This time of year is when I get excited for fall, my favorite of the four seasons. I get tired of the heat of summer, the bugs, the lack of rain, and the sunburns. I then get excited for the crisp autumn air, the football games, the Halloween costumes, and the beautiful leaves falling from the trees. If you share in my excitement for fall you will agree with these 11 reasons!

1. The hot weather is replaced by cool weather

I am lover of "sweater weather", which is what the weather is like in the fall. I don't need to worry about dying of heatstroke or freezing to death. I can actually just enjoy walking around outside!

2. The leaves start to change

One of the main reasons I love this season so much is because of its beauty. The leaves turn to warm colors of orange, brown, and yellow and get blown away by the cold wind. There is nothing quite like seeing the beauty of nature in the fall, it is breathtaking.

3. Fall decorations and scents

I absolutely love the smell of apple cider and pumpkin scents, the look of decorative pumpkins around the house, and the youthfulness of picking out a costume to wear for Halloween. One of the best things about this season is all the smells and sights that come with it!

4. Halloween!

Even though my favorite holiday is Christmas, I have always enjoyed Halloween. When I was little I loved to go house to house for candy in whatever costume my mom made for me that year. Now that I am older, I love to get to be the one to hand out candy to excited little kids. Even though I am older now, I still love to dress up and celebrate Halloween as a kid at heart.

5. Football games

Throughout High School and my Freshman year of college, I was in the marching band. This meant that I got to spend each home football game in a band uniform, with my instrument and friends, while making some of the best memories I have. This year I will get to enjoy football games from the stands and at home. It is always a blast, and sometimes a yelling match, when we get together as a family to route on our favorite teams.

6. School starts back up

This may be an unpopular opinion among some, but I have always loved going back to school. I enjoy starting classes, seeing friends, and getting back to campus.

7. Getting to wear sweaters (even penguins enjoy them!)

Most of my closet is filled with clothes geared towards the fall: sweaters, boots, jackets, pants. If you are anything like me you get excited at seeing fall clothes already on display in the stores and are already giddy at the thought of getting to wear one without dying of a heatstroke.

8. Apple Cider, Caramel Apples, Pumpkin Pie...

With Autumn comes not only Thanksgiving, but amazing food all season long. Who doesn't love a warm glass of apple cider or a slice of pie? I sure do and these come with Fall!

9. Thanksgiving!

To go along with number 8 on this list, one of the best parts of Autumn is Thanksgiving. Not only do you get great food, but you also get to enjoy time with family and friends. It is an amazing time to be thankful and to enjoy great food. Also, it is a time to start getting excited for Christmas!

10. It rains more often

This is something I am personally excited for, where others might be dreading it. I love overcast days and thunderstorms and the sight, sound, and smell of rain. There is nothing more calming to me than these type of days where I can just sit somewhere and read as it rains. In the summer I enjoy the sunshine but in the Fall I love these types of days.

11. Christmas is just around the corner

I never grew out of getting excited for Christmas (in fact, I get excited just like a child does). I listen to classic Christmas songs for about four months straight, wear Christmas sweaters, drink eggnog, and shop for presents and decorations way before December. I get excited for Christmas after the fourth of July, but in the fall it is more acceptable for me to go around in red and green listening to "White Christmas."

After reading these 11 reasons why I am excited for fall, I hope that you feel excited too. Fall time is a wonderful time filled with holidays, family, and fun. Take time to enjoy the falling leaves and all the things that come with Fall because soon it will be over and we will have to wait another three seasons for it to come back.