It is April and we are officially through the first 1/4 of the year.  At the beginning of 2014, I wrote this post about my 4 words for 2014.  It’s my version of a resolution this year.  My first word was clean.  You can see the different posts I’ve written about “clean” by clicking here, but today I’m going to do a little recap.

Let’s look at the different areas in life that I wanted to clean up:

Think twice about what I’m eating.  I’m going to call this a win.  I have weekends that don’t go well in the clean eating department, but I have made some serious changes in what I consume.  The 2 best things we’ve made part of our routines are juicing and meal planning.

Keep our apartment clean.  I still have some work to do on this one.  I did stick with my initial resolution of not leaving clothes in the washer or the dryer for more than 15 minutes.  I haven’t finished my closet reorganization, but it’s on the schedule and I’m determined.

Mail.  We have gone officially paperless for all bills.  Happy mailboxes are filled with packages and letters from grandma, not bills.

Yoga.  Fail.  I have a 30 day yoga challenge on my 30 before 30 list, so I will for sure be diving in this year at some point, just not yet.

Declutter.  This is my favorite part about living in an apartment.  We don’t have much room, so we don’t buy as much stuff.  Clothes are constantly being donated as well as books.  If we don’t need it, we don’t keep it.  It’s amazing.  I keep Steph’s 10 tips on Decluttering handy all the time so we are forced to keep things simple and clean.

Take good care of my skin.  This is where I learned the most in the last 3 months.  I read a book called No More Dirty Looks and learned a ton about the cosmetics industry.  I highly recommend it, especially if you’re trying to “clean” out your life.  The US does not have strict regulations on cosmetics which leads to a whole lot of crappy stuff in your lotion, soaps and make up.

There is still a ton for me to learn about this, but I have made some immediate changes.  I’ve switched my deodorant, my shampoo/conditioner, my shower gel/soap, my toothpaste and my nail polish.  In the future, I’ll be shopping for a new brand of sunscreen and lotion.

Clean

I could probably write a whole post on this and my new favorite products and maybe I will when I find a good sunscreen and lotion.  I recommend checking out the book or their blog here.

My internet space.  This was my favorite.  I cleaned out old college pictures that never should have made it to the internet, I cleared out people from my Facebook list, I cleared out blogs that I don’t read anymore for one reason or another.  I’m still working on my email – it’s terrifying out out of control that has gotten.

So that’s my first word of the year and I think I’ve successfully made some lifestyle changes.  It’s a constant learning experience and I’ve grown to really enjoy it.  Thank you to everyone that has given me suggestions, tips and recipes.  Keep them coming.