Making every moment matter

Some days are easier than others.

As many of you know, Pedro and I have been "living" in California for almost a year now. Los angeles to be exact. It's funny, using the word "living" because we have been gone from here more than we have actually been here. Between the months of January and May, I spent 10 nights in our apartment while Pedro only spent one. Insanity. In fact, the longest we have ever been in LA without interruption is 24 days! When we moved here we knew it would be difficult but really had no idea what was ahead at all. 

I haven't felt inspired to write for quite some time out of fear that my thoughts would be wasted space on a page or screen. I have learned the value of time this year in a very new and real way... making every moment matter is not a motto it's a mindset and lifestyle. I want every word I speak, every thing I do and the time of anyone who may listen or read to not be wasted with rantings, ravings or ramblings. Truth is, the only part of me that is worth hearing about is Jesus in me. I will continue writing to share what is happening in the lives of Pedro and I but it would be impossible to do that without also sharing what we are learning in our relationship with this awesome friend, Jesus. 

I absolutely love reading the word of God. I've been spending time in the New Testament lately. 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter have been my jam! Have you ever had a friend that you just LOVE spending time around because you leave being with them feeling refreshed and encouraged and like you can do anything? Well thats how I feel about Jesus. I get asked constantly, "Your life is so crazy, how do you do it?" Ummmm..... Jesus. What's funny really is that what people looking in on our life see as difficult, really are not the same parts we view as difficult. Anyway, here are some scriptures that say it more clearly than I ever could.

1 Peter 1:8-9
You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with glorious, inexpressible joy. Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-5
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled. We will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ.

That's how I feel everyday. I have inexpressible joy in the midst of chaos. I trust Him and know He knows the answer to every question and every twist, turn & even the end to my story. What greater gift could ever be mine than the salvation of my soul? I am a gift giver and a good one at that... but I surely can't offer anyone freedom from the shame of sin or justification and right standing with God. That's the best gift ever... bar none!  And then, there's the cherry on top! He gives us his mercy (sparing us from punishment we deserve) through salvation.... plus some. As if saving us from death and replacing it with eternal life wasn't enough, he comforts us. He holds us, carries us and gives us peace. 

Our life running a nonprofit and touring in the music industry is crazy, yes. But the truth of the matter is that we are not pulled in as many directions as you might think. Our one goal and purpose is to know Jesus more, understand his word better, love people truer and help people find the same fulfillment and hope we have in Jesus. It's all the same thing. One mission. One purpose. And we all share it! 

-Nomad Newlyweds

Finding a moment to blog....

I know, I know.... its been a year since I have last updated. Pathetic. But so much has happened this last year that I just cant wait another moment to share. I am finally stealing away a few moments to save my memories here.

This past year I taught 2nd grade at an amazing school called Tortuga Preserve Elementary. As if I didn't love teaching enough from my first year, I fell more in love with it this past year. I was hesitant at first and intimidated because I was not only changing schools but also moving grade levels from 3rd to 2nd. Who would've known that I was definitely EXACTLY where I was supposed to be. This year was the very first, pioneering year of TPE and it was super cool to get to be a part of opening a new school. The administration at that school love Jesus and are just to die for! My fellow teammates and coworkers are also outstanding and I know I have made friends for life! I have known and loved the most amazing set of 19 world changers this year. I am obsessed with my 7-8 year old kiddos. Each of them so unique, all growing tremendously in heart and academic success. Together they have changed my life in a tremendous way. It was an honor and privilege to be creative in my teaching and do life with them everyday. 

My teaching the past two years has completely enabled Pedro and I to fund Hope In Motion! Pedro has been able to focus on traveling, speaking and playing music and it has been awesome to see how God has provided. On top of everything else he does, Pedro also worked for a non profit called the Height Foundation for 6 months at the beginning of the year doing consulting and program building for them. It was a crazy busy and extremely exhausting time for us but we were able to save  up to be gone all summer. This past summer we have spent the entire two months (minus a little travel in between) being based out of Los Angeles, CA. Pedro spoke  at conferences and camps all over FL and we celebrated our 3 year marriage anniversary in San Francisco! It has always been a dream of mine to pursue acting and music in LA so I got to do a bit of that this summer. We also pursued some business partnerships for Hope In Motion out there and got together a game plan for what the next year will hold.

