Merry Christmas!!

... and a happy new year!!

Firewood!!

The past two Saturdays, me, Matt, Dad and Cody have headed up to the McBride’s to cut down a few of their dead trees for firewood. I’ll be the first to say, we definitely got a workout, but we actually had a lot of fun cutting, chopping and even climbing (yes dad, climbing) trees! Here are a few pictures…

Dad and Matt did most of the sawing, but Cody jumped in there too.. and yes, even me!!

The first obstacle we ran into was when the tree the guys cut fell straight into another tree. We had quite the time trying to get it out.

First dad tried to cut it so it would fall in the opposite direction. That didn’t quite work. Instead, we ended up with a floating tree.

Next, Cody suggested we use a rope to pull it down.

That worked well, except dad decided to climb up the cut tree to tie the rope onto the highest branch he could find. Which left him stranded on the tree. Ha, he was having way too much fun!!

Our next tree fell directly on the stack of firewood we had so carefully laid. Oops.
Who knew you could have so much fun chopping wood??
Thank you McBrides for keeping us warm this winter!!!

The obligatory pumpkin farm post

Come August, I have fall on my brain. I don't care how hot it is, I start to pray for rain, redecorate, crave pumpkin pie, and inevitably start counting the days till Christmas (if you don't know already, Matt and I are really big Christmas people, more on that at a later post.)

The past month I have been dying to go with to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. This place is very important to me for two reasons. First and foremost, the memories. I have gone without fail every years since I can remember (as I am sure most of you Yuba-Citians have.) I have countless pictures of me and Kate poking our heads through the giant pumpkin, dozens of memories of searching for (what felt like) hours for the perfect pumpkin, and I can never forget bouncing around all afternoon in the hay silo until Cody’s asthma flared up so badly that he wheezed the following night away. Obviously some memories are fonder than others, (sorry Cody) but nonetheless, they are there. Oh yes, the second reason Bishop’s is so important to me? Their carmel apples. Hands down. The best. Last Thursday, we got a phone call from Matt’s brother Jacob and he wanted to see if we would like to join him and his girlfriend Kellye to the pumpkin farm. We were so excited! True, the petting zoo wasn’t quite the same without a little one, and I felt sort of silly sticking my head through the giant pumpkin, but hey, we’re all kids at heart right?

Making music.

A few weeks ago, Matt and his friends played at the Yuba City Centennial on Plumas St. Matt's brother Jacob, and his friends Cody, Cole and Jon have all played music off and on for years now, so it was so much fun to see them play on a real stage, and not a spare bedroom or basement. Thoughout our dating years, I spent many hours watching these boys make music in their "play room" with ear plugs in (little rooms + loud amps are not a good combination!)

Before Matt and I started talking, I always knew
of him as the "cute guy who plays bass." Still true.

My brother Cody also helped at the event with the FCS players, how great does he look? He has done drama with the FCS Players since he was in elementary school through Summer Drama, but this is his first official year, and he is loving it! I am so glad he is out of his brace and much more mobile, he is always such a commited performer. Cody as a soldier, he had to walk around in character
all night, and talk to strangers... not an easy task!

Great job all my boys!!

Congratulations Trent and Whitney Fochs!!

Two of our best friends, Trent and Whitney were married last night in a gorgeous fall ceremony. The entire day was simply romantic and absolutely stunning. It was a wonderful night and we are so excited for them!! Enjoy your honeymoon! We love you both!

Their photographer, Josiah Michael Photography (who also videotaped and took pictures for our wedding) put up some amazing teasers and I am sure there will be more to come! Enjoy!

www.josiahmichael.blogspot.com

Application Anxiety

Ever since the wedding, Matt has been working to get his applications for grad school prepared. It is amazing to me how much work and time goes into them! He has gotten almost all of his recommendation letters ready, as well as the applications themsleves, and now the big task at hand is the essays. Each school has a different deadline, the first one being the third week in October, and they follow all the way through January. I am so proud of him for his dedication and hard work, he amazes me how committed he is to any project he undertakes, his entire education shows that!

Anyways, since people keep asking us what schools we have in mind, I thought I would post to let you know our “top 6.” They are:

University of the Pacific - Stockton, CA
University of Washington - Seattle, WA
Regis University - Denver, CO
Duke University - Raleigh, NC
Boston Universtity - Boston, MA
The Ohio State University - Columbus, OH

No order in particular, and honestly we have no preferences right now. We have decided to send an application to each one of these schools and hover anxiously by the mail box to see who wants us! As Matt prepares each one, we can't help but consider what God has in store for us, whether it’s across the country, or right here in California. While very frightening, it is also so exciting to have the opportunity to allow Him to (literally) point us the direction in which we are to go, and trust and have faith that He will provide for us.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." - Psalm 32:8-10

Matt's Got Game!

Saturday morning at the crack of dawn (actually about 2 hours BEFORE dawn) Matt went out deer hunting with his friend and co-worker Pat. Matt has been looking forward to this trip the entire year. Every so often at home I would stumble across some new hunting gadget, video, or utensil that is apparently necessary to kill these suckers. I never knew there so much that went into hunting! Nevertheless, Matt popped out of bed on Saturday and got all decked out in his camo, and headed out the door, leaving me snug as a bug in bed. Well, I guess you could say that the trip was a success because Matt shot his first buck! He was so excited, and I am so proud of him! Here are some pictures to prove it...

