Just wanted to share...

So Nuge and I have been living in this apartment since Sept. 5. He has been living in it since August sometime. So that means that our stuff has been in here for almost 5 months now. I am JUST now getting to the de-cluttering part of living here. I think it will be an ongoing process, but at least I'm starting somewhere.

The other day, I decided to really get serious about it. I went on to The Nest, where I get a lot of inspiration from other "nesties". One girl said to try out FLYLady. So I did and boy am I glad I did! She gave me a place to start because I felt too overwhelmed to just start somewhere. I did pretty much what she said and now, our apartment is finally coming together!

Here are some pictures of what I have accomplished and what I still have left to do. The apartment isn't completely clean, but I'm working on it so bear with me and I'll show ya pictures later.This is the coat rack my sister and I put up. On the left is the front door and on the right is the "hall" closet.
These are on the wall of the living room. My sister helped with these too. They are above and to the left of the TV. My camera battery was out, so I had to take quick pics. Whole living room will be up later.
This is our fireplace...obviously. We are going to put up some candle scones tomorrow on either side of the picture to make it prettier.
More of these will go over our fireplace. These are in our "hallway" right in front of our laundry room. The candles belonged to my grandmother but I will probably get cream ones later.This is our bedroom. Nuge and I hung those curtains a few days after we got married. Our first project as man and wife! I put the bed skirt on the other day.These are in our bathroom. I'll change what's in them as the seasons change. Cute huh? The inspiration came from Nuge's mom.Our laundry room.

Our dining room. This is really messy right now and we will get to this tomorrow. The table was Nuge's when he was young. Then it was his great aunt's, now it is ours. My sister and I hung the mirror.

The kitchen sink, spice rack, and bottle of wine that the Nugents got us for our wedding. We are gonna open it on our 1 year anniversary.
The other side of our kitchen. That toaster is the best thing ever!!! Poaches eggs and makes toast. Awesome breakfast maker! And Cutco knives? Nothing better!

So that's a sneak peek into our apartment. More and better pictures will come.

Now that I have Nuge off for a few days, we are gonna do more cleaning and organizing. Can't you hear the excitement that's in his voice?! I can! :)

Honeymoon!!

We finally got to take our "real" honeymoon! Since we got married in September, we wanted to wait until after hurricane season to go to Jamaica. Nuge's parents treated us to 4 nights in Negril, Jamaica at Couples Swept Away All Inclusive Resort. It was amazing!
We flew out of DFW on Tuesday morning. Our flight was to land in Miami and then head to Montego Bay. We had about 20 minutes from the time our DFW flight landed and our flight to Jamaica took off. We were literally running from one terminal to the next. When we got there, they were already calling names saying that if we didn't show up, then our seats would be canceled. When we arrived at the gate, they asked us what our names were and so we told them, while still running, and they were like, "OK GO!!" and we boarded the plane. We sat down, caught our breath and filled out our Custom forms. Had a great flight to Jamaica! We land, go get our bags...nope, not there! My first reaction was, yep, I knew this was gonna happen. Everyone that was on our DFW flight lost their luggage. The airline people in Jamaica thought it was OUR fault for booking flights so close together. Um...not our fault! Jan and Kevin originally had us on an earlier flight, but when we got our itinerary, we were scheduled for another one.
Anyway, so Nuge goes to find help, I'm standing with about 3 other girls who's husbands/fiances/whatever went to go find help too. I found out that one of them checked her wedding dress. Yeah, she was freaking out. But I told her that since she wasn't getting married until Friday, it was cool. They were gonna have our luggage back either that night or the next day, I assumed. So then Nuge comes back with an airport guy in tow. We head to the baggage complaint area where about a dozen (DOZEN dad) were complaining about the same thing. We were all assured that our bags made it on the next flight out of Miami and that we would get our bags either that night or first thing in the morning.
Good thing I read the message boards and FAQ's and took the advice to pack a carry on just in case something like that happened. So we had our bathing suits, a change of clothes, and a few other random items. One thing we didn't have...contact stuff. I can sleep in my contacts and it doesn't bother me, but Nuge cannot. He wasn't too happy.
When we get through Customs and stuff, we are greeted by our resort. They offer us free Red Stripe and have us sit in the lounge. We load up on the bus for one of the scariest rides ever! Good thing we were sitting on the second row so we couldn't see what was really going on. The landscape was BEAUTIFUL! On one side of the road there was beautiful, blue-green ocean and then on the other, beautiful green mountains/small hills...depending on where you live.
When we get to the resort, we are handed a glass of champagne and a cool wet rag. They show us to our room. AMAZING!
Inside the cabinet: 3 bottles of free liquor, 1 bottle of red wine, a mini fridge stocked with: juice, tonic, bottle water, white wine, champagne, and random cokes. All free and stocked daily.
So that's the view from the inside. The view from the out...


