Andrea Dekker

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Our Favorite Clutter-Free Teacher Gifts

I don’t know if it’s simply because Dave is a teacher and I know how much time, effort, and energy they put into teaching their students every single day, but I’m much more willing to splurge on one of my children’s teachers than I am on any other non-family member.

I realize teacher gifts aren’t something every parent is so passionate about… but if you’re looking for a few clutter-free teacher gift ideas, I think today’s post will help — hopefully with plenty of time to put something nice together before the holidays! 

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6 Specific Ways We Simplify Busy Mornings

As a self-proclaimed homebody, you would be shocked to know that our current Fall schedule has our entire family up and out the door every single weekday morning for some activity or another!

Of course, getting Nora on the bus and the other 3 out the door with me can sometimes feel like a mini circus act — however, thanks to a handful of specific steps we take the night before, our mornings rarely ever feel stressful, frazzled, hectic, or too busy. I’m sharing our “secrets” in today’s post!

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A Few Of My Favorite Things {October 2018}

Fall is (and always has been) my favorite season of the year… I wholeheartedly agree with Anne of Green Gables when she says, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” 

Happy October to you all — come read about a few more of my favorite things this month!

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DONE is Better Than PERFECT (My Top Productivity Tip)

One of the pieces to my “productivity puzzle” is the fact that I am almost always focused on “done” versus “perfect”. I value quantity over quality (in a good way!), I work quickly and keep moving, I continually “do the next thing”, and I rarely get hung up on little details.

In my opinion, the vast majority of life can be accomplished with a “done is better than perfect” mindset — so let’s just save the perfection for heart surgeons and NASA engineers! 

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Is Guilt The Cause of Clutter In Your Life?

Keeping things because of guilt is a vicious cycle that will not eliminate the presence of guilt in your life — if anything, you might feel MORE guilt for hanging onto things you don’t use, things you don’t have space for, and for the amount of clutter and stuff piling up in your home.

If this sounds like something you can relate to… today’s post is a must-read!

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Saving, Splurging, and Sticking With YOUR Financial Goals

Have you ever felt guilty after reading an article or talking with a friend about how frugal they are in various areas of their life (an amazing deal shopper, someone who never goes out to eat or on vacation, people who buy everything from thrift stores, etc.)?

Well, what you might not be considering is the fact that those frugal people most likely have other areas of their budget where they splurge quite a bit more. I know that’s the case for Dave and myself… which is what I’m sharing more about today!

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The Productive Power of a 20 Minute Timer

Since Day 1 of my blog (and my organizing business) I have preached the benefits of setting timers for various tasks and activities throughout the day.

If you tend to be easily side-tracked, today’s post might be just the motivation you need to make more progress on your to-do lists!

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I Might Literally Have More “Usable Hours” In My Day!

After sharing our new super-early morning routine a couple weeks ago, I was inundated with questions about how we survived on “only 6-7 hours of sleep”.

Honestly, Dave and I have never considered 6-7 hours to be a lack of sleep — and after reading so many of your emails and comments, it’s apparent that we might literally have more “usable hours” in our day compared to those of you who need 8-10 hours every night!

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Simple Vegetable Marinara Sauce

In a desperate effort to use up even more zucchini, I decided to shred up a bunch and put it into pasta sauce (with a variety of other veggies as well) — the results were SO tasty!

The kids just keep shoveling their beloved pasta into their hungry mouths… and I just keep adding more and more and more veggies. This super simple, quick meal is a win-win in my book! 

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Peek Into Our Week (back to school)

Last week was our family’s first official FULL week of school — wow, did it feel long and tiring!

Come read about what we did, what the kids are up to, the new book on my nightstand, our menu for the week, and a few of our favorite cinnamon roll recipes!

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Do One Small Thing… Just Because It Makes You Happy

In general, I would say I almost never make impulse purchases. I’m also not the best at treating myself or doing extra-special things for myself “just because”.

Today, I’m sharing how one small thing brought so much joy to my life… and I’m encouraging you to think about how you can bring more joy to your life “just because”.

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Our Farmhouse Half Bath (Before + After)

Come tour our newly-renovated half bathroom off the kitchen… yes, it’s FINALLY finished after many so delays!

We are all SO thrilled with how everything turned out! Not only is it much more private, it also feels huge compared to the previously very cramped laundry room, and it fits in with the rest of our farmhouse decor! 

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Our School Snack Simplifier

I’ve wanted to share one of our favorite ways to simplify school snacks for some time now… but I wanted to wait until the back-to-school season was in full swing.

Now that we have a couple weeks of school under out belts, it’s time for my tip…

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A Doable Plan to Complete a Full-House Purge Before the New Year

It’s roughly 16 weeks until the start of another New Year — which is often the time of year everyone wants to “get more organized”. 

However, wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could dedicate a chunk of time, every week from now through the end of the year, to complete a full-house purge BEFORE the New Year?!?! I’m sharing my simple plan today!

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A Few Of My Favorite Things {September 2018}

A day off from work and school for Labor Day is one of Dave’s favorite things about starting school before this holiday weekend. It’s such a nice little break after the first couple weeks of school. And seriously, how is it September already!?!?!?!?!

Today I’m sharing a few more of my favorite things — and you might notice my post went live 2 hours earlier (hopefully for the foreseeable future!)

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Bathroom Update: Phase 2 is (Almost) Complete!

Although it took significantly longer than we anticipated, we are essentially finished with phase 2 of our 3-phase bathroom/laundry room renovation, and our new half bathroom is now usable!

I’m extremely happy with how the room is coming together so far, and although I still have several finishing touches to add, I wanted to share our progress on the blog today!

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How “Fun Lunches” Simplify Our School Routine

When it comes to packing lunches, it’s definitely not my most favorite thing on my list of daily to-do’s, but I certainly don’t despise it the way some of our friends, relatives, and other school families seem to!

In fact, after thinking about lunch packing more this past month, I might know at least one reason I don’t dread or despise packing lunches… I’m sharing my “secret” in today’s post!

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Our New, Super Early Morning Routine

Over the past several months — Dave and I have set our alarm earlier and earlier in an effort to regain our morning productivity. We began our early morning routine with a 5:30 alarm and eventually transitions to waking at 4 am every morning.

So far, so good… and although waking up at 4 is NOT for everyone, it’s working for us for now. I’m sharing more in today’s post!

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Andrea Dekker
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