Andrea Dekker

30 Comments

Celebrating… A New Decade!

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new decade

Today is my 30th birthday!

I definitely don’t feel “old” — in fact, I feel like I’m finally “old enough” (if that makes any sense!)

Most of my friends are several years older than me, so although I’m the oldest of my siblings, 30 really doesn’t seem like a big deal at all. I promise there is no part of me that feels depressed or sad or upset or anything negative.

However, it IS definitely a reason to celebrate — which we’re doing all week long here on the blog! 

In case you missed it yesterday, I’m giving away over $1500 of prizes this week, click here to see them all and enter to win!

celebration week (1)

Sometimes I think about what decade of my life I’ll love the most. For the record, I predict my 50’s or 60’s — as long as I have good health.

I think my 30’s will mostly be crazy and SO filled with taking care of babies and little people that I probably won’t have a ton of time for myself — and that’s OK. I’m told I will look back on these crazy years and miss them one day — you know, because they go so fast 🙂

I also often wonder if my 20’s will be the decade with the most change. Obviously, there’s no way to tell right now, but when I think back over the past 10 years, it’s crazy to think of ALL the changes that occurred.

Only 10 years ago I was in college, completely “free” to do what I wanted to do, no real knowledge of what it would be like to be married, have a “real job”, buy a house, have children, start a business, etc.

I went from living with my parents (during the summers) to being a parent myself!

I went from listening to college lectures to speaking in front of hundreds of people about simplifying and organizing.

I went from hardly even checking my email on a regular basis to running a full-time business completely from my computer!

Certainly, a lot has happened over the past decade — and most of it has been really good.

10 years

9 (almost) wedding anniversaries

8 new in-laws (not including nieces and nephews)

7 different jobs (full-time and part-time)

6 different vehicles

5 years of blogging

4+ years of farmhouse renovations

3 (almost) babies

2 different homes

1 fabulous guy who experienced it all with me

One thing that struck me as I was making the list above is that my 20’s were the first decade that Dave has been a part of (maybe that’s why my 20’s were so good!)

I didn’t meet Dave until I was almost 19, and he proposed a week after my 20th birthday — so we spent the entire decade together, and hopefully many more to come!

In case you’re wondering how I’m “celebrating” today… here’s a rundown of how I think my day will go.

Hopefully sleep in a little bit

Donuts from a new place in town (Nora’s request)

Dr. appointment at 10:30 (I get to hear my baby again!)

Lunch and maybe work on a few house projects during Simon’s nap

An early dinner — probably going out somewhere with Dave so I won’t need to cook!

Play with the kids after dinner, maybe go for a walk

Watch some Netflix with Dave after the kids are in bed and scroll through my facebook birthday wishes 🙂

Hopefully get to bed more on time than I have been

No, we’re not doing anything special to celebrate — but I’m completely fine with that.

Over the years, we’ve had enough 30th birthday parties and surprise parties within our groups of friends and relatives to make it feel like “old news” now. Plus, when your 30th birthday is in the middle of the week, you have 2 little kids, and you are hugely pregnant, there’s not a whole lot I feel like doing!

We’ll save the crazy party for my 40th birthday… maybe!

Just for kicks, here’s how I spent my last 4 birthdays here on the blog:

My 29th birthday (I loved writing this post)

My 28th birthday (another giveaway)

My 27th birthday (gave away 27 of my favorite things)

My 26th birthday (celebrated with a week of 26 giveaways)

Although we’re not doing anything super special today, I’m certain I will still feel loved, appreciated, and celebrated. I’ll probably get lots of sloppy Simon kisses, a bunch of handmade gifts and pictures from Nora, and maybe some extra free time to relax thanks to Dave being home all day.

Sounds like a pretty good 30th birthday to me!

Cheers to celebrating another decade of life!

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Comments

  1. Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says

    Happy belated birthday, Andrea! As someone who has a whole 3 years on you (ha!), may I just say that I love my 30s? My 20s were great but I am thoroughly enjoying my life in this new decade as well. I know you will as well. I’m thinking of you in these final days of waiting to meet your new baby!

    Reply

  2. Teresa says

    Happy Birthday Andrea!! I can’t believe how much you, when you were younger and Nora, look alike….WOW!!! Enjoy your special day and hopefully we’ll get to see baby number 3 real soon! Have fun!

    Reply

    • Andrea says

      haha yes! Nora does look a lot like my little girl pictures. But believe it or not, Simon actually looks MUCH more like my toddler pictures!

      Reply

  10. Janice says

    When I was a kid in the 1950s, I would spend some time looking at my mother’s ladies magazines. I remember being so impressed by the dishwashing detergent ad (Joy, I think) that showed 2 different pairs of ladies hands. The caption read “Can you tell which pair of hands belong to a 21year old and which belong to a 30 year old?” Impressive, I thought until I became a 30 year old housewife and realized what a cracked comparison that ad had been. Our 30 year old hands are not over the hill yet and don’t look that aged from when we are in our early 20s. Now, if I compare my 67 year old hands with my young hands, there is a BIG difference. Happy 30th Birthday, Andrea and do take care of your body. 🙂

    Reply

  12. Debbie says

    Happy 30th Birthday Andrea! Your best years are yet to come. I think each decade gets better and better, at least for me…..so hold on to your birthday hat! Enjoy your day!

    Reply

  13. ShellyL says

    Happy, happy birthday, Andrea!! Your plans sound great. Hope your day is wonderful. ❤️

    Reply

  15. Angie says

    Andrea, I spent my 30th birthday rubbing Oil of Olay all over my body! That was a hard day for me! Ha! I just turned 65 in April and that was a breeze! Have learned a lot about myself in the 35 yrs since that 30th birthday! And I LOVE that I have you to help me organize…not my best quality, but I AM getting better, thanks to YOU!
    Happy Birthday! Happy Year! Happy Life!

    Reply

  16. Caroline says

    Happy Birthday, Andrea!

    I turned 30 just a couple weeks ago and had the same feelings as you… I had plenty of time to get used to it as I celebrated my friends birthdays. I met my guy (also Dave!) when I was 20 and so I thought more about how we’ve grown together over the last decade, and got excited for what’s to come!

    Here’s to the next 30! : )

    Reply

  20. Georgia says

    HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

    I too was quite pleased to say I was in my 30’s, as I am one of the youngest in my group of friends and often mistaken for a teenager by strangers. Hope your day is just wonderful!! 🙂

    Reply

  21. Amy says

    Happy 30th Andrea!!! For the record, although my 30’s have been BUSY, with 2 babies, they have been my best years yet! I hope yours are too…crazy baby years and all 🙂 Thank you for all the giveaways on your birthday week!!

    Can I also ask the brand of your baby pool? It looks like the perfect pool for my 2 & 3 year old!

    Reply

  22. Lindsey T says

    Happy Birthday, Andrea! However you celebrate I’m sure it’ll be fabulous. Mine is next month and I’m more than ready for 30. 20s were awesome but I have a feeling the 30s are going to be really fun too! Have a wonderful day 🙂

    Reply

  25. Jane says

    Happy, Happy Birthday! Your plans sound fabulous. I’m pretty sure my 30th birthday was spent in a similar fashion since I had two little kiddos at that point. But, I’m also pretty sure I don’t remember! (That’s what happens when you’re in your 5th decade!) 🙂 Enjoy!

    Reply

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