We Have Decided To...

Alright, our fans have let us know that the Quigley's should KEEP our blog! Now we just have to figure out how to update it more often. I appreciate all of your insight on our blog, some of you didn't even know we had one. Others want us to keep posting to remind us of our shortcomings. Whatever the reason we will keep posting best we can and hopefully more of you start reading our blog. We will try and "announce" new posts via facebook and other things so keep an eye out.

Quick update for everyone who may be wondering what the Quigleys are up to recently. Gina and I are continuing our bicycling dreams and have signed up for another LOTOJA. For those of you not familiar, LOTOJA is a single day 206 mile bike race that starts in Logan, UT and ends in Jackson Hole, WY. We are in the midst of training and ride almost every day to prepare for this grueling event. Every year I cannot figure out why we register for this day of death, but we keep doing it. Gina and I have a little rivalry building as she beat me the first year and I claimed the title last year. Gina is convinced she will reclaim the title this year but she doesn't have a chance.

We recently went on a trip to Moab where we hiked and went white water rafting. We had a great time and I must say I have never seen Gina so concerned/scared as I did while we were floating the Colorado River. It was really quite entertaining to see her in this state. If I get the approval I may post a video here of our river trip. My guess is Gina will put the hammer down on that one and no one will ever see that footage again. We really enjoyed our time in the desert and cannot wait to go back to explore some more. Shout out to the Easterlings for being our guides, you guys were awesome.

Other than that, it is work as normal and just living everyday life. We have a few other trips planned here in the future and are looking forward to camping a little more this year. The snow is finally melting up at our house so we are finally beginning to enjoy nice weather, green trees, and the animals are finally out of hibernation! It was a long long winter. It snowed as late as father's day this year. We were officially sick of the snow. We will enjoy three months of good weather before the white fluffy stuff begins to fly again.

That's all for now. I will put some photos together or something here sometime so that it isn't just boring text you have to look at. Thanks for reading and we will catch ya next time.

More Posts?

Ok, so Gina and I are clearly not very good at updating our blog. I recently have been looking at some of our friends blogs and its clear that we will never be as diligent as many of you are. With that said, it's time to take a poll. Should the Quigleys keep their blog and try to update it as much as possible or should we disband the disgrace that has been our past and move on not looking back? Its up to you all to tell us what to do. If you want to have us keep our blog let us know. Email us, facebook us, call us, smack us int he face, just let us know somehow. Within the next couple weeks we will let you know of the outcome!!

LOTOJA!!

So those of you who may not know this, Gina and I have picked up a new hobby, cycling, and are ready to take it to the next level. Well, I really don't even know what level I am on, but Gina has already had some experience so for her it is the next level. For me this may be... shall we call it, a "baptism by fire" experience! Anyway, we have done the craziest thing and registered for the LOTOJA Classic. For those of you who do now know what the LOTOJA is, it is the longest single day bike race in America. It starts in Logan, Utah (hence the LO) and finishes 216 miles later in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (hence the JA, LOgan TO JAckson). Registration for this race is quite tight and for the most part it is a lottery selection process. There are a few ways to get a guaranteed spot in the race, one being standing on the podium for last years race. Well, we all know that won't be the case!! One of the other ways is to register as a Hometown Hero. A Hometown Hero is a program sponsored by the Huntsman Cancer Institute. How it works is we sign up with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation to help raise money for their research and development. Our goal is to raise $800 that will be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and in return they will register us for LOTOJA as a Hometown Hero! Gina and I are proud to say that we are excited to not only race in LOTOJA (for me its not so much a race as it is a goal just to cross the finish line!) but to also help raise money for a wonderful cause. This is where all of you come in. We need every one's help to reach our goals. We are not asking you give us your life's savings, but if you are in a position to do so, please help us out. Any amount is very much appreciated. You can can help Gina out by donating at:

http://www.huntsmancancerfoundation.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=270&frsid=287

and/or you can help Ross out by donating at:

http://www.huntsmancancerfoundation.org/NetCommunity/rossquigley

Once again, thanks for all your support and help, we love you all! Wish us luck on our journey and pray that I don't die along the way! I will need it!

Why my life sucks at times...

