Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies

updating a chandelier

June 17, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

otherwise titled: diy chandelier makeover and from glitz to glam…

I have gotten email after email about our chandelier makeover in our kitchen tour.

It was pretty drastic.

What a difference, huh?! We love it! It was okay before, but we weren’t in love with it. We wanted something a little more updated, and slightly less formal. I’ll admit, the brass was in great condition, and kind of started to grow on me, but it just didn’t work with the vision for our kitchen.

We picked up new sconces on sale at Lowes and 1 can of Krylon’s Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint (this one). So for less than $60 – we have nine sconces – we have a brand new looking chandelier that we love!!

I didn’t take any pictures of the process itself. But I think I can walk you through, simple enough.

The first thing always want to do when dealing with anything electrical, is cut off the breaker!
Then, we removed the light bulbs and sconces, which made it much lighter. (also, give it a wipe down to make sure there’s no dust)
At the top (ceiling) there is a plate. Ours just twisted off, but yours may have a couple of screws. Take that off, while someone is supporting the chandelier.
Then, you want to disconnect the wires – be sure that your wires are marked A/A B/B or something so that you’ll remember which wires to reconnect.
And now, you should be able to carry it to wherever you want to spray it at… For us, we actually reattached it in our basement rafters so that I could spray it in the hanging position, and not have to pick it up to do the bottom… But, you could just take it outside and place it on an old box or sheet and paint it… you’ll just have to make sure the top is good and dry before you try to move it to paint the bottom. Make sure you paint the plate cover as well.
Once it is completely dry (we left ours in the basement for several hours, but it will dry quick if it’s outside)
Then reattach it the same way you took it down… have someone hold it while you reconnect the wires and screw in the plate cover… Then hang your new sconces and bulbs!

The whole taking down and putting back up part took about 10 minutes each. The longest part is waiting for it to dry. So easy! So totally doable for cheap!

Here’s a good look at the whole thing before and after…

And if you’re interested in other things I have spray painted, check out these:

diy chalk table

our bathroom renovation (I painted several things)

mini table & basket makeover

diy sensory tables

monogrammed pumpkin

Filed Under: decorating your home, diy, Home Making, kitchen

amazing blt {it’s what’s for dinner}

June 11, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 1 Comment

~~BLT~~ BST (bacon spinach tomato) is where it’s at.

Sometimes you just need a simple, meal in the summer time! And around here, we love BSTs. Add a little avocado, and a smidge of mayo, and you’re good to go! Yet another, ten minute meal for you to enjoy without much though. Chances are, you already have the ingredients on hand. I usually do.

I serve them with a variety of things. Sometimes it’s fruit salad, sometimes soup, this week we had good creamed corn. And because I always get asked, I use Udi’s gluten free bread. It is hands down, the best, most “real” sandwich bread there is, and since 2007, I’ve tried them all. I get the one in the green bag.

One of my favorite things about our new home (besides the awesome laundry shoot/hamper thing) is the indoor grill! I do not know how I survived 27 years without one, but it would be mighty hard to go without now that I have one! I don’t have to wait for Andrew to come home to start the grill (that is one thing I don’t mess with) anymore! I have used it way more than I have my stove since we moved in!

For our BLTs, and any sandwich I serve for dinner, I like to grill. Whether you do it in a skillet, in the George Foreman (which I did before moving here), there’s no wrong way to do it! Pat a little butter on the outside of your sandwich, and brown that baby up! Serve warm with a side, and you’ve got yourself a good, semi-healthy, satisfying meal!

Do you love a good BLT like I do?! What do you usually add to yours?

Filed Under: 10 Minute Meal, Food, recipe

Our Home Tour {kitchen}

June 10, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 3 Comments

I’ve been posting sneak peaks throughout our new home on Instagram, as I work on thing, and complete things. If you missed the “welcome” tour of the befores of our home, you can find them here. If you want to see more glimpses, that I haven’t officially blogged about, be sure to follow along on facebook!

