I’m climbing up on my soapbox today to share some thoughts I’ve had since before Nora was born — but I’m just finally getting the guts to talk about them on the blog!

Come read, think, and respond (kindly please)… I’d love to hear your thoughts too.

I originally posted this recipe over two years ago, but since it’s one of our favorite quick lunch “recipes” — perfect for busy summer afternoons — I figured I should share it again for those of you who might not have been reading my blog two years ago!

I will often whip up 15-30 burritos at a time so we always have a supply in our freezer for days when we don’t feel like a sandwich or leftovers.

Since Sunday is a joint celebration of my birthday and Father’s Day, I figured a giveaway was in order

And since summer is such a great time to work on a few quick organizing projects around the house, I thought a $100 gift certificate from Go-Organize.com would be the perfect birthday giveaway!!

I think that no matter how old we are, we tend to look back on the past as the Good Old Days, remembering things as better and simpler “back then”. So if you think about it, this means that in 1, 2, 5, or 10 years, we’ll be looking back on today, this week, and this year, and remembering these moments as the Good Old Days.

Right now, we are living and experiencing tomorrow’s Good Old Days — are you making the most of them?

In less than 3 weeks, Google Reader will be gone — which means that those of you who use Google Reader to subscribe to my blog will no longer see any of my new blog posts after July 1st.

Today I’m sharing some simple alternatives to Google Reader — all of which should assure you don’t miss any recipes, simple tips, home renovations, or cute Nora pictures!

I recently read in a popular parenting magazine that 75% of adults say it’s important to educate children about finances, but only 36% of those same parents actually do so.

I’m not an expert in this area just yet, but there are so many things I want to teach my children about money management. In an effort to keep things simple, I’m sharing 5 financial lessons I definitely want my children to learn.

We live in a 120 year old farmhouse — and as we work our way through different renovation projects, we often wonder what memories and stories are “locked away” inside the walls of our house. If only walls could talk… right!

Spurred by a recent visit of our home’s previous owners, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Today, I’m sharing some of those thoughts.

Have you ever wondered how bloggers earn an income from their blogs?

Today’s post is quite long — not because the topic is so complicated, but rather, because it took me a REALLY long time to figure out how to build my online business. And since I get so many questions on this topic, I decided it was time to share the process with you!

Summer is always such a crazy time of year for us (I’m sure many of you can relate). On one hand, we want to work on house projects, go on vacation, and pack every day with something fun. On the other hand, we just want to relax.
This year, Dave and I are on a mission to slow down summer — to find that healthy balance between “getting stuff done” and relaxing — I’ll let you know if we succeed in about 11 weeks!

It’s June — which means the end of our no-spending challenge, an 11-week summer break for Dave, my 28th birthday, the official start of summer, our 7th anniversary, and LOTS of yard work! It’s going to be a busy month — but I’m so excited!

I’m also excited to share a few more of my favorite things with you!

Over the past couple of years, I’ve shared many pictures, recipes, and tips for cooking/baking in bulk in attempts to keep our freezer stocked. And whenever I mention my freezer cooking/baking sessions, I always get a handful of questions asking how I do it with a toddler (or any number of small children).

So today, I’m sharing 5 simple tips that helped me get back in my “baking-in-bulk groove” after Nora was born.

It’s June — which means our month-long no-spending challenge is over! Yay! Dave and I made it through… and it honestly wasn’t that difficult, especially after the first week.

Today, I’m sharing what we learned (and how I accidentally broke the rules — oops!). I’m also sharing a few tips and ideas for how you could implement a similar challenge into your own life.

I’ve talked about my lack of cleaning routine in the past, but since the warm days of summer are just around the corner (and no one wants to waste them inside cleaning) I thought it might be a good time to share my super simple speed-cleaning tips that allow me to clean our entire house in less than 60 minutes.

Today’s post is a reflection on a recent email I received. The email was quite rude, but ironically, the phrase they used to try to put me down actually affirmed that what I’m doing here on AndreaDekker.com is working!

The ideas and concepts presented on my blog are NOT rocket science — that’s true. I never intended them to be rocket science. In fact, it would defeat both my business and personal goals if my ideas were rocket science!

EVERYTHING in our yard is getting really over-grown! There are a bunch of dead trees, the grass in the back yard is basically all weeds and dirt, and the planting beds have been taken over by ivy and other invasive ground covers.

So this summer, we’re trading our hammers and saws for shovels and rakes — and we’re doing a complete landscape renovation!

I’ve alway been intimidated with the thought of making fish at home, until I found this super simple recipe. After a few adjustments and about 10 minutes in the kitchen, I had dinner ready to go in the oven… and it was fabulous!

If you’d like to try making fish at home — or even if you’re just looking for a new fish recipe, give this one a try… I think you’ll like it!

Over the past 2 years, I’ve made HUGE strides in my effort to take more pictures. And while I’m thrilled to be taking more pictures, I’ve started to notice one problem… I’m always behind the camera.

I’ve decided that I need to be more proactive about getting in front of the camera — even if it’s not always convenient (or I haven’t done my hair!)

Due to the nature of my blog and my business, I’m often asked how I consciously decide what to purge, what to keep, how long to keep it, etc. — and unfortunately, there are no hard-and-fast rules for exactly what you should and should not purge (wouldn’t that be nice though!)

So today, I’m sharing a few simple guidelines I use in my own life to help me decide when (and when not) to purge.

I’m excited to share today’s post with you — because it’s a guest post I requested from a loyal reader.

Dallas, from Day-by-Day Masterpiece, has taken a one-year challenge to perform random acts of kindness each week. I think this idea is awesome… and today, Dalas is sharing a few really simple (and free) random acts of kindness we can all do in the coming week.