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.