Going from Hate to Love

I'm not a morning person, but I love morning. As a matter of fact, I think that morning may be my favourite time of day. I like to get up early before everyone else and enjoy the peace and quiet and be the first one to experience the day. Getting up first also means that I get to be the first one to see this:

Our neighbours' trees blanketed in snow

That's right kids - SNOW! As you can see, we got about 2 inches of heavy, wet white stuff. This is our first real snow of the year, so it was most welcome. Usually we have had a couple of storms by now, but winter came late this year.
I. LOVE. SNOW. Let me repeat: I LOVE it. Just look at how beautiful it is! It makes everything so quiet and it is so lovely before it gets tracked in and messed up. I just love the look of virgin snow. It also conjures up thoughts of hot chocolate and cozy sweaters and cute hats and scarves and warm boots. My dog goes NUTS for the snow and I love to take him for walks when it has snowed.
I have not always been such a fan of snow. I am mostly a rain lover. I love love love rain. Being from British Columbia, it's sort of a requirement to deal with the rain, but I really love it when it rains. It's so beautiful. Here in Utah, one does not get much in the way of precipitation. Snow is precipitation, so I have learned to appreciate it in that at least it's something falling out of the sky.
The first year I was here, we had a HUGE storm on my birthday which is December 8. I was so mad. I think we got a foot of snow in one day. The power went out, it was cold and miserable and so was I. Then I remembered how when I was in grade two we had a freak snow storm and I got to wear my snow suit to school on my birthday. I loved it, it made me so happy. It was like the snow was my special birthday present. Having a birthday in December does not have many perks. Snow is one of those perks. I remember I always wished for snow on my birthday, but I can only remember a handful of birthdays that gave me snow. Most of those birthdays were either in Michigan or Utah, not Canada.
I could never drive in the snow. BC is very hilly, and wet. When it snows, it is wet and oh so slippery. No one knows how to drive in the snow except for the one guy from Ontario that drives circles around everone else creeping along making it even more dangerous for everyone. The lower mainland of BC is not equipped for snow. We only have the one plow, and we don't use salt, we use sand. Driving in BC in the snow can be a very harrowing experience. "But it's Canada!" you say. You have no idea. In the lower mainland (Vancouver area), we maybe get snow once or twice a year. It is not a regular occurance and no one (with the exception of the dorks from back east) knows how to live in snow. We keep the snow in the mountains where it belongs.
I have since learned to drive in the snow. I lived through two winters in Michigan and I have been here in Utah for 15. Every year with the first snow you have to remind yourself to go slow and leave a lot of room around yourself, but it is not NEARLY as daunting as driving in the snow in BC. Also, we are used to the snow here, so there are these beautiful plows that can get the roads cleared quickly enough. I could kiss a plow driver. They are the best people in the world. Also, Utah is dry, so the snow is usually powder. There can be snow on the ground and the roads are mostly dry.
So with the thought that snow is at least precipitation, remembering my girlhood wishes for snow, and due to the excellent plow services of UDOT, I now love snow.

Snow on our roof attempting to bury our Christmas lights

Our front railing and my rose bushes buried in snow