A Midwest winter: Three things I didn't know I needed to know

When I decided to move to Michigan there were things I didn't know I needed to know. Among them:

1. Your car doors can freeze shut. All four of them. To be clear I'm not talking about the lock, I'm talking about the entire freaking door. It will (of course) happen the morning when you need to get to an early appointment. On the bright side, people who live in Michigan know this and aren't upset when you arrive a few minutes late to said appointment. My future solution will be to keep my backseat folded forward and enter the car through the trunk. That should do the trick.
2. Don't go snowshoeing with friends who are all on cross country skis. You will not be able to keep up even if all three of them tell you they're rusty so they won't be going fast and they're all hoping they don't fall down. I repeat: You will not be able to keep up. Solution: I figured out halfway around the lake it would be faster to just take the snowshoes off and hike the trail carrying them. I'll also add that snowshoeing was a lot like playing strip poker (not that I ever have.) Every time my friends turned around to see if I was still there (as the lone straggler I could have been eaten by coyotes) I'd removed one more article of clothing or gear. First my gloves came off. Then my hat. Then the snowshoes. LOL. I figured by the time we got back to where we started I'd be down to a tank top and my long johns if I was lucky.
3. Midwest winter air will kill your hair. Want to know what's more addictive than potato chips, tattoos, or chocolate? Sitting near a window and trimming split ends out of your hair one by one with a pair of scissors. The natural light makes any damaged hair, or even a hair that's progressing towards splitting, stand out with an effect exactly like a contrast dye. Snip. Snip. Snip.

I haven't had split ends in so many years I can't even remember the last time they were a problem. But one day I looked, really looked, at my hair and realized it was a veritable jungle of split ends! What the heck?

I already don't use a blow dryer and I quit using a curling iron on my hair around a year ago so what to do to reduce the damage even more? I asked on Twitter but nobody had any advice so I did some research on Google and read on several sites I should deep condition my hair. I went and bought a good deep conditioner and left it in my hair for 30 minutes. NIGHT AND DAY difference! Hoping it does the trick.

I'm sure there are many more Midwest lessons I have yet to learn. Don't worry, I'll keep sharing them in case anyone else decides to move here. And I would recommend becoming a Michigander, or Michiganese in my case.

People are so nice in the Midwest! I think I've now been officially welcomed to the state somewhere around 874 times. As soon as people find out you've decided to relocate here they all say the same thing: "Why would you want to move here from California?" Ooops :P LOL, I meant the second thing they all say is: "WELCOME to Michigan!" It's pretty wonderful.