Mission Call

Well, my little bro, Jake got his mission call yesterday!! He has been called to serve in the Mexico City East, Mexico mission! He will be leaving at the first of April. I'm so proud of you Jake! Don't worry, you can always walk home if you get home sick! (inside joke)

He called everyone to tell them the news!

Thanks Afton for the pics! I ripped them off your blog!

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and merry Christmas! We are leaving to Las Vegas and won't be back until next week. No we are not BYU fans...it is just the Duckworth family vacation!! Hope it is warmer down there than here!

Hutch wishes everyone a Merry Christmas too!

All Done!

Wahoo! All done with finals! Took my last one this morning and walked out feeling okay about it! Winter break here I come! Or more like, "bed, here I come"! I haven't slept for the past two weeks!

Finals Week

Well, 2 down and 2 more to go! This morning I got through my first final and turned in a take home final in the afternoon! I am now seeing light at the end of this very long tunnel! This semester has been crazy but I am just glad to be doing what I'm doing. Next week's finals should be tough so I'm starting now to study! I should have started even earlier but with everything else on my plate, there was no way! Well, wish me luck! Hope all of you out there experiencing finals week too will do well on your tests!

Temple Square

Last night, Rory and I went with our friends downtown to see the lights. It was so crowded! But what do you expect for a Saturday night? The temple looked so pretty! Our camera has pretty crappy quality but here are some pics...

Oh one side note, 3D glasses makes the lights so freaken cool! You have to try it!! They turn them into little 3D snowflakes! Thanks Grace for the awesome idea and for bringing the glasses!

Afterwards, we went to Danny and Annie's house for hot cocoa and treats! We played the funnest game, thanks to Jonny and Grace, and then watched a movie! Great Saturday night...now back to studying for finals. Ahhggg!

Turkey and no sleep!

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the day with my family in Midway. It is so nice to get out of this smog in Salt Lake! We had some yummy food and Rory took about 3 different naps! When I say no sleep, I meant for me at least...at about 11:00 p.m. we headed over to PC to the outlet mall for the midnight madness sale! It was sure madness alright! The traffic was so bad but we ended up getting some good deals at Polo and AE. We woke up early the next morning to go to Macy's to buy what we thought was a good deal on a couch. Well, Rory didn't realize that the ad's listed price was only for the corner piece! What a scam...Haha oh well. Later we went to RC Willeys and found a couch we liked! Yes, you heard me right, we did buy a couch!! It is a big sectional, which was just delivered today in fact!! Hutch already found his designated sleeping spot on top of the pillows!

Saturday, I went back up to Midway to spend the day with my sister and mom. We decorated the house and went shopping to the Barn! Besides me catching this stupid cold, it was a great weekend!

Going to St George!

Yes, we are going to St. Geezy (as my bro would call it) this weekend! After such a long and difficult week at school, it will be super nice to get away! I'm so excited because my sister Afton and I are going to Twilight Sat. night! We are both BIG fans of the books so we are really looking forward to it! It'll be a girls night out, while Trav, Rory, and Nick stay home. Of course the Utah/BYU game will be on the plans for Sat afternoon...Go Utes! Other than that, maybe a little shopping, some eating, and a whole lot of relaxing! I definitely need it...

Bond...James Bond

Rory and I went with Danny and Annie tonight to see 007 Quantum of Solace! The movie was pretty good! I recommend re-watching Casino Royal before going to see this one. You can't go wrong with James Bond!! Your man will love the action and you will love....MMMMmmm Ladies, you know what I'm talking about!!

Sports crazy!

How about them Utes! Thursday's night blackout game was so awesome!! So to all you U-hating, fully vested BYU fans: What up now?! Haha I'm just joking...it was a great game and Rory and I can't wait for the BIG rival game!!

