Angela Jamison is a native Montanan and she grew up in beautiful Bozeman.  I'm the mother of two girls and write a blog about our life here and taking in the simple pleasures of family and food.  http://www.rdeliciouslife.blogspot.com/

I have always had a love/hate relationship with Montana winters. As a child I got the usual amount of entertainment out of snow…sledding, building snowmen, ice skating and the inevitable hot cocoa that followed each of these various activities. My family was not the typical Montana skiing family, heading up to Bridger at the first opportunity. In fact, it wasn't until I was in middle school that I began to understand what a big deal skiing was in this community. All my friends would spend their Saturdays on the ski hill and I suddenly felt very left out of this. My parents finally gave into my pleading and let me go. I didn't get what all the fuss was about. Sure, it was fun to ride up the chair lift and giggle down the hill with friends, but I didn't love it the way they did. After really trying to like it a few more times, I accepted the fact that I was not a skier. This is where my dislike of winter began. By this time, the allure of sledding and snowmen had faded and the love affair of hiking and camping had begun. It seemed quite unfair the skiers got so many more months of fun in the mountains than the rest of us.

In college, snowboarding became all the rage. Again, I found myself surrounded by friends who came to Bozeman strictly to be ski bums while attending MSU. I decided to give snowboarding a go, but after one day of tumbling down Virginia City, I knew it also was not my thing. Ideas of moving to warmer climates tumbled through my head. However, despite my dislike of winter, I have ended up right back where I began. Raising my own generation of non-skiers in a skiing town. As an adult I have decided I need to come to terms with this love/hate relationship with winter. My heart may fully belong to the three summer months, but there is some room in there for the other nine. My reasons to keep the love for winter…

First Snow equals a Hint at Holidays: There is nothing like the first sign of snowflakes falling on our valley. It makes me smile every year. You feel the chill in the air and then perfect white snowflakes. For some, this begins the itch to head to the mountains. I get this. In the springtime as I see the snow begin to melt off the Bridgers, I get the same itch to get to the mountains for some hiking. The first snow, however, brings feelings of the impending holidays. As much as I am ready for all the snow to melt December 26th, I simply cannot imagine a Christmas without snow.

Sledding, Ice Skating and Snowmen: Just as I loved these things as a child, I get to enjoy them all over again with my own daughters. They still love winter whole heartedly as kids do. Who knows what their future may hold, but right now a blanket of snow means putting on winter clothes, grabbing the sleds and flying down a hill with squeals of delight following behind. It means grabbing some rocks, a carrot and a couple of sticks and making a snowman friend. It means hot cocoa with marshmallows to warm up afterwards. Their love and excitement of winter is contagious.

Winter Runs: As a runner, I used to dread winter because it meant running indoors on a treadmill. A couple years ago our treadmill broke and instead of investing in yet another one, we decided to invest in warmer running gear and toughen up. I used to see people out running in the middle of January and thought they were crazy. Now, I am one of them. The crisp fresh air pushing you, the sound of crunching ice under your shoes and beautiful snow capped mountains in full view all around. I watch them as I run, imagining the summer months of playing in them. Gazing at Sacajawea or Hyalite Peak, knowing I have stood on the top and aching to do it again. As long as it is 10-degrees, I'll be out there running. Below that…well, those people really are crazy.

Tucked Inside: In my beloved summer months, windows are left open all day. Weekends are full of taking advantage of anything outside. Meals are eatin al fresco as often as possible. Sunscreen is re-applied multiple times a day. I love this. But, there is something equally fantastic about my family being tucked in to our warm house while a blizzard is going on outside. The fire burning, snuggled up on the couch all together doing nothing more than watching a movie. No reason to be outside. You can't do this in the summer months. Could you imagine staying inside on a sunny, 75-degree day in Bozeman? But when it's cold and snowy there is no better place to be than tucked under a blanket with your family. These quiet moments only happen in the winter and for that I am grateful.

Winter will never be at the top of my season's list. It will stay firmly last behind the other three, but there is a small place in my heart that will always have a love for our snowy mountain town. I may not understand it like the skiers out there, but I can certainly appreciate it for its wild beauty. And if there is one time of the year I truly love it, it is now. December. Christmas time. By January I will be dreaming of the summer months to come. Of playing in the rivers, climbing mountains and throwing a tent in the back of the car. But right now, in this moment, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.

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