somewhere between a handshake and two kisses

Every year, I make a photo book for my family. It started as a Christmas present for my mom when our eldest was a year old.

According to these books, our calendar year runs from October 14th to October 14th—even though three other family members have birthdays that aren’t on October 14th.

But since our lives typically revolve around our firstborn, it makes sense that our family history does too.

Making the family book is not an easy annual task because I’m a deadline worker. Every year, I wait until the last minute—usually right before the shipping deadline for the book company.

Then I sift through hundreds of folders, spanning multiple hard drives and phones, until I have a massive collection of photos that I somehow have to edit down to 240, the number of pages in the book.

Once I start, I can’t stop. Before I know it, the sun begins to rise, and the editing eventually feels easier. My family wakes up, and I finally click the send button.

This year I had a new challenge to consider. This was by far the hardest year of our lives. Did we even want a book to remind us of this year? And would I even have enough photos to fill one?

But my family loves these books. My kids pull them off the shelf and look through them again and again. I know that if I skip a year, this tradition will be over.

So I didn’t let myself think too much about it. I just sat down and started the process. And once again, it took me all night.

The next day, in my exhausted haze, I realized this might be our most important family book yet. In it, you see a family healing in nature…

You see people who showed up for us…

Brothers figuring it out…

And dogs and puppies who kept our hearts beating and our bodies moving.

You see a family unwilling to give up on each other or themselves. You see that we are still here.

While we might not yet feel stronger, we are definitely more compassionate, sensitive, and humble.

With a very strong appreciation for humor.

And thanks to all of our adventures in nature this year, I have a new batch of Saved By Nature landscapes to offer as prints. I will donate 10% of the profit to Petaluma People Services for the essential work they do in my community. We are especially grateful for their SAFE Team.

“The goal of the SAFE team is to address crisis response, prevention and intervention for our most vulnerable community members experiencing mental health issues, substance abuse issues and homelessness.”

All photos were taken on medium format film cameras. To order prints through Venmo click any photo below or click this link: https://venmo.com/u/greeniep

The cost for a 16×20 is $450 – this includes shipping/delivery and donation to PPS.

Please let me know your name, the title of the print you’d like and your address.

Here are the 2024 Saved By Nature prints.

Thank you to everyone still reading this far! I am eternally grateful for your love and support of my work and my family. Hope your new year is full of nature.