Being home from college for Christmas break has been so nice and relaxing. I've slept in the last two mornings and spent my days in bed with my dogs watching American Horror Story. When I've left my house, I've seen the same people and done pretty much the same things we did in high school. One weekend, my friends from high school suggested we all get together and do something during the week before Christmas. So, I decided to have a Friends Christmas - hence the name Friendsmas - at my house. We wanted to do a Friendsgiving during Thanksgiving break but didn't have time to. I volunteered my house and volunteered to cook. One of my friends was bringing salad, another cookies to decorate (actually two of my friends brought cookies to decorate). It felt very adult to be throwing a party in my parents house - who were nice and took my sister out for the night.

I don't usually cook full meals, so I had no idea what I was going to cook. Including myself, four people showed up. The most people I would ever cook for is four - my parents, my sister, and I. I Googled "dinner recipes for many people" and came up with casserole ideas. I was looking at an article on some website and saw two things that caught my eye: A Rtiz cracker chicken casserole and a chicken marinara with Red Lobster Biscuit bake on top. I decided to go with the Red Lobster Biscuit chicken bake because, well, I really love Red Lobster biscuits. Along with the bake, I decided to have a pull apart cheese bread in the shape of a Christmas tree. And, of course, you've got to have desserts: haystacks and salted caramel Oreo cheesecake bites. I think I had maybe three ingredients at my house to make the entire meal. So, after picking my sister up from school that day, I went to Target and bought almost everything I needed there. However, I couldn't find canned pizza dough to save my life, so I went to Winn Dixie. When I got back home, I put on some Pentatonix Christmas music and started preparing the kitchen. I decided to start with the pull apart Christmas tree when my friend Peter arrived. He asked if he could help with anything, so I let him make the appetizer. I would put a picture of it, but no one got one, we just started eating (it was really good). While Peter was cutting the pizza dough for the pull apart bread, I was making the cheese mixture for it. During that time, my friends Nerizza and Mychalla arrived. After the cheese mixture was made, I started on the chicken. Once we got into a groove in the kitchen, everyone was helping make something - the chicken, the pull apart bread, or the desserts. Autumn arrived with salad (which I almost forgot about). After we devoured the Christmas tree bread and got the casserole in the oven, we all sat in my living room, listening to music or watching YouTube videos and talking about school and playing with my dogs. Finally, the food was ready. We ate on paper plates with plastic forks because I was already too lazy to do the dishes.

After we ate, we watched more YouTube videos and eventually migrated to my bedroom. The five of us crammed onto my full size bed and talked, listened to music, watched people on Instagram Live, just enjoyed each other's company. We all took a turn at going live on Instagram just to see who would watch. Eventually, I had to kick my friends out because it was 11 o'clock and my parents had to work the next day.

Of everyone that came to my house that night, I am the only one that goes to college outside of the state of Alabama. These people were some of my best friends in high school, the people I spent my days with, and the people who knew they could just walk into my house and my parents would welcome them like their own children. They are my family. Honestly, though, I'm glad I don't go to school with any of them anymore. Being apart for months at a time makes coming home to them so much nicer and makes the time we have together here mean more.