So let me tell you of a little story about a series of tragic events that happened to me on this fine Thursday. Before I begin, let me give you a little background that will make this story even better and help you understand why my life really sucks today! So I am enrolled in this business law class this semester. At the beginning of semester I went to purchase all my books. I only needed to buy three of them and one of them cost me about $50. My grand total from all my books would have come to about $450!! If you do the math, two books tallied a total of over $400, which I thought was absolutely absurd. So I did what most would do, boycott. I didn't buy either of them. I went as long as I could before it became necessary to buy the books. Two weeks ago I purchased my investment book, luckily one came in that was used so it only cost $150, instead of over $200. But my business law book was still looming at $192, no option to purchase a used one (something I was hoping for!). Which brings us to today.

So I had this test looming in my business law class. It was based solely on the text and is an open book test. Naturally it would be dumb of me not to purchase the book. So I go to the bookstore this morning to buy the dreaded book, which I still feel is the same as robbery. I find the shelf where I see the book. Look at the price again, sigh in disbelief again, reluctantly pick it up and and walk to the counter to purchase it. Spend my 190 big ones and boy did I feel like poop. To make matters worse, on my receipt the cashier stamps this huge "ALL TEXTBOOK SALES ARE FINAL, NO RETURNS!" right on the receipt. This pretty much sealed my fate. I walked out of the store and off to class with my shiny new book, still in the plastic.

As I get to class, I notice that some of the books that others have are different than mine. I think to myself "it must be an earlier addition," or something like that. I didn't think anything of it until I noticed that everyone's books are the same except for mine! All I can think about is my receipt that says "NO RETURNS." After my test, I pull up the syllabus and check to see what all this mess is about. Sure enough, I needed a different book. I go back to the bookstore to find the right one hoping they will understand that I made an honest mistake and that I would be allowed to switch out the books. I go back to the shelf where I got the wrong book, and their is no other book. My class has two sections, and apparently I got section 2's book, why they are different I don't know, both professors share the teaching duty so we have both of them. None the less, I have the wrong book and the book I need is not available, oh and just in case you are wondering, they are the exact same price. So I find an employee of the bookstore, inform him of my situation and ask two questions. Do you have the book I need? And, am I screwed having purchased the other one? He checked their inventory and told me that they would have to special order the one I needed, and even though my receipt said "NO RETURNS" on it that if I had the receipt I could exchange my wrong book for the right one when it came in. Hooray!!

Wait, don't get to ahead of yourself, this story isn't over, remember, my life sucks at times. So I walk back to my bag and proceed to walk out of the bookstore when panic strikes my heart. The receipt! It was in the bag my book came in, which I took out of the bag as I got to class and then promptly threw into the trash can!!!!! I even thought to myself "normally I hang on to these for the receipt but you saw what it read in big red bold ink, 'TEXTBOOK SALES ARE FINAL, NO RETURNS.'" I quickly new my chance for salvaging my money and my book was on the line. $190 dollars is a lot of money and I'll be darned if I let it slide! So I run back up the stairs to the library, go down three floors to the trash can outside my classroom where the receipt lay in wait for me. With students all around me wondering why I am so anxious to tear through the trash can, my worst fears are realized, my bag with the receipt is not there. In that 2 hour window, the can had been emptied and my receipt was gone. My $192 down the drain, and I still have the wrong book and most likely will not be able to exchange it for the right one. I have concluded that all the information I need has to be in the book I currently own and that it can't be that bad if I just use it, after all, its used in the other sections class. My life really sucks at times

OK, OK... I'll write something

So all our friends are really good bloggers and always have good things to write about. SO... I thought we would jump on the band wagon . . . and let everyone know . . . we can blog too! Ha, Clayton if you are reading this, I know what you were thinking, sucker. Truth be told, Gina and I actually do some pretty cool things, but when it comes to pictures of what we do, I always ruin them. Don't believe me? Look at these:

Wait, it gets worse...

and yet even worse!

So a couple weekends ago, Gina and I went up to a friends cabin. Gina is the YW pres in our ward, so she took all the girls up to the cabin too! We had a great time, sledding, snowmobiling, playing in the snow and lots of other things as well. Unfortunately my head got really wet and added to the creepyness of these photos. Now the last photo I hope you all know that I meant to make that face! Unfortunately, those other ones I just happen to look like I have horse teeth. All and all, the weekend was fun and we loved it. Stay tuned for more excitement from Ross and Gina's adventures!

Cable, Internet, Macintosh, OH MY!!!

