connecticut | because it's important.

the short version is, when i went to connecticut for less than 48 hours for leah's wedding in june, i came back to nashville feeling like it wasn't enough, like i didn't have enough time with my people. and so, i made arrangements to go back.

the longer version includes more about how i am always considering the extent to which my life, my faith, my relationships, my financial situation, etc. all depend upon the choices i make. that when push comes to shove, the things that take priority and hold the title of being most important is are things i get to choose for myself.

what i mean is, at the end of the day, i am responsible for saying yes and saying no and those choices speak into what i think is important.

i had a lot of things that were out of my control going on in the last two weeks of august that made it a chaotic period of time, without also adding in a five-day trip. i could have let those things bury me, causing me to say "i can't" or "i have too much going on" or "i don't have the money." and each of those statements, at the time, would have felt true to say. but i get to decide what's important, and i felt like i needed time in connecticut with my people, so i made it a priority to get there.

whenever anyone asked why i was in town or what we had on our agenda, i kept wanting to say, this is it. i rearranged things and made sacrifices for this. and, i guess, that is also why i kept forgetting to take photos. my goal was to be and not to capture.

i had dinner with H and her boyfriend. i coffee shop hopped with abs. i met emerson grace. J and abs and i watched episodes of friday night lights (because J's never seen it!). i had dinner with my cousin, melanie. J and abs and H and i all went to new york city. we visited the 9/11 memorial and museum. we ate somewhere within walking distance and all ordered the same thing on the menu but each of us had slight variations (and our waiter got everything right). we took a lot of selfies. H and i walked on the boardwalk in niantic and ate lunch on the beach. among other things.

here are the photos i did take.

that last one just makes me laugh out loud. every time.