Relationships

Grace Tan In Life, Musings, Relationships

7 Years and Going Strong…

I was woken up this morning by a whatsapp message from my father-in-law – “Wishing u both Happy Anniversary today. Have a memorable day of reflection of all the happy events gone by n look forward to many years of happiness ahead. Leave Krysta with us n go enjoy the evening.”

Instinctively, I looked at the date on my phone… was it really August the 12th? I had forgotten completely about our wedding anniversary. I even had to take a few seconds to calculate how many years we’ve been married.

Uh oh… it’s started! The years of being together, always having the other person there, and never really stopping to think about celebrating special events.

I never used to think much about celebrating events like Valentine’s Day or Wedding Anniversaries. But today, a thought flashed through my head, “Perhaps it’s there to remind us to never take the other person for granted. Ever.”

So today, I am grateful for our 7 years of marriage.

I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband who supports me emotionally through all my ups and downs (especially dealing with my worry-wart nature).

I am grateful that he always makes an effort to work on our relationship, especially during the days when we irritate each other so much.

I am amazed at how he loves my family through his actions… by going out of his way to fix my sister’s audio-visual system in her home or changing my dad’s diapers when it’s needed.

I am proud that he is a wonderful son to his own family, making special effort to bring every member of his family out on personal ‘dates’ so he can spend time with them intentionally.

My heart swells when I see him love Krysta with all his heart, how he would uncomplainingly wake up in the middle of the night when she cries, how he makes her giggle during playtime, and how he carries her through all our travels, sometimes for hours in his arms.

I am blessed.

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Taken during a recent family holiday in Cameron Highlands.

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Family + Children Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits, Relationships

Cherished Moments & The Hui Family

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One of the most cherished items I have in my house are the canvas prints of my family photos, hung beautifully on the wall of my living room. The photos were taken at various locations and at different times. But I remember each moment as if it was just yesterday. Recently, I started a wall of photos for my little girl, Krysta. Later, I hope to build a staircase filled of memories from various family events… some images could be as simple and routine as a meal at our dinner table.

Compared to our parent’s years when you’d only be taking photos at special events (film was expensive and not everyone owned a camera!)… images now flood every single moment of our life. I know of friends who would shoot burst mode on their phone cameras to capture that one moment where their kid is smiling at the camera. Unfortunately, those images stay in their phone (and the blur ones, if they are like me… sometimes NEVER get deleted… until, you are left with no choice when one day your phone tells you that you are running out of space).

But even with image technology getting better and better over time, it’s pretty rare that a family gets together for professional portraits (How often have I heard of comments by moms who say… The husband is behind the camera…somewhere!). And I know what it’s like to have your photo taken by Mr Tripod. It’s pretty dull and uninspiring.

So I do hope that we will have the honour of photographing your family and building your wall of memories. May each image be a small piece of the puzzle which tells a story of your life.

Recently, we photographed the Hui family. Mark and Mun Tzin are dear friends of ours. Mark is one of our resident photographer and Mun Tzin is an efficient and creative event planner, running her brand Milestones. Here’s a little story about her family.

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Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Family + Children Portraits, For Photographers, Life, Maternity, Musings, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Promotions, Relationships

July & August 2013 Portrait Promo

Someone wise told me, the only asset that is truly valuable is time. I’ve always been a person who waltzes through life, never really having any set goals, but now, as I am in my mid-30s, having been married for 7 years and as a mother of a 7 month old daughter, I realize I cannot just let life pass me by.

All the more so as I see my sick, ageing parents who are approaching their 80s. I am a little sad that my dad, with his Azheimer’s, will never know his grandchild. My mom, who suffered from stroke in the past, cannot carry my 7kg daughter in her arms.

But I am glad that I had the photos from when Krysta was a newborn, and my mom could still manage to hold her, even though it was for a short period of time.

Or those images of my family when my dad still had traces of his personality intact. (Or that video of my dad singing at my wedding… even though he had forgotten the lyrics to the song… he was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s then).

I know that I can never turn back the clock to experience these things again. So time is truly precious to me.

Relationships matter.

That’s why we would love to help you record these memories with the most important people in your life. This July and August, book a pre-wedding or lifestyle portrait shoot with us and you’ll not only get to immortalize these moments, but enjoy a discount on our packages.

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Do email us for a full list of our services and discounted rates. Photography must be done within the months of July and August 2013 (subject to availability). We hope to see you soon!

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Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Family + Children Portraits, For Photographers, Musings, Portraits, Relationships

Stories Family Feature: Diane Lee

Since this blog is mainly managed and written by me, Grace, I thought that it’d be great if the readers of this blog could get to know the people behind the Stories family a little better. I am really thankful for these amazing group of people who have been ever so supportive and working oh-so-hard to make sure everything is in order!

Today, we’re featuring Diane… probably the very first person you’ll come into contact with whenever you call the Stories line or email us through our website. She has been working with us for 2 years now and is a crucial link to everything because she communicates with everyone before and after a shoot. Diane is a bubbly person whose laugh matches her personality. She can speak to anyone and everyone, and lights up a room just by her presence (and singing, sometimes!). The photos featured here were taken by Diane. Read on about her!

1. Describe what you do at Stories and what you love about your role as a Studio Manager and Photographer.

As the Studio Manager, I am the bridge and communicator between the clients and the team. I am also the one replying all your emails and calls. I enjoy knowing our clients personally – to know their different personalities, hear about the things they have planned for their weddings and hear their excitement for their own weddings. I also shoot family portraits for Stories.

* View more of the Chong family portraits here. Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits, Relationships

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

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Hey dad, it’s me, Krysta! I just want to let you know that you’re the most awesome, super dad I’ve ever known in the past 6 months of my life. I love you soooooo much…Cause you carry me when I’m tired and cranky. You wake up many times throughout the night to feed or pat me back to sleep (especially on nights when mum has to wake up early for a shoot the next day, or when she’s away in Langkawi!).

You brought me for my first dip in the pool at Phuket, and my swimming lessons have been fun because of you! Even though I was afraid to go underwater, you held me tight and comforted me after that.

I love bouncing on your lap or your shoulder and playing with you every morning. We’ve traveled soooo far together (to Thailand 3 times already!) and I love every moment together. You’re really fun, dad. You let me sit on the sand, drink water from a straw, we’ve been on boat rides and tuk tuk rides together…I can’t wait for more adventures with you!

Thank you for loving mum too. She’s amazing. Please remember to buy her gifts and bring her for holidays too at least twice a year. (No, she didn’t pay me to say this!)

I love you dad.

Your darling daughter, Krysta Myra Lam

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