i'll be home for christmas.

Being home for the holidays has been the greatest gift of all. Cheesy , I know, but so true. In the past two and a half weeks I have been able to reunite with all of my friends, and all my family. I have spent lots of bonding time with my parents and my brother, which is wonderful because I have missed them so much, being away.

Every year on Christmas Eve my aunt and uncle come over and we play board games, watch Christmas movies and eat appetizers. It's the Christmas tradition that I look the most forward to. We've been doing exactly the same thing every year for as long as I can remember. We make meatballs, dry ribs, fresh salad rolls, shrimp, spanakopita, and a japanese style salad made from chow mein noodles and cabbage. It's always a feast, and I always go to bed feeling like I gained about twenty pounds. Since I don't really like turkey, or any of the fixings, I usually enjoy the Christmas Eve feast a lot more than the fancy dinner we eat on Christmas Day.

The best part of the holiday though, is the games we play. Every year my mom buys the family a new board game to add to the collection. Scrabble and Catchphrase are definitely the favorites, but no matter what we play, we always do so with the most intense competition. It's so much fun and my brother and I are always trying to outsmart each other.

I think the one thing about the holidays, is the familiarity that comes with each set of traditions. We decorate with the same ornaments, eat the same food and see the same people. It's so wonderful to be home for the holidays, surrounded by so many people that I love.