We have decided to follow our hearts completely this upcoming year in what we feel like he is prompting and leading us to do with Hope In Motion. We have decided it best that I not teach full time this upcoming year so that I can travel with Pedro. We are focusing our efforts on fundraising, like missionaries do, in order to be able to reach as many students with a message of hope as possible. The truth is, bullying is in every area of these kids lives (home, school, friendships, etc) and we have to do something about it! We want kids to know that it is totally okay to be who they are, whoever that may be. We want to encourage students to dream big and make their lives count. Our job is to encourage our future generation to not just let their voices be heard but for their voices to positive and world-changing. We are so excited about the task God has given us. We'd be lying if we said we weren't nervous though. We know that God's vision is so much greater than our own and that his ways don't always make sense to our human minds. We are definitely stepping into unchartered waters and don't have all of our questions answered. But we rest in the confidence that wherever the Lord asks us to go and whatever he sets before us to do, He will go with us. 

There are great things ahead in La Vida LaTorre so stay tuned and stay praying! Thank you for caring, thank you for supporting and thank you for loving us!

As always,
Your Favorite Nomad Newlyweds

Catching Up & Coming Soon...

The Spring...
I can hardly believe that I was a teacher for an entire school year. Remarkably, I survived and so did all the kids! I certainly wasn't your average, everyday teacher. I would bet I was probably the only teacher who traveled to different cities and states on the weekends. Regardless of if I was a typical candidate for the job, I sure did enjoy every second. My troop of 3rd graders stole my heart in a way I am not sure I will ever get it back. Despite the stress and strife of FCAT testing, we pulled together, buckled down and made it through (and with flying colors I might add)! I had so much fun getting to live life with my youngsters this year. Each one of them has more personality than 1,000 adults combined!!!! Although I never saw teaching as part of my life plan, I couldn't be more thankful that God chose me to meet and influence such an incredible group of young people. After all, I will always be their only third grade teacher and they will always be my only first class. Its crazy to think that I was brave enough to take on the challenge of teaching elementary school, having a background in Broadcast of TV/Radio/Film. Im not sure what I was thinking, but I wouldn't change a single thing! My little munchkins certainly taught me more than I could have planned or imagined to teach them. I cried like a baby the entire last week of school as I knew it was time to say goodbye. Now I take every opportunity I get to pray over their lives and hope that they will make good decisions in the future. I, without a doubt, could not have done it without my favorite friend, Lo Mixon. She is a saint and such a gift to my life in more ways than I could list if I sat here for hours. She isn't one for public displays of affection so in short, "Thank you...as tall as a giraffe and as long as an FSU football field." :) I am so sad that Lo will not be teaching with me this year, but happy that she is thrilled to be moving back to Tallahassee to teach. She is a brave soul to do 5th grade math & science! I may have thrown her a surprise going away/ birthday party. She just moved and I am already having withdrawals.

Summer lovin'....
One major perk to my job is having 9 weeks of summer off!!!! Yes, I am loving it. In true "Nomad Newlywed" form, we have been traveling nonstop this summer. We started with a week in Nashville visiting friends and working on some music. On the way back from Nash, we stopped to see family in Birmingham, AL. We got home just in time to go to a benefit concert in honor of my family members who were run over. Oh did I mention that? The summer started with a bang..literally. My cousin Rocky and uncle Tee were hit by a car leaving church the very first weekend of summer. Not cool. Thankfully they were okay, minus broken ribs, punctured/collapsed lungs, broken elbow, shattered hip and broken femur. The benefit concert was beautiful, thanks to Cypress Lake Center for the Arts. We left the benefit concert and went to go see our puppy, Demi, who had been at my parents while we were gone. I am not kidding with you when I say that she literally broke her leg running at my parents house the very night we got back! We were only planning to be in town for 24 hours so we spent about 3 hours at the benefit concert, 12 of those hours at the vet's office, 3 hours doing laundry and packing and 6 hours sleeping. It was a whirlwind. From there we went to Orlando for our annual Vega family vacation at my parent's timeshare. Despite the rain, we got faint tan lines and managed to keep our pup hidden from the maintenance and housekeeping crews eyes.
 