This is where Matt shot his buck...



Smile for the camera!

I am so proud of my guy!!

so long, farewell...

Mom, Dad, and I took Kate to the airport this morning for her flight out to New York for school. The airport is an all-too familiar place to me for goodbyes. Isn't it strange how smells can bring a rush of emotions back to you in an instant? Well personally, the smell of Cinnabon and luggage along with the resounding "do not leave any baggage unattended..." message brought back a flood of feelings. While talking with my mom this morning it occured to me that eleven years ago I was a fourth grader telling my sister Sarah goodbye as she boarded a plane to the same school Kate is heading off to, Word of Life. Now obviously things were different then, we were allowed to take her all the way up to the gate and I remember every minute the lump in my throat grew bigger and bigger. I vividly remember sitting in my classroom the entire next day with that lump still stuck somewhere in my throat, just trying to hold back the tears. Eventually it all got easier, but this was the first painful "goodbye" that I can remember, and since that time I have had far too many. The interesting thing is I was the exact same age my neice Hailey is, and last night I sat in the other room listening to her teary goodbye to her Auntie Kate. This sweet fourth grade girl now had to say goodbye to her "older sister." Isn't it strange how life has come full cicle?

As painful as it was to see Kate walk up that dreaded escalator, I am so excited to see her what God has in store for her. I can't wait for her to come back in the fall with the bundle of stories I am sure she will be anxious to share. She is taking a big leap into the unknown and for that, I couldn't be more proud of by little sister! We love you Kate and miss you already!!

Christmas is coming...

We are THIS excited...






enough said. :)

Stitches and French Fries

The first week Matt and I got home, I was so excited to make him dinner. When I got home from work, I quickly put on my apron and got right to work. On the menu was Chili Casserole that my mom has made for years. I have made it dozens of time and couldn't wait to make my first meal as matt's wife! Instead of enjoying our first homemade meal in our own home, I sliced my hand open on a can of beans half way through the preparations. We ended up spending the evening applying pressure and ice to my very bloody hand, and waiting in line for stitches at Urgent Care. Needless to say, we had In-N-Out that night..

It definitely wasn't the meal I planned, but I will never forget our first (attempted) dinner as newlyweds! (P.S. - Matt opens ALL cans now!)

The happiest place on earth...

Matt and I went to Disneyland on our honeymoon and had a total blast! I don't know that we were expecting to have as much fun as we did! We were slightly concerned that kids running around us and exhausted parents may not be ideal for our first vacation together, but since we had never been to Disneyland together (in almost five years of dating and how many trips to southern california?!) we thought it would be fun. When we arrived in Anaheim on Sunday evening, we were determined to find a Blockbuster to rent a few movies for Monday, which we had decided would be our major "rest and relaxation" day. We map-quested it and found that there was one only 1 and 3/4 miles away. We were excited to explore and figured a walk would be nice, so we set off. Little did we know that was apparently the direct distance from point A to point B. We walked and we walked and we walked. After confirming that Anaheim does indeed have ghetto and it isn't far from the most magical place on earth, we stumbled into a super sketchy Blockbuster. But we got our movies! We guessed we walked about 6 miles roundtrip (yuck!) The next day we relaxed and watched our movies we worked so hard for, and decided to eat at House of Blues in downtown Disney. Being this close to the park got us so pumped to get inside, so we woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning to open the park! We couldn't wait! I definitely think we were more excited than many of the kids in line with us!!










Like so many people told us, Disneyland is such a different place when it's just you and your significant other, and we couldn't agree more. It has such a special place in our hearts now and we can't wait to go back to remember all the memories we made and to make more!!

Our story.

Our story together is a classic. Two kids brought together by the anxiety and anticipation of what is known as the Faith Christian christmas banquet. The one and only formal Faith puts on a year can be attributed to a number of life long (or week long) relationships. Ah and yes, we were one of them. The three months prior are filled with excitement (on the girl’s end) of endless questions. What will I wear? How will I do my hair? The list goes on. However, I think the boys’ end is a little different, they have one major question, who to ask? And so, as it typically goes, Matt talked to his best friend, who talked to his girlfriend (my best friend) to see if I was interested. Of course, I was. Five minute breaks became times of butterflies and stuttering as we got to know eachother in between classes. Our friends like to make fun of how we more or less stood smiling at eachother repeating the same conversation we had an hour before about the previous night’s soccer game, or that afternoon’s cheerleading practice. We didn’t care, we just wanted to see eachother. I will never forget those conversations.



It was almost five years ago since we first started dating, and I find myself falling more in love with him every day.

Well hello there, we're the Ithurburns!

I guess starting a blog of our own means we’ve finally "grown up." Well, Matt doesn’t want to believe it. Either way, just in the few weeks we’ve been in Gridley, we’ve realized how quickly we lose touch with family and friends, and this is, as everyone we know has decided as well, the best way to keep everyone posted with the ins and outs of newlywed life.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a month now since Matt and I finally tied the knot. It’s come and gone so quickly, and I’m sure most of you have read post after post of pre, mid, and after wedding details, so I won’t bore you with all the pictures (if you want those, just check out Mom’s!) But I can’t help but share our favorites...