The Oleens: One Year Later

To say the last year has been a crazy ride would be putting it mildly. During our first year of marriage, much, much more than just my last name has changed.

The happy couple September 16, 2011.

Let’s just be real here for a second.

This marriage thing ain’t for sissy’s.

We’ve already made it through family losses, more thoughtless disagreements than I thought humanly possible between two people and the loss of my girl.

On the flip side, we’ve made memories that make me giggle and shake my head. Here’s a quick run down of our first year of marriage. Hang on, it’s a heck of a ride.

We adopted.

Yep. You heard right-might not be what you’re thinking though. We adopted in the four legged variety. Blogosphere, meet Stella. We adopted this wiggly and licking package of love from mabbr.org. I can’t tell you how happy she makes us! And I really mean us. Some of our biggest controversy within the Oleen household is which side of the bed Stella will sleep on, Brandon’s side or mine.

I’m a cattle watering machine.

As you all know, I’m not exactly the cowboy that Brandon wants me to be- but I’m getting closer! This year the drought and the Kansas heat created a lot of thirsty cows and horses. It didn’t take too long and Brandon had me hooking up the skid loader and water like an Oleen watering machine. #YesIJustSaidThat.

We had a baby!
Again, not exactly what the average person would think, but it is a baby! Brandon bred his favorite mare in 2011. She had the cutest little filly! Meet Jackies Playin With a Gun- Jackie for short!

Weddings, weddings and more weddings!

There have been so many of our friends {even my Dad} tie the knot! It’s made for great travel and lots of nights on the town. Thank you all for making us a part of your journey together!

Things change.

We’ve had great friends move away and other friends move closer. We miss you Garrett, Tara, Finnel, Lenhart, Nick and many others!  Aaanndddd without further ado, welcome to the mid west Kelly, Fwed and Rrrrory Rrrooo Rrrivard!

Whew! Just writing all that made me a little tired and I didn’t even include trips home to see family, road trips for work and all the horses that made their way to our place for a few more miles.

It’s been a year of learning to say the least. Learning to let go, learning to live together, learning to live as a team and most important learning to respect and love each other no matter what. Here’s to year number two!

Let Me Buy You A Beer

To say social media has changed my life would be an understatement.

It wasn’t the tools, the toys or the techie gadgets either.

It was you. The people, the relationships, the phone conversations and the visits IRL that really changed it.

Thank you.

In the near future I’ll be applying to a conference where I hope to meet some new folks who share my passion for social media, people, farming and food.

It’s a conference you might be interested in too, so I thought I’d share.

AgChat Foundation is hosting the third-annual Agvocacy 2.0 training in late August of this year. I went last year and I had a blast.

It’s one of those “perfect sized” conferences. You know what I’m talking about. It’s big enough to have great speakers and fun people, yet just small enough to really learn hands on information you can put to use that day.

Yes. I’m a fan.

To join the conference apply here. Send me a message on Facebook if your application is accepted. I’m always up for meeting new people and I’ll even buy you a beer if you make the contact.

How’s that for a little encouragement?

I’m Just Not Good at Saying Goodbye

Update: Lexus went to where all good dogs go Thursday, April 26, 2012. I hope she knows how much I love her. I hope I see her again.

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This post is really going to be a downer. Forgive me now. I need to write this.

I need to ask this question.

I need your input.

You see, I am in the process of loosing a precious friend. One that I have had in my life for more than 16 years.

She is the apitomy of kindness, patience, loyalty and love. She is my pup, Lexus.

Meet Lexus.

Well, she’s not really a pup now. And that’s the problem.

About a year and a half ago Lex started having seizures. I had planned to put her down but some how, she made a huge tournaround and we have been able to keep her with us for a little longer.

Until lately.

Lately the walks have been shorter, the standing wobblier, the tailwagging less frequent and she’s started eating less- lots less.

It’s starting to be that time. I can feel it.

So this is where I need your help.

About a month ago I was talking to one of my best friends on the phone and we were talking about Lexus. I mentioned I look forward seeing her in Heaven.

There was an akward pause.

And then, with the utmost kindness she talked with me about what she thought Heaven would be like.

She didn’t think there would be dogs in Heaven. Or horses. Or cows.

Really?

I just couldn’t believe it. What?! I mean, what kind of Heaven wouldn’t have dogs, horses or cows? That’s about ALL my version of Heaven would include.

And you think I’m being facetious.

So to back track a bit, I should tell you about my friend on the phone. She is not just any friend. I love her. She is a best friend- so don’t be trashing her in the comments!