Friday night, we went with Isaak and Beth to the Grizzles Hockey game! It was another amazing win!! All game it was 2-0 Ontario lead. We were about to head out in the 3rd period to beat the traffic, then at about 2 minutes remaining, they scored! With the seconds counting down, we thought it was over. But then with only 15 seconds left they scored again to tie!! Neither team scored in the 4 on 4 overtime...Shootout here we come!! We scored one and our goalie completely shut out Ontario! The crowd was crazy there! Besides the amazing win, the fighting alone was worth the ticket!! There were like 3 different fights! And I mean full-out punching, throw-down fights! It was also Susan Coleman's Breast cancer awareness night so the entire team wore their pink jerseys and the ice was pink!! If you have never been to a game...it's pretty fun and I would recommend it! Just buy the cheapest tickets and go sit where ever you want! We really had a lot of fun!

Saturday, we went to Jonny and Grace's home for Robby Swenson's B-day party! There was yummy food and great conversation! I apologize to Jonny and Grace's neighbors if we were too loud! We are a pretty wild bunch!!

PASS IT ON

"Because I have been given much, I too must give"

I want to share this life changing website/Video/Life style. A while back I saw this commercial on T.V. that brought me to tears (I am a big baby). It reminded me of how lucky Courtney and I have it and that there are more important things in this world than ourselves. It also made me realize how little I do for others. Well the other night I was board and I decide to find that commercial. I ran across one of the best sites on the Internet. I started to read their message and watch the videos and I broke down in tears. That night I made a promise to not always think about my self and to do more service for others. I have always been taught to treat others, as I would like to be treated. Sometimes it's nice to have a reminder when I'm down and fill like my life is so bad, I can go to this site. It puts things into prospective of how good we really have it and how the small things can make a difference in someones life. With all the bad news in the world it’s nice to get an uplifting message. Please watch the video below and go to the website. I promise you, It will lift you up!

http://www.forbetterlife.org/

VOTE!!!

Courtney and I voted tonight!!!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a fun and exciting Halloween! It is my favorite holiday after Christmas! And it is a VERY close second!! This year our friends Lizzy and Rob Swenson threw a HUGE party Thursday night! It was so crazy and fun!!

We thought we were extra creative this year because we dressed up as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with golden parachutes strapped to our backs and Obama bucks stuffed in our pockets!! Well, few people actually got it...I guess we are the only ones who watch the news! It was pretty embarrassing when we had to take 10 mins to explain it to the "uninformed"! I think even after that, they still didn't get it...Oh well, we thought is was good! Thanks to the Copingas for the pic! (we forgot our camera)

On Thursday night, My mom cooked us a yummy Halloween dinner and we carved pumkins! I'm sorry, we are not that great at carving...

Rory wanted to wear his Fred Flinstone wig for fun!

Even Big Jake hung around for a bit before heading off to a party! My dad was also there, crackin' jokes over soup and talking politics of course! My sisters would recall his limo joke...oh yes, that came up! Rory had never heard it before, so it was a hit!

My parents' street was packed with trick-or-treaters because the neighbors across the way constructed this little haunted house in their garage. They had a guy with a chainsaw scaring all the kids! It was quite funny! We didn't get home until late but decided, since it was Saturday the next day, that we would rent a scary movie! Rory made us rent Steven King's "The Stand". I had no idea what it was about but dude...I'm probably a wuss but it was freaky! We only have watched half of it (it is about 6 hours long) but so far pretty good story line...maybe I'll read the book if I ever get time away from studying!

Overall, another great Halloween in the books!

California 08: The Sequel

Well here are the remaining pics from our Cali trip! Saturday and Sunday, Rory and I went to Disneyland. It was fun but really crowded! After two full days of waiting in lines we needed a vacation from our vacation to say the least!! Monday we slept in and spent some time at the beach before our flight. It was really nice to soak up some rays before heading back to snow!

Sorry for the fuzzy quality on many...disposable cameras don't even come close to digital!

California Screamin'

Rory and I had a great weekend in sunny California! It wasn't as "sunny" as I thought it would be but still better than the snow in Utah! Overall, it was a fun and exciting time! I was stupid enough to forget the charger to the camera so we had to go buy a disposable camera for the remaining of the trip! I have not yet developed the pics so here are half of the pictures...the other half coming soon! Friday we went to Universal Studios. Rory and I agree that it was our favorite part of the trip! It was not busy at all! The Halloween Horror Nights was so-o cool! They turned the entire park into a huge haunted house! This year they featured Nightmare on Elm Street but also included other classic scary movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th! The mazes were super scary and the backlot haunted tour was so freaky!! Rory made us be in front, so of course all the characters were jumping out for us! I wish we took more pics! It was by far the best haunted attraction either of us have ever been to!