I kept putting this tour off, because I wanted things to be complete, and perfect. But let’s face it: perfect is overrated! And with a toddler, 5 acres, and a new home to manage, “perfect” just isn’t a reality right now. I bet you can relate?! So without further ado: the first of the requested home tour, beginning with the room we spend the most time in…

Our kitchen!

Let’s start with the way it looked before we moved in (and my apologies for the grainy pics, we were on our walk through):

It was nice. A little dark and slightly too formal for my taste. But elegant, and pretty just the same. I instantly fell in love with the floors in here. All along, I had my heart set on dark wide plank flooring with white dining room accessories. But this light, narrow plank works so well with our home. The entire house (except the two upstairs bedrooms) are decked out with this incredible crown dental molding and details galore. The light is just a standard fluorescent light with a custom built cover! Great detail, right?!?

But you know me, I love light, clean, and airy! I didn’t want a home that people felt uncomfortable in. I want my home to be welcoming, cheery, and nice, but not too elegant. The first thing I did when Andrew left for Texas, was primer those red walls!

3 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint, many many late night hours, and perhaps a few tears later, it looks like this.

How about some more before/after comparisons:

And another angle:

And the table:

You probably notice that we also painted the chandelier! I will give more details on that soon! For now, here’s a few more details in the kitchen!

This room was such a chore to do. Andrew was away during this time, and I was honestly, completely overwhelmed by everything. After I put Elizabeth to bed at night, I’d turn on some light music and paint and paint and paint. I spent those nights praying over our house. Praising Him for our blessings, and His timing. Praying for protection and good memories to be made. I’m not sure I will ever attempt to paint this kitchen again (hello 10’ ceilings, tons of molding, and 5 doorways), but I’m glad I was able to pour the sweat and work into it, and have that time.

SOURCES: Wall Paint: WalMart’s Dew of Silverberry Chandelier Paint: rustoleums oil rubbed bronze Chandelier sconces: Lowes Table & Chairs: World Market, Sideboard: World Market, Joy in the Lord Print: Recipe for Crazy

And there you have it! The first (mostly) complete room in our house! What do you think?!

Filed Under: decorating your home, diy, kitchen, our house

quick and easy cobb salad

May 31, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

There is just not a lot that I love more than a good, filling salad on a hot summer day. There’s no stove/oven/grill time needed, not a lot anyway. It’s quick, healthy, and in our whole family always devours them! AND, it’s another 10 minute meal!

One of my favorite filling salads, is a good cobb salad! Full of protein! Full of nutrients! Doesn’t get much better. And if you make it yourself, you’ll save $11.00-$16.00 compared to buying it in a restaurant.

I forgot to snap pictures of the assembly part, but what I like to do, is chop it all up and just make piles on a cutting board, or the counter, so that we can all make our own. Elizabeth just now likes to eat it as a salad, all mixed together, instead of individually.

In this particular salad, I put:

Spinach leafs, grilled chicken, red onion, shredded cheese, cucumbers, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, crispy bacon, and boiled egg.

You can leave out or add in anything you like. Sometimes I add almonds or dried cranberries. Some times I don’t have bacon. Some times I add cottage cheese… Just whatever you like!

To make it simpler, I usually boil several eggs early in the week just to have on hand for quick snacks, egg salad, to toss in salad, or just to have as a little protein pick-me-up. I also keep leftover cooked chicken in my freezer to pull out… It really is just a matter of chopping and serving.

Any other salad lovers in the house?! What are your favorite ingredients?

Our new home {the downstairs}

May 29, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 2 Comments

I’ve been posting sneak peaks throughout our new home on Instagram, as I work on thing, and complete things. Many of you have asked for a tour of the inside, much like the tour of the outside, I did when we first moved in! It has been a whirlwind around here. We’ve been in for about six weeks now, and Andrew was away for 4 of those weeks. Things are finally seemingly coming together! There is still a lot of things to do to make it ours, I haven’t hung a single picture yet, but considering we think this may be our forever home, we are in no particular rush!

