"Cleanse"

That's my word for the new year.

Cleanse.

I want to cleanse my home of clutter and crap. I'm always one to be up for a clutter-purge, and I'm feeling that urge to purge again. Seems only right that it's happening now. The beginning of winter, the beginning of the new year. I want to start FRESH.

So, over the next couple of weeks, hubby and I are going to seriously go through all of our stuff and really think about what we need to keep and hold onto. Well, really it will be me going through everything and dragging my husband along. But right now, he says he's "in", so I'm taking him with me. Each nook, cranny, closet, under-the-bed will be sorted. For instance: that bag of charcoal in the hallway closet? Gone. We haven't had a grill in, oh, a year? I'd rather give that to someone who will use it now, and pay $5 for another bag if and when we ever get another grill, you know? Free up space for me now. Cleanse.

Also: my health. I'm healthy. Really, compared to the average person (in my opinion, of course). We eat a vegetarian diet, very low in dairy. We eat as organic as we can afford. We avoid fast food about 95% of the time. We don't eat fried food, high fructose corn syrup, food with a super-long ingredient list, etc.

But we could do so much better, as I think we all probably can. We are going to do a Healthy Eating Challenge for the month of January, inspired by an article in the latest issue of Kiwi magazine. Cooking from scratch as much as possible, avoiding overly-processed, overly-packaged foods... you know, that stuff that's an easy and convenient go-to when you're feeling lazy. It will take teamwork, dedication, and lots of planning to make it happen. Especially when it's been a long day at work and I come home to a messy house (maybe not though! Cleanse!) and a fussy baby (toddler?). But, again, Kevin says he's "in"... so hopefully we'll be able to start off the new year with at least a month of conscious eating.

Cleanse.

What's your word of inspiration for the new year?