Every year when the holiday season rolls around, I always think back to my childhood and remember all of the things my parents and I would do every year that were my absolute favorite: putting the tree up as a family, going to see holiday lights, and baking cookies with my grandmother were definitely at the top of my list.

As the years have gone by, I realize now why these traditions are so important to keep in your routine during the holidays: when life throws changes at you, traditions stay to remind you of the good times. While things may be different, whether a family member isn't there to take part, or your life is in a different place, traditions are always there to remind you of the amazing times before, and to take you back to that place mentally if only for a moment.

When I bake cookies with my mother, it brings me back to so many years of making fudge with my grandmother, and decorating sugar cookies for Santa, and most of all it brings me back to when I was a kid. Being back at that place of being care-free, and absolutely content and innocent in life is so important: it puts things in perspective, and makes me so incredibly happy -- not only to have made those memories, but to be able to bring those moments back into my life in adulthood. This feeling of sheer joy and feeling at home is the best feeling on earth, and no matter what life throws at me, I will be eternally grateful to be able to bring this feeling -- these traditions -- back into my life every year that I possibly can.