I have lived in Illinois my entire life. I've never been anywhere other than my home on Christmas, so I don't know any different than an Illinois Christmas. But honestly, that's okay.

To me, Christmas in Illinois means family. It means a warm fire and waking up at 5 am to sneak downstairs and look in my stocking. It means helping my mom decorate the Christmas tree with carols playing in the background. Christmas in Illinois means being surrounded by love and happiness, and being able to smile and laugh and play. It means seeing my grandma, and usually getting a pie "for the family" (we all know my sister and I are going to eat the whole thing). It means making the hot cocoa that was in my stocking and curling up and watching White Christmas in the living room.

It's Illinois, and sometimes that means being bored out of my mind. Sometimes it means ridiculously unpredictable weather, and bringing a jacket in the morning and changing into shorts by 3. Sometimes it means driving for an hour and not seeing anything out the window except for corn fields and livestock.

It's Christmas in Illinois. The corn is dead and the trees are barren. I'm snuggled up in a blanket watching another Freeform Christmas movie. It's Christmas in Illinois and I'm sneaking downstairs to peek at the stocking- there's even one for the dogs. It's Christmas in Illinois, and I wouldn't want it any other way.