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Hi Reader,

How are you doing? I hope your Christmas holiday was full of time with people you love making fun memories.💜

I thoroughly enjoyed the break from work, especially because we had a lot of family get togethers, including some travel a couple hours up north the weekend after Christmas. While it takes some planning and determination, the time seeing family we don't see often was precious. And our Christmas Day was relaxed and full of the traditions we love (oh, and the new appetizer dinner was a hit - I think we'll always do this from now on!).

The other reason I was grateful for the break was because - you're not going to believe this - the week before Christmas Day I found myself in the ER at a local hospital!! I had woken at about 3 am with a racing heart, dizziness, and shortness of breath and it was still going on by 4 am, so Brian drove me to the hospital. After ekgs, an IV, and some meds, they finally got my heart back to a better range after another hour. They sent me home with a prescription, a cardiologist referral, and a diagnosis of Afib (atrial fibrillation). Ugh. My brother dealt with this a year ago (and had 2 ablations) and Brian had a heart flutter and ablation a year ago, so at least I knew what I was dealing with and that it is manageable and not a thing to be scared of. So now I monitor my pulse a lot more and am learning to be aware of my heart and what it's doing.😀

And I have to add - the nurses and doctors who work in the middle of the night are angels. They were so nice and calming while being completely professional. Hats off 🎩

Looking Toward 2026

This next week I will have the list of the best books I read last year (out of over 100!) as well as my annual goals review and plans for the new year.

I'd love to know if you have any goals for 2026 that will move you forward in your simple homemade life and if there's anything I can share that would help you. Reply and let me know if you do!

Here are a few other things on the horizon for An Oregon Cottage (and you!) in 2026:

• A revamped gardening notebook.
• More physical cookbooks including the pantry staples theme that won the poll I had a few months ago. (My goal with these cookbooks is to make them super helpful resources in certain areas that you can pull out and refer to often. Let me know if you have ideas on other cookbooks you'd like to see!)
• More quick and easy pantry meals to add to this series.
• A more thought-out email approach, possibly including a monthly cooking challenge (still fleshing this out...).

And more, so stay tuned! 😀

Still Need a 2026 Monthly Calendar?

​Have you grabbed get your 2026 calendar yet? I'm filling out mine for the first quarter right now, as this really helps me plan out the goals I set and then more naturally review them before I draw up the second quarter. Of course, it works for birthdays and traditional calendar needs, too! (Note: You will need to fill out the form and it will come to your email inbox.)

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From The Blog

​My Favorite Recipes of 2025​ Eight new recipes and eight updated recipes with the reasons they're my favorites. I SO hope you'll make some of these if you haven't.💜 ​ RECIPES HERE! ​

A few more things

Brian and I are listening to this book that I've read is many people's favorite book ever. I am thoroughly enjoying it and know already that it will be on my 2026 best of the year book list!!

I'm LOVING this new faux leather journal that was recommended by an author I follow. It has all the quality of an expensive notebook - thick pages, a contents section, an envelope with sticky tabs, and ribbon markers - but is less than $15! I've been thinking how I will use it and I've just decided that I will write whatever I want in it and not make it only one thing. So I can journal, write Bible verses and prayers, review books, and anything else that strikes my fancy. Oh the freedom 😂 (and I think it will end up being a fun picture of my whole life kind of - all the various things I'm interested in and are meaningful). Anyway, if you're in the market for a notebook for any reason, I highly recommend this one!

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Here's to a great first full week of 2026! Hit reply and let me know what you did (or something you got that you're loving) over the holidays. 😀

Know someone who'd appreciate this? Forward it along!

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Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

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