As I drove home late Monday night, I began thinking about grace.  Grace is all that got my family and I thru those trying nights.  And it’s not loud, at all.  Here are my thoughts on the grace God gives us in those times when life is confusing, messy and painful.

Grace is not a big loud noise or event. It doesn’t show up in the days before trouble arrives. 

Grace is silent.

It glides into your heart and mind when you’re overwhelmed, overworked and overcome. It reassures.

Even when you plead and beg because you don’t feel grace or His presence, grace is there just waiting for your words to fail so it can speak to your heart.  Loudly.

It Melts into you and when you are drained, unable to speak anymore, that’s when grace reveals itself and you hear Him whisper, “be still. I’m here, I was here when you were calling out, frantic. I will never leave you”

Psalm 46:10 & Hebrews 13:5

   We met at Henry’s Gelato located at Lafayette Village in Raleigh.  I haven’t eaten gelato since my trip to Italy in April 2012 and I had been dying for some.  Every time I’d been to Lafayette Henrys was never open so I purposed that eating it was one thing I HAD to do on my birthday =).

     After eating a coffee & double fudge gelato, L drove my car (because I didn’t want to drive on my birthday) and we went to Crabtree and shopped for a glorious three hours!  It was so fun & relaxing.  We got some colored hair extensions (blue for L & S & dark purple/red for me) to have fun with and also found some good deals at H&M & Charlotte Russe (I love that store, btw).

     After that we went back to L’s house where she had made a cake for me.  It was so pretty! Isn’t it gorgeous???

     I thought it was so incredibly sweet that she put the camera on there as well as copied my signature that I use as my logo!  She’s talented!!

     Her little Daughter, Little E, was so happy to celebrate with me.  She couldn’t wait to have me blow out candles!

     After having cake, we went to dinner at Sitti Lebanese Restaurant.  There was a 45 minute wait (ouch) but we walked around downtown Raleigh and ended up sitting in Subway for a bit chatting and staying warm until it was time to go back.

     When they seated us, they tried to get us to sit in theses REALLY tall chairs.  Well, if any of you know me, you know that I’m really, really short.  I took one look at the seating and promptly asked if we could get another table. =)  They did give us another and we sat down to enjoy some Lebanese food.

     I really recommend Sitti if you’re in the Raleigh area.  I always get the Chicken Swarma with a side of rice and it is out of this world!  For an appetizer I always get the Feta cheese dip with pita bread.  It is a good portion to share with your friends.

     Surprisingly, the food isn’t terribly spicy or different (from what I’ve eaten) but you can tell it’s exotic.

     We finished eating around 9:30PM and were ready to head back to our prospective homes.  We were full and tired =).  On the way out, my friend, S, took this picture of L & I.  We’re kinda wild-eyed but it’s because we were tired, I promise. LOL.

     I had an amazing 28th birthday & I’m so glad that I have good friends to share it with.  I’m super excited to see what God is going to do through me and for me in this new year of my life!!!

     On the day of the session I arrived at the photographer’s home to put last minute details together and check out the light.  I had everything set up and ready to go when my friend contacted me to let me know that they were at the lake and where was I?  That was when we both realized that we had somehow miscommunicated (even the best laid plans, right?!).  She had thought we settled on Lake Wilson, while I had thought that we had settled on the photographer’s home!

     We scrambled about for a bit, over the phone, trying to figure out what to do & in the end she & her brother decided to come to where I was!

     Although I got a little flustered, in the end it was pretty funny, and, as you can see below, the photos didn’t feel any ill effects from our slight miscommunication!

     This is my favorite of the two of them.  Their Beagle, Sandy didn’t want to look but she did very well overall!!

     In 2010 I had the privilege of taking Miss A’s graduation photos.  It was then that I noticed her beautiful bone structure & facial features.  As she & her brother settled into the session, I snapped these two images of her back to back.  After doing some slight post-processing to them, I was in love!!

     To show them some love, head over to my Facebook page (Sara Vogt Photography) and send them a shoutout!!

      Her mom & I wanted some place different to take photos and after a little research, her mom told me about Lafayette Village located in Raleigh.  I looked it up online & then her mom & I met there a few weeks prior to the session to see what it was all about.

 I loved the Village immediately!  It emits a warm, old world charm.  Having been to Italy earlier in 2012, being inside what looked like a European village brought back some good memories for me!!

We decided that this was where we wanted to do their session & a few weeks later we came back, bedecked in cute outfits (her mom is into skulls), a hat for Little E and Little E’s stuffed bunny, Bunnah!

 Here are a few of my favorites from their session….

 I think that it’s the sweet portrayal of the relationship Mother & Daughter share, the gorgeous negative space & the detail on this building that all work together to make this one my very favorite!

     The beauty of the sun’s rays captures my eye on this one as does the radiant face of Little E.

     Little E adores her dad and from his expression in this image, I’m pretty sure her dad adores her too!! =)

     These ladies are ridiculously cute!  Little E’s smile is just like her moms.

     I seriously cannot wait until the fall of 2013 so I can take photos of this lovely family again!

of a newly married (in May 2012) couple that I go to church

with. They brought along their dog and we had fun!

     Here are a few of the images from our time together.

     The picture below is my absolute favorite from the session.

  Their love is evident, as well as the inoccence of youth.  It’s just

beautiful.

     I had them try this pose with my phone because I think it’s

very laid back and natural.  I mean, who doesn’t take pictures

of themselves?! =)

     We were just about to walk back to the cars when I saw the

colorful sunset on the lake just waiting to be photographed.  I

positioned them and they were able to talk and watch the sunset

as I caught this photo of them.  It reminded me of a metaphoric

photo of their life together; how they’re holding hands facing

the unknown, looking out into the beauty of the lifetime that

stretches ahead of them. What a great way to end their session!!

     If you’d like to see more photos from their session, follow this

link to their Facebook album!!