are just staying at home. Husbands who are taking care of the household chores and children. Well, that’s how the narrow-minded people think. Houseband has a deeper meaning. After hearing Pastor Joel Osteen said about this term, I can proudly say that I’m definitely a Houseband. Please have time to watch this video about commitment in marriage. I’m 100% sure you will be enlighten to the importance of your role in your spouse and child.


Pastor Joel Osteen on marriage, commitment, relationships, taking care of your family, raising your children, and other wise words.
Whether or not you're Christian, Joel Osteen's on-point with this.
10 minutes for the rest of your life.

Study

I was asked of what from the 5 tools in my catholic Christian life, I haven't fully utilized. Here are the 5 tools; Prayer, Study, Service, Fellowship and Sacraments. I've told them that all has not been fully utilized; maybe I was able to give a portion in each but not in every aspect. I chose “Study” as what I believed I’m lacking out most. Study compromises of reading the Bible daily, spiritual reading through other means and knowing God through preaching and teachings. I told them my 3 reasons. First, I’m lazy, I’m a fan of the words convenience and easy. I’m so lazy that sometimes when I’m searching something from the internet, I used Google Video Search instead of the Google Web Search because I find it easier listening and watching video than reading. I’m so impatient in reading. Second is lack of interest. My mistake is to put the Bible near where our computer is, so when I’m looking at it from afar, the interest in surfing the net becomes more inviting than reading the Bible. It’s also funny that whenever my wife asks me to read even just 1 verse in each day instead of consuming most of my time in the computer, there’s a tendency in me to oppose it more. I told Lorie to wait for the time that I will open it because I like doing it. And third is I’m afraid. The Bible has profound words that I might misunderstood or misinterpreted. I’m afraid that I don’t have the wisdom to know it the right way.

The facilitator said that it’s how the devil works on us. He’s getting all the chances for us to break our faith. And our challenge is to know how to fight it. Actually, as an Algebra instructor before, I know that in every problem, there’s a solution, and finding the solution is knowing the root cause first and the available sources you can use. I know now the causes, and I strongly believe I can solve it easily. I already have the eagerness to learn, the only things I need are the motivation and interest. Since I like the internet more, I used it to read some verses from the Bible. If you’ll notice at the left side of my site, there’s a gadget of “Daily Bible Verse”. I can also go to Bible.com. One of my favorites is joelosteen.com. Before I do anything in my computer, I make sure that I read even just 1 verse and if I don’t understand, my wife is there for me and it will be a great discussion starter. The Holy Spirit will be the one who will work for us to understand it more. I don’t want to give the devil any opportunities to win his game. I’d rather choose God works than evil’s. I hope and pray that we’ll be able to fight all struggles that might come our way in taking the path we chose to live.



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Happy 4th of July!!!

A little trivia. Have you ever wondered what's inscripted in the tablet that the Statue of Liberty is holding?

The Statue of Liberty tablet contains an inscription of a text or series of letters which is actually the date of the United States of America's day of Independence (the year being written in Roman numerals): JULY IV MDCCLXXVI or the July 4, 1776.

Like many other features of the Statue of Liberty, the stone tablet is open to various symbolism and the accompanying interpretations to each. For one, Statue of Liberty tablet is symbol of the importance of commemorating historical events that happen to each nation.

The reason for this is because the date of one of the most important historical events that happened to the United States was inscribed there. Generally, it is a belief that without acknowledging history, a nation can never successfully progress to new levels of enlightenment.

Clarence's Prayer

I know this is kind'a late but i forgot to post a blog about Clarence 3rd birthday last April 18th. When I'm browsing his videos in my computer, I can't help noticing his cute little prayer before we cut his cake and I can't wait to share it with you all. It was a simple celebration but done with so much love and laughter. Some of our friends gave us a visit after his birthday since we cannot accomodate them on the exact date of Clarence's birthday because Lorie has to attend her night duty then, well that's the bit sad part of it. But the important thing is we know Clarence didn't ask for more than we could offer him. We would like him to get the idea of being happy on what he has. To live simple with contentment in his heart. I believe every child has that character, they are so innocent and shallow. Check out his cute little prayer.


