Family matters

Remember that show about the two families coming together to create a "blended family" when the mom and dad marry? Oh, ya, the famous brady bunch.

That's nothing like my family.

We should actually have our own reality show (like every American out there, I think my reality show would be hilarious.) We're funny, out of control, we cook some yummy grub and I've found out we only breed toe headed children. Madalyn and I have yet to do the whole kid thing (which is good. considering I need my entire 9 hours of sleep), but I think our kids will be the same way- blonde blue eyed. 

Mimi and Pops got married 14 years ago next August and we all love getting together. Anywho..we get together and have a fabulous time, especially with all the kids. I went to Texas this weekend for some much needed family time.

I cried getting on the plane going home...these kids grow up so fast. This is not a shocker. I cry over a youtube video. Madalyn has known I am an ugly crier when she picked me for MOH. I have been warning her for the last 22 years that I will be a mess at her wedding...

Onto not so sad things (but super exciting) as my sister moving into her own house, her own family, and....okay, I'm done.

Pops love his girls. 

For some reason, we thought they would all sit and take a picture.

Chloe loves hangin' with the Ryder man

Can't you just hear them laughing? 

Ya...that hair has no chance.   

This child eats corn straight off the cob. 

No, this isn't me. Transformer Chloe. 

Something you might not know...

It just occurred to me that not a lot of people know about my foreign exchange student, Tom.  When I was a young lad, more like when I was four years old, my family took in a foreign exchange student from Poland.  His name is Tom Kobus.  When I say we "took him in" it wasn't like he was drifting among the hills of Oklahoma looking for a place to live.  My parents put in the request for a Polish kid- he was 16 at the time- because my mom's family is super Polish.  Her maiden name is Olzawski.  Coincidentally, Tom is my Grandpa Olzawski's name, too! 
Tom is my brother in every way possible.  He lived with us for two years because if he went back to Poland, his high school credits that he completed in Oklahoma would not be accepted..Or something like that.  Something else very cool...Madalyn and I are six years apart...Tom and Madalyn are six years apart....and Tom and I have the same birthday so that makes us EXACTLY 12 years apart.  Legit, right? 


I wasn't involved in this conversation. I was naked, running in the front yard. That's just a guess, though. 


Point is, Tom is coming for Madalyn's wedding! I am so excited I can hardly wait! One of my favorite memories is when my parents were out for the night and Tom was supposed to watch Madalyn and me.  I was, Lord knows, naked and running through the halls in our first house.  Madalyn was trying to catch me and Tom was trying to corral us to bed.  Tom got me on his shoulders, and as we ran down the upstairs, I hit all the fire alarms.  It was cool to do that, right? No.  Not really.  


Anyways, Tom has two little boys now and a beautiful wife, Jill.  I wish I could post some pictures of when we were all younger on here, but those are at home in Tulsa.  I got an email saying he would be arriving in Tulsa on Thursday before Madalyn's wedding.  The last time I saw him was when I was in high school in New York.  He had a baller job with some company in the city.  He is a genius.  


Here are some pictures from the shower Aunt Lori and I threw this weekend in Tulsa. 

The game. One "wedding or marriage" word with each hour of the day. 

The petifores. 

Barker girls.

Champagne in a can! Genius! 

Grandma Olzawski gets her every time.  This is one of Dede's, our great grandmother (and who I am named after, Edith Patton)  baskets.  

The waterworks. One of the Olzawski Christmas heirlooms passed down! 

Only four weeks until the big day.  I cherish my sister a little more everyday.  

Green-er purple monster

I tried this smoothie idea from "Sing for Your Supper" blog, which I highly highly recommend. She describes her smoothie as green that turned brown from the mixture of colors.  

Mine turned purple....go figure.  It's a great way to get your veggie in the morning! Love that about this smoothie.  When my honey came out of the jar, it made the sounds like the aliens on "Signs."  I can't write it in words what it sounded like..but I imagine "kajjhfjjjss...." 

Green Monster Smoothie, Sing for Your Supper recipe (my variations added) 

• 1 banana, roughly chopped - I had old ones that I had frozen. Worked fine.
• 4 or 5 strawberries
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 small peach, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 heaping cup (or more) fresh spinach leaves, thoroughly rinsed. Add more!
• splash vanilla soy milk - I don't like soy (or at least I don't think I do..so I drink Almond milk. It worked great.)
• 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 cup crushed ice

The goods, all in one.  As gross as it sounds, add more spinach than you want.
It's your veggie in a smoothie! 

One of the many great ready to serve things in freezer section.  

So, this is my mom's blender.
You work with what you have- I highly recommend a smoothie maker, though.  
Guess when it was created. '83? 

First, I am in love with this yogurt. It isn't as expensive as the other greek yogurts.
Plus, who can resist that commercial with Uncle Jesse from Full House aka John Stamos.

So many options..

Note: If you see the spinach isn't blending with the rest, do NOT put your fork in the blender.  

The last of my honey from the farmers market. 

Almost done.

Final product. 

Cooking, my new passion

Living alone has so many perks. It also has its downs. One of which occurs in the kitchen.  It is so hard to cook for one person! All the single ladies living alone out there hear me. For instance, this weekend at the farmers market I only wanted one cucumber & one tomato because if I get a whole basket full, the veggies go bad- and go bad quick.  The sweet farmers took pity on the single girl living alone and gave them to me for free, but I couldn't do that so I gave them the change I did have.   


Although I definitely have the junk in the trunk to prove I never go hungry, it is hard to consume a gallon of milk, a whole bag of potatoes, an entire salad mix...the list goes on and on.  I'm not complaining, I love love love   living on my own.  I especially love cooking in my sweet little kitchen.  I made some nutella cookies the other day from this blog.  So stinkin' yummy.  I took them to UATV and was critical of my dessert, but soon realized the cookies were delicious.  However, I ate the leftovers on top of ice cream (sinful) and stepped on the scale.  Cringed. I would choose chocolate over a run any day. 

*For those that don't know what nutella is...run to the peanut butter aisle and shove your head in a jar

I used a knife to mix in the nutella, but you can use any sharp object: toothpick, husk teeth.  

First two rows are batter mixed with nutella.

Licked it clean!

Vanilla: I've started adding it to pancakes.
 It is a totally essential ingredient to have in your spice cabinet.  

In other news....Madalyn's wedding is a month away.  Pictures from her bachelorette party are soon to come in the next post!