I've always loved this holiday season; the frost white snow, the outdoor Santa decor with lights, the smell of the Christmas tree in your living room, and the music just make this time of year perfect.

I've noticed, however, as the years pass and I get older, Christmas is getting less exciting. Even though it's my favorite holiday, I feel like I love it for the right reasons. You may be thinking, "what? How can it be weird to like something for the right reasons?" Well, in my opinion, Christmas is losing it meaning.

Every year, I see more people worrying about what their gifts will be, rather than enjoying the season for what it is; which is a season of absorbing your surroundings and appreciating those you love, with the beautiful decorations and music. It's become such a materialistic holiday, much like Valentine's day, where I've actually witnessed people create a relationship out of nowhere just to be showered in gifts that one day.

My favorite part of Christmas is turning on the radio and listening to Christmas music. All of December, I have it in the background at all times. That, with the combination of a cold and snowy day is all I want.

Another aspect is decorating. During the first week of December, my mother and I get to work and decorate the house; we have fun with it. When decorating the tree, with music in the background of course, we take hours to make sure everything is perfect. After a couple of scratches from the stiff branches and broken glass from the occasional dropped ornament, the tree looks very merry and bright.

Something we do every year, around the week of Christmas day, is we drive around town, looking at the houses that are covered with lights. Some houses have very interesting displays at the front door.

Also, who can forget about the snow! Coming from Massachusetts, I am very familiar to snow, and instead of getting annoyed, I sometimes can't wait for the fluff to fall from the sky and stack on the ground. I turn to a child when it comes to playing out in the snow.

Last but not least, is the Christmas desserts. I love making sugar Santa Claus sugar cookies, and cakes that look like a decorated tree. The best part of this however, is seeing other people enjoy them!

This is what Christmas means to me, not about receiving expensive presents. Although it is fun and a bonus to the season, Christmas shouldn't be about that. It should be about festivities and friendliness towards one another.