That said, she does know a lot about the Bible and spends much more time studying God’s word than I do. Lots more.

So what do I need your help with?

In the next week I think we’ll be letting Lexus move on to what I picture to be a big back yard in the sky. I’m crying my eyes out typing that. I’m just not good at saying goodbye, but I think it’s time.

Do you think I will be able to see my Lexus again?

Our CHI-cago Friend Visits Kansas

I love entertaining friends and family.

I’m not sure if it’s my nature, or if it’s the never-ending longing for my close friends and family in Florida to visit the gorgeous Kansas Flint Hills.

I just love it.

Kansas Flint Hills at their finest.

So when Kelly messaged me and told me she was up for a trip to Manhattan, I jumped on the opportunity.

You see, Kelly is not only a really cool gal, she is also a friend I met via social media. We had spent very little time hanging out outside the confines of business meetings until a couple weeks ago. I really wanted to get to know her better and get in a little #agnerd talk.

For those of you not familiar with #agnerd talk, don’t sweat it. It just means we talk about things like Facebook statistics, search engine optimization, YouTube videos, etc. 

Her visit was so much fun. I had a blast.

In true Oleen style, we put Kelly to work upon her arrival. She was up to the task and she couldn’t have been more of a trooper.

She helped catch a calf, rode around in the truck during chores, helped with feed chores, watched as Brandon and I argued about opening and closing gates….um. Oops, I got carried away.

But she sure did hang in there like a champ!

We also squeezed in a little fun at The Little Apple Brewery with Brandi and Sheridan.

Image borrowed from kellyrivard.com.

Side note: Why don’t I spend more time with these super-fabulous gals?

Anyway, I think the trip was a success from our end. Brandon and I couldn’t have had more fun and we can’t wait for Kelly’s next trip to see us.

On that note, the next time you are in the Flint Hills and want to bottle feed a calf, spend a good 4 hours in winds up to 30 mph, listen as newlyweds have minor disagreements about things that don’t matter, or talk about Facebook statistics- send me a note on Facebook. We’re always up for a visitor

Household Truce and Happy Heifers

Why, hello again friends. I hope my long absence hasn’t upset you. As always, I appreciate the encouragement to blog from my good friends — especially you, Chris. I truly needed it.

So what type of monkey-business have I been up to you ask?

Well, the norm.

Brandon and I have come to a household truce. I have continued the use of strategic note placement to encourage good housekeeping. Brandon has continued to make fun of me.

Certain things have come along in the last month that I have found to be very amusing. Like everything else, you can find most of them on Pinterest.

In an effort simplify your life; I decided to make a list here.

Chickasaw Country- A sassy new travel site designed by my friend, Brooke. Don’t forget to check out her super cool blog too.

Dirt Road Daughters Magazine- A new fashion and lifestyle publication for today’s daring generation of country girls. It’s got some great cowgirl attire and sassy home decorating tips.

The Food Effect-  An interactive site designed by my friends at the North Carolina Pork Producers Council to encourage people to give their voice, money or time to help feed a kid in need. Isn’t that cool?

Whew, that got a little deep. Back to the fun stuff.

A new addition to our little family are a few heifers we’re keeping north of town. I continue to learn more about these 4 legged bovine creatures. They make me giggle. Caring for them also makes me do two times the laundry every week because I’m covered with dirt and dust after chores. Not fun, but we must take the good with the bad.

Below is a video from the pens earlier this week.

So what do you think about my amateur video work? How about that cute little cowboy? And who thinks we should enter that one heifer into the Kentucky Derby?

WBG’s and Other Acronyms I Don’t Understand

My love for the outdoors and BEO’s natural tendency to be a cowboy have come together lately for an exciting new adventure.

We decided to buy a few head of calves and we’re keep them a few miles north of town.

Cute right?

The new little adventure comes with lots learning on my end and I’ve taken quite a bit of interest in helping out.

Here’s what I see when I go out to the pasture.

Yep, they want something to eat.

Since BEO does this everyday -and is a pro at this cowboy stuff- he suggested we feed them wet brewers grain (WBG) from a local brewery. This peaked my interest because- well, it just does.

So I looked up a bit about using WBG’s as cattle feed and found out that BEO’s not only super good looking- he also knows a bit about feeding calves.

Here is what the the WBG’s look like.

As you can see, we tote them up to the pasture in clean trash cans. More on that later.

Here is what WBG’s look like up close.

If you read the article that I linked to above about WBG’s it states “ A well-balanced mineral supplement should be supplied when using WBG in cattle diets to avoid the negative effects of decreased growth performance experienced when this ratio is not properly balanced.” So we also feed this pelleted supplement to make sure the calves get the right amount of vitamins and minerals.

