I noticed this year, I wasn't worried about Christmas presents like I normally am. Typically, I'm already brainstorming for presents no less than a month in advance. I'm normally keeping an eye out for clues, planning the perfect surprise present for my parents, and sending out surveys to my friends to find the best Christmas gift for everyone.

This year, I noticed I did absolutely nothing. It's one week until Christmas, and I still don't have a 'great idea' for presents this year. I don't even have a Christmas list of my own this year. I have one item, and I truly wouldn't mind if I don't get it. Of course, Christmas music has been playing since November and the spirit of Christmas is alive and well within me, but it seems my idea of a real Christmas this year, doesn't revolve around presents. Even my tree looks a little different this year.

Still, I was trying to think of something to get my family even this week. While I was brainstorming I was laying on the couch and turned on the TV to hear FedEx and UPS are limiting package pickups, making it even more of a hurdle to get a present for my family. Surprisingly, this didn't bother me.

Truthfully, I still have not a clue what I'm going to get for my family and close friends. They deserve the world, and this year, I just cannot seem to find a material item that would be enough to express how fortunate I am to have them in my life. In a year unlike any other, material objects don't really mean what they used to anymore.

Instead, I'm truly looking forward to just sitting in the living room with my small family (including my new pup), and just being together, eating food and watching TV, while talking and reminiscing. For my friends, I'm looking forward to our phone calls, and for the day when I can wrap my arms around them again and talk to them face-to-face.

My real present this year, truly is everything. My present is being alive, and being able to be home with my parents for the fall semester of my junior year in college. It's my puppy who drives me insane but I couldn't do life without her, it's my friends who FaceTime me out of the blue just to catch up on life, it's the new people in my life who already mean so much to me, and it's the hugs I was able to receive this year. It's the organizations I'm a part of, my ability to finish the fall semester, it's Odyssey for giving me an outlet to share my stories, and the community I'm in, with the most amazing people.

My presents are the memory of this year, and all the quality time I was able to spend with those I care about the most. The laughs, the tears, the spontaneous lunches with my grandma, the car rides with my mom where we're singing our heart out, the random cook-outs with my family, and the impromptu 11 p.m. dances with my dad outside to George Strait.

My favorite Christmas present is all of the quality time I was able to spend with people, and being alive and living well. This Christmas, I'm not fixated on presents or even huge trees with lots of decorations. Instead, I'm so grateful for everything this year has brought me, both the good and the bad, and I'm excited about the quality time I'll get to spend with those I love.