As I came home for the holidays I began to appreciate everyone in my family a little more. Living alone (with roommates) is no easy task so being home and having my mom cook homemade meals for me again filled me with so much joy. I've been living off of spaghetti and mac and cheese...and then living off of those leftovers....bless my family for making me warm meals that were not spaghetti and mac and cheese.

Due to the fact that my parents are divorced things can get kind of chaotic around holiday season. My siblings and I have about 6 Christmases. This has led me to become kind of like the Grinch and all I want to do is just curl up in bed because when it's all said and done that's about all I can do with how much energy I have left. But this year was a little different...

As I went to one Christmas party to the next I continuously had family members come up to me and express how much they loved these articles I wrote. Here I was thinking maybe 3 or 4 people noticed but instead it now seemed like an abundance of people and I felt so grateful. Don't get me wrong, I was exceptionally grateful in the first place but to see that my words were having an impact overjoyed me! The presents kept coming and again I found myself feeling so very grateful but nothing could compare to the feeling that I felt knowing that my family and friends loved me enough to take the time to hear the words that I felt were important enough to write down. This got me thinking.

I love presents but I think it's because they come from those I love.

This time of year is about spending time with loved ones and appreciating the memories and laughs we have with each other and then creating more. I think that somewhere along the years everyone lost sight of that. Presents are great but you won't remember who gave you what the next week but you will remember how your whole family sat down and played Family Feud and that the 12 year old got more answers right than anyone else did.

I don't remember what I got 5 Christmases ago but I do remember that my whole family sat down and watched "The Polar Express" and played cards together after the movie. We laughed and joked and we loved so hard. To me, this is what Christmas is about. I don't remember any of the gifts but I remember that I was loved and that I'm still loved.

Feeling love and giving love is what's really important. I think we give presents because that's how some people feel love the most. I feel love when people tell me so, I feel it with words. Love languages are very real and I think that's where presents come to play. However, we must remember that this is not what it's all about. Being there with everyone and creating new memories is what stays with us, not the gifts.

As the holiday season comes to a close and the time of New Year resolutions approaches I encourage you, dear friend, to make one of your resolutions "remember to look up". Look up from your phone, from your new toy, from the mask of a hard day, and remember that you're surrounded by those who would take a bullet for you, even if it was just to make you laugh.

"How wonderful it is that we have lungs that allow us to breathe air and legs that allow us to climb mountains and how sad it is that sometimes we don't realize that is enough." -Unknown

Happy Holidays from my love-filled heart to yours.