Thanksgiving is this week, and it marks the beginning of my favorite time of year. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and winter is my favorite season. The week of Thanksgiving is great for many reasons (Black Friday isn't one of them), but the food, football, time with family and friends - I love it all. In honor of the upcoming holiday, I decided to share my favorite things about Thanksgiving with all of you.

1. Cranberry Sauce

A lot of people hate cranberry sauce, but I am not one of them. I love cranberry in general, so I am a huge cranberry sauce fan. (I even eat the gelatinous stuff that comes out of the can in one glob.) Cranberry is one of my favorite things about this holiday.

2. Pumpkin Pie

I love all things pumpkin also, but pumpkin pie is one of those things taking me back to my childhood. I like the flavor, but I think the memories associated with this pie is why I love it so much. Pumpkin pie just reminds me of home and simpler times. A creamy pumpkin pie with spices, a flaky crust, and a big dollop of whipped cream is just so comforting.

3. Green Bean Casserole

Everyone says their mom or their grandma makes the best this or that. However, my mom does make the best green bean casserole, and I don't care what else you say about it because my cousin's wife thinks so, too. (She starts reminding my mom in August she has to make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas.) All in all, I love everything about green bean casserole. It's creamy, savory, and topped with so many French fried onions.

4. Spending Time with Family and Friends

This is a photo of my NeeNee (grandmother) cutting a tag off of my little cousin Brylee's shirt. (I think this was Christmas, but we are really bad at getting everyone in the same picture, so this is the best I could do.) Still, the sentiment remains. I love spending time with everyone. We all live in different cities or states, and it is rare for us all to be in the same place at the same time. So at least once a year, we all gather at NeeNee's house and catch up.

Brylee love's playing hide-and-go-seek with Uncle Joel and Aunt Suzi (my mom and her husband). I love picking on my cousins like when we were kids, and they pick on me right back. I love waking up to the smell of coffee and breakfast cooking from NeeNee's kitchen. I love the safe and loved feeling I get when I'm surrounded by my family, and I am sure a lot of you feel the same way going home for Thanksgiving.

5. Going Home

I live about 2.5 hours away from my hometown (which doesn't really sound that far but getting home is often harder than it sounds). I graduated high school from Norman High School here in Norman, OK, and I spent a few years before that in Adrian, MI, but Hartshorne will always be home. It is where I spent my childhood, and my mother's side of the family lived in Hartshorne since before Oklahoma was a state.

I spent most of my elementary school career in Hartshorne, and I spent every summer during the time I lived in Michigan back in Hartshorne with my NeeNee. Thanksgiving is just an excuse to go home, breathe in the small town air, and get away from the faster pace of the bigger city.

6. Driving Home for the Holidays

This is a picture of a little mountain behind my family's property called Round Top. I know liking the drive to Hartshorne might sound silly, but Hartshorne is located in Southeastern Oklahoma, and it is a much prettier area of the state than the flat, brown plains surrounding Norman. I actually enjoy the drive because the route I take is quiet and serene, and the scenery is beautiful. It is a good escape.

7. Seeing my Mom

I know I listed spending time with family earlier, but Mom is different. My mom lives in Kentucky these days, so I only get to see her a couple times a year. My mom and I used to be inseparable, and we still are for the most part, but the distance makes it difficult. My mom is my best friend, my protector, my confidant, and the most important person in my life. Her move was hard to handle, but this year, unlike last year, I get to spend Thanksgiving with her again, and I am excited.