I’ve really never been a big magazine reader, only picking them up when I was in an office waiting room. Over the last couple of years though that’s changed. Here are the magazines I read every month.

Relevant
This was the first magazine subscription of our married life. I think we initially got it because it sounded interesting and it was only $10 for the whole year. It’s a Christian mag that targets the twentysomething age group and the content is focused on God, Life, and Progressive culture. It has it’s good and bad months, but I typically find myself reading through what interests me in an hour or so at most. I’ve also written a few things for their online edition.

Newsweek
Also a subscription we got for cheap. A special $2 promo for the whole year and it comes nearly every week. I actually really enjoy this one and it keeps me up on all the political hubbub. One funny thing I’ve noticed during the primaries is they will feature a political figure one week and usually write a fairly favorable, middle of the road piece. Then the next week, while focusing on a new person, they have a piece that rips the previous person for one thing or another.

Rolling Stone
I have no idea why we get this, it just started showing up a few months ago and as far as I know we haven’t been billed for it. I probably don’t need to explain this one very much as it’s been around for a long time. It’s a good way to stay up on pop-music culture and occasionally has interesting articles on other things as well. Any political pieces are unashamedly Democratic and pro-Obama to the point they might as well say they endorse him. They also like to drop the F-bomb randomly in various editorials, which usually comes across as sounding really unintelligent to me

Wired
Jess got this for my birthday last year. The focus is all thing tech and I love staying up on all the tech gadgets that I won’t be able to afford unless Wal-Mart makes a knock off. Nearly every issue has a long, story-like piece that is loosely based on tech stuff and a really interesting read. By the time I’ve worked my way through one issue of the thickest of my magazine subscriptions the next one arrives. If anyone is ever struggling to find a cool gift for me, just open Wired and stick your finger on the page.

My students have Spring Break this week and so Jess, Jude, and I will be taking a couple of days off to chill ourselves. So far this Spring hasn’t felt very Spring like. Apparently the Spokane area averages around 40 inches or so of snow a year and as of yesterday we’re up to 81 for the season. It’s been snowing the last 3 days, albeit a very wet snow. While we like it more than the endless rain of Humboldt, we’re ready for summer and so are all the bummed students who aren’t sure what to do for Spring Break.

6 months into our new lives here in Eastern Washington and things couldn’t be going better. We’ve made good friends, the youth ministry is off to a flying start, and we’ve begun to house hunt - which wasn’t even possible in California. We miss our friends and family in Cali but definitely feel that this is where God has called us. Once we’re into a house we expect some visitors from the south.

I’m not one to be easily grossed out to the point of not wanting to eat something. I’ve eaten some pretty bizzare stuff in a lot of different countries and pulled many a hair out of my teeth while eating.

Yesterday Jess, Jude and I were wandering through the mall and made a pit stop for a soft warm pretzel. I ordered mine, and while Jess was paying and waiting for the delicious baked good to be handed over, I took Jude to a bench to wait. Right after I had taken my first bit of delicious sour cream and onion flavored pretzel, Jess violated the code. The code is, when it comes to food -especially fast food- ignorance is bliss. You never reveal unnecessary information about how the food is prepared, where it actually came from, or anything that would cause the eater (in this case me) to second guess the eating of said food.

As I was getting ready to enjoy my first bite Jess said, “That girl had horrible B.O.!” I looked back at the pretzel place and realized there was only one girl there. The same girl that had flavored my pretzel and handed it to Jess. I’m a smell guy and so this instantly changed my whole perception of the previously delectable pretzel I was eating. I almost (which is unheard of) couldn’t eat anymore. The code was violated…ignorance is bliss…

While checking kittens for the ‘mark of the beast’ one was found with a much sweeter marking in it’s fur. This little kitty’s mommy is named dottie and as you can clearly see… it loves dot.

While the kitten was born in a litter of 6, the mark isn’t nearly evil looking enough. For now Mikhail Gorbachev is still the front runner as the possible bearer of ‘the mark’.

In between the busyness of this last Easter weekend I managed to stay up on the happenings of March Madness due to the fact that CBS has been streaming all of the games for free on their website. Since we moved here in November our TV has literally been in the closet and we don’t miss the one eyed big brother machine the least bit - thanks to wonder of the intra-net!

In the last year most networks have moved toward streaming their shows online with just a few commercials. It’s far better than watching it when it’s programmed because you don’t waste as much time on your couch, you can watch it whenever, and check your email when the one 30 second commercial is on.

While I was watching March Madness I also noticed something else the wonder boys at CBS have available. You can now watch full seasons of MacGyver or the original Star Trek. Seriously, who could ask for more?

Whether you celebrate it for the bunny and egg hunt or the resurrection of Jesus I hope you have a great day today!
Our family has had a good one so far as we celebrated this morning with a few hundred people and will continue with some feasting later on today.

For us, today represents something very significant. If it weren’t for Jesus my life would look a whole lot different than it does now. I’ve been so blessed to lead the life I lead and have the amazing wife and son that God has blessed me with.

I found out when I woke up this morning that Spring apparently starts later in Eastern Washington.

Well, maybe I’m just being messed with. I took this picture 7 hours and 20 degrees later.

I’ve been rediscovering the music of my youth recently through my Rhapsody subscription. It’s been fun and in the case of this song, oh so convicting (kidding)!

Like the Christmas season, Easter is a busy time of year. The last two weeks have been cra-zay ’round here but it’s all good stuff. Things are going amazingly well 4 months after our move up here and we are looking at buying a home, which are only about half the cost as California. It’s cool to think we might actually have our own place. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Since we moved here right as winter was starting, Jess and I have been told over and over about how much there is to do in the great outdoors and how beautiful it is. Finally the weather is starting to change and with North Idaho and Western Montana at our doorstep, (along with a hundred lakes or so) we are ready to start exploring.

Here are a few places we’ll be heading this Spring/Summer!

Locally (within 15 miles):
We’ll be spending a lot of time at various parks around the area.
We’ve already gone to River Front Park a bunch but are looking forward to hanging out there in nicer weather.
Manito Park has been highly recommended.
Liberty Lake has a County Park that has miles of trails. Also there is a city park that has summer concerts and outdoor movies.
Coeur d’Alene is already one of our favorite spots as it sits right on a beautiful lake.

Within a two hour drive:
Sand Point, Idaho is right on the massive Pend Oreille Lake (pronounced ‘Pond O-ray’ somehow). Locals dub this area as the “new Tahoe” because it has great skiing on Mount Schweitzer and water sports on the lake.

Jessica’s family has a cabin south of us in the Blue Mountains. A rustic A-frame with no electricity or running water. Should be fun and a great place to escape to from time to time.

A bit further away:
Legendary Big Sky country in Montana! We have some friends that live within 3-4 hours of us and are looking forward to heading over for a visit and exploration of Montana.

Glacier National Park. Check it out for yourself.

Should be a good summer!