Filling in the cracks...
Keep in mind that throughout all of our travels together, Pedro goes off for a few days at a time playing shows in different areas of the country. You gotta love summer music festival season! Upon returning home, we were immediately thrown into the craziness of baby showers, birthday parties, holidays and weddings galore! I am not sure what is in the water around here but everyone seems to be getting engaged, married or pregnant...Crazy! In the midst of everything else, I also had some decisions to make about my employment for next year. I was offered two positions locally to teach and had to choose. All the while, we have been uncertain of if God is even leading us to stay here at all. I decided to accept a position at a brand new school, Tortuga Elementary School, teaching 2nd grade. You never know what God will do, but that is the plan for now!

A Sidenote: Details...
We are loving all the family togetherness this summer has brought. We had awesome Mother & Father's Days this year and are getting to spend plenty of time with the Babyman. He is at such a fun age and we just love watching his adorable little personality come out. He makes everything better! My older brother Josh is in hair school and is my new stylist, so that is fun. It's kind of like having the sister I never had... he does my hair and makeup and everything! (He will probably kill me if he reads this) I have also been auditioning for Disney. Unfortunately, the only parts I can gain in FL are as character performers in parks. I am too short to be most princesses. I could only audition for Mickey & minnie Mouse or to be Tinkerbell or one of her fairy friends. At the most recent audition, I was told, "You are too tan to be typecast as Periwinkle (a fairy friend of Tink's), but you are much too pretty to be hidden in a Mickey or Minnie head." Needless to say, I didn't get the part. I'm not giving up on catching a break as I would love to put my personality and talent to good use! 

The latest...
Making memories is one of the sweetest things in life, so I make it a top priority. For the fourth of July, we were all American and had a barbecue. This week we squeezed in time in Chattanooga & Nashville with friends we just love. The majority of the week we spent time at Toby Mac's Camp Electric, an awesome youth music camp. We also got time in the studio to record a few songs we've been writing. It was a blast-Pedro and I love getting this time together to travel and share adventures.

Coming soon...
As I write, I am in an airplane headed home and Pedro is headed to Minnesota for a show. We will be home to rest and recoup for just about a week before we take off again. We are excited to see our pup, eat home cooked dinners, have time to exercise, sleep in our own bed & see my family. Next Friday we will be heading to New Orleans for a show, then spend the next 10 days between Lafayette, LA, Pheonix,AZ and Las Vegas! Can't wait! It will be a mix of business and pleasure but we couldn't be more thrilled. All good things here & so thankful for Gods provision and protection. 

 

Until next time....
 
Your Favorite Nomad Newlyweds

Pedro & Jessie LaTorre

Undetermined Disposition

I recognize that life is all about learning and growing, yet I am constantly amazed at just how much I seem to be doing just that. Not that I am complaining... I am quite thankful that God continually exposes me to new experiences that diversify my perspective. As of late, I have learned so much about people. Let me preface this by stating that folks are constantly saying to Pedro and I, "Oh I always think you guys are so busy," or "I wasn't sure if you guys were in town." Despite what many may believe, we have really regulated our schedules, at least as regular as we can be. Our lifestyle may not look exactly like the average joe's but its manageable for us :) Regardless, we have spent the majority of our time alone or with my family (thank God for them...they are irreplaceable). This has allotted us plenty of time for self reflection and observation of others. The knowledge I have rendered from that combination is bountiful! I could go on for days about what I have learned from watching others, so I wont even begin! On the other hand, the self reflection has really helped me to refocus what I do with my time. 


