Nashville Newbies.

Guitar Drop

Moving out of state truly was leaving home for us. We left family, friends, mentors, accountability...our whole support system. Still being in our first year of marriage, we desperately long for community as we know it is absolutely vital in our lives. But despite our hesitations and hang-ups, we more desperately seek God's will for our lives and want so badly to be used to our utmost wherever and whenever He leads. With heavy hearts and tear-filled eyes, we set out on the road to Tennessee....knowing we'd face sure adversity, but anxious to see what we would learn. We packed up our car with all we could fit and trusted God....in the midst of unanswered questions its all we could do.


New Year. New Everything.
We brought in this new year as Nashville Newbies. Having lived in Nashville less than a week, we decided to check out downtown and listen to music while welcoming 2011. Last year's New Years we spent in NYC eating pizza before going downtown for the ball drop in Times Square.... and getting engaged! Since that is such a fond memory, we decided to make it a tradition to chow down on some NY style pizza before joining the festivities. Nashville is charmingly referred to by most as "Music City," but we soon came to realize that it is mot popular for the Christian and Country music industries (which go hand in hand). Surrounded by cowboy hats at the New Years "guitar drop," we worried that we would have a hard time finding ethnic people and indie music....but not to worry, we found both later! 

Our Precious Godson

Missing family. Building Family.
We have grown to love a thing called webcams!!!!! We make it a priority to talk to my family several times a week and love that we actually get to see their faces....Thank you technology! They miss us too but probably not as much as we do them ;-) My mom said it best like this, "Miss you both so much, it feels like both of our arms have been cut off. We will live, but definitely not the same quality of life." Perfectly put. From this point forward, it will be impossible to tell our story without including the names of our Nashville besties/family: Alan, Brycie & Avery-Jade Powell. What an incredible blessing and truly a godsend they have been to our lives. We are not sure we would've survived our Nashville move without them. Not only did they open their home to us our first week there until we found a place of our own, but they truly have opened their arms and hearts to us. We cant say enough good words about them, honestly. Another major perk of living in Tennessee is having our sweet godson Tatum and his lovely mommy Brittany only 45 min away! Tatum will be 4 in April and we are loving getting to see what an amazing lil man he is growing up to be. And more exciting news: Brittany is getting married to Clint in June... I am so excited to get to be part of the wedding preparations and cant wait to be celebrating with her as a proud bridesmaid so soon!!! We have also enjoyed being within a 3 hour drive of Pedro's family (dad, stepmom &brother) who live in Birmingham, AL. We are sooooooo thankful to them for bringing up Pedro's furniture and helping make our house a home. It has been such an exciting new experience for us  to have his family living close by and definitely brought us closer in heart too! 


Finding Community.
Our very first Sunday in Nashville we decided to try a church by the name of Journey Church. We had three, totally unrelated, sources all suggest the same church for us to try. Without question, we knew we had to at least check it out. It was very clear during that first service, that we were home! We absolutely fell in love with Journey church. We loved the worship style, giving style, artistic forms of worship, the pastor and leadership and most importantly, the people! We quickly got plugged into a village (home group) and began building relationships that we wouldnt trade for the world. Pastor Jamie George, his wife Angie, and 4 children are amazing!!!! Sundays and Tuesdays have become new highlights of our week; Sunday mornings because of our church gathering and Tuesday nights because of our village time at their home. Our village consists of married couples, dating couples, engaged, singles and a variety of ages and backgrounds....Just the way we like it! We have so loved hearing everyone's stories and getting to share our own. Its true what they say, you never can tell a book by its cover. Note to self: If you are ever feeling as though you dont truly know someone or connect with them, take turns telling stories, you will be surprised how much you have in common and how much you didnt know about them. Its never too early or too late to swap stories either, even if you have grown up with someone, you will be shocked to hear details that molded who they are that you never knew occurred; and furthermore, you may just be altogether challenged by seeing through their perspective. All in all, best way to truly connect with people...you will laugh and cry together and forever have conversation starters from that point forward. We have so loved getting to live life with this random group of he's and she's....we are like a never ending puzzle where everyone has a place, no two pieces just alike, and where adding new pieces makes the picture more beautiful. Needless to say, the leadership and people who make up Journey church have spiritually motivated and captivated us.

Random.
There are a few randoms things to add about our Nashville experience. For one, we saw puppies be born for the first time ever at one of our new friends house...so cool! We have also reconnected with the Shicks family in Nashville, they are the family that many of you may know who started the Bridge youth center in Fort Myers. Their new son-in-law has done a bunch of collaborating on music with Pedro...they are great friends to us. Oh and did I mention that we almost died in the snow?!? Our car slid down a hill and almost off a cliff while trying to get home from work. I jumped out of the car and Pedro pulled the e-brake, leaving our car there overnight. Good news is that we got snowed in from work the next day and got in some quality time! We have noticed that American Idol ex-candidates seem to be everywhere in Nashville and we have met several. We have experienced many "worlds colliding" moments, especially when we became good friends with some of Nae Nae's best friends from college down in Fl...small world! One fabulous find for us was finding a sushi place in West End Nashville that also serves burgers.... very random! We also tried fried pickles and cookie dough egg rolls for the first time...yum! I'm sure there are many more but those are just a few random firsts for us.