Greetings From LOS ANGELES!!!

Quick Update! I have been in LA for the last week for Farmers Insurance trainings and Courtney is flying in tonight for a fun filled weekend. For anyone who cares I have listed the things we are doing below.

Friday- Universal Studios/ Halloween Horror nights
http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/

Saturday- Disneyland
Sunday- Disneyland
Monday- Beach/ Home

Stay tune for updates!

Signs of the time

I was amazed today when I saw the figures from Wall Street: almost 800 points lost resulting in one of the worst days in stock market history! With this new bailout proposal, that just today, didn't pass the house, it makes you think: What caused this collapse in the economy? Good question. Rory showed me a video on you tube. I know what you're thinking...bad source right? Besides where it came from, it makes you think. Watch it, it goes by quickly so have the pause button handy to read all the parts. Afterwards research the Community Reinvestment Act. This really opened my eyes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6fuFrdCJY

Farmer's Market

After a hard week of studying and working, Rory and I last week ventured downtown to the Farmer's Market. We came home with a lot of goodies! I highly suggest shopping at your own local markets if available!! Buying local is great for you and for the environment!

With our natural gas civics, compost worm bin, and just recently, purchasing the Harmon's green reusable shopping bags, Rory and I have become quite the eco-friendly couple! Below are some great resources to research how your family can become green! Yes...I know, we are big eco-dorks...

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/

http://push.pickensplan.com/

http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

http://www.greenisuniversal.com/beinggreen.php

http://thegreenguide.com/

Back to Reality!

Like I promised...more posts. Well, we haven't been doing much since summer ended, which is a good excuse for the lack of posts. Back to reality I suppose! School started up again for me and Rory has just been busy with his work!!We seriously now feel like an old couple: being boring homebodies and going to bed at 10:00! We both come home and just either crash on the couch or go straight to bed!!

School is tough but I'm managing. Between clinic and class, it is a lot to take in!! This week was especially draining because I was preparing for an exam like crazy!! I think I ended up doing pretty good though...

It all starts over tomorrow for yet another exam this week...Only difference is that I actually enjoy this class so it shouldn't be too bad studying for the test! Lets hope, right?! Well I certainly got myself into this, so I shouldn't be complaining!! I think I will like it a lot more in the actual field on not just in the classroom. Only two more years....

Dear Fellow Bloggers,

Well, I realize I have been slacking on our blogging! Sorry to all those who are even remotely interested in what we have been up to! I'll try harder, I promise! More entries are coming! Stay tuned...

Happy 23rd Rory!!

Rory celebrated his 23rd Birthday on the 14th! It has been tradition that we all go to the Bonzai Japanese Steakhouse for dinner on his B-days. It was so-o yummy!

We also planned a dual B-day party with our friends to celebrate both Rory and Nate's Birthdays! We had all of our friends over, or those who could make it that is... It was such a great day, someone brought up the idea of sitting outside in the backyard. Unfortunately we don't have patio furniture, so we all sat picnic style on a blanket. It was fun to visit and eat the yummy BBQ!
Rory got golf clubs for his present this year! For the past two weeks, we have gone almost every day golfing! I tried a Par 3 at Mick Riley Golf Course and actually did pretty well (or so they told me)!! Now I have become hooked...not very good but we try!!
Happy Birthday Rory!! I love you!

Busy Summer Wrap-up

Rory and I have had such an fun and excited last couple weeks of summer! Too busy to sit down and blog I guess...so here is what we have been up to for the month of August:

Our good friends Issak and Beth got married on 8/8/08. It was a beautiful wedding! For our gift, Rory and I wanted to decorate their hotel room!
It was fun shopping for all the candles, roses, chocolate covered strawberries...etc. I can't believe how great it turned out!!
It looked a lot better in real life of course...

Luckily, Danny, Annie, and Roy offered their help to decorate! We would not have been able to do it all without them!! Danny and Rory were little pyros!! I was praying that we wouldn't set the whole place on fire!!!