itsBASICally about me......

It's been AWHILE...Deja Vu...

2010-01-03T07:17:00.000-08:00

Again, ITS BEEN AWHILE!!! Seems like this is a reoccurring start, which I am not at all proud of. But yeah here it is again.

So it's a new year 2010, and you know what, as challenging as 2009 was, it was a good year. It went really fast, but a good year. Okay so lets play year in review. Going to try and keep these in chronological order:

Moved to FL from MD.
Found out we were pregnant, no jobs. (Happy and scared.)
Applying for jobs to make sure med bills are paid.
Medicare helps out. (Thank You Lord.)
Offered a job to work from home. (Not that good at all.)
Find out we are going to have a son. (Wow, I'm going to be a daddy.)
Offered a job to work in a warehouse. (Not expecting it, but again Thank You Lord.)
Video game blog goes live. (Awesome!)
Financial cut backs. (Things are going to be affected.)
Video game blog goes dark. (It WILL be back.)
Wife's on bed rest, time is close. (I'm ready.)
Baby stuff, baby classes, baby everything. (I'm loving this.)
5 year Anniversary. (And more to come.)
Find the love of racquetball. (2-3hrs of sweating.)
It's time, it's time! (Let's go have us a baby.)
Just watched my son being born. (In shock, awe and wonderment. God is Amazing.)
Loving being a dad. (Loving being a daddy.)
AAA games on the horizon. (COD4:MW2!!!)
Live account goes Silver. (Noooo, oh well no multi on Live.)
Lots of free trial cards. (Where there is a way...)
Son's 1st Thanksgiving. (Harvest pics)
Modern Warfare 2!! (As Epic as Expected.)
Son's 1st Christmas. (All about the Birth of Christ yo!)
Happy New Year!!!! (2010)
itsBasic Gaming to be started AGAIN!! (Yes it WILL!)

Yup, that was pretty much 2009. So 2010 is here and so LET'S GO!!!

It's Been Awhile...

2009-02-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Well it's definately been awhile since I've dropped an update. Well, alls well folks, alls well. Things are going along. There are a couple new things going on, some i'll say, some I'll let time pass and slowly release info. Most importantly, I do believe we've found a church home. For those who know us, that was like a major concern when moving from Maryland to Florida. We will be going to Faith Assembly. I took some pics and vid of it and I'll get it up. I tried putting it up on my facebook, but for some reason it doesn't post. Sigh, thats okay we'll try here.

Folks, I HAVE A JOB!!!!! Awesome!!! Yeah, I've been out of work since October of last year and with everything, the move and all that, I need a job bad. December Philippa, my wife, she resigned, and so from January thru now, we both didn't have jobs or insurance. We are with her parents who are just awesome until we get on our feet. Well, I hope that that will be soon now I have a job. I work for 3 Star Media, check em out online, they are great!!! http://www.threestarsmedia.com/ Even better, folks, I WORK FROM HOME!!!! WHAT!?!?! Yeah awesome, that's what my God is, Awesome!! Lot's of praying and folks praying. You know what, even though we didn't have a job, and things were happening around us and to us, thru it all, we always believed and said to people, hey God's got this. He's our Provider and so we are Trusting Him. Thank You God. And like I said Lord, to You, I give You all the glory and praise!! I ask that You keep me well in the job and it's thru You I will succeed.

Shadow is now 1 year old!! Yup my puppy is not a puppy anymore. He's broken the 60+lbs mark and man he's a beast at times. Luckily he knows who's the boss.

My gaming blog, itsBASICGaming, iBG for short, is up. I'm getting back to it now that things are alittle calmer around here. Check it out when you can http://www.itsbasicgaming.com/

Folks, I mean, hey I'm here guys. I'm good. Actually, I'm great :)

I'll get at yall later.

Later

Chris

Get Some Munn Pie Yall

2009-01-30T21:04:00.000-08:00

The two things I like, Pie and AOTS!!! Enjoy and eat it all up :)

It's ALIVE...

2009-01-28T10:16:00.001-08:00

So I guess my biggest announcement is the birth of my gaming blog, itsBASIC Gaming. It's been a long time coming, but finally it's up. It will be a couple of weeks of posting and I'm always looking to improve on it. Right now, look for 2 post a week. When things are going, look for more.