It seems to be a hit. I think it’s pretty cool we can make use of the WBG’s and help out our local brewery.

Remember those trash cans from above? BEO named me the “CEO of Trash Can Cleaning.” It’s an honor I take very seriously. This is my realm.

It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it.

As mentioned, I’m not the expert in all this cattle stuff. If you find yourself interested in or looking for some fine folks that post stuff about feeding cattle or cattle in general, check out these blogs.

http://feedyardfoodie.wordpress.com/

http://crystalcattle.blogspot.com/

http://kansascattleranch.blogspot.com/

http://thesouthdakotacowgirl.com/

For the record, I am an expert trash can cleaner.

Sunday Nights and Peach Dessert

Sunday nights are big around these parts.

Most Sunday’s you can find me and my closest neighbor-friends huddled up at one of the 5 houses on our block cooking, laughing and eating.

We all play a part in the food.

Yesterday, I was assigned the role of dessert-maker. So in my quest for the perfect dessert, I ended up on my friend Ree’s webpage.

For the record, she really isn’t a “friend”- but I wish she was.

I decided to cook this quick and easy peach parcel.

This is how Ree’s looked.

This is how mine looked- can we say amateur?

They looked a bit better than this when I placed each of them on a bed of whipped cream and drizzled a little caramel over them.

For the record, I did make one change to the recipe.

I traded peach schnapps for my new-found love,  Cake Vodka. It was worth it.

Going to the Chapel and We’re Gonna Get Married

THE day finally came.

And went.

And it was amazing.

I’ve been waiting for some of my friends to post pictures so I could borrow them for a blog post since Sunday. Note: I promised BEO I would put down my phone and camera from Friday, September 15 at 4 pm until Saturday, September 16. It was hard- but worth it.

In the mean time, BEO’s adorable cousin Andrea wrote a super funny blog post about the wedding with a lot of pictures.

So did Brooke.

And, if these two blog posts weren’t enough, Jennifer posted a YouTube video of our bridal party’s speeches. You might not want to listen to this with your kids, grandma or anyone else that doesn’t have a really good sense of humor. I wish you could have seen the look on BEO’s Grandma Kathy’s face! It was priceless!

Below are are a few pictures I thought summed up the weekends activities best. I borrowed these from my lovely sister Cindy, C & W Ranch’s Facebook page and from cousin Andrea. I hope they don’t mind. Professional pics to come- I promise

Dad arrived late on Wednesday along with his lovely new bride Beverly and my sisters Cindy and Pacita. We were all tired and hungry so we ate and I settled in with Cindy, Pacita a night of Pinterest and girl talk.

Thursday morning everyone was super curious to see the lay of the land so we went to visit C & W Ranch. The ranch is where we decided to have our reception. It was just as beautiful as I remembered and everyone was happy to see us- even this handsome fellow.

We didn’t stay too long though, we had lots to see and decorations to gather. I think this made Cody the Ranch Dog sad.

Sorry Cody. We’ll be back. Right now we have to go drive by the church.

Wow that’s pretty.

And then it was off Hobby Lobby. Please raise your hand if you and your closest friends and family have ever pushed around 5 Hobby Lobby shopping carts at once?

But before we could decorate Thursday evening, it was off to the rehersal dinner at Martinellis. Yum, BEO’s Mom and Dad chose the place. It was amazing. If you ever get a chance to visit Martinelli’s,  try the homemade salad dressing. It’s smack your momma good- just don’t smack your momma.

Our last stop on Thursday was to decorate- and decorate we did. Until 3 a.m. You won’t see any pictures of that. People were looking awful shady come that time of night.

It’s here that I must give a little extra mention to my sister, Pacita. She runs a fantastic home decor and retail business north of Altanta, GA called Pineapple Park. If you’re ever in the market for the perfect gift or decorating ideas for your home- contact her or peruse her Facebook page. You won’t be disappointed.

She did a fabulous job making the entire barn come together and even had BEO steal a old farm door from his Grandma’s house for deco.

Here’s what the barn looked like when you walked in.

It was cooler than I could have imagined. We went to bed very, very tired.

We woke up just as tired but concealed the dark circles with great makeup and hair, thanks to the girls at the Hair Loft. For the record, Lana- I love you {that was the fabulous gal who did my hair}.

From here on out the day was a whirlwind of my last tweet as @jtgirl, hours of photography, a 15 minute church service and then to the ranch for the reception.

