It's the beginning of summer. May and June have been full. We've known all year that June, July and August would stretch us out especially thin because of Huddle Up NYC Summer Camps. As I'd look ahead at the summer calendar, I would start to feel a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activities we had. Thankfully, our community of friends, life saving babysitter, and family from Florida SHOWED up and gave us much needed assistance! From walking Bess, to taking Lucie to school, to getting dinner going, to taking us out to eat, to getting Lucie to bed. It has been a sweet, chaotic, display of love poured out, and all of that was just the beginning. We still have two months to go!
I LOVE times with friends, when I'm not with them, I am busy planning the next time I will be. My hope for this extra busy season for us though, is to find intentional pockets of time to rest and recharge as a family with Lucie and Rob, and even times for just me, to reflect, journal, sit, think and pray. Oh, what a dream.
Last month, I shared how I have realized that it is really easy for me to stay stuck in fear and doubt instead of moving forward. I can put up a wall, a mental boundary, or make a (very valid) excuse before I even make a move. So that by the time two days, two months, or two years have gone by, I haven't even taken one step in the direction of something that I'd like to pursue.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
That sounds kind of cheesy, right? It's so true though. And you know what? Taking that first step is SO hard. These past two months have been huge for me in the area of taking first steps. On the personal side, I've started exercising and running. CRAZINESS. The first day I ran, I ran a mile in about 15 minutes, and HATED every single moment. I felt like Michael Scott, from The Office. With every step, I thought, "this is the worst", "oh man, I'm going to be sick"; "this is SO HARD!" And after all of that, I'd realize I had only run about 3 minutes!! It was not fun, but I realized that a huge component was mental. Two months later, I ran a 10K with friends in an hour and eight minutes! Wooo! And next month, Rob and I are going to run a 5K on the 4th of July, and I actually *can't wait*! Career wise, I am joining a new team at work and feel so thankful and ready for the opportunity. It was one I almost didn't pursue because I had written off my ability before I even applied. Not every first step has had such great results as a new found love for running and a new job. I applied to four other jobs before this, and had dozens of networking conversations. It had been months of no outward difference, no change in circumstances, yet I remained encouraged because I could see that my mentality was shifting because I was willing to at least make a move.
I'm going through a workbook and one exercise is to come up with a word for the season you're in. Of course, I wrestled with what word to choose, and for awhile I wanted my word to be something else, but as I really thought about the last two months I found it: Confidence. Confidence instead of fear, confidence instead of doubt, confidence instead of being frozen. Confidence in me, confidence in others, and especially, confidence in Him who is able to do a good work in me.
“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
That word brings me to the title of this post, which is of course the name of one of the songs from the film, The Sound of Music. The chorus to this song got stuck in my head, so I looked up the lyrics again and thought that the beginning was so fitting. It may not have been Julie Andrews favorite song from the musical, and honestly I think I would fast forward through it sometimes when I was younger, but today, it resonates with me!
“What will my future be?
I wonder.
It could be so exciting,
To be out in the world,
To be free!
My heart should be wildly rejoicing.
Oh, what’s the matter with me?
I’ve always longed for adventure,
To do the things I’ve never dared.
Now here I’m facing adventure
Then why am I so scared?”
My encouragement to you is to take that first step. I'd love to hear about your experiences too.
Here's a peek into what we've been up to since our last update. Enjoy.
Love,
Los Hicksons
Heading to a Cinco de Derby party at our friend’s apartment.
Lucie the Sous Chef
Fun times with J Riggy - who joined us for lunch on our anniversary* =)
*not our anniversary lunch, lol...
Family photo shoot at the Cooper Hewitt lawn (photo credit: Molly Rigoloso)
Celebrating our 11th anniversary with all the fierceness.
Having a blast at the special Mother’s Day Huddle Up NYC workout at Sweaty Betty!
Attending the Mother’s Day Tea Party at Lucie’s school
💗
A few days later it was such a gift to celebrate our anniversary by getting to see Hamilton on Broadway was unforgettable!
The next day we enjoyed a midweek date day and went to a farmers market where I was able to pick up some more plants. Yay! 🌱
And Momofuku for delicious ramen!
Someone had a bubble machine at the Park! What JOY!
Celebrating Hudson’s 1st bday!
Such a fun gathering - we miss Hudson and the Braun family!
Meeting up with Alana, my friend from college who was in town for a few days.
Then getting to visit with Sara and Adam, some of our first friends that we made when we moved to NYC, while they were in town. So much fun!!
Manning the donation table at The Hope Experience, Spring Benefit for Hope for New York with Scott. Over the last year I had the privilege of getting to work with HFNY on their Young Supporters Committee in planning this event.
Rooftops are the best!
Moving day for the Brauns :(
More birthday celebrations, Beni turned one!
You can make it, Lucie!
Love this great picture from a fun Sunday evening on the Thomases rooftop.
Another gem thanks to Molly.
Memorial Day at Central Park
Later that night she bumped her eye pretty badly on the side of her bed. She wanted Bess to sleep with her which was really sweet. We sang, and talked and told her she would be okay. She prayed a very special prayer before going to bed this night.
Quick afternoon visit from Aly and Baby Olive.
Huddle Up NYC’s special Father’s Day workout with lululemon.
Grandma and Abo came to visit and helped a ton during the first week of Robby’s camp that was pretty busy in and of itself but also, since some schools weren’t off for summer yet, he still had plenty of after school groups to lead as well. It was hectic and we were so glad to have the extra set of hands.
We also had fun getting to celebrate early birthdays for Robby and me, plus my work promotion!
At the Central Park Zoo with Abo
We had overlapping family visitors! At the end of Grandma and Abo’s visit, Tio, Geraliz, Titi Michi and Elsie came up to NYC for a few days!
Familia!!
Eyepatch Update: After three months of wearing the eyepatch every morning for two hours, Lucie's eye has improved so much. Her right eye was the stronger eye and it went from 20/40 to 20/30, and her left eye strengthened tremendously going from 20/80 to 20/30!! Since there was such great progress, her doctor let us know that she would no longer need to patch her eye. Thank God!
10K in Queens with Katie and Lacey!
Just for fun: "Finishing that 5K was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I ate more Fettuccini Alfredo and drank less water than I have in my entire life. People always talk about triumphs of the human spirit. Well, today, I had a triumph of the human body. That's why everybody was applauding for me at the end, my guts and my heart. And while I eventually puked my guts out, I never puked my heart out. I'm very, very proud of that." Michael Scott, The Office.
Movie Tour with la familia
Models.
Lucie with Daddy-O. It’s fun, she’s started calling me Mommy-O, too.
Dancing Salsa in Midtown. Because, obvi.
Lucie loves singing Marc Anthony’s song, Vivir mi Vida. La-la-la-la-la!
Puerto Ricoooooo
Reunited with my work wifey at a farewell event for a coworker
Summers in NYC
(bonus if you get a cab in your picture, right Jessa?)
Playground art :) (Not by us, still thought it was cool though!)
At Lucie’s 3 1/2 year check up! “Mommy, I want to be a doctor, so I can have one of these chairs!”
Ready for swim lessons at the Y!
Second Annual Birthday BBQ for Greg and Robby!
Robby got to pick the dessert and he chose Funfetti Cupcakes with chocolate frosting. We learned that not many people (me included) had tried this combo, and it did not disappoint!! Yum!
🎉🎉🎉
DELICIOUS!
After all of these fun events and plans, we basked in the glory of a Sunday afternoon filled with nothing but bubbles in Central Park.