Beautiful huh?
So after unpacking what little we had, we changed clothes and went to dinner. There was a cute little grill 2 buildings down from us that had cheeseburgers, hamburgers, hot dogs, and other random snacks. Since we hadn't eaten since breakfast, we were pretty hungry. After that, we went exploring where we ended up at another dining area. Not wanting to miss anything, we quickly got something to eat there too! Good stuff!
It got dark and we didn't know our way around too well, so we went back to our room to just chill until our luggage came. Since Nuge was freaking out about his contacts, I tried to ask random guests who walked by our room if they had contact solution. Of course it was around midnight and either they were too drunk to know what I was asking, or thought about how weird it was for some random person to ask them for contact solution. Either way, we didn't get any.
We decided to head to bed and just figure something out in the morning. Nuge didn't sleep too well because of his eyes but I was just fine...until he kept waking me up.
At 3:00 in the morning, we get a call from the front desk. Our bags have arrived! They told us they would be there shortly to deliver them to us. Well, Jamaican time: Shortly = an hour. But we got our bags and we took out our contacts and went back to sleep.
Some of the activities that we participated in: snorkeling x2= awesome, glass bottle boat= snooze, catamaran cruise= started out slow, but got to be very amazing, parceling= relaxing, awesome view, a lot of money, but greatness!, dinner at Feathers= amazingly romantic!, paddle boat= great fun until Nuge got hurt, sailing= awesome and very relaxing...until the water would splash, and basketweaving...yep, basketweaving! It was awesome and we did a great job!

Above: mine
Below: Nuge's
It only took us an hour and a half, but I think they are great! We are going to use them at Christmas for our dinner rolls!
We also participated in relaxing in a hammock to watch the sunset.
It was a great time for all! When Saturday came, we were super sad to be leaving but happy that it wasn't a beautiful sunny day. It was actually very rainy and gloomy...just like how we felt.
Our flight home wasn't bad. It was a straight shot, so we were able to get our bags this time! When we were over DFW, we could see all the Christmas lights and city lights and it was just amazing. We were also able to see the moon rise. Very spiritual.
So that's it...that's our Jamaican Honeymoon. I will post more pictures of the snorkeling and parceling when we get our waterproof cameras developed.

2 months is long enough!

Golly, it has been forever since I've updated. Work has been crazy, as well as life.
It's funny; when Nuge and I were dating, we had all this free time and felt like we were together all the time. Now that we are married, it feels like there are not enough hours in the day and we feel like we never see each other anymore. We both go to work in the mornings, come home in the evenings, are dead tired, and then go to sleep at a very early hour. What happened?!
We have bible study/Christian fellowship on Wednesdays that has been known to last until 1 AM. Then on Thursdays, we watch our niece so my sister and brother in law can have date night. Usually, once a week, we have dinner with the Nuge side of the family. Usually once a week or once every 2 weeks, I go and hang out with my friend, Meagan, who's husband is stationed in San Angelo. And then on Saturday nights, we attend church. It doesn't seem like a lot is going on because we still have 3 or 4 days of "nothing" to do, but it just doesn't seem to be enough.
Nuge has never been a morning person, and his jobs requires him to be at work at 8 (like any normal job would). He has been with the company since we got married 3 months ago and he still can't seem to adjust to the hours. He wakes up a few minutes before he has to leave and then he comes home completely exhausted. I feel bad for him because he is so drained all the time. Me, I go to work between 8 and 9 (depending on what school I'm at) and come home between 3:30 and 4:30. My hours are a little more flexible, but I'm not near as drained as he is.
A few weeks ago, he got word of a job opening in his company that his boss thinks he would be great for. It's a 2nd shift (3pm-11pm) with more pay. The hours are more of his thing and we think it would benefit both of us. We are praying that God will direct us in the direction He wants us to go. He is supposed to meet with his boss today to discuss the opportunity. We are praying for good news!
We leave for our honeymoon tomorrow! Jamaica, here we come!!!! We are staying 4 nights at Couples Swept Away in Nagril, Jamaica. Our flight leaves early tomorrow morning and we will be returning late Saturday night! We are so excited!!!!
I will try to be more consistent with the updates. It has just been really hard with work and life and stuff. But Christmas break is coming up, so I will be off work for like 3 weeks or something like that! YAY!!! I do have some big plans though. Organizing the apartment! My mom, mother in law, and my sister have all offered to come over and help us out. It's not THAT bad, but all 3 of those ladies have much better skills than we do in the art of organizing. Hopefully, they can teach us a few things and then everything will be great!!!