Before I take you on an official tour room by room, I thought it’d be fun to show you what we initially fell in love with. We had looked at several homes before this one. Honestly, this house was not anywhere close to the virtual line I drew on the map of where I thought I wanted to live. Alas, it popped up on our search on Saturday night, 5 days after it was listed. We saw it less than 12 hours later. On the way to see this house, I honestly cried most of the way here. Andrew thought I was nuts, but I just had a feeling about it. We arrived a few minutes before our Realtor, and as soon as she got here, I told her we didn’t even have to go in… She kind of looked at me like I was crazy and asked, “you do want to see it don’t you?”… I said, “of course I do, but I’m telling you, this is the one”! Immediately after walking through, we signed all the papers and put in our offer. The next 24 hours were brutal. I was a big ball of emotions. Weeks prior, we put in an offer on another house, that I was not in love with, honestly. It needed a lot of work, that I was willing to do, but it was far from our dream home, and the offer didn’t really bother me. This one though, I was a mess! I bet I texted Andrew no less than 30 times asking if he’d heard anything yet… Later that night, as the deadline approached, we got a call that said there had been FOUR other offers submitted that day, and they were looking them all over still… Geez, thanks for making more crazy! A couple of hours later, we got word that WE were chosen! I kid you not, I danced a jig across our old kitchen floor! There was just something all along that told me it was meant to be!

All that to say: this is what the house looked like when we first walked through it.

The kitchen, which is the main entrance to the house. That doorway on the left goes to the family room, this first image is from the foyer.

From the back hallway (where our bedroom and mudroom is) looking towards dining and family room. Door on the left goes to the basement.

View from table area, looking into back hallway. Isn’t that molding and detail work out of this world?!?

The family room. That doorway goes out back.

Here, you can see the doorway on left that goes into kitchen, and the doorway on right goes into foyer. There is a 1/2 bath on that wall before you get to the foyer (on the other side of the blank wall by the fireplace).

You can see the 1/2 bath better here on the left. Straight ahead past the stairs is the formal living / piano room / study (we’re really not sure about that room, yet).

There’s a coat closet in the foyer. Door on left is the formal front door.

And here’s another look from the foyer.

And here’s the formal/study/piano room…

Then, in the back hallway (off the kitchen) is our master bedroom / bathroom and mud room.

We have a balcony off the bedroom that connects to the main back deck.

The master bathroom is the only room that needs renovation. It is livable, but the tile is crumbling, the toilet leaks, and one faucet doesn’t work. Plus, it has 24 year old wallpaper that is peeling off.

Then, you go back out in the hall. Again, the kitchen is on the left, and the exterior door on the left goes back out on the porch. The door straight ahead goes out onto the breezeway. The door on the left goes to the mudroom.

I love this room! There’s not really room for built-ins, like I had wanted, but it is a great room! I totally dig that utility sink (it’s come in handy so many times already). I love being able to store beach towels and summer stuff in the closet, without having to track grass all over the house in search of them!

This room goes out onto the back deck. There’s a little closet without a door, an ironing board, and then possibly one of my favorite features of the whole house…

A laundry hamper! The top is in our closet, and I just toss our clothes in there, and pull them out IN the laundry room!

And that wraps up the downstairs! Stay tuned for the upstairs reveal and all of the updates to come!

Filed Under: home tour, our house

sweet summertime

May 28, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | Leave a Comment

It was a great, dare I say awesome, weekend around here. For the first time in a LONG time, we had absolutely zero plans, except to stay home and get some work done, and a birthday party! It is a rarity for Andrew to have a free weekend, much less three free days in a row. He works so hard for our family, and I am forever grateful for that. But I was mighty giddy at the thought of spending three full days with him! His dad is also here for a couple more months, and I’m also thankful for him. He is such a great help, and I’m thankful Elizabeth has the opportunity to spend time with him!

