I think I'm becoming a foodie...

Well I just love food. I have developed a habit of looking up "healthified" versions of everything and I have found some great things. I also make things differently just with my own ideas. So! Today, my roommates and I wanted to have fruit pizza, but I lamented about how unhealthy it could be. We were also talking about making cookie cups....You make cookie dough, but instead of putting them on a cookie sheet, you put it on an upside down muffin pan.

I combined the ideas and I said we should make sugar cookie fruit cups, put yogurt in them (instead of cream cheese mixture like on fruit pizza) and put fruit on top!
I found a healthier version of sugar cookies...they have whole wheat flour!
I'm a HUGE fan of greek yogurt. Especially Chobani Greek Yogurt. I buy the plain one and then add sweetener and flavoring. Or I use it in recipes like banana bread or a baked french toast I made a few weeks ago for General Conference. You can use the plain yogurt instead of mayonaise, sour cream, and make a million things.
We sliced strawberries, used honey to sweeten the yogurt and we got these!

My roommates loved them!

I will definitely be making these cookies again. And they all loved the greek yogurt! It was a delicious dessert.

I'm always looking for new recipes to try that are healthy or "healthier" versions. Send me any you may have! mcpherson.jamie@gmail.com

   

Wedding Update!

Well I should update everyone....

I bought my dress! It's white. And beautiful. It was in my budget, too! I'm so excited.

I have a make-up artist scheduled to do my hair! Her name is Chantelle LaCouture and I hear she's amazing! Brian and her are good friends and that's how I know her. www.couturecreate.com

Another friend of Brian's, Jenna Daniels, is doing my hair! Wedding hair/up dos are her specialty so I'm going to be well taken care of.

I have Affinity for Music for my DJ. The owners are Melissa and Tom O'Malley who are really good friends with my older brother Corey. I just have great connections! www.affinityformusic.com

Rebecca Reynolds will be my photographer the day of the wedding. She's another good friend of Brian's. www.rebeccamariephotography.net

The reception will be at the Newlin Meadows building. At first, I wanted it outside somewhere, but I didn't have a good venue and I know everything will be easier and less stressful if it's inside.

As our wedding favors, I'm making mini shoe boxes and I'm making shoes out of chocolate to go in them. I found a mold  for shoes on Amazon.com and it should be here on Wednesday. Hopefully their easy to make so making hundreds won't be too difficult!

My color is purple, and more of a dark purple. Brian and I both love that color so it's perfect for us.

Things to decide on soon!:

Invitations
Food for reception

The Proposal!

It's been two weeks since Brian proposed and things have been oh so wonderful!

I figure a lot of people would like to know the proposal story so here it goes....

I arrived at my house in Parker, CO at 11:15pm. I had already arranged weeks ago to go see Brian as soon as I came home. I said hello to the family and then bolted because I wanted to see my man! :)
I walked into his house and there on the floor was the ring!!! No, just kidding. :) One of the blue shoes was on the floor with a note.

There was a royal blue string that led away from the shoe into the kitchen. I followed it and found an Eeyore keychain that I had asked him to get me! I wanted to match. ;)

The string then wrapped around the kitchen to the living room where there were like 10 bags of Dove chocolate! This is because of the countdown idea Brian had previously....We eat one piece of chocolate together on the phone every night and we put the wrappers on a big calender we bought. This has been really great so far!

The string then led upstairs and outside Brian's room was this HUGE bouquet of gorgeous flowers. This is one of the times I almost cried because he hadn't bought me flowers before! He said he wanted to get me quality flowers and he wanted it to be special. He said in the note with the flowers that he thought this was a special time. :)

*Note: I somehow didn't take a picture of the flowers with my phone. My mom has several pictures though so this will be updated later.

NOW! You need to understand that there had been some things said between me and my sister earlier this day that made me start thinking about when he would propose. I considered he might do it as soon as I got home, but I didn't want to expect it and then be disappointed! So this whole time I was thinking this was a "welcome home" thing. And I loved it! But then it got better. :)

I woke up Brian, like the final note told me to, and then he wanted me to try on the shoes! I put on one of them and then I turned to get the other one from Brian and he was on one knee! This is another time I almost cried. He had the ring on the heel of the shoe and he said "Jamie, will you marry me?"
I took a moment to smile and bask in the wonderful moment and then I said "Yes!" in my high pitched "Ohmygoodness" voice. :)

I couldn't get over how beautiful the ring was...I knew he had designed it but he hadn't told me if it had turned out the way he wanted! Apparently, a lot of people had already seen the ring, too! My sister Ellie had asked forever ago to be the first person I called after he proposed. So even though it was midnight, we called her and she got to hear the joyous news first.

We then sat down together and picked a date! I thought September 1st was a great day and because it's labor day weekend, Brian was convinced when he realized we would always have a 3 day weekend to celebrate our anniversary. :)

SO. 133 days from now, I will be sealed to Mr. Brian Frerichs in the Denver LDS Temple and I just can't wait. :)

Here's a close up of the ring. If you see Brian, ask him to explain the symbolism with all the designing choices he made. :)

I'm Getting Married!

Well it's only a matter of time before I'll be the new Mrs. Brian Frerichs! Brian proposed to me last Friday and everything has just been wonderful since. I finished my first semester at BYU-I on Thursday...it turned out to be a pretty good semester. Zachary and I left Idaho Friday afternoon after his last final and then we made excellent time on the drive home. I said hello to my parents and Riley and then I headed over to Brian's and that's when he proposed. I knew it was coming but I didn't know it would be within an hour of being home! I loved it. We're planning on being married in the Denver Temple on September 1st!! That gives me 144 days to create a wonderful wedding day that will be full of lovely memories.

A few things already planned...
There will be no wedding party, but my nieces and nephews will be flower girls and ring bearers.
Our color will be royal blue, but it will be more of an accent color because a lot of things will be white.
I would love an outdoor reception filled with white candles, white lights and white flowers. The venue for this has yet to be determined.

September 1st is on labor day weekend which may be inconvenient for some people but the marriage between Brian and me is the most important part so I'm not worried. I can't wait to be sealed to the love of my life for eternity! I couldn't be happier. :)