Happy New Year everyone - with all the crazy hustle and bustle of December, January brings relief from  holiday crowds, parties and shopping. Now is a good time to stay in, relax, work on your resolutions and think about the year ahead.

Home can mean different things to different people -a place of love, laughter and family; a place that evokes warm feelings: sipping cocoa by the fire, cooking up a storm in a cozy kitchen or having an impromptu football game in the backyard. We are fortunate to have such images and memories. Unfortunately, for many people in the world, this is not the case.

Home may be a mud hut, a cardboard box, a bus station bench.  The images of home life in many cases are not always filled with much cheer or happiness. However, we can make a difference with a little bit of time, a pair of hands and Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanity has initiatives all over the world and they can always use your help. It's not too late to add a resolution to your list - maybe give a few days to their organization. If that isn’t possible, you can donate old furniture or even your kitchen sink to one of their resale stores.

Here at milkshake, we are focusing on hearth and home for the month of January. To kick it off we would love to have you post on Facebook, tweet or leave us a note and send in a photo or description of your idea of home. We will pick out our favorite photo, post or description and send the lucky winner a bag of milkshake “good” finds as well as make a donation to in their name to Habitat for Humanity.

Thank you for reading, commenting and being a part of milkshake.  We hope you have a healthy and happy New Year full of all good things!!