Saturday, I finally got the family room put together. There are still a few things that need to be tweaked and pictures to be hung, but it feels good to have all the extra crap out! While I was cleaning up the house, he changed the oil in the car and truck, and got a few things crossed off his list! Then, we got to celebrate our nephew’s first birthday and spend some time with Andrew’s brother who just got home from Afghanistan. It takes about 1.5 hours to get to them now, but the drive was well worth it.

Found a new church to call home on Sunday! Dug in the dirt, had lunch & shopped for 3 hours with my husband ALONE! Went to wal-mart without running into ten people I know, got everything for an upcoming party, grilled dinner, and had our first, of what I hope is a monthly family movie night with popcorn!

And yesterday, we got up, had a quick breakfast, and headed outside for 9 solid hours of sunshine! We got three trailer-fulls of mulch and after finally getting all the weeds out, we got all of the flower beds mulched! There were some much needed breaks to entertain and chase an almost three year old that included sprinklers, kites, and rubber band airplanes! I felt super blessed to have my soldier home, but we remembered those who didn’t.

Today, I am a little pink (err, red)! But the sun on my shoulders feels quite good! I actually got up at 5:30 to work out, and I am on my way to another productive day. Praying for my hubby, as he takes on a new position at a new facility. Thinking about God’s timing and planning, as we moved 40 minutes away to be closer to his work, and now he’s working on the other end of town again?!? Trusting in Him, all the while praising him for this life and resources He has blessed us with.

Hope y’all have a great week! I have some fun stuff to share with you this week, so stay tuned! And if you’re on instagram and want to follow along throughout the week, follow along on instagram!

Filed Under: hello monday, This is Us

on taking a break!

May 23, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 8 Comments

I didn’t intend to take a week off. But apparently life and family had other plans. Which has kind of been a blessing in disguise. The quietness has given me plenty of time to think and plan and make some decisions that otherwise, I would have been too busy to contemplate. Sometimes we just need the quietness. And truth be told, I’ll have nothing to blog about if I don’t LIVE LIFE!

Plus, it gave the site time to be transferred to a brand new server (all of its’ own) which should allow for much faster load times and less downtime!

Deleting facebook was a huge pinnacle moment for me. The week following, I grew to almost detest social media as a whole, which is kind of bizarre since I get paid to use social media, and to teach others to use it… I think it’s an amazing resource, and honestly, my love for it is much stronger than the hate, but I just hate that everyone seems so connected to alldaylongtwentyfourseven. You cannot go to a restaurant without seeing 90% of the families using their phone! Seriously, is it that important that you can’t spend a 30 minute meal time focused on your family?! Is that joke on iFunny that awesome? Won’t that idea on pinterest still be there to pin when you get home?

Anyway… So yeah, I took an unplanned break. And it was GOOD!

I never really announced it (because I do like to keep some things private), but the week we moved into a new house, in a new town, 45 minutes from our old home/family Andrew left with the Army. Thankfully, it was only for 4 weeks. And now, we are all under the same roof again, with a couple additions!

Additions being 6 little hens that you will probably be seeing a lot of. They are adorable! Andrew’s dad will also be with us until the end of June, which we are excited about! Elizabeth especially!

We are thrilled that summer seems to be here! Except for the fact that our A/C still hasn’t been repaired. We spend most of our days outside, and it has been great having the privacy of 5 acres, for Elizabeth’s new love of running around naked (please tell me that’s a stage).

During my little break, we celebrated Daddy’s homecoming, a first birthday, Mother’s Day, and new friends! We adopted 6 hens, and have loved playing with them! We have spent many hours playing at the park, digging in the gardens, baking yummy treats, hosting dinner parties, and inspecting all the new bugs/snails/lizzards the country has to offer! We are mostly unpacked, but not at all settled. There seems to be more and more little things to do, which I am super excited to share with you!