Thanks to my hot, beautiful, sexy wife for her help and also look out for some of her posts. After all, she is a gamer!!!

If you want to contribute an article to itsBASIC Gaming, email it here:

chris@itsbasicgaming.com

http://www.itsbasicgaming.com/

Thanks again and enjoy...

So What's New...

2009-01-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Hey folks. So what's new? Well couple things. First, the move from Maryland to Florida. Yup, we are out of the cold, which as of yesterday it was snowing and low 20's, to the warm, where today it's 70's sunny ans slight breeze. The way I see it, Orlando is on top. The move was a move of faith and we aren't looking back. We felt that God really wanted us here. Why, not sure yet, but when He makes it known, it's going to be like WOW!!! Secondly, we have no jobs!! Now a lot of people already are saying then why did you move? What you going to do? To that I say, see above. What part of God's got this do you understand. Third, the brats, i.e. the dogs, are just loving it...i think...minus the heat. They are getting used to it. Sad part is that it's not even summer yet. But they have a nice fenced in back yard to run and play. The walks are nice and the soil is soft sand, so they can dig, which they have figured out on their own. See I know, cause I am out there refilling the holes. Fourth, we went to a career fair out by the college, University of Central Florida, to check out what's going on. Well, nothing came out of it. One, the employers were very position specific and two, it was mostly for internships, accounts, and finance. Oh well, the search continues. Fifth, WE FOUND A CHURCH!!! Okay, well, we'll see. We went to a church and it was pretty good. It was faith Assembly. The set up and just the atmosphere was just like Redeemer, our church in Maryland. We are definitely going back again this Sunday and I'm bringing my camera.

All in all, it's be a week and a half and things are finally shaping up. I think we are rooted in for now. The family is great. I haven't connected with too many friends yet and man i miss my family and friends in Maryland.

But hey, stay tuned. I just know more news from Orlando is still to come.

Some Pictures from the Puppy Play Date...

2009-01-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some picture from our puppy play date...

Enjoy...

Puppy Play Date: Part Deux

2009-01-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

Well, this weekend we had our 2nd puppy play date. There were 7 dogs in all and 6 of them were siblings. 3 were from the 1st litter and 3 were from this recent litter. It was great to just have all of them together for our last puppy party here in Maryland before we head on out and move back to Florida. We've been here for 4 years going on 5 and we're really going to miss this place, especially the people. It's like a chapter is being closed in our book, and a new one is about to begin.
We love you all and we are going to miss yall. Jennifer, that's for our puppy family.

Later...

Keep itBASIC...

On the Horizon...

2009-01-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Ok folks, it's 2009, Happy New Year!!! It's 6 days into the new year, how you holding up with your resolutions? Me, I'd say quite well thank you and I'm proud of myself. So what's on the horizon when it comes to Chris. Peek this folks...

1. So I love video games right. Now I'm starting to love this blogging thing also. So why not combine em? Crazy huh? I love watching and reading up on the latest things coming out of "Gameopolis" and I always seem to be the person a lot of my friends come to when they want an insight or opinion about a system or game. Well, I'm putting down my thoughts on paper, or rather on the screen and folks can chime in all they want. It's FREE!!!

2. Twitter. My new best friend. I started on Twitter honestly quite reluctantly. A couple friends introduced it to me. In fact, one introduced it to me as the "the new best way to stake someone", so funny. But as I got more familiar with it, especially thanks to my wife and her close friend, I realized that it is more than just letting people know what you doing. It has become the ULTIMATE networking community. What I love also, is that Twitter Folks, man they are so helpful and love to share info. WTG Twitter!!

3. Big Move!!! Yup, we are heading home. It's been about 5 yrs here in Maryland, and well, we are heading back to beautiful Orlando!! We call it the Fresh Start!! Stay tuned for more on that.

Well, that's it for now. Check out later for another Blog from the Past.

Later

Hey you been by my wife's Blog? It's Hot!!! Check it out:

http://www.pchanner.blogspot.com/

http://www.faevent.com/

Parenting Advice or just a great read

http://www.modernmami.com/

Blogs of the Past #5...

