It started innocently enough, probably around 1977, when I began to receive Highlights Magazine. I remember saving every issue, lining them up in order in the hutch over my desk. Leafing through them over and over again even though I knew where ever last hidden picture was. It was a natural extension, this jump from a love of books to a love of magazines.
A couple years later I realized that The National Geographic was coming to our house and I discovered the wealth of information it contained. They joy! My Dad saved these. Every issue -- downstairs in the bookcase. Then. . . the flood. I was heartbroken to see all those pathetic, waterlogged pages ruined and tossed into the trash.
As I became a teen there were the usual coming of age periodicals arriving in my mailbox -- first YM then later Rolling Stone. I'm sure many of you read the same make-up tips and record reviews.
The revolution came in my 20's. I discovered Martha Stewart! I subscribed to MSL and fell in love. This was a whole different magazine -- something I had no experience with, but it was me! I absolutely loved it. My sisters started calling me Martha. I still have every issue I ever got and I do look through them. (Although since the last move they have yet to be unpacked and I think about them a lot. Maybe that will be my project for this weekend.)
So enough about my magazine history! Here's where I am today. You can see a bunch of the magazines I've gotten in the last 4-6 weeks up top there. Several major categories: Homemaking (for lack of a better term), cooking and crafting. I used to subscribe to National Geographic and Smithsonian and all kinds of stuff like that but they kept coming every month and there was absolutely no way I could keep up. I always felt guilty and I kept them. Then one day Pete was afraid I was going to be smothered in my sleep due to the precarious pile on the nightstand. I just had to give a few up, so I did. Whew. What a relief!
Speaking of my nightstand. I have to show you where I stash the ever growing mountain of periodicals:

Magazines on Nightstand

Magazines in Bottom of Nightstand

Magazines in Drawer of Nightstand (along with Chocolate and other candy)

Magazines in Bin Under Bed

Magazines on my Desk
And at this point the camera battery died, so that's all the magazines I can show you. Pete said when I revealed my magazine obsession that a lot of people would write in and tell me that I had practically no magazines compared to them. I wonder if he knew how many magazines I had?
So, I'm going to try to list here the magazines that I have subscriptions to. I get confused and sometimes buy magazines from the newsstand when I have a subscription, so I am in no way saying that this in 100% accurate.
- Interweave Knits
- Vogue Knitting
- Cooking Light
- Martha Stewart Living
- Mary Engelbreit Home Companion
- Spin-Off
- CNA
- Cook's Illustrated
- YMN
- The Wheel
- Rowan
- Gourmet
Hmmm. . . seems like I'm missing some. In fact, I think I subscribed to some new sewing magazine a while back, but I haven't gotten even one issue. And I used to subscribe to Food & Wine and Saveur, but I think those subscriptions may have recently expired.
Well, there you have it. I love magazines! The next magazines I'm going to be subscribing to are both part of MSLO: MSL Kids
(because of the success of the sheep unit study from the last issue) and MSL Blueprint A new magazine aimed right at my demographic-- heh! (I laugh, but I am actually looking forward to seeing this magazine very much).
I think I'll go get some work done now so that Maddie and I can go to the bookstore before the snowstorm hits. I think I may need to pick up a few more magazines to get me through the bout of bad weather! One of my greatest fears in life is being without reading material.
** Update ** A comment by Denise reminded me that I also get Family Circle and Parenting (Parents? No, I think it's Parenting). At any rate, I started getting them for free and I have never paid for them or renewed them and they just keep coming. My father-in-law was in the magazine biz and from what I have gleaned it has something to do with keeping up subscription numbers which correspond to advertising rates. Who knew?
** Update 2 ** I forgot Cast On (which I probably wouldn't subscribe to, but I'm a member of TKGA -- Don't you wish they would update the designs in that magazine? Some of the detailing on the designs are so nice, but the designs themselves? Eh.)