when they tell you i love you, believe them. when you say i love you back, mean it

I think it's the caffeine, but I'm suddenly really excited about everything. Got a little excited about the underlying meanings in Shakespeare, VFW, and Christmas. I realllyyyy want a Christmasy drink from Starbucks right now. Can't believe christmas is almost here! It's seriously my most favourite time of year. I never like to go on vacation during Christmas because, to me, spending Christmas not at home just doesn't feel right. I guess i'm weirdly traditional like that. Actually, you'd be surprised I'm actually a really traditional person.
Looking at pictures of Christmas last year just makes me that much more excited for it to come. My dad's always like.. "do we REALLY need to put up the tree this year?" Me: "OF COURSE, DAD! WE CAN'T HAVE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT A CHRISTMAS TREE!" I know that Christmas is Christmas even without the tree, but I mean, how can we not take the opportunity to put up an artificial evergreen and strangle it with lights? I like coming home to that, listening to the robotic, repetitive Christmas songs play from the lights. It's kind of soothing, to say the least. You know, when I was younger, I just wanted to unwrap the presents. I guess all kids were like that. I used to be the youngest, so I obviously had the most presents. Now, I watch my little 5 year old cousin act the same way. It's interesting to see all of us go through these phases. Christmas means so much more than that now. I still like the candy canes, the stockings, cool wrapping paper, but more than that, spending Christmas with the people that mean the most to me is what makes it so special. Every other time of the year, we all seem to be doing our own thing. Sometimes, we're too caught up running the race that we forget that getting to the finish line isn't what's most important. If we didn't have passions, hobbies, family, friends, love, God, life would be so meaningless. I go through each day thinking to myself, there must be more to life than this. There must be.
I guess what we have to do is be thankful for every friend, every moment that has made us smile, every stupid joke that has made us laugh, every sign that we've been given.

When friends tell you they love you, believe them, and when you say I love you back, mean it. xoxo