I've living in Michigan my whole life, aside froma 5 yr stint in the USN. I was stationed in southern California, and by the time I got out, I could not wait to get home, the thing I missed more than anything was the change of seasons.
So. Cal. had 2, Early and Late concrete jungle season.
Winters in my part of the state arent all that bad, really the only thing I don't like is commuting to work when the snow is flying. Its not the snow that bothers me though.
We get a stretch of frigid cold temps in Jan and sometimes Feb, but other than that its pretty tolerable. A little small game hunting, some ice fishing and when its nasty out, its a good time to build arrows or tie up crawler harnesses for spring walleye fishing.
Winter is what you make of it.