(on 18th when clarence bday, his mom has to go to work, so we just had cake, on the 21st we were able to celebrate it with some friends.)

Run, Jump and Make Noise! But do not Sin...

This is what our last speaker advised us to do when things seems going wrong and trying to put us back in our same old negative situation. Well, I think it worked. When I feel mad, I just kind of letting it go by going away first till I calm down. I chose to go to the duck pond near our place and feel the beauty of the nature that God has offered to us. In that way I can feel closer to God and share to Him my pains. After that I feel relieved and realized things I should’ve better known. It’s like an outlet for me in letting go of the stress that I shouldn’t be carrying. A good outlet since it makes my relationship to God stronger. And in these days, it’s better to lift your problems to God rather than to other people as I believed that there are just two whom you can trust; God and Yourself. Other people might listen and show that they care but you will never know if what you shared will be kept confidential, they can tell your life to anybody intentionally or not, either for a good reason or bad. The point here is to divert your attention to something else rather than committing a sin. Don’t let the devil win you and control your actions. If you were to choose what would it be? Peace of mind or guilt, Happiness or loneliness, Love or hatred? Run somewhere else, Jump as high as you can and make noise till it overpowers the chance of committing a sin. This is just my two cents. ;>

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Good News!

Last night was not an ordinary night for me and my family because it was the night we believed God has prepared for us. It was a glorious celebration when we have been baptized once again as Catholics or should I say Christian Catholics, receiving divine gifts from God and the wisdom and knowledge from the Holy Spirit. Many might raise their eyebrows or do their prejudices and might consider us fools, I can’t blame them, they have their own opinions and beliefs but for us, it didn’t bother a thing since we are here to please no one but God. We are willing to be Fools if that will mean serving our Creator. We are all servants of the Lord. You know what? It felt really great, an indescribable feeling. The very first time I, myself can’t believe that it’s all happening to me. I think that’s why there is a name called Heaven when you really felt that you are talking with Jesus alone, one on one with extreme happiness. It’s very uplifting. Everything will stop but your heartbeat. You will see that the world is so little compared to the greatness of God. Being considered and accepted as one important human being not only in our group but in the whole world. I believed that I suddenly found my purpose. They made me enter in one silent room after a long meditation of prayers and praises, the 3 of our Christian leaders reassured to me that I have the power to talk with Jesus in my own will, my own prayer, my own belief and strength, and you know what, I did! While I’m doing it, with all their pray-over’s, I didn’t notice that so much tear drops are rolling down my cheeks, a moment I promised myself that will never happen, that I will have to cry. I didn’t feel any embarrassment or pride. All I know was I felt new and cleansed. This is what I’ve been longing for, a life that is free of guilt, has peace of mind and true happiness. And that all happened when I surrendered myself to Jesus.

Many might be asking, especially to those who really knew me, how did it happen? Well it happened when everything seems falling in their proper places, I did not exert much effort but it just happened right before our own eyes. Even before we got here in US, my wife and I have been looking for our place to be with God. We tried different Christian groups in the Philippines, each one is great but the problem still lied within us. We always find a reason not to maintain it. It’s like a roller coaster ride, one time, we will be there but most times we’re not. Here in US, it took us 2 years before we got to know that there’s a Christian Life Program pillared by Filipinos like us. Our constant problem of not being in the church every Sundays has been solved when we joined this program. Here how it goes. One Sunday, actually it’s an Easter Sunday, I told myself to attend the mass not at the usual church we go to but in Sacred Heart Jesus church with two goals in mind. First to have my catholic obligation be done and second to see the Sacred Heart private school I’m considering for my son’s preschool. As usual, I wasn’t able to finish the mass since Clarence is so impatient inside the church disturbing everybody by screaming and making lots of noises. I decided to go out and just pray a little. I felt a little guilt because I got really mad at my son and thought of making it up on him by going to the nearest play park. When we were in the park, someone asked me to which chapter I belong? I didn’t get it because I have no idea that there will be a group of people having an Easter celebration on that place and on that very instant. I believed God has proven His power once again by bringing us all together in one place and in one time. Everything has really a purpose; my son’s mischief that I thought was unreasonable was actually the way for us to be driven towards Him. The man who approached me introduced us to the group whom I’ve heard a lot of times before, it’s the Couples for Christ or CFC. I asked if they could still fit us in and they are very welcoming in accepting us to be a part of their group without any questions at all. The funny part is, the venue of our meetings are regularly held at Sacred Heart of Jesus church, I didn't need to look for it since I was able to searched for it before in finding a good school for Clarence. Last night was our 9th talk and done with baptism. Who can tell that a shy person like me, who can’t talk in front of many people, is now sharing my life experiences with God to other people in our every session. To God be the Glory! To Jesus we commit ourselves and everything in us.

