Winter, spring, summer, or fall? Which is the best of them all?

Born and raised in the good 'ol Midwest, I have always enjoyed each and every season. I love the crisp Autumn air that whirls around during my favorite time of year, fall. This kind of 50-60 degree weather is enough to make me love doing any activity outside, but I also happen to have a fondness for college football, Halloween, gorgeous leaves changing by the day, and pumpkin pie. What a lot of Midwesterners don't like about fall, however, is the season that happens to follow it...WINTER. I happen to like winter, at least for a month or two. I have always been a fan of cooler weather, and really don't enjoy being the least bit hot.

Winter is a calm season to me, people tend to nest and stay inside to avoid the frigid wind chill and blustering snow. Winter is what makes Christmas, well, CHRISTMAS! I spent one Christmas in the South, sans snow, and I felt completely cheated of one of my favorite holidays! A green, or more like brown with flooded spots, isn't anything like a white Christmas. I don't feel obligated to be outside in the winter, much like I do in the summer, or even fall and spring. I can cozy up with a snugly blanket, flip the fireplace on (yah, I don't use real wood, come on), pop a movie in, and then feel so incredibly safe and sound. Safe from the outside world, safe from life and it's many ups and downs, safe from the Arctic blast of air outside my door.

Winter does get a little old, I must admit. After January has come and gone, and I've had my fix of snow days and nights nestled in my house, it gets a little depressing! This is usually the time of year I hit the tanning bed a time or two, in seek of a little color and Vitamin D to cure the blues. We must, as winter-laden residents, trudge through (literally) the span of the winter months.

Just as people are becoming volatile and fed up, most upon the return of a fabulous warm weather get-away, spring appears much like a gift from Mother Nature. The temperature gauge hits 60, and just like that, people are as happy and joyous as ever while sporting their shorts and t-shirts freshly removed from storage. And rightly so, because spring does bring many things joyous to the four season land. Washing all the salt and sand residue from vehicles, cracking open the now thawed out sunroof, seeing green for the first time in 6 months, oh, and baby chicks.

Now we get to the good stuff, the reason some people say they reside in the Midwest...SUMMER! This short-lived but lived-up time of year brings out the most activities and festivals of the whole year. I truly think we try and enjoy each and every moment of the beautiful weather in fear of the seasons lurking around the corner. I, however, prefer fall and the cooler weather it brings us. When I was a kid, I was always encouraged to spend every waking moment of summer outside and "enjoying the weather". But once it hits 80 degrees, and if I'm not laying in some kind of body of water, there is no enjoyment involved! To this day, if I don't spend every hot, sunny day outside, I feel a sense of guilt (thanks, Mom! Ha! JK). I usually have very high expectations of summer, every year it comes around it must be the best one ever. I think I was finally able to let that go this past summer. There are plenty of fun things to do all year round, and there are no expectations or guilt trips involved!

I love having four seasons and the change that each one brings. I like to sense the change coming and always get excited for what it will hold in store for me. So, as I write this, we are fast approaching a new season, and it just happens to be my favorite! Here's to every football-loving, Halloween-crazed, leaf-changing admirer, and pumpkin pie-savoring person, I write to you, ENJOY!