Coming off of the Thanksgiving holiday leaves many of us still reflective of what we are thankful for in our lives. However, being thankful for those in your life shouldn't have to stop when the Thanksgiving dishes are done.

Christmas time has always been my favorite time of the year. Finals are finally over, and college students finally have a couple weeks off of school to recuperate from the previous semester. There is something infectious about the Christmas lights, the trees and the magic in the air that fills my heart with overall joy. Around this time every road is lit up with holiday cheer. It truly is the "most wonderful time of the year." Being cuddled up on the couch watching "Elf" with the family with some hot chocolate is something that I always look forward to.

During the Christmas time, we hear all about presents. We see commercials on the television informing people all about the hot presents for this year. Everyone gets stuck in traffic on their way to the mall, everyone is scrambling to find a parking spot and the lines are taking up the majority of the store so that everyone can find the perfect gifts for their loved ones to open on the morning of December 25th.

When I was younger all I could think about was getting the coolest new toy at Toys R Us or the most popular clothes from Limited Too or a new iPod. Either way, I was always caught up about the "things". I thought Christmas was all about the presents, I didn’t really care about anything else. I remember whining about going to my extended family’s house because I just wanted to play with my new toys. The hardest thing was sitting through Christmas morning mass because we had to wait until mass was over to see if what we asked Santa for was under the tree waiting for me.

Then is when I started to realize that Christmas isn't about the presents under the tree, but it is about the presence of those around the Christmas tree.

The whole family is not together all of the time like when we were younger. Everyone now is out and doing their own things in different area codes. Being the baby of the family I can always thank the holidays for giving everyone days off of work and school and a reason to come home for a couple of days.

I am thankful for all of the amazing people that I have in my life. The ones to make day to day life a little bit easier. During the holidays we also think about those who didn't make it to this years Christmas dinner. I believe that this was another waking moment for me. That the memories and traditions that we make are what make the holidays so special. Whether it is something like getting matching Christmas Eve pajamas, secret santa with the siblings, making christmas cookies or just simply taking the time out of our day to sit and catch up with family that we haven't seen in a while.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. When I was younger it was because I was excited to see what Santa left for me under the tree, but now it is because I get to spend time with my family doing the little things that bring us all joy.