Everyone has some preference to what holiday is the best. For me, Christmas is not the best because of the gifts or the shiny lights (although that's a bonus), its everything that comes before it.

1. The family calls every day to say how excited they are.

If you're like me, you have a big family, and absolutely no one is left out of family dinner. Christmas is where you see the relatives you aren't able to see as often as you would like, and where you plot on how to get the good stuff before all the adults do.

2. Christmas shopping for other people.

I actually prefer giving gifts to getting them. I love being able to buy something for someone that I know they really wanted or that they will really like. In the end though, it doesn't matter the amount of money you spent on the gift, just how much thought you put into it. Seeing someone's face after they open the gift you ran to 15 stores for= priceless.

3. Did I say Christmas parties?

The best way to get into the holiday spirit is to grab some ugly Christmas sweater, get a bunch of people together, and have a holiday party. What's a better way to get someone hyped for the holidays than a sweater that has Santa, a snowman, and a reindeer on it that says #SquadGoals

4. The dessert.

People plan what they're bringing to a house on Christmas practically weeks before. Special secret recipes are mad, flour is flying about, and all you can think about is stuffing your grandma's dessert cookies into your mouth and taking enough away from the table so you have enough to last you the next couple weeks since you know she only makes these desserts once a year

5. Christmas decorating.

There's something about a house going from 0 to 100 real quick with Christmas decorations that just scream "Christmas is the best holiday ever." After a long day at work, I come home looking forward to sitting on my couch and lighting up my Christmas tree just to see all the beautiful lights that my mom worked so hard and intricately to place a certain way. Let's not forget that the house constantly smells like a warm sugar cookie, shoutout to Yankee Candle for all their holiday scents.

6. After Christmas comes the new year.

After Christmas is over, it's a pretty low point in most peoples lives after the high from the last 3 weeks of Christmas shopping and gift wrap flying everywhere etc. But one of the only good things that happen after Christmas is over, is that the New Year comes.

Because Christmas and the New Year are only one week apart, usually the conversation at the Christmas dinner table is about what dress you're wearing on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year. The new year is a promise of a fresh start, a clean slate that you can make it anything to be. While it's sad the Christmas decorations start coming down, the anticipation of the new year is right behind it

The holidays are my favorite time of year because you are almost never alone. Someone is always calling to see what they should bring for the house/dinner table on Christmas, people are constantly wrapping gifts together to get everything ready for the most perfect day, and most importantly, your family is all together celebrating their health and happiness as one.