I grew up in Illinois too. The snow here is nothing like it back there. There it snows once in November and its on the ground until March/April. Here, it melts pretty quick.

I think its beautiful though. I'll go walking in a veritable blizzard one day and then a few days later its nearly 50 degrees.

You will LOVE the weather here. It doesn't get as cold as Chicago in Denver... Not even close if you ask me! I remember walking in the loop and wind whipping between the buildings when it was 0 degrees! Made things difficult. Furthermore, it doesn't get as hot here in the summer! Pretty close, but its not oppressively hot & humid like the Midwest.

Also, was gonna mention that Denver is a GREAT sized city! I left Chicago because the traffic and number of people drove me nuts. If I wanted to run an errand to Target or something on a Saturday there it was a 3-hour ordeal.