Some nights I open up my bottom nightstand drawer and pull out old albums and creased scrapbooks. They’re some of the few things I have left of my mom’s. Snapshots from disposable cameras document my childhood: summers in a plastic pool wearing a polka dot swimsuit, Christmas morning in my pajamas surrounded by my sisters with my mom smiling in the background, and another of my cousins piled on top of my mom letting out great, big belly laughs. There are photos tucked in the pages from weddings, grandparents who have passed away, friends my mom would babysit.

My mother has been gone almost 14 years, and these photographs are all I have left of some of the most important moments of my life. They’re what connect me to my past, and now that I have a little boy of my own, these images are what will tell his history.

I didn’t like having my photo taken when I was younger, but now that I’m grown, I’m glad my mom and dad didn’t care about me not liking it; I’m glad they took the  photos anyway, and I am so, SO thankful that they printed those images and kept them safe so we could enjoy them decades later.

I am notorious for letting my pictures live in a digital graveyard on my computer, but when I had a baby, I decided I wanted to be intentional about documenting our lives so he would always have those photos to remember and enjoy (and, not going to lie, for me to enjoy, too! Babies don’t keep, do they?). This Christmas we are printing a lot of photos from our year in albums and prints so we can remember all of the sweet experiences we’ve shared together this year.

When I photograph people, it’s my prayer that their pictures don’t live forever online or in folders on the computer– I want those images to really be heirlooms a family can enjoy for generations to come. I want people to wake up each day and see the art of their lives displayed on their walls, cozied up in pretty albums on their coffee table, slipped into frames at their bedside. I want their little ones to grow up flipping through the pages of their mama and daddy’s wedding album; when their little boy is all grown up, I want there to be photos of him all fresh and new as a baby for them to look back on.

I know that my clients value their memories as much as I do, so I’m really excited to offer a holiday special on all prints and albums in the shop! You can use the code below now through January 2nd to snag 30% off everything and get those heirlooms in your hands just in time for Christmas.