But enough about my life… Tell me about yours! What have you been up to the past week or so?! I’d love to know!

Filed Under: hello monday, This is Us

calling all stay at home moms who are looking for more

May 15, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 1 Comment

Ah, the desire to stay at home, but the need to contribute to the family. It’s often a crazy relationship between the two.

I get emails daily from women around the country asking how I’m able to stay at home with my daughter and earn an income.

Truly, a post just like this, back in August 2011, changed my life. Some of you know my story, some of you don’t… But if you want to hear it live, I will be sharing all the details tomorrow night at 9:00p central time. REGISTER HERE (there’s only a few seats left). I will share how I am able to stay at home to nurture my family, while still providing financially to them. How, we paid off all of our debt (except our mortgage) last year. You will learn all about my amazing brand partner, why I chose them, how they are different, and what they have done for me (and the hundreds of women that I personally have been blessed to help).

I don’t know what you have going on in your life. You may love what you do. You’re probably totally satisfied with your life! Your marriage is probably great, you’re probably not in debt like everyone else, and you’re probably enjoying the life of your dreams, totally satisfied with your career. However, not everyone else is experiencing that in their life. In this bad economy, with divorce, companies shutting down, 20 mil people out of work, trillions of dollars in debt (our country), I’m sure you know of someone that this information would be beneficial for. If you know of anyone who is looking to earn an income from home like myself, and my great friend Amanda who similar to me, was looking for a great, organic product she could use, now makes an income sharing them with her friends. Or my friend Kelly who is able to support her family while she and her disabled husband homeschool their three kiddos. These girls are part of my growing team, and they will be sharing their stories and how they can help other moms who desire to stay at home, but still contribute financially to the family. I’m sure you know someone like this. I’d love to invite you both to join a free call that I am hosting Thursday 5/16 at 9:00p central time. I will try my best to answer all of your questions. There’s only one problem: these calls usually fill up pretty fast, so it’s safe to say this one will too.

The call is free on Thursday night, and I am looking for other moms who are serious about being able to stay home and contribute to their family’s income. You have the opportunity to join me and become part of this group who are making their dreams a reality from home. So register for the call right away, so that you can have a story like Amanda, Kelly, and the many others.

In the meantime, you can watch this quick clip about moms, just like you and me, who are making a difference

Thanks! I’m so excited to talk to you on Thursday night…

Remember, REGISTER HERE!

Filed Under: Shaklee

why I deleted facebook {and some thoughts to chew on}

May 6, 2013 | posted by Jaima @ Ring Around the Rosies | 8 Comments

I have two posts on my heart that need to be written, and they kind of go hand-in-hand, but I think I’ll start with this one…

On why I’m choosing to disconnect, so to speak, from the world. Why I deleted the facebook app from my phone this weekend.

You see, I’ve been on facebook since the end of 2004, when only certain universities had it, and all the class electives made ensuring we got it part of their campaign. Seriously. That’s almost 9 years. It has changed drastically over the past decade, but it has also started to change me. And that is precisely why I decided to delete.

You may remember, that my word for the year is “intentional” meaning, I wanted to focus on being intentional on every aspect of my life this year. Intentional with how I spend my time is a big part of this… I want to be PRESENT! To truly take in and taste life, not just watch it pass by and see pictures of it on facebook – I want to taste it! Touch it! LIVE it!

Sure, it has many many positive features. It allows me to still shine my light in hopes of uplifting others. It allows me to know and stay in contact with family and friends all over the country. I am able to share pictures and stories of Elizabeth for aunts and cousins to see and enjoy. I utilize it very heavily in my business, and it is the meeting place and filing cabinet for all of our information…

But to me, it became an addiction. A time-sucking, mind-wasting addiction.