Music has always been my first love and passion that I have constantly allowed to fall secondary. Since it is something I so enjoy, I decided to start covering some songs of artists I love. Pedro and I choose the songs based on requests or random impulse. It has been a fun endeavor so far so I hope you will come along on this journey with me and give me your support and feedback. You can subscribe to my youtube channel or follow me on facebook and twitter. Check out the first couple videos below:

As far as our nomadic activity lately, we recently went to Dallas together. We were invited to an I am Second leadership conference, where we met some amazing people. Pedro was invited to be a part of their speakers bureau....which is a HUGE deal and such an honor. If you havent checked out iamsecond.com, do it! They are a non-profit organization with creative multimedia productions. They are all about the power of stories. We also spent time with some of our friends from the organization Hello Somebody. If you havent heard of them, PLEASE take the time to look them up at hello-somebody.com. You will not be disappointed! Pedro left Dallas to do 8 shows over 2 days in Tennessee...crazy I know! Meanwhile, I stayed a few extra days in Dallas and got to spend some much needed time with my college roommate that I hadn't seen in years! It was a great treat. We just love our travel time :)

I am still teaching and although it may not be what I set out to do originally, I sure am enjoying the ride. I just adore the 17 little people I spend my days with. Today, in between math, reading,science and social studies, I found time to educate them about social injustice in the world. I shared with them some of the tragedy caused by the clean water crisis (http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/). I told them how 1 billion people live without clean drinking water and are likely to die from waterborne illness. They learned that 10 children die every 60 seconds of hunger and that millions of people around the world live on less than 1 dollar a day. Even though all of my students are on free lunch themselves based on the low incomes of their families, they were moved into action. Starting tomorrow we will be raising money to build a well in Africa. After today I feel like no matter what happens for the rest of the school year, I helped teach them to be compassionate to others and that is worth everything.

In other news, we found out there will be 3 new babies entering our family this year. I have a cousin pregnant from each side of my family (Denise from dad's side and Shelby from mom's side). Both babies are due in August, just days apart! Then in September, Pedro and I will become Tio  & Titi (uncle & aunt) for the first time. Pedro's sister Tianna is pregnant! It will be an exciting year in our family!!!! 

It's almost Valentines Day and I am ecstatic! I wish everyone would go out of their way to be loving to others more often and not wait for a holiday! I will definitely be seeing the movie The Vow and hopefully filling my tummy with sushi :)

Well that is all for now.... Thanks for keeping up with us :)

Love, 

The Nomad Newlyweds

Blogworthy Birthday

As many of you may know, my birthday just recently passed. Twenty-four doesnt feel much different from twenty-three, but my birthday certainly left an impression on me. I will walk you through my day so you can better understand why it was so outstanding.

I woke up on the morning of the 18th just like I always do: before the sun and to work before 7 am. Not thrilled to work on my birthday, I was hoping the day would fly by. My mood instantly began to brighten when I found my classroom door decorated by my friend and co-worker, Lo. As I progressed into my room, I saw a HUGE balloon, my favorite guava pastries and a sweet card- it is such a great thing to work with your friend :)

my door

Before I knew it, the bell rung and in flooded my students. Much to my surprise, they had all remembered it was my special day! One by one I was welcomed with birthday hugs and sweet  wishes. They quickly got to work and began making me cards and gifts. By the time the late bell rang, I was adorned from head-to-toe in handmade paper jewelry (in every color construction paper you can imagine). The only person more proud of their creative handiwork than them, was me. I felt so loved as I wore their ridiculous looking rings, bracelets, necklaces and crowns all day. My desk and floor could not contain the layers and layers or cards and artwork they gifted to me.

