It's that time of year when everyone is home from college for the mini fall break surrounding Thanksgiving. Nothing compares to being back with family. With a house of six people, my house has been one-third empty since my brother and I left for school in August. I can only imagine how quiet it's been without both of us there. I was the first to leave almost four years ago and this year my brother left for his first year of college. Either my siblings love the quiet house or they're bored out of their minds.

Coming back home after three months is a crazy feeling, especially being 10 hours away in what feels like a whole other world. You get into such a routine in college with a busy schedule that you forget how long it's actually been since you were home last. Then you start thinking about when the last time was that you had a home cooked meal with your family.

The first time I came home my freshman year it felt like my first three months of college were a dream and never happened. It was so weird. It was like no time had passed since I left home. My town felt the same, my house was the same homey place, and my friends and I picked back up where we left off. Maybe it was because I was so far away from home and it felt like a whole other part of my life I was living, I don't know. It was hard to describe the feeling to my college friends once I returned back to school. When my brother came home from school this year, he said the same thing to me. Everything picked right back up where it left off.

It's definitely different living with six people again when we've been so used to living with a few roommates and going about our schedules. Seeing all of my family and catching up is definitely one of the best parts about coming home from college. I love talking about school and all of the amazing memories I've made and experiences I've had. Especially with a big family, all you want to do is spent every minute you're home with them because you know you'll have to leave them soon.

We have six people at the dinner table again and the gang is back together! We all get to catch up on the past few months of our lives. You feel like you miss so much of your siblings' lives when you've been away at college and you want to know every detail and everything they've been up to. My siblings are juniors in high school now and it's crazy that they're already starting to think about college.

Even though my brother and I are away for the majority of the year, when we have a full house again, it's a special time that we cherish.