I don’t know a single person that doesn’t wish for more hours in the day.Yet, how many hours do we honestly waste away on facebook every single day|week|month|year?!? We have the same amount of hours in our day that the greatest people and accomplishers had/have in theirs!

This, is somewhat relevant, and a whole lot of convicting, but this speaks measures to me! And let’s be honest, how many people sleep a solid eight hours at night?

[This is where I air my dirty laundry]

You see, over the past year, maybe two, I find myself spending so much of my precious time there during the day. My phone is on my bed at night, tucked under my pillow. The phone isn’t the problem – it’s facebook. It is the very last thing I check before bed, and it is the very first thing I check when I wake up. And I’ll be honest, if I wake up during the night, I click that little “f” on my home screen. If I’m driving down the road and a notification pops up, I check it. If I’m at the grocery store and someone sends me a message, I stop in the aisle to check it. If Elizabeth is playing quietly (and even when she isn’t), I find myself scrolling through the pages. Almost as soon as Andrew gets home from work, I escape to the bedroom for just a “few minutes” which essentially turns into 10-20 while I zone out and like, share, and comment on almost meaningless things. Meaningless, because they truly have NO effect on my life.

This weekend I just got SICK of it. Physically, threw my phone across the floor and said, “I’m done… I can’t do this anymore”.

Elizabeth is growing before my very eyes, except my eyes are too stuck on that stupid app to see it happening. I could (should) be spending that 20 minutes of escape time that I need in the evenings reading His word, or praying for my family. It would still provide the quiet, me time that I crave. I should be thanking God for a new morning instead of checking the latest gossip on facebook as soon as I wake up. I should be snuggled up, nurturing my marriage at night instead of replying to comments and just totally stupid stuff!

The comments and posts I see in the morning set the tone for my entire day. I am just not productive.

Above, I stated that it is an addiction to me, and from the thread I created on our RATR Community Page, and from talking to many of my business partners, I understand that it is for many of you as well! It may not be the kind of addiction that can physically threaten your life. But I assure you – it can be the type that can threaten your most precious relationships! And rid you of time you will never have again with your children!

I get it, I really do… It is my basic means of communication throughout the day. It is how I keep up with my fast growing team. It is the most utilized tool for growing my business and blog, and essentially earning an income. HOWEVER, social media should work for US! We should not work for it!

Don’t get me wrong, I am not stepping away all together. I still have my account active. But, I am choosing to be much more cautious of my time there. The app is no longer on my phone. If I want to check messages, communicate with my friends/family/team members, or share what’s on my heart, then I will do that on my computer during “work” hours (meaning before Bean wakes up, which I use to check emails, and also during her nap/quiet time) and during my rare free time in the evening (but only, if it isn’t taking away time from my husband). Also, this will not change what you see posted on the Ring Around the Rosies page. I will still be posting there (again, during certain hours), and pushing pictures over from instagram.

I posted on my facebook last night after I deleted it, and I shared an abbreviated version of this post… You can see that I created quite a small revolution…

And just like I said in that last comment, so far, I do not miss it at all!!! IT IS SO FREEING to me! I don’t feel like a slave to my phone anymore. I am no longer checking my facebook all day to see what people are talking about. To see if anyone has commented on a picture. To see how many “likes” something has. This morning, instead of spending those 10-15 minutes of facebook before getting up, I read the Bible! Started my day and my mood so perfectly! I have already been so much more productive. I don’t have that “stuck” feeling like I normally had…

This is essentially a brand new era. The technology age. We have NO idea what the effects will be on us, on our children, on our grandchildren, and that scares the crap out of me. I will be a slave no more!

Positive thoughts and comments are encouraged…

Filed Under: balance, Faith, on my heart, simplify

updating a chandelier

amazing blt {it’s what’s for dinner}

Our Home Tour {kitchen}

quick and easy cobb salad

Our new home {the downstairs}

sweet summertime

on taking a break!

calling all stay at home moms who are looking for more

why I deleted facebook {and some thoughts to chew on}

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