Sunday's Sampler:

Hello Friends! 

This post has a little bit of everything that I have been thinking about this week but haven't had enough to make a full post about.

First of all, I would like to congratulate Jacqui, from Extreme Makeover, Weight Loss Edition on her hard work and accomplishments.  Though I do not know Jacqui, my friend 
Arkansas Patti over at her blog "The New Sixty", did an excellent post about Jacqui earlier this week.  Jacqui is Patti's sister Jan's friend, and we will also be able to catch a glimpse of Jan on t.v. tonight too.  

Jacqui's "before" photo:

Jacqui's "after" photo, with Chris, 

the host and trainer on the show:

Oh, my gosh, isn't she so beautiful and happy looking?  We all wish you the best in your new life, Jacqui!

Update:  I watched the show last night, and was amazed at Jacqui's determination, hard work and success.  She literally worked her bottom off; exercising up to 5 hours a day and going from 355 pounds down to 148 pounds.  Jacqui lost her weight the old fashioned way, and gained confidence and polish throughout her year of extreme effort.  Jacqui now positively glows.  Her husband Shawn is amazing and supportive, as were her family and friends.  I hope that the McCoys will be able to have their first baby very soon.  Chris Powell. Jacqui's motivating trainer, is also a great guy; and that was pretty nice of Walmart to give a $50,000 gift certificate to Jacqui for her efforts.  Yay! 

Jacqui now helps others along their journey to health, and has recently set up a blog, which you can read by "CLICKING HERE".   I guess that I could have made this a blog post all on it's own after all. 

Here is the link to Patti's Update:  "I Have a New Hero".


Okay, now on to other news.  Do you have any good vegetarian receipes to share? Read on!

 Source: Country Clip Art.com

I am so lucky to have a friend in Barb K.  Barb is very supportive of me, and sends me encouraging emails on a regular basis.  She probably thinks that I have forgotten all about this, but at the end of March, Barb suggested that I ask readers for vegetarian recipes to put on my Emergency Preparedness and Self-Reliant Living blog.  Many of the foods that have a long shelf life, such as beans, peas and rice can be combined with or without meat.  If you have any favorite recipes that you would like to share, please email them to me at "oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com" and I will post them on their own page.  Thank you for the suggestion, Barb!

Barb also sent me an email about Oregon Trivia.  I found these tidbits interesting and hope you will too:

Oregon's state flag pictures a beaver on its reverse side. It is the only state flag to carry two separate designs. Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state.  The Columbia River gorge is considered by many to be the best place in the world for windsurfing. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and is formed in the remains of an ancient volcano. Oregon and New Jersey are the only states without self-serve gas stations. Eugene was the first city to have one-way streets. Pilot Butte, a cinder cone volcano, exists within the city limits of Bend. At 329 feet the Coast Douglas-Fir in Oregon is considered the tallest tree in the state. At 8,000 feet deep Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America. The hazelnut is Oregon's official state nut. Oregon is the only state that has an official state nut. The hazelnut is also known as the filbert.

Speaking of my Emergency Preparedness and Self-Reliant Living blog, about a month ago I received a nice email from Hannah at E. Foods.com, asking me to review their food products for my website.  I haven't done that yet, but if you want to check out their website for ready-to-make foods that store well for a long time, here is the link:  E. Foods.com.  If you have used their products already, what did you think?

I wanted to thank my newest followers today too.  Welcome!  I appreciate your support very much:

Clarissa Draper

Rob from Amersfoort

Sharon at Strong Foundations

And now, a real blast from the past ... not sure what brought this song to mind, but it always reminded me of my Grandpa Johnson.  I sure do love You Tube Music, it is very handy.

Hope that you all have a great Sunday.  Oh, there is an update on the post below from Lisa.

Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.