I don't know if you've noticed or not, but Christmas is a month away and I've started to hear Christmas music. 2016 is almost over and thats insane!

For a lot of people Christmas means waking up early with your family and opening gifts, maybe having a meal (or many) with family members and just spending time together. Its about eggnog and Christmas music, its about watching lifetime movies and its about the excitement of Santa.

But for me, I didn't really celebrate Christmas as a kid so I don't really get all the "hype", I had my first "legit" Christmas about two years ago when I moved in with my adoptive family and it was a bit overwhelming at first. Because to me the idea of waking up at 6am and sitting in my pajamas for a few hours while we open up gifts was insane. Plus getting gifts? like what? My birth dad and I never did the whole santa deal and we stopped doing gifts when I was like five.

It was almost as if I was going through culture shock in my own living room haha.

But now, three years later, I'm finally getting a sense of what I believe Christmas is. I'm finally understanding why people love it so much and start shopping months in advance. For me Christmas season means a time to show people how much they mean to you, to sit and spend time with them and just show them that you care about them. Its about wearing sweatpants and drinking coffee while you watch cheesy Holiday movies with you parents, its about watching my little siblings faces as they open up their Christmas gifts and just can't contain their excitement the night before.

Christmas for me isn't about the presents, but rather about the people I'm with. I still feel super awkward when I get gifts because I just don't know how to react haha, I would rather sit in a coffee shop with someone and buy them a cup of coffee, or watch a movie with someone. I would rather write someone a letter or receive a letter in return than a gift. I very much love quality time with the people I love and I think Christmas is a great time to do this because who doesn't want to watch a christmas movie or drink hot chocolate?

I think my idea of Christmas is defiantly a bit different than everyone else, and I still don't quite get the "hype" or Santa (because thats a bit creepy) But I am finally learning how to love it.