If you're like me you've spent countless winters forcing your way through ten inches of snow, sweating while it's below zero outside because you are layered up, constantly stuck behind snowplows and salt trucks and annoyed of your mother screaming "make sure your scarf covers your neck and your nose" out the door after you even though deep down you thanked her. Mid-West Winters are things that I do not miss for the most part, but as soon as December hit there are few things I actually did miss.

1. Snow Days.

Never again will I ever wake up to "Classes are canceled for today due to snow and icy road conditions" text. For those of you who have never woken up to that, wow I feel sorry for you because it's better than a good morning text from bae. It's also another excuse to procrastinate that paper you were supposed to finish last night but didn't because you were too busy hoping for a snow day.

2. Having A White Christmas.

This is probably the thing I'll miss the most. I would wake up at 5:30 just to watch the snow fall before jumping on my parents bed begging them to wake up so we could open our presents. That turned into my parents waking me up to come downstairs so we could open presents. The only thing that hasn't changed is how beautiful it is to wake up to all the trees covered in snowflakes and standing outside with my mouth wide open out as those very same flakes fall into my mouth and melt on my tongue.

3. Ice-Skating in outdoor venues

Yeah you have artificial snow and Zoo Lights but you will never get the real feel of winter when you live in a desert. Detroit's Campus Martius Park is probably one of the most beautiful scenes you will ever come across in December. The tree is lit, the streets are covered in Christmas lights and the rink is full of people in ice skates just admiring the scenery and getting lost in life with someone they enjoy.

4. The first snow fall.

It's December and it's still hitting 72 degrees, meanwhile back home it's 32 and snowing. I only miss snow around Christmas because it was a rare occasion when Michigan wasn't bombarded with snow right around that time. It's weird not having snow but I'll be okay with it in January while everyone is freezing and I can still sit poolside.

5. The smell of pine trees.

Artificial pine cones and Christmas trees are nice and all but imagine waking up to the smell of free pine trees every single day, not just the month of December. I went from pine tree mania to Palm Walk. December is the only month I'll complain about it, get used to it.

6. Having a fireplace that you actually use.

It's 74 degrees in December, do people even use their heat? Probably because they have no idea what an actual winter feels like. They're running to the store the second the temperature drops below 60 to stock up on peacoats. Fireplaces are just for snow down here because there is no way you actually need that much heat generated in the middle of the day.

7. All winter related activities.

I'm not sure about you but living in a place without very much grass is weird, what's even weirder is knowing that I can't make snow angels, instead people resort to sand angels and that is so sad. I can't build a snowman, I can't go sledding in my backyard and I can't do donuts in an old church parking lot at 2 am when the ground is covered in fresh snow.

9. Making coolers out of snow.

It's common for people to just open their snow filled window or doorway and shove a case of beer in it. It's even more common for darty's to occur during a snow day. Just imagine spring break on a beach because snow days for college kids are exactly that just in boots, a puffy coat, hats and mittens instead of bikinis and sunglasses.

10. Puppies vs snow

This alone will win your heart. Puppies in snow. Enough said.

11. Donuts.

No I don't mean the ones sold at Dutch Bros. For those of you who have never witnessed the white flakes that fall out of the sky you have no idea what I'm talking about and if you do, I can bet it's nothing compared to jerking the wheel and slamming on the breaks in 3 inches of freshly fallen snow.