Andrea Dekker

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Slow Cooker Vietnamese Chicken

Earlier this week I shared a few slow cooker receips I want to try in the coming months — and I mentioned that I already had one very successful and extremely delicious meal to share with you… Vietnamese Chicken!

Since I had all the other ingredients in our house — and since this recipe specifically calls for FROZEN chicken, I quickly whipped it up and threw it in the crock pot. The chicken was absolutely delicious, full of flavor, and actually quite “Asian tasting” — which is something I’ve never been able to achieve with other recipes!

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I’m Trying Out a “Block Schedule”

Ever since we brought Nora home from the hospital {7 weeks ago today!}, I’ve been diligently trying to figure out the best way to schedule my day around the intense needs of a newborn. It has been a bumpy road so far, and we most definitely do not have it all worked out yet; but I recently got an email from a reader who sensed my frustration and told me about how she implimented a “block schedule” to help her better manage her time with small children.

I’ve been trying a block schedule ever since then… and it seems to be working!

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Taking Down Christmas Decor

As much as I LOVE putting up our Christmas decorations… I also love taking them down again.
Yes, it takes the better part of an afternoon to gather them all into my storage bins and bring them downstairs, but after I’m done, the house feels so open, light, and un-cluttered.

I packed up our decorations this past weekend… and have a few tips to simplify and organizing the process.

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Slow Cooker Recipes I Want to Try in 2012

I got a new slow cooker for Christmas and have already used it a couple of times. I actually have 3 different slow cookers — all different sizes — but to be honest, I haven’t used them as much as I should.
So this year, my goal is to use a slow cooker once a week — or at least a few times each month.

I’ve already made a few really delicious meals {recipes coming soon}… but here are a few more I definitely want to try this coming year.

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Cleaning Your Shower in 10 Minutes a Month

Several years ago, {after not cleaning my shower for a few months} I decided I had to come up with some type of system for cleaning my shower so I wouldn’t put it off for so long ever again.

From then on, I’ve been cleaning my showers the same way every month and it only takes me about 10 minutes total!

Here’s what I do…

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Clear Your Clutter… with a Clothes Basket

As you can probably imagine, January and February are busy months for anyone involved in the “organizing industry”. Just think about how many people made a New Year’s resolution or goal to “get more organized” this year!

And even though I’m normally quite organized, I find myself with an even stronger urge to purge at the beginning of a new year. If you’ve had this same urge lately, I’ve got a really SIMPLE tip that always seems to help me get rid of even more stuff around our house.

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Our New Year’s Card and Baby Announcement

I absolutely love sending our holiday card to family and friends each year!

I had so much fun coming up with the ideas for this year’s holiday card… and then bringing those ideas to life with the help of Angela from Tilly Claire’s Design. She took all my ideas and turned them into the most beautiful, custom, 2-sided holiday card with our family’s New Year greeting on the front and Nora’s birth announcement on the back.

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Do You Check the Expiration Dates?

The price of groceries is already high enough, so I figure there is no point spending money on something that’s going to expire before we have time to eat it. Right?

Lately, I’ve been doing one simple thing to assure that I don’t waste my money on expired foods… and it has saved me a bunch of money and extra trips back to the store!

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Favorite Photo Memories of 2011

I think I’ve mentioned this before… but for the first 4 years of our marriage, Dave and I have less than 100 pictures total! Neither one of us really loves taking pictures OR being in pictures, and I often forgot my camera or simply didn’t feel like hauling it out to take a couple quick pictures.

So, last year, I made a goal to start taking more photos — and I’m happy to say I followed through with that goal.
Here are just a few of my most favorite photo memories from 2011… I’m hoping we’ll have lots more photo memories in 2012!

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What Will You Purge First?

If your holiday parties were anything like ours, you probably left with a lot more stuff than you arrived with.

And even though I took my own advice and got rid of a bunch of stuff BEFORE the holidays, we’ve gotten rid of even more since then… I’m guessing you might be able to purge a few more things too!

If so, then I have a few tips and a bunch of resources to help you get started… what will you purge first?

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Tips to Keep a White Couch White

A few months ago, I showed you our new ALL white couch that we purchased on our crazy IKEA shopping trip!

Well, it’s been 5 months; we’ve eaten on our coach, we’ve napped on our couch, we’ve had spit-up on our coach, we’ve spilled on our couch — basically, we’ve used and abused our couch, but it’s still white! So I thought I’d give you a little update and a few tips for keeping a white couch clean.

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Make Your Own Play-Doh

A couple months ago, I got an email from Brenda, a loyal reader, with instructions on how to make homemade Play-Doh. I was honestly surprised by how simple an inexpensive it was — so I knew I had to try it out!

Now, even though Nora is still way to young for PlayDoh, I thought this might be a fun Christmas break activity to do with your children, grand children, nieces, nephews, etc.

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Simple Projects for Christmas Break

Yes, I know — you’re not supposed to be “working” on Christmas Break. However, if you are anything like me, you LOVE to take advantage of any spare time you have and fit in a project or two!
So while I completely intend on relaxing and enjoying my Christmas Break, I’m also planning to tackle a few simple projects as well — especially since Dave has almost two weeks off from school and can help with Nora.

Here are some of the projects I’m doing over break:

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Setting Goals for the New Year

I DON’T make New Year’s resolutions. They are just silly to me. However, I’m a HUGE advocate for setting goals — and I set goals for almost every area of my life.

Goals are so much different than resolutions because goals are thought-out, achievable, planned, and organized… and today I’m sharing some helpful ideas to help you plan your goals for next year.

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Holiday Sweet Treats — From a Box!

I really do love spending time baking in my kitchen, and there are times when I like making more “involved” recipes. But most of the time I rely on semi-homemade food — especially this time of year when we have so many holiday parties that require food.
However, any time I start with a boxed mix, I almost always manage to spruce it up a bit and make it look {and taste} more homemade. Here are a few of my favorite semi-homemade “recipes”!

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Declutter Your Holiday Season

Several weeks ago, I shared a bunch of tips to get organized BEFORE the holiday season; however if you’re like most people {including myself} — you probably got busy or procrastinated and are now frantically shopping for last-minute gifts, making food for all your holiday parties, getting your holiday cards in the mail, and clearing the clutter from your home!
Sound familiar? If so, here are a few tips to get you through the next two weeks.

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Creative Ways to Give a Gift Card

There’s only 8 days until Christmas… and if you are still frantically searching for the perfect gift, it might just be time to “resort” to a gift card.

However, even though a gift card might not seem like the most personal or thoughtful gift, I can almost guarantee the recipient will love it… and with just a few minutes and a little creativity, you can package your gift cards in a thoughtful way.

Here are a few creative ways to give a gift card:

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Working From Home… With a Baby

I often got asked “how do you do it all?” and one of my answers to that question was that I didn’t have children yet!
So when we brought Nora home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, my ultra productive schedule pretty much flew out the window — and boy did I have a rude awakening to what life is like working from home with a new baby!

That said, there are three things I’ve been doing that have helped me to continue being somewhat productive — even with a newborn at home.

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Andrea Dekker
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