Growing up, I was always excited to celebrate Christmas. The moment Thanksgiving ended, my mom began to prepare for Christmas. Coming from a Salvadoran household, I always heard stories of the parades that would go on at this time. Sadly, I haven't gotten a chance to celebrate Christmas in El Salvador. Even though I haven't been able to do so, I was still able to make great memories with my family. Here are a few things that I remember when celebrating Christmas.

1. Getting dressed for the occasion

Christmas Eve was usually when we started celebrating Christmas. Everyone would show up to my place all dressed up. My mom would spend the previous month trying to have me pick out an outfit for this occasion. It was always fun putting on a nice outfit for Christmas Eve; even though we would spend most of the night sitting there doing nothing.

2. Excited to stuff my face with food

My mom is best known for making the best food (family and friends both agree). There were moments throughout my childhood where my mom was up extremely early preparing food for the night. The number of dishes she made was limitless. There was always turkey, potato salad, tamales and panes rellenos. The smell throughout the apartment always made me super excited for later on. Once everything was cooked, I always was the first one to eat.

3. Realizing that I had to stay up until midnight in order to open my presents

Whenever I talked to my friends about how we spent Christmas, it was so weird to see the difference. Unlike my friends, who didn't do anything on Christmas Eve, I would stay up all night with my family. For us, Christmas is essentially two days straight. There's always the party (which takes place on Christmas Eve), then there was Christmas Day (where people you didn't see the night before would come over and visit). Once it hit midnight, that meant it was officially Christmas. And as a little girl, that meant I opened my presents at midnight as opposed to Christmas morning. Staying up all night was already a challenge for me; not to mention the fact I was too impatient and couldn't wait for it to be midnight.

4. Someone decides to entertain everyone by singing a couple of Christmas songs

"Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano was always played at the Christmas party. Another popular song that always played was "Mi Burrito Sabnero". Every single year, there was one person who always felt like it was their duty to go around and sing the entire song. For the most part, it was nice to see growing up. Whenever I hear those particular songs--it doesn't matter what time of the year it is--I always smile while thinking at those moments in time.

5. Excited that it's finally midnight (aka Christmas)!

It's the moment I was waiting for! Once midnight strikes, it's when everyone gets excited. Everyone's hugging and exchanging gifts. I was usually happy for the fact that I was able to spend the night with my family, eating some good food, getting everything I asked for and getting some sleep!