Meet the Writers: Say Hello to Yvette Montalvo!

Coastal Bend

I’ve been a South Texas girl my entire life. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, I’ve lived in the Coastal Bend for most of my years other than the couple that I spent in Kingsville for college. As a little girl it was often routine to head to the beach for fun on Sundays after church, and as I grew up I learned that it was truly something special that my city had to offer. The views at our beach and along Ocean Drive are one of a kind, especially at dawn and dusk. I’ve grown to appreciate the beauty and history of our city, and while I enjoy traveling and visiting other places, I absolutely love calling this gulf coast city home to my party of four. 

I met my squeeze (Rene) at a local/favorite little beer garden in 2010, and in 2017 we were married on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (and it snowed!). Now that we are parents we don’t get out much, but we still enjoy road trips, live music, yummy food, and other fun things together. 

Thanks to my husband’s help and support, I am able to serve the community I love outside of the home and office by teaching on Sunday mornings at Most Precious Blood Church and being an active member of the Junior League of Corpus Christi. I’ve been volunteering with schools, churches, and other organizations since I was a young girl, and it feels great that I get to set this example for and get my family involved now also. 

 

Mom

After a bit of a struggle with getting and staying pregnant, I became a mom in 2019. Rene and I welcomed Luke into the world at the end of October, and I couldn’t imagine life without our spunky, super smart, and sweet boy. When Luke was about 17mos old, I went through a really hard week mentally, physically, etc and couldn’t figure out what was “going on”. About a week later, I learned that we would be welcoming another baby to the family shortly after Luke would turn two. Our precious baby girl Liana was born November 2021, and she is the sassy, cute, and energetic piece that completes our family. 

Mom life has changed my world like no other, but I’m learning to embrace the chaos and balance “all the things” to learn from and make the best of this new endeavor. Diapers, baby and toddler gadgets, breastfeeding stuff, kids’ shows and songs, and similar topics have taken over our home and lots of our conversations. Parenthood has been quite an adventure with my squeeze, and I look forward to sharing parts of our journey with you. 

 

Blog

Reading and writing are some of my favorite solo pastimes, and I got away from my personal notes and journaling in 2020 to start sharing more of my writing on social media. Reading what others, especially women and moms, have experienced has helped me navigate through some of my own beautiful and bumpy life moments. 

I met Elisabeth from CBMC last year, and one of the first things I blurted out to her was “I want to be a writer!” Here we are one year later, and I am officially a new contributor with my first article published. I love how this new expansion of my community has helped me with fruitful connections. I look forward to sharing about my life, faith, and family on this platform, and I hope my experiences can help others with theirs.