Hi! Where have you been?

So I haven't been on lately because...well, I guess there is not really a good reason. Just plain ole laziness, I guess. I was sick a few weeks ago and so that was no fun. I was out of commission for a whole weekend...which is not usually like me. I also legally changed my name to Nugent, so that was a very BIG highlight of my month! I love being Mrs. Nugent! It makes me feel super special to know that I share the same name as the love of my life! YAY! (Yep...totally get excited about stupid things.)

I also started my new job this week. I'm a substitute teacher for Arlington ISD and it has been a very interesting week. So far, I have done 7th grade English, 3rd grade, 1st grade, and today I conquered 5th grade. I like the older grades better because they are more self contained and independent. I'm also a big fan of switching classes. I like having the kids for a little bit, then sending them on to their next class. It makes it less stressful for me and more interesting since the class starts over with new kids. Tomorrow, I head to my old Jr. High school to sub for a 7th grade Science class. I'm very excited about it!

We started doing a bible study with our friends the Streets and the Walkers. We meet Wednesday nights and so far it has been some of the best conversation that I have ever had with friends. It is very refreshing to be in the company of other married Christians that are headed in the same direction; that are wanting to strengthen their marriages and their personal relationship with Christ. I love every minute of it. Thankfully, Nuge feels the same way. These past few weeks have been very peaceful and encouraging.
This week, we learned about how having Christ as the center of the marriage can affect the marriage, other relationships, and yourself. We also talked about the man being the head of the household. I know there are a lot of feminist who feel "belittled" or whatever by this, but after Kyle and Kim explained it in their words, and then took it to the Word of God, it became a bigger honor to have the husband as the head. The men are like the tree trunk. They are stable, rooted in The Word, and support the house. The women are like the vine that wraps around the trunk. They need the support and comfort of the strong, God fearing man. The women can't grow unless the men grow. They go where the men go. I may not be saying it as eloquently as Kyle and Kim, but it was very inspiring.

So that's pretty much what's been going on in the Nugent world. Not too much, nothing too exciting, but for us, we are stoked to be married! Almost one month!

Stay at home wife

So today was my first day as a stay at home wife. It's not permanent, but it will be for the next 10 days. Today was also the first day of Nuge's brand new job. We woke up early, which is so not us, and I fixed him breakfast (poached egg on toast for those who were wondering). He fixed himself some coffee and we just enjoyed the few minutes we had together.

Last night before bed, I made him a lunch to take to work (2 turkey roll ups on whole grain tortillas) which he called on his way to work to inform me that he left it in the fridge. Good going honey. Good thing there is a cafeteria where he works.

Today, I got to do quite a few errands as a wife. It was pretty interesting since this is our first week of NOT being on honeymoon. My car has been in the shop since last Monday, so my mom came and picked me up and we got my car. Then I met with our insurance agent to discuss renters, car, and life insurance policies. Got all that taken care of, or at least it will be taken care of officially in a few days. After agent meeting, I went to my parents house for some lunch and spend time with my niece and grandparents who are still here after evacuating from Ike. I went to get my oil changed and bought a few things for our apartment. All in all, it was a very productive day.