Before

After

yum

Midway through my work day, I was surprised by my handsome hubby! He brought me the biggest basket of gourmet chocolates and completely brightened my day. It was a good boost right before I participated in the Teacher Turkey Trot Race. The combination of my competitiveness and my students cheering me on, led me to the win! I beat out fifty some other teachers- in the rain I might add! I must admit, I thought I was going to pass out afterwards!

huge gift bag

After work, I went home for a quick nap and then out to my favorite sushi spot!!!!!! On the way there, Pedro got a call making him an official job offer to work on a movie out of Nashville- more on that later. It was a fantastic night with some of the most fabulous people I know and love.  I got presents that were practically the size of me and enjoyed every second of the day.

As if all my other gifts weren't enough, Pedro got me a puppy! I have wanted one for so long and finally I have one! Introducing our divalicious Demi LaTorre :) We named her after two great women who have passed away on Thanksgivings in the past, DEbbie Gwaltney and NoEMI Vega. If you put the names together it equals DEMI! She is furrier that we hope our future children will be, but we couldn't love her more! She was 10 wks old when we got her and she is already house-trained. Pedro says she is smart and stubby, just like me! She stays downstairs in our house, lets us sleep all night and puts up with our crazy schedule. I guess you could say she is perfect.

our sweet girl

Love these two

My birthday couldn't have been better. The thing about it that stands out is not that I was spoiled and showered with love and gifts, but the heart to which everything was done. It was everything I could do to not burst into tears each time a student gave me a gift. There is just something so sincere and pure about a kid who has nothing, giving you their favorite stuffed animal. Nothing quite says I love you like a hand-made gift from a child who is considered "homeless." You see all of my students receive free lunch due to their family's financial struggles. My eyes filled and refilled with tears as a student who desperately needs new shoes, handed me a fresh bouquet of roses. No tangible gifts could compare to these memories. My little third graders continue to change me. I have no doubt that by the end of the year, they will have taught me more than I could ever teach them.

Demi makes us a family of 3

Its time for the holidays now and we are wishing you all nothing but the best! 

Until next time,

The Nomad Newlyweds

Just a tidbit.

Sometimes we dont say the things that need to be said. I'm not quite certain what holds us back when it comes to this topic. Whether its our lack of enthusiasm on the subject, our drifting minds that seem to lose connection with thought every couple seconds, our carelessness when it comes to the emotional needs of others or plain ole' pride and fear of rejection.... we are just plain selfish sometimes. What's interesting about this to me is that we seem to have no problem whatsoever, spending countless hours wasting time talking about absolute nonsense. But the things that others need us to say, to encourage and uplift them, build their dreams, melt their heart or even just cause a smile, seem to be the furthest words from our lips. 


Busyness is the culprit in my life. I hate that word. Havent we all just become too busy? It seems to be our excuse for every shortcoming we have in relationships. "Sorry I'm just so busy." Its not a bad thing to be busy and in motion when it comes to productivity or pursuing our futures, but we can control how busy we are and what we are willing to sacrifice on behalf of our choices. I pray we make decisions with our time that we will not regret one day down the road. I pray that we wont be too busy planning ahead that we miss what could have happened with the people around us today. 



In the words of my precious husband, "Sometimes you just gotta flip over the table and put back only what really matters." I hope you will join me in doing that today!


Just a thought :) 


On that note: I am going to throw my to-do list in the trash, and go spend my night talking and cuddling with my guy.

One Life.

I swear I will never wait this long to blog again. Seriously, this is ridiculous! So much has gone on that it will be impossible for me to fit it all in here. I will do my best to cover the important stuff but make no promises that I will remember everything! Here goes nothing…

Summertime Shenanigans.

I think we appreciate each "season" for different reasons. Pedro and I are particularly fond of summertime because we enjoy the sunshine! Afterall, everything is better with a tan!  Summertime brought some of our very favorite friends together and we enjoyed doing life together while we could.  Some of our closest friends are helping lead Hope In Motion Institute, which has been going amazing!  Other than that, we spent our freetime this summer making memories with our friends studying God's word together,  geocaching (which is like treasure hunting with the world...google it), watching movies, swimming and hot tubbing, and finding plenty of time to eat. We didnt sleep much, but it was worth it. 