I wonder if BEO was nervous here?

Here is Dad and I waiting to head up to the alter- I was nervous. I could just see me doing some type of face plant walking up the isle. You might laugh, but that is soooo Jodi.

I made it without a big fall! Check out the look of relief on my face.

I wonder what BEO was thinking here?

Before we knew it, I was Jodi Oleen.

Back at the ranch and after a quick dress change, I was ready to role with some really good help by my side.

From there on out it was the normal wedding reception stuff. Cake cutting, bridal party speeches {seriously, you will want to hear this}, first dances and time with friends and family. Here are a few other pictures I just couldn’t leave out.

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Real Friends Make You Work

If you’re my friend on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you might have seen a few post over the weekend about my trip to Ohio and Tennessee. The fun filled, fact filled, flurry of a trip consisted of two major parts that came together perfectly.

You see, a few months earlier I had worked up a plan with my fascinating, intelligent {and slightly crazy} friend, Jennifer (Twitter) to fly into Ohio and hang out at her house for a day. The visit would work perfectly into my trip to Nashville for the 2011 AgChat Foundation Conference and give Jennifer a driving buddy to the conference.

The plan was perfect really-until I learned that “we” had an event on Saturday.

So, I did what all people do that hang out with Jennifer-I worked.

I just giggled typing that.

If you know Jennifer, you know why- don’t worry, she’s probably giggling too.

On with the story.

Jennifer picked me up Saturday around 2 p.m. at the Columbus International Airport and off we went to the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) for their annual Farm Day’s celebration . For those of you {like me} who are not from Ohio, COSI is a non-profit organization that works prepare children for success in school and in life. They have hosted Farm Days: Little Seeds and Big Tractors for seven years inside the Columbus downtown district.

The event included education centers, combines, tractors, games, animals for the kids to pet and tons of fun giveaways. It was a neat opportunity to see what’s being done in other states by farmers to reach out to children.

On the other hand, there was some pretty fun humor there, if you have a good since of humor.

Don’t we wish everyone would follow this rule?

If you don’t laugh at that, I feel sorry for you.

Just curious, what’s being done around your community to connect more of us city-folk to farmers?

Holy Wedding Planning.

Hello, long lost friends. Whether you realize it or not, I have missed you. Life’s been pretty crazy but thankfully it’s coming back into perspective.

Throughout last month, wedding plans have really come along. We finalized a date- September 16, 2011. Yes, that’s 2011- now do you see why I’ve been a bit busy?

We also had some fabulous engagement pictures taken on the fly by a good friend of mine, and photographer, Wrenn Pacheco.

Here’s my favorite shot.

Or maybe it’s this one?

Or maybe this one?

Decisions, decisions. But who likes to decide?

That’s why I had all of the pictures above (and one more) made into large canvas’. I’m going to use them to decorate around the reception and then hang them in our house. I had them created in Downtown Manhattan at Acme Gift. I was very pleased with the price, which was about $150 cheaper than any other place I had found. I’m far from a canvas expert but the pictures have nice color and transport okay-with the exception of the canvas being a bit easy to leave fingerprints in. I assume this is because the quality is a bit lower. Either way, I thought it was a great find and a really great price.

Other wedding accomplishments include booking the place for the ceremony, booking C & W Ranch for the reception and purchasing my dress or dresses- yes, there’s a story there. It’s long and somewhat painful for me. I will tell you later.

Other things accomplished include getting the bouquets made, working on decorations for the reception, ordering cake and food, working on creating our boutonnieres, a trial run on wine jelly making for the rehearsal dinner takeaways and we mailed invitations.

I loved these invitations!!! I was lucky enough to have Brooke Clay (Twitter) from Rural Gone Urban create the invitations. They were PERFECT.

I don’t know if you know if I’ve introduced you to my wonderful friend, Brooke. I know I’ve mentioned her before, but I don’t think I have given her a formal introduction. Brooke is thoughtful, kind, funny, pretty-inside and out, extraordinarily talented in design, a hoot of a blogger and has more style in her pinky finger than I have in my whole body. She’s one of those people. Men love her, women want to be her and I’m just lucky to call her my friend.

By-the-way, did I say I have a cool friend Brooke? Anyway, I hope you have a Brooke in your life. If you’re lucky, you might have a few- and I’m jealous.

Anyway, back on track.

Now that the big things are finished, I’m relaxing. I’m going to keep decorations simple on focus on the important stuff. Brandon, our families and our friends.

Before I let you go, do you have any tips for me at this stage of the game? If so, throw me a bone. I could use it.