After a long year of waiting, one of the best holidays in existence is finally upon us. Thanksgiving is the holiday that we dedicate to food, family, and football. It comes right in the middle (or maybe beginning depending on who you are) of celebrating the Christmas season while still having all of the wonderful things from Fall.

Essentially, it's the best day of the entire year. But beyond just thinking about the turkey, there is definitely some other stuff that happens on Thanksgiving that makes you say "ah, welcome back."

1. You are mentally dead

Everyone knows that the week before Thanksgiving is one of the worst in the entirety of the college experience. I hear people saying all the time "yeah, the week before Thanksgiving is worse than finals for me this semester."

So you probably start your week off by being drained and mentally exhausted because, hey, college.

2. Your mom is stressing

Nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" like coming home from college to find your mom stressing the heck out over cooking food, cleaning the house, and just breathing in general.

If you're lucky, she'll give you a day to recover from your crazy work week before she recruits you into her little army that is your family.

3. You find the desire to watch Charlie Brown

While I love a good Charlie Brown as much as the next person, I never find myself thinking "gosh, I'd just really love to go sit down and watch a Peanuts cartoon."

But then Thanksgiving enters stage left, knocking on my door like Snoopy and Woodstock in pilgrim costumes and I find myself asking people to watch "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" with me, feeling just as surprised as Charlie Brown in this GIF.

4. You get to eat out

I know this one sounds weird, but really you do. The leadup to Thanksgiving is so full of cooking that no one actually wants to do it for regular meals.

Plus, you know you're going to be having home-cooked meals for 2-3 days because of the holiday and then leftovers, so you order takeout and pizzas in the days right before. Really, it's a win/win.

5. The entire house gets cleaned

You know those times when your mom uses her stress to make you feel guilty? Yeah. Me too. Whether or not the Thanksgiving meal is being hosted at your house, you know that you'll have to help clean the entire thing just to keep her sane. She guilts you into it with her stress and then says things like "we can't put up the Christmas decorations until the house is clean."

Before you know it, you're on your hands and knees scrubbing the back upstairs bathtub that is only ever used to hold the laundry you don't feel like putting away with a toothbrush.

6. You have to plan a really good outfit

I know this one sounds kind of stupid, but can you honestly say that you don't have to plan a really great outfit to wear for Thanksgiving with all of your super stylish and cute relatives?

I mean, think of all the pictures you have to be in that will inevitably be dredged up every year. Yeah - a good Thanksgiving outfit never hurts.

7. You go to the grocery store a million times

I would be willing to bet that I make a "quick trip out to Walmart" more times in the days leading up to Thanksgiving than I do in the entire rest of the year.

We always forget that one little thing or change the menu halfway through the cooking process, and as I'm not a super handy person to have around in the kitchen, I always get sent out to pick up things that we didn't get.

8. You skip a meal (or 2)

College students never skip meals. Ever. If we sleep through breakfast, we usually make up for it with lunch, an early dinner, and a late dinner. But on Thanksgiving, no one eats anything before the big meal because we all know that much good food has to be prepared for as thoroughly as possible.

9. Your out of town family comes

I know that this happens with other holidays, but it's a very "Thanksgiving" thing for me because most of the relatives that travel for Christmas aren't here on actual Christmas and everyone comes for our family reunions whereas only some people come for Thanksgiving. The appearance of certain people = Thanksgiving.

10. You get really excited to watch a parade

Odds are, you haven't gotten as excited about another parade in your life as you do about the Macy's Parade. Even as an adult, this is one of my favorite things to do on Thanksgiving. There's something kind of magical about it.

11. The weird traditions begin

Weird traditions at my family's Thanksgiving include, but are not limited to, doing "whipped cream shots," making a gingerbread house, watching said gingerbread house crumble, and playing Apples to Apples.

Everyone has quirky little traditions that they do for each holiday that make it stand out and be memorable. Thanksgiving is no exception to this rule. These weird traditions that families have are a part of what makes it so special and wonderful.

So go eat some turkey, watch some football, see some family, and get some good sleep because you deserve it!