Ok, so we did it.  Gina and I finally gave into the whole being somewhat "technologically advanced" thing.  Hold your breath and sit down cause I am about to knock your socks off!  Today, this nice man came to the door and introduced himself as the "comcast man."  I let him in and he spent some time doing who knows what while I folded some laundry.  When he was done, he told me we had some thing called cable and that I could now access the. . . i-n-t-e-r-n-e-t?  It took me a while to figure it out, but this is what it boils down to.  1) Our TV now as a bunch of channels vs yesterday when only channel 13 would work. 2) The TV now has a really clear picture instead of being all fuzzy with diagonal lines going through the screen.  3) I can now write this blog from a computer in my own house instead of having to say, drive all the way to my parents house, take the lap top to a nearby parking lot where a wireless signal was available, or go up to the U where the "internet" is everywhere.  That "comcast man" was something special to have done all those things in such a short time.  Anyway,  this being the first post of the "technological Quigley era"  I just thought I would share my thoughts.  Oh and also, now that we have the internet, we went out and bought this fancy new computer.  I have never owned a Mac before and to be honest, I am quite confused with the whole thing.  I was able to figure out how to use the camera that is built into this thing to take some pictures for ya'll. 

This was my face when I turned on the TV and 

saw that there were multiple channels with such 

a nice and neat picture!  First thing I watched 

Channel 76!  76!!  Wow!

This was my face when I turned on the computer 

and saw that the "internet" was now available

from inside our own house!  This is frickin' amazing!

 

This was what happened when I tried to figure out the 

camera thing on our new mac.  Still don't know what is

going on and how to do things with this computer, but

I'll learn!  How did it take four pictures? It's pretty cool though, eh?

Update!

OK, so I was a little discouraged after our last post because no one commented any ideas on what Gina and I should be for Halloween. Well, there were a couple, so thank you. However, because of the lack of response I figured no one would mind if it took a while for us to get around to posting something new. So a month later, here we are and plenty has happened since then. So here is an update to catch you all up on what we have been up too.

First off, I neglected to remember to post about Gina's birthday! Don't worry, I didn't forget all together! Gina's birthday is kind of fun because it is a little different than the normal birthday. See, she doesn't do the whole sugar thing, I still am not sure how, so the traditional cake is out of the question. What do you do? I asked myself this many times, but Gina does have a love for something sweet, fruit! So I made her a fruit cake! err... salad. It was really fun, I got to use a melon baller! Anyway, Gina is officially 24 as of last Oct. 1st. Happy B-day again!

Next, even though we didn't get many ideas for Halloween, we came up with a pretty good costume. Even though we couldn't find anywhere that had nose puddy, our Christmas Who outfits turned out pretty good. Gina makes a really good who. You'll never ever guess how she gets her hair to stay up like that! Those of you that just looked at the picture and thought "I bet she ..." your guess is wrong, I guarantee it. I however, don't make the best who. Putting on the sparkling makeup, doing may hair all crazy and wearing green fish net stockings made me feel more like a Christmas cross dresser! We had a fun time though! We spent the evening at a party with some friends who had some nice costumes of their own.

Football! Can you say crazy? That is how I felt about the TCU Utah game on the 6th! It was a long miserable cold game in all regards until about 2 minutes left when the Utes finally woke up and put together the game winning drive to stay undefeated! Those of you who don't know, the Quigley's (minus Gina) are huge Utah fans. Fall Saturdays are all about football and the Quigley boys (Ross, Dad and Clayson) are usually found somewhere between sections 25 and 24 in the north end zone of Rice-Eccles Stadium! Go UTES!

Those of you who know Gina know that she is an active girl always doing fun things. This summer she was introduced into biking and has been trying me to get into it as well. I finally did and I really really like it! I got a bike and all the gear, yes that includes tight shorts and even a pair of tight pants for cold weather, and have been out a few times! My first ride ever I went for a 25 mile ride to the mouth of Big Cottonwood canyon and back. I was a very tired boy when I got home! It is really fun and I am really glad Gina convinced me to get a bike! Thanks Sweetie! Oh, and she is twice the rider I am so I have some work to do, I can't let her out do me for too long, right?

So Gina spends a lot of time at work these days, its not easy being a sugar momma! She is the best sugar momma around though! Anyway, speaking of sugar, while she is at work she should hide the sugar because I just can't be held responsible for what happens while she is gone! Yes, that thing on the plate is a ginormous cookie! Yay for cookies!

