I know I just recently wrote about how much I love Christmas time and why, but this time only comes around once a year, so I want to get as much love for this holiday in as I possibly can. In my previous article, posted just last week, I highlighted our favorite elements in the holiday season including, cookies, the Christmas tree, holiday music, decorating, and much more.

Since Christmas when I was a child, I can remember my routine. Depending on the year, we would switch from every other; I would spend Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family and Christmas day with my mom's side. I loved this part of Christmas. Two whole days with my entire family, a morning with my parents, my brother, and my sister -- what could possibly be better? I loved to pick the best cut-out cookies left to set on the table by the door with a tall glass of milk along with a little note for Santa, thanking him for stopping by that year.

I would go to bed in my pajamas that were a gift from my mom the year before and restlessly pass the minutes by fantasizing about what was to come after the next few hours. I would faithfully awake at a ripe hour of 7 a.m. Of course, I had to include the rest of my family in on the fun. Now, being the youngest, not everyone (actually, no one) was keen on the idea of my running around, after checking under tree, and yelling, “Santa came!”

Every year, we would always have our own wrapping paper. After terrible pictures were taken of all of us with bedhead by my loving mother, and we tried out all of our new gifts, we had a nice breakfast and then waited for the next Christmas celebration with the family we had not seen the night before.

Spending the next few days relaxing, while movies play all day long on television, drinking hot chocolate, and just enjoying time with the family is what I cannot wait to do in the next couple weeks.

I love this time of year. It brings everyone so close together and we get a chance to celebrate our love for one another. My big comfy couch, favorite lounging blanket, my dog curled up on my lap, a cup of hot chocolate, a corny Christmas movie, Christmas music playing in the next room, and a pine Yankee candle burning with the lit tree in the corner is my motivation to get through my finals.