An Artist in Each of Us

I know that each of us has his own artist in ourself. Hidden or used, it will still stand out when needed. In our own special way we can express more of ourselves by making the little artist in us to work. I took this literally by doing a sketch of my son. I’m so addicted to him that made me spent time in drawing him on a piece of bond paper using a regular and cheap pencil that we got from a birthday give-aways. I don’t care if I really didn’t know how to draw but the thing is, I did it out of love. I want to get all the details in my son’s face; his eyes, his nose, his lips… I believe that I was able to draw him for I knew him very well even if my eyes are closed. I know the feel of his tiny lips because he always gives me kisses. I know how he smiles because we always play together. Whether the drawing is perfect or not, it doesn’t matter as long as the thought of having time in thinking, preparing and doing it for my son was there will be more than enough. The important thing is I enjoyed what I did and I’m proud of it, well, who would mind? I’m not a pro, I’m just a typical father who will give the littlest (if there is) talent I could give for my son. Being an artist is nature in all of us, whether it’s in music, poetry or painting. Why don’t you try being an artist for a moment and share it with your loved ones.

My child can read

We started teaching Clarence to read 3 letter words since he already mastered how each letter of the alphabet sounds. I always put in videos every achievement he has for us to have our own record. Like in this video I intentionally indicated when we started teaching him to read and that was a month before his 3rd birthday. This will keep me on track with his growth development. I enjoy watching all his videos without asking myself how old he was during that time and when was the time he learned those things. At the age of 3 he can now read some of the 3 letter words we introduced to him. Though he’s still struggling on some but I think it’s because of me for being so impatient in teaching him on a regular basis, plus the fact that he sometimes doesn’t cooperate with me. I tried in as hard as I can to make our sessions a fun time for him but sometimes we are ending up either playing or fighting. I’m using some flash cards, cardboard word puzzles and the internet. This website really helps us a lot in making him interested in reading. Check this out > http://www.starfall.com (website recommended by Ms. Peggi Kelly, one of Clarence's wonderful playgroup teachers)

Michael Jackson dead at 50

Michael Jackson had been planning to start a series of comeback concerts in London and had been rehearsing in the Los Angeles area for the past two months. Promoters of the shows said in March that he had passed a lengthy physical examination.

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Deadliest City in America

Error by Detroit makes Baltimore No. 2 in murders

Revised 2008 total pushes Mich. city into top spot among large metro areas
By Justin Fenton | justin.fenton@baltsun.com
4:04 PM EDT, June 4, 2009

Detroit police have acknowledged an error in their 2008 homicide total submitted to the FBI, a change that pushes Baltimore down from the top spot for homicide rate among large U.S. cities.

Rod Liggons, a Detroit police spokesman, said the city in January reported 339 homicides to the state of Michigan, which submits figures to the federal government. But the number that the FBI distributed this week as part of its annual crime report was 306, a difference of more than 11 percent. Liggons told The Baltimore Sun that figure is wrong.

"Three-thirty-nine is our actual number," Liggons said.