As part of the seasons of life, there are rainy days and times of drought. That seems to apply most in relation to the patterns of opportunities our lives. We have no idea what tomorrow will entail, but we know it will be exciting! We are maximaizing every moment we are given and trying to remember to enjoy the journey...even if we have to pencil it in.

We hit the big one year in July! One year seems anticlimactic when you have been together over 7 years, but we know that one year of marriage is a huge accomplishment. If year one is the hardest in marriage as they say, then we are off to a fab start! We managed to find a few days to sneak away and be alone to celebrate. It was perfect.

Hope in Motion Institute wrapped up at the end of the summer and it was more than we could’ve imagined. It was so successful in fact, that we are now hosting a Fall term of the institute and will be also doing a Spring semester as well! We are so proud of the young people who are dedicating their time to this ministry.

In August we thought we would be moving back to Nashville. But sometimes our plans are just that…plans. I got called for a long-term subbing position and went in for the interview.  Substitute teaching seemed like a perfect fit to our lifestyle and a job I could accept or deny each day. Basically it was a very non-committal option. To our great surprise, I was called almost immediately after the interview and offered a 3^rd grade full –time teaching job. Confused, I made certainly the lines of communication were clear in the interview and they understood I had no experience in the field. They insisted that they had faith I could do the job and pass the certification testing without the schooling. Trusting God to open or shut the door, I took the test and passed on the spot. I became a teacher that day.

God continues to teach us that we can walk confidently into any situation and know that He will equip us.  I feel so honored that I get to pour into and help mold the lives of 16 kids in my classroom everyday.  Our plan, for now, is to be in Fort Myers at least through May to fulfill my commitment as a teacher. After that, the sky is the limit! We absolutely loved Nashville and could totally see ourselves settling down there at some point down the road.

Pedro has been on the road like crazy lately between doing shows with KJ52, Anthem Lights and speaking with Hope In Motion.  He is slowing down for a bit now to focus on some new endeavors that we will release at a later date. He turned the big 2-5 in September, hard to believe he was 17 when we started dating.

Finally Fall.

We started off October out on the road in Charlotte, NC.  It was such a blast to explore downtown Charlotte and then finish off the weekend with him performing a huge show with TobyMac, Brandon Heath, The Almost,  and KJ52. We really do love the opportunities to travel we have been given. We cannot wait for November to get here… it seriously cannot get here quick enough! We are planning to be in NYC to do the Hope In Motion presentation in schools there. New York City is one of our favorite places and particularly special because we got engaged there! Then we are heading straight from there to Miami to go on a week-long cruise. We will be on the Music Boat Cruise where Pedro will be performing. Shortly after that will be my birthday and then Thanksgiving! The holidays are our favorite time of the year with great weather and family! We were hoping for seasons this year, but maybe next year we will actually be somewhere that it gets below 85 degrees.

We are celebrating the small things right now and loving getting to be part of things like my little brother Josiah entering high school and watching him bloom into quite the singer and musician at his performing arts school. We still have Babyman all the time and just adore that sweet boy like if he were our own! We have so many friends getting married and having babies all around us and we are loving seeing our friends grow up and start new lives. Our most recent adventure is that we are moving into a new place here in Fort Myers. Not sure how we are going to find the time to pack and move but we have 3 days to do so! Ready or not, here we go!

God is so faithful to us and we pray that as we continue to pursue Him and become like Him, we will be most effective in this life and as it effects eternity. I hope our journeys serve as a testimony of God’s grace to you. Thank you for loving us enough to keep up with us.

The bottom line is that we only get one life to live and we are going to make sure that we make the most of every moment...not in a reckless way, but in an abandoned-to-self, committed to the Kingdom kind of way.

The 

     Nomad 

                Newlyweds