Back too football!! Do I need to say anything? Utah has completed an undefeated season, again, and will be going to a BCS bowl, again, and I couldn't be happier! This past weekend has been just absolutely great! All week I wasn't able to concentrate on my school, work was meaningless, and I could barely sleep I was so excited for the Utah BYU game. And all my built up excitement was worth it! What a game. Utah wins 48-24 in what was probably the biggest game ever played between the two. Utah not only won, they won the Mountain West Conference Championship and a BCS bowl bid is likely to follow! I love it. Gina is being a great sport about it all too. My family is a little crazy about Utah football, and Gina being a BYU fan gets to hear about it a lot! However, I have to say that she is being really good about the whole thing and isn't making excuses, but is happy for the Utes success. It has been a great year for Utah football and to be a Utah fan. At the Utah BYU game, I was going crazy, screaming all game long, jumping up and down, high fiving anybody and everybody I could get my hands too, and even trying to pick up my little brother! It was awesome! At the conclusion of the game, Clayson and I rushed the field (no we weren't part of the morons who ran on the field with 2 minutes left to play). It was awesome! There were so many people that it was impossible to stand in the same place. Before it was all over, I gave Freddie Brown high five, slapped Matt Asiata's shoulder pads, and stood belly to belly with Alex Smith! It was absolutely one of the greatest moments I have ever had as a Utah football fan. The best ever was when I was just a kid and Utah beat BYU 34-31 for the first time. I was at the game with my dad and when that last field goal went through, he picked me up and threw me into the air! I ended up a few rows up, but it was awesome! GO UTES!!!

Oh and in case you all were wondering, I did not rush the field with my shirt off, but rest assured that I was ready and prepared to do so if it became necessary to do so! I am a Utah man sir... are you? (Gina, I made the picture small as to try and not embarrass myself or you!! Love you!)

Halloween Costume Ideas

So Halloween is just around the corner and every year the decision on what to dress up as can cause lots of stress. So this is your chance to help us out and pick what Ross and Gina's costume will be for this year. Think about what you have always wanted to see us dress up as, and then let us know. If your idea is clever enough, we just might use it!

Scooter Man

I don't know this man's real name but I'm going to refer to him as Simon, it seems appropriate.

It all started a few months ago when Ross called me on the phone laughing hysterically about this guy who he just saw on the UofU campus. He choked out a description of an older gentleman decked out in a suit wearing full pads and helmet over top. The guy had a scooter(the kind 10 year old sport on the neighborhood block) which he rode extremely slowly. One push and he brings both legs onto the scooter, waits until he is at almost a complete stop and then he would give another push.

This sounded pretty funny but I couldn't really appreciate the greatness of this story until Ross and were driving on state street near the freeway entrance Friday. I looked to my side and saw a great sight. I started jabbing Ross and when he looked over we were both overcome with joy. I don't know how Simon rode that scooter all the way from the U, but it must of taken him a long time. There Simon was dressed to the 9s, covered with knee and elbow pads... and of course his helmet. I give Simon mad props. He is true scooter die hard.

I can't help but have my curiosity raised by this sighting of Simon... how far does Simon ride that scooter everyday, weekly, monthly, and can you imagine yearly. Please if you spot Simon and his scooter let me know. Maybe if we map out his sightings we can estimate his travel.

I hope there are many more Simon sightings to come.

OCT. 17, 2008

One year ago to the day, I married the most beautiful girl in the world. After a long courtship with a few ups (Hawaii) and downs (Texas), and lots of pressure from Erika, Gina and I decided to tie the knot on the 17th of October 2007. (Erika, we would have done the same without all your pressure, just so you know!!) It was a great day. Our Wedding wasn't until later in the morning which allowed for us to take our time getting there. There was no crack of dawn alarm clock. Just a simple morning to prepare for the best day of my life. We got to the temple only to find that we, er Gina, had forgotten a few items that were needed to get into the temple. No worries, we got it all figured out and the Wedding still happened as scheduled! It was so wonderful sitting in the temple together and I will never forget looking into the eye's of my sweetie and telling her I love her. She looked beautiful in her dress. The weather outside was not the best, but it cooperated when we needed it to. It drizzled only for a moment or two, but it retrospect, it made the colors in our photos stand out even more!! They turned out really well. Our reception took some last minute preparations by Gina and I and a few of our fabulous friends who we could never thank enough. We got everything all put together just in time for us to start meeting our guests. Because of the weather we were a little cramped inside the Gallivan Center but it was so fun to share our day with so many people! The rain finally started to stop its cooperation just as we were leaving, which actually once again resulted in a really cool picture. However, the rain was not friendly to me when I tried to use my windshield wipers to clear off the water on my windshield. They failed miserably due to the outrageous number of oreos some people had stuck to the windshield. It was so bad I had to stop at a nearby gas station and use their windshield cleaner thing to scrape off the oreos! That night we had a great room in the downtown Hilton that my cousin hooked us up with, the Vice Presidential Sweet!! It was so cool! All and all the day was one to remember!! I will always remember that day and the promises I made to my sweetie. She is the love of my life and she is the greatest thing to happen to me, ever. I love you Gina! Oh and the thing I think will be in my mind as one of the most memorable things we did that day was how we occupied the time after the ceremony and before the reception! We went to lunch at Pier 49 pizza downtown and had lunch at the place we had dinner on our first "real" date! Come one, what did you think I would say!!

