About AOC

About Jami

Hi and welcome to An Oregon Cottage! I am a former teacher (special ed & preschool), wife to Brian – my funny and easygoing other half – and a mother to a sweet daughter and awesome son, both young adults now (eek!). Our family lives in a semi-rural area in the Willamette Valley where we slowly changed our 1982 ranch house into a farmhouse-style cottage before selling it in late 2016 to find another home to make our cottage.

Why a Cottage? Well, I love everything about a cottage (the small size, the warmth, the character), but especially what I like to call a “cottage mentality,” which for me means living simply and embracing imperfections.

About An Oregon Cottage

I started An Oregon Cottage way back in 2009 as a way to share recipes, frugal tips, garden successes (and failures!), remodeling adventures and the joys of a simple life – always from the mindset of what I would’ve wanted to know when I was first starting our family and raising our kids.

Yeah. Waaaay before the internet.

Over the years, AOC has evolved into a Food & Lifestyle blog emphasizing three main areas:

• Simple, real food – for real families with real lives
• Organic gardening – the simple, easy way
• Home Decor and DIY remodeling – using a lot of cost-cutting, easy techniques

Gee, do you see a trend here? Everything you’ll find at AOC is do-able. For everyone.

Using lots of paint, some elbow grease, and wielding a cast iron pan (after I conquered my fear of it!), I share some of my passions: frugal DIY, simple crafts, thrift shopping, remodeling & home decorating, healthy cooking with real food (and the occasional over-the-top dessert, because I’ve found that life-long weight control is through portion-control and moderation, not denial), growing flowers and vegetables and preserving those vegetables.

Brian also helps make both funny and informative videos for us, which are all found on our video page. Just get ready to laugh – a lot.

For me, one of the best benefits that I had no clue of when AOC began is the wonderful relationships I’ve made through this blogging thing. You guys make this an amazing experience. And I thank you for reading, commenting, and being a part of the community here. I can honestly say I would not still be blogging if it weren’t for you guys.

If you are new here, then I’m so glad you are joining us! My goal at AOC is to inspire and encourage you to make your house a home – without getting hung up on perfection or abilities. Whatever level you want to create things – whether it’s full-throttle make everything from scratch or just dipping your toes into cooking from scratch or creating a warm home environment – you’ll find something here that you can use.

Click here to subscribe to AOC and never miss a thing!

Here are some key places to start exploring some key AOC articles:

• Recipe Index – Pictorial index of all our recipes.
• Pantry Basics – Simple recipes for pantry staples like ketchup, mayo, and chocolate syrup (and yes, that’s a staple in our house!)
• Vegetable Gardening 101, with an emphasis on e.a.s.y.
• Our Project Gallery – DIY home decorating, furniture makeovers, and home improvements non-experts (like us!) can do.

When you to subscribe to An Oregon Cottage by email you’ll get all the new tips, recipes, transformations, and DIY ideas right in your inbox, either on the day the articles are published or as a once-a-week newsletter – it’s up to you! Oh, and I hate spam, so I will not inundate your email with anything other than our updates (see more of my privacy policy here).

I’d also love to hear from you! Feel free to email me at: [email protected] Also be sure to follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook – I love to connect with readers any way possible!

If you are looking to discuss options for working with a company or brand, check out my advertising page – I’m always looking for new things to share with my readers that would benefit them and help them towards a simple, easy and fulfilling life!