The difference of 33 killings is just enough to push Detroit's homicide rate past Baltimore's to reclaim the No. 1 ranking among cities with a population of 500,000 or more people. Baltimore's rate is 36.9 killings per 100,000 people; Detroit's is now 37.4 per 100,000.

-- This is really scary knowing that we are living in the state where the no.2 deadliest city is located. We are really going to pursue our plan of transferring to a different state. Like what Clarence is always saying when he puts his seatbelt on "Safety First!!!"

Video Source > http://wjz.com/video/?id=28369@wjz.dayport.com


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Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 25 in 2009). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action. --Wikipedia

In U.S. we remember those that have fought for our freedom ... we don't take freedom lightly, but sometimes we take those defenders of freedom for granted ... jeez, they were there, it's a job, do your thing, let me do my thing ... not quite that easy ... let's not forget that they also fought alongside our friends in many other nations to preserve a peacefully, free way of life for others, worldwide.

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Spring has Sprung!

We wanted Clarence to know more about spring so we decided to go to Home Depot and bought things for gardening. As usual, as the saying goes, hitting two birds with one stone, we got ourselves vegetable seeds and plants so we'll also benefit from his first 'planting' experience. I think my wife and I enjoyed it more than Clarence since it's been so long when we had our hands in dirt. We did not spend money in buying a trowel but instead we used Clarence's toy shovel :) In the Philippines, you can just get soil anywhere but here you need to buy specific soil/mix for your pots, digging around our premises might need some permits since we don't know what's under the ground. As one of Clarence's teachers advise, we can walk him outside the house to investigate things he can see during spring time like ants and bugs. Truly, he can now identify some insects and bugs by their actual sizes and appearances that he only seen in pictures before. This will help him develop his cognitive skills. When we are going to parks, he always telling me whatever he sees, like purple flowers, bee, ants, fly and the likes and it is important for me not to ignore him because that’s the time he’s learning to remember different things, and also to give immediate correction when what he’s saying is different from what he sees. I hope you find yourself something to enjoy this spring. Simple things could also be fun especially when you do it with your loved ones.



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Have you been summoned to be a jury? What do you think of it?

One 'Nursing' Mom

Happy Nurse's Week to the best nurse we know...
and Happy Mother's Day too!!! We love you!!!



-Daddy and Clarence

Happy Mother's Day to my loving Nanay too.. I Love You 'Nay!!!

National Nurses Week

To all the nurses esp. my wife,

National Nurses Week (May 6th - 12th) comes just once a year, but it's the job you perform every day that makes this time so important. You are the backbone of the nation's healthcare industry. Your skills, compassion and tireless commitment make an immeasurable impact on our communities – one patient at a time. Happy Nurses week!!!

You know You're a Nurse if...

•You believe every patient needs TLC: Thorazine, Lorazepam and Compazine.
•You know the phone numbers of every late night food delivery place in town by heart.
•You can only tell time with a 24 hour clock
•Every time you walk, you make a rattling noise because of all the scissors and clamps in your pockets.
•You can tell the pharmacist more about the medicines he is dispensing you than he can.
•You carry "spare" meds in your pocket rather than wait for pharmacy to deliver.
•You're uncomfortable in clothes that don't have elastic or drawstring waistbands, because you spend most of your waking hours in scrubs.
•You check the caller ID when the phone rings on your day off, in case it's someone from the hospital is trying to call to ask you to work.
•You've been telling stories in a restaurant and had someone at another table throw up.
•You notice that you use more four letter words now than before you became a nurse.
•Every time someone asks you for a pen, you can find at least three of them on you.
•You live by the motto, "To be right is only half the battle, to convince the physician is more difficult."
•Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural.
•Drinking iced tea from a clean urinal is completely normal.
•Your bladder can expand to the same size as a Winnebago's water tank.
•When checking the level of orientation of a patient, you aren't sure of the answers yourself. (What day is it again?)
•Your favorite dream is the one where you leave a mess at a patient's bedside and tell a doctor to clean it up.
•Everyone, including complete strangers, tells you about each and every ache and pain they have.
•You want to put your foot through the TV screen every time you see a nurse on a soap opera doing nothing but talking on the phone and flirting with doctors.
•You can almost SEE the germs on doorknobs and telephones.
•You can watch the goriest movie and eat anything afterwards, even spaghetti with lots of tomato sauce.
•You find yourself checking out other customer's arm veins in grocery waiting lines. (Wow! I can get an 11g in that puppy!)
•your friends call you for medical advice. ( lloyd , avatarj@mindspring.com )
•you have the bladder capacity of five people
•you have your weekends off planned for a year in advance
•you believe that “ask-a-nurse” is an evil plot thought up by satan
•you think that caffeine should be available in IV form.
•you have ever had a patient control his seizures when offered some food.
•your feet are flatter and tougher than Fred Flintstone’s
•your immune system is so well developed that it has been known to attack squirrels in the back yard.
•the hems of your scrub pants are held in with 3-0 chromic or steristrips.
•your idea of fine dining is anywhere you can sit down to eat
•you’ve ever had a patient with a nose-ring tell you “I’m afraid of shots.”
•your family members must have a fever of at least 105 or be missing a limb with active bleeding in order to receive your sympathy.