Supporting Alan's band on tour

The Industry Life.
Nashville's music industry circles are not quite the same as those we have experienced in New York and California.They are alike in that it is all about networking and who you know, but different because it seems like in Nashville, everyone knows everyone! The music community in Nashville seems to be a smaller, family style group. Likewise, Nashville has a big city feel but is still homey enough to raise a family. As for Pedro's job specifically, it was not exactly what we had in mind or expected. Pedro accepted the job at a management company (that will remain nameless) managing one christian artist, doing all of his day in and day out booking. We quickly found out that he was also doing work for 5 other large artists! Having to learn so much on his own, with no leadership or instruction, Pedro did an amazing job of keeping his head in some very trying situations. Already working crazy hours, his work never stopped coming in and his boss would email him all day and night long. At that point, he had to put his foot down to preserve our time and not bring work home with him. Long story short, it was not what he bargained for! Things were renegotiated and although it was a pay decrease, he agreed to stay on with the original terms in place and getting to work from home. I am so proud of his wisdom and discernment.

It seems like everyone in Nashville is in some way involved in the music industry....musicians, managers, singers, producers, you name it! We are so thankful that we have been able to build a strong friendship with Alan & Brycie during this time, as it seems we are in very similar places in life! Alan is in a band called Anthem Lights that is signed to the christian label, Provident. He has been touring and has had to be away from his wife and precious new baby girl. We have been thrilled to get to help with the baby and be family to them. We have so loved keeping Brycie and baby AJ busy while he's out ministering through music. The music industry life may not be a normal lifestyle but it makes it so much easier when you are surrounded by people who love you and understand. We are so proud of them for how amazing they have done through this transitional time in their lives and have been honored to be a part of it. We only have a 1 bedroom apartment in Nashville right now but we have had people stay with us quite a bit. Our friend George Moss is on Winter jam tour with KJ52 and stays with us when in Nashville. Brycie and the baby have stayed with us some weekends while Alan is gone too. We love opening our home to people we love... just wish we had the rest of our furniture so they didnt have to sleep on our couch or air mattress! One really unique lesson we have learned is: when we seem to have the least, we have the most to give!

When it Rains, It Pours.
Just about the time where Pedro decided to make some changes at work, rough waters came our way elsewhere. I came down with strep throat, paid a ton of money  on doctors fees and meds and then had to take a week off work! Just as I started feeling better and was able to return to work, we started having trouble getting in touch with the girl who was subleasing our condo in Fl from us. We started getting worried because she seemed to disappear and she was renting our place fully furnished! In a nutshell, we were devastated that she moved out without giving us any notice and without paying! It just goes to prove, You REALLY should never to business with "friends." So sad. Still trying to make sense of how to salvage that situation, we then realized we were experiencing identity theft and money was being stolen from our accounts!!!! Talk about an attack... we were just trying to remain positive and not have a mental breakdown at that point. All of that literally lead up until last week as we prepared for our trip to FL. We were so ready for a break and definitely couldnt wait to just get some sun(Vitamin D really does make make us happier)! Maintaining 2 places and paying added bills has definitely not been easy, but all in all we are somehow surviving! Hardships seem to only make us closer as a couple and that is more than enough for us.

Pedro's way of showing me love while sick

Decisions, Decisions.
So here we are.....clueless but ready, worried but willing. We are here in Fl for a DJ Morph and Dro music video shoot, to see family/friends of course and pack up our condo to make the permanent move to Nashville.We have yet to take a break and truly enjoy this weather because we have been too busy trying to make decisions, knocking on doors, and waiting to see what opens up. But we are resting in the comfort and intimacy that comes only from seeking Christ. One immediate need we have is finding good jobs. To be honest, we are very unsure about what our next step is, and whether or not we will be able to make this move permanently. At this point, we are fervently praying that we will be sensitive to God's voice and selflessly be obedient to its  direction. We are still holding steadfast to the promise that God never will leave us or forsake us. We know that where ever He leads us, He will certainly provide for us. Most importantly, we are confident that He will continue to stretch us, grow us and draw us closer unto Himself. We desperately long to not just live, but thrive. We long to be used to our full potential in relationship, our love for music, and being hope in motion to as many who need to hear and see. 

That brings you up to date with us. Now that we are caught up, I promise my entries wont be so extensive! We hope you enjoy keeping up with us and thank you for being part of our story as it is being written!