It's the year 2015, and the Charlie Charlie pencil challenge is making its rounds. Our Family Nest (OFN) uploaded a video of their two adorable children, Karli and Chase, performing the challenge. The clearly edited video of the challenge still managed to go viral and was just one of many ways the Grzegorczyk family gained attention during their early years on YouTube. Similar to Bratayley and The Shaytards, Our Family Nest was one of the pioneers in the rise of YouTube family vloggers. The family consists of parents Candi and Ken, and their children Andrew, Blake, Chase, and Karli. The channel featured the family performing fun challenges, as well as vlogs centering around birthdays, family game nights, holidays, and even videos of them just being a goofy, sarcastic, and surprisingly entertaining little family. However, fast forward nearly a decade and the kids are grown and YouTube fame is starting to fade - just where does that leave OFN?
Is Our Family Nest Still on YouTube?
Our Family Nest is still on YouTube, however, like many veteran YouTube vloggers, they have begun to decrease their activity. The channel shifted from posting daily, to posting every other day, to posting irregularly. However, they do still generally post on a weekly basis, though their views have significantly declined and they have stagnated at 1 million subscribers.
What Is Our Family Nest up to in 2022?
Things have changed quite significantly for the Grzegorczyks and it's not just the change in YouTube fame and activity. While the family started their vlogs when the kids were still little, today, they are all grown up. Candi's son, Andrew Holmer, is their oldest child at 26 years of age. He moved out last year, about an hour away from the Grzegorczyks to pursue a career in financial advising. Second oldest son, Blake, is now 21 years old and moved out with a bunch of other bachelors just a few minutes from Our Family Nest. He works at an upper scale bar and recently got an adorable new dog.
Chase is the youngest son and is now 19-years old. He, too, lives just down the road from the Grzegorczyks. Him and his girlfriend, Asha Zapf, rent a house together and run a couples YouTube channel. The youngest child and only daughter, Karli, is now 17-years old and just months away from graduating high school. She's still a bit uncertain about what direction she wants to take next, but has dreams of moving to New York someday.
Candi and Ken in 2022
Things changed fast for Candi and Ken. All at once, their three sons moved out, their youngest child is months away from being an adult, and their YouTube channel began to wind down. Candi and Ken actually took a surprising approach and chose to close down two of their businesses, in addition to reeling back on YouTube. Candi closed her clothing line, Ivy and Saige, while Ken wrapped up a football helmet collecting business.
However, the two are still taking up new challenges. Candi and Ken recently embarked on a weight loss journey and have been sharing their progress, workouts, and meals with followers. The two have lost a significant amount of weight together and are still progressing. The two also recently purchased a property that they are fixing up and will begin renting out to tenets.
What's up With Candi Grzegorczyk?
However, while all seems well, viewers have begun to notice something is off with Candi. Ever since her sons moved out and her YouTube channel declined, she has taken on a personality that is truly not appealing. First of all, her and Ken have vocally dismissed the COVID-19 pandemic and have pushed back against social distancing, masks, and receiving the vaccine. The two have expressed ideals that the pandemic isn't real, had guests over at their house despite testing positive for COVID-19, and have consistently refused to wear masks, or to wear them properly, in any public setting from the onset of the pandemic
While the blatant ignorance towards a global pandemic is the most serious offense, Candi's other behaviors are just plain odd. Candi has become increasingly obsessed with reality TV, YA novels, selfies, documenting every single moment on social media, and complaining about, well, everything. While obsessively posting about The Bachelor and other such shows, Candi frequently takes to Instagram to share InstaStories complaining about feeling unwell, not sleeping, not losing weight, being sore, flights being delayed, businesses being closed, and everything else she can find to whine about. One time, she slammed businesses for being closed due to being short-staffed from the pandemic, despite her own able-bodied children refusing to work. She also called Pete Davidson "icky" and stated that personality only goes so far and she could never get past his "ugliness." To summarize, she seems painfully bored and fills up her time taking selfies, using filters, complaining about things, and oversharing on social media. However, that's nothing compared to her TikTok account.
Our Family Nest Joined TikTok and They Need to Leave
Our Family Nest joined TikTok in 2020, but it was only recently they started posting frequently. Although the channel is titled Our Family Nest, it is mainly Candi's account. TikTok is a fun hobby for a lot of people, but it has become an obsession for Candi since one video went "viral." However, these TikTok videos are anything but funny. Instead, they seem to center around Candi's insecurity about her marriage and are simply embarrassing to watch. Candi's first video that went "viral" was a video in which she got all dressed up and excited for a date, but then Ken took her to a simple buffet. She explained it's just what happens when you've been married for 23 years.
Following that taste of fame, Candi dove headfirst into TikTok. Next, she sent Ken to the store to purchase cheetos, ice cream, and oreos, smeared herself with food, and posted this TikTok:
Meanwhile, she also posted a video of her throwing herself on the bed and floor, crying because her husband wouldn't take her to Target and her listening to her husband's "butt dial" for hours. Now, these are videos typically funny when a teenager posts them, but not quite when an almost 50-year old woman does. More disturbingly, she posted a video in which she discussed her and Ken going through a rough patch in their lives. Allegedly, they lost their home, had to move into their rental house, and Ken was arrested for being a sexual predator. It was only at the end of this drawn-out spiel that Candi revealed it was actually just a "dream" she had.
The Post-YouTube Life
Ultimately, Candi's TikToks and social media behavior are more than just childish and cringey. They depict someone who is very consumed with herself and very suspicious of her husband and desperate to criticize every one of his actions. She will even make up deeply disturbing fake stories about her husband being a pedophile, just to gain attention. Meanwhile, while engaging in such silly tactics, she simultaneously undermines and belittles those taking safety precautions for COVID-19.
While Candi is certainly free to post what she wants on social media, the spiraling into petty, silly, and childish oversharing and cringey feats for attention, point to the post-YouTube life we might be seeing more often. For the first time, we are actually starting to see a decline in the popularity of family vloggers. From 8 Passengers, to The Leroys, to The Shaytards, to Bratayley, to Our Family Nest, dozens of families are scrambling with what to do once the kids grow up and the audience moves on. When one's entire life is built off of fame, how do they handle returning to reality? If you are Candi, you handle it by seeking attention through every possible avenue and subsequently embarrassing yourself and your family in your desperation.
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