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I haven't checked Twitter yet, I don't know what to use anymore, I do have Friendster, MySpace and Multiply but the only one I can update is Friendster, Oh well, everybody's in the net!!! You can get anything online even your future partner could be available in just one click. LOL!

Spring break!

We took advantage of the school’s spring break 2 weeks ago by going out to the mall, visiting some parks, playgrounds and even the duck pond or should I say goose pond near our place. I said to myself, wow! We don’t need to go far just to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the nature. Spring is the best season for me. This is where you’ll get to see cherry blossoms, trees in different colors that seem competing with each other of their extraordinary natural beauties. Grass is greener, animals are everywhere. I was able to see some deer passing by our backyard, there’s a rabbit and foxes too. Sometimes, geese, but they are scared to us. There’s one time, we saw a duck with her eggs near the Tennis court of our apartment complex. We’d like to see them closer so we decided to visit their hang-out, the duck pond. To show you how nice it was, here’s a video from our visit. At timestamp starting 8:14, you’ll see how funny Clarence chasing one of the geese.

Capturing the moments

Time is so fast; my boy just turned three if I will to follow Philippine Time. He was born on April 18, 2006 at The Medical City in Pasig around 2am. I can still remember each moment we had in the hospital. It seemed like we’re waiting forever. I’m so afraid for the two of them that time; I want everything to be perfect. Most of my waiting time was spent inside the chapel trying to calm myself and praying for their safety. After almost 18 long hours of wait, our bundle of joy arrived but the first thing I said when they showed him to me was, “How’s my wife?” since I know my baby boy was already okay. I made a big sigh of relief when I confirmed that the two of them were both okay. Then the second challenge I faced was the hospital bill. LOL! We never missed capturing his growing up moments as days and months passed by. Most of my hard drives spaces in both desktop and laptop are filled with his pictures and videos. We even paid for some studio photo shoots because for us his younger years are a true treasure to keep. I compiled the two studio photo shots he had in a single video for us to compare and see the changes in him. One is when he was just 16 months old and the other is from last April 8, where there’s only 10 days to wait before his 3rd birthday. Both were taken at Time Capsule Studio in Arundel Mills Mall here in Maryland. The price is nothing compared to his adorably charming poses in each picture. The lady in the studio even gave us a deal of getting the 8 soft copies of his pictures in a cd for an additional of 50 dollars (the package only allows us to get 8 hardcopies out of 23 poses he had). Of course I did my bargain of getting everything instead, even the ones that she thinks not worth to be included since my son didn’t smile on some poses. I just said to her, “You know, if it is your kid, every angle is good”. She said okay, since in her eyes it’s like there’s no difference whether she will give up the unworthy poses or not. We got all his poses in a cd and stored also in our computers. If you have time, I’m proud to show to you his studio photo shoots. Check out the clip below.


capturing the moments - ezekiel