A pile of past issues of Health & Home.
Leslie Douglas photo
We have a lot of issues.

It kind of snuck up on us here at Inlander HQ: While the hamster-wheel of our weekly newspaper has rolled on for the past 31-plus years, we've also been doing a bimonthly glossy magazine for two-thirds of that time.

As a contributor since the first January 2005 issue ("On Your Feet" — a story on preventing falls) and editor since 2008, even I was surprised when we decided to pile up our archives on our white wall here at the office for a photo. Seeing all the colorful issues — each representing two months of effort from more writers, designers, photographers, illustrators and guest columnists than I could even count — brought back happy memories. It's an eclectic body of work.

We started out as InHealthNW, an outgrowth of an Inlander special section — "Healthy Living" — that people really connected with. For a dozen years, we sent reporters out to explore all variety of health-related topics — including fitness and diet best practices, how to combat stress, ways to get a better night's sleep, kids' health issues and parenting advice. We also covered broader health care industry concerns, including things like how airline industry-inspired surgical checklists improve patient safety, the early frustrations around electronic medical records and even why doctors burn out.

In 2018, we expanded our coverage to include homes so we could tell stories about exciting elements of local culture that didn't quite fit into the Inlander, such as the work of our region's architects, builders and interior designers. Thus was born Inlander Health & Home.

I've certainly enjoyed taking readers on tours of dozens and dozens of local homes — from downtown condos to mountainside ski chalets, brand new houses ready to welcome big extended families, restored historic homes, sustainable "passive" homes and even a marvelous tiny house. Through all these stories, we've sought to share the myriad ways people in our region define "home." And while many aspects of these projects are aspirational, there's always something to be learned and just maybe put to use in your own projects.

Since 2016, Ali Blackwood, our art director, has been my number-one collaborator, designing the cover and most of the pages for every issue. In our production process, I assign the stories and get them ready for layout. Ali is presented with a word file, and voila! — each story comes alive on the page. Seeing the transformation never gets old, and Ali's technical prowess and endless creativity make this job so much fun.

From everyone on our team who helps produce this publication, we all hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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Anne McGregor

Anne McGregor is a contributor to the Inlander and the editor of InHealth. She is married to Inlander editor/publisher Ted S. McGregor, Jr.