I came home and started cooking dinner for my husband! I love to cook, so this was very exciting for me. I made a taco salad and it was done about 2 minutes after Nuge walked into the door. It was pretty awesome.

On a less than happy note, we found out that our beach cabin in Crystal Beach was completely destroyed by Ike. I mean there isn't anything except for the concrete slab. It was pretty upsetting, but we are insured and it was just a vacation home. The people that we need to pray for are the people who lost their actual homes. The pictures of the peninsula are pretty devastating so I know it will be years before the place is back up and running again as normal.

Tomorrow's goal: unpack most, if not all, of these boxes that are in the dining room so I actually feel like I'm in a home and not some dirty apartment.

I will post pictures of our new place as it gets finished. Right now, our bathroom and bedroom are the only rooms that are clean and just the way I want them...except for some hangings on the wall in both rooms. I'm starting to get very excited about our new home!

First one...

So this is my first "real" blog. I've written some here and there but nothing to get excited over. I'm kind of learning this whole thing as I go, so bare with me if I stumble or bore you. It will get better...I hope.

Let me tell you a little bit about my husband and myself. We are the Nugents! I love the sound of that. We have been married for a week and it has been the best week of our lives...at least according to me.
My name is Caren. I grew up in Arlington, Texas and graduated from Bowie High School in 2003. There, I was a totally awesome member of the marching band...yep, that makes me ultra cool. My husband, Ryan (but we all call him Nuge), grew up in Arlington as well. We graduated from Martin High School in 2002. He was in the not so cool choir (kidding to all you choir people). After graduation, we both found ourselves at the University of Texas at Arlington. Nuge went in as a Biology major hoping to go to med school or something smart like that. After an awful stint at Organic Chemistry, he changed his mind and went with something a little more laid back (like himself) and got involved with Communication Technology. As for me, I always wanted to be a missionary and build houses, so I naturally went into Architecture. When my professor informed me that I actually suck at being an architecture major, I decided to go with my heart truly wanted. I've always been passionate about waiting until marriage to have sex, so I decided to be a motivational speaker for abstinence.
So that puts us here. Nuge graduated in May and I graduated in August. He recently got a job at Alcon and I'll be substitute teaching here pretty soon. We got married on September 5, 2008, which just happened to be my grandparents' 55th wedding anniversary. It was a honor to share our wedding day with them. They are amazing people and I love them dearly.

So what made me want to start writing a married life blog? I have no idea. I guess I figured it was the cool thing to do and sometimes I have something interesting to say. So I'm just gonna go for it...

You know how you go through moments in your life when you realize who your TRUE friends are? The ones that you KNOW will be with you no matter what stage of life you are going through? These are the people that you can't wait to see and you are sad to see go. I don't know if it is the whole getting married thing or the whole growing up thing, but I'm starting to see now who I want as my life long friend and who I wouldn't mind closing the chapter on. It's a very sad but real realization. As a couple, we are tired of empty friendships and 7th grade drama. This is the kind of stuff that is not healthy for any relationship, let alone a brand new marriage. Some people get that, others, not so much. How do you show people that you are ready to grow up and start a new chapter in life? I think we are struggling with this one. I'm not talking about anyone specific, or maybe I am, I don't even know if I'm sure at this moment. I think I'm just trying to get out emotions. Nuge and I talk about this quite a bit and we are still stuck.

Anyway, on another note. Tonight was the first time we went out with our friends since being married. I say "our" friends, but really they are Nuge's. They are his high school/college buddies that we have been regularly hanging out with. Another realization that I've had is that I hate going out to bars. I am always the designated driver, so I'm stuck being around a bunch of drunk people. Yeah, it's fun and funny at times, but when it hits a certain hour, I'm just ready to go home and go to bed. I'm a big party pooper, I know, but it just stops being fun being around drunks after so long. I'm not sure what kind of weekends married life will have in store for us, especially when Nuge starts going to work 8-5 on Monday. I guess we will see in the next coming months.
We have talked about starting a bible study with some of his other married, Christian friends. For the past few months, we have been wanting to grow more in Christ with other people who share our faith. It is something that is very important to us and important to our marriage. Once we get something going, I'll keep you updated on our progress and our learnings. We are extremely excited about starting something like this.