The End of an Era

For those of you who are not aware, I have become a little bit of a Yankee fan over the years. If you know me at all, seen the back of my car, or know the name of my dog, you probably figured out that I have a liking for the Yankees. I was 8 years old when I first played for the Yankees in little league, and for the next 7 years, I played for the Yankees even though I would go through different leagues. I didn't ever get to choose what team I was on, but the fact I played for the Yankees over and over again, I considered it fate. To say the least, even though my baseball years are through, I still consider myself a Yankee.

This year is a major year for the Yankees. No they are not going to win the world series, they didn't even make the playoffs! This year however, is the last year of the old Yankee Stadium. Also known as "the house that Babe built," Yankee Stadium has been one of the historic baseball fields still standing in America. The Yankees have called it home since 1923, when Babe Ruth was still blasting home runs out of the park. He hit three in the first game ever in Yankee Stadium against the Boston Red Sox. Since then, the stadium has been through a couple minor and one major renovations. The memories and moments from that stadium however, will forever stay the same. There have been many many moments that baseball will never forget. So many great players, both Yankee and non-Yankee, have played on that field. The Yankees alone have had many memories from their own players there. From Babe's home run records,

to Roger Maris' home run records, many of the old school players seem most prominent. Lou Gehrig will forever be remembered by his "luckiest man alive" speech, Don Larsen being hoisted up into the air by Yogi Berra after his perfect game in the world series, Reggie Jackson's three home runs in the '77 World Series earning him the name "Mr. October," Joe Dimaggio for being the games most all-around player and America's hero, or one of Mickey Mantle's three MVP seasons.

There are many who deserve to be mentioned on this list, but some that are most important to me are those I can remember watching and routing for as a kid. Paul O'Neil was one of my baseball heroes as a kid, as well as Andy Pettit (who I got to see pitch a game this past May!!)and many of their teammates were Yankees that I remember. Bernie Williams, Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, Tino Martinez, and Derek Jeter to name a few. Jeter was, and is, probably the most influential baseball player in my life. When he was first on the Yankees I was only 12 years old and I thought he was the greatest. He played infield like me, he was smaller like me, and the thing I liked most about him is that he just went out and played. He didn't trash talk, he was a humble guy that played ball really well. This past season he set the record for most hits by a Yankee in Yankee Stadium, a couple weeks before it was gone. More recently the Yankees have produced big names like Roger Clemens, Mariano Rivera (one of the greatest), Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, and of course Alex Rodriguez who could possibly be one of the best players in the game. Granted he has had is fair share of controversy and scandal, but take all that away and you get a guy who has the potential of breaking the all time home run record and a solid defender at third base.. All baseball greats. The managers over the years have been great as well. Billy Martin would probably still be an off an on manager for the Yankees if he were still alive! Buck Showalter, Casey Stengel, Lou Piniella, Yogi Berra, and Joe McCarthy were all great managers for the Yankees, but most memorable to me is the great Joe Torre. He was one of the greatest in Yankee history leading the team to 4 world series titles, 12 consecutive playoff appearances, 6 pennants, and ten division titles. To me, Joe Torre is the Manager of the Yankees. He is a great man. Joe Giardi has big shoes to fill!

So as the "house that Babe built" is now the "house that Jeter closed," it is a sad day for many. The end of and era is tough for all followers, but this seems like part of people's life are leaving for good. The good news is, the Yankees are staying around, their new stadium is right across the road and is still named "Yankee Stadium." George Steinbrenner and his son Hank have done great things to bring the Yankees to where they are today, and I only hope to see the tradition of the Yankees live on for years to come. They are America's team. Go YANKEES!