2008-12-29T17:42:00.000-08:00

Oh man folks, this journal entry brings tears to my eyes. Not from sadness, but from just looking back and seeing how I was back then, and where I am now. This was my first year coaching a high school girl's volleyball team, The Wildcats of Washington Christian Academy. It was my first time coaching a high school team, and yes I was alittle nervous, but you know what, we were undefeated at the end of the season.

This year's season was not a championship season, but it was a successful one in my eyes. I had a new group of girls, alot of which have never played before and by the end of the season the skill level of the new girls had increased. Like I told them, a coach's greatest gift is to see an improvement thru out the season. And alot of these girls definately showed improvements. Going to miss them all.

Enjoy the reading.

A Coach's Story
July 28, 2006 10:28 AM

Well, this week has certainly been a very interesting week. First of all it proceeds my upcoming 2 year anniversary, which actually is on July 31. We are using this weekend as our celebration. But secondly, I am the head coach for a high school girl's volleyball team. I am quite estatic. For those who know me, volleyball is like my first love when it comes to sports. I play alot of sports, don't get me wrong, it's just that volleyball has been the only sport where I feel and know that I can play this sport. It's a sport that I can just play for hours on end.

I learned volleyball from scratch back in 1991 in high school when it first came to high school boys. My first year was kind of ruff. In fact my very first game, I was a starter, and with my first hit, I was benched. Then, every practice after that, my coach pulled me from the group, and put me infront of a wall and told me he didn't want to see me bumping around, but instead hitting the ball against the wall until he said stop. I tell you this, I felt so upset and angry. (*smile*) Who would have thought that him doing that, would teach me correct body positioning to hit the ball. After that, I became a starter, in fact, as he said one practice when we had try outs and the new guys were there, "You see Channer, he's one of our hardest hitters, but still after these years, can't set". (Well, coach, I'm alot better at setting now). I don't think he knows just what he did to that young boy during that time in high school. Cause after that came community college, where that now young man spent many a times out of class and in the gym playing volleyball. Then came tournaments. Then came university and again more volleyball, but this time, he coached and loved it!

Then time passed and now in Maryland. Here he is playing in tournaments again, and now responsibile for a team of young ladies. I will tell you this, this is a major responsibility. Why? Well, because I'm in that position where I came crush or build up a dream in one of these young ladies' life. Even more major is the fact that this is a private Christian School. So, there is the spiritual responsibilty as a man, and also as a coach. My walk will need to be strong and be like a mirror reflecting Christ. I asked a parent of one of the girls on the team, "What do you expect from me as a coach?". He said to teach them Christ. To teach them that they can be competitive and still be Christ like. *smile* I have some work to do. You know God, I asked and told you that I wanted to be closer to you. Funny you allowed me to get this job, and be involved with these girls and in the process get close to you because I want to make sure I'm not pushing them from You.

Hey I found this online:

A coach listens
A coach lends support
A coach often challenges their coaches
A coach is motivational
A coach guides the coaches
A coach collaborates with coaches
A coach evolves his or her coaches
A coach asks powerful questions
A coach understands
A coach strategizes

Simply Christmas @ Church of the Redeemer

2008-12-26T14:26:00.001-08:00

Simply Christmas. A great presentation at the Church of the Redeemer of the Christmas Story. The story is presented with the use of music, dance, singing, narration, and the message read and taught by Pastor Dale O'Shields.

Enjoy the images and hope it touches your heart as it did mine.

Why the Nintendo Wii Rules...

2008-12-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

Its Christmas at the parents, we just ate, what better way to work it off than with your butt....

itsBASICally a Merry Christmas...

2008-12-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

First of all, Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!!! Christmas is never just BASIC, it can't be, if you really think about what it means to you. To me, Christmas is just the greatest time of year, next to my anniversary. You see, to me it's the rememberance of my Savior's birth, Jesus. And this is where some folks would chime in, well you know that Jesus wouldn't have been born in December because the Jerusalem winters would have been really rainy and the shepards would not have been out watching the sheep and blah blah blah...Well, you know what, I know this!! You see, we celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25th, well, because it's an agreed date world wide. You see folks, God became man, and that's what Christmas is all about. It doesn't matter when it's celebrated. What matters is why we celebrate this time.

So with that I say, Merry Christmas!!! And Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

Blogs of the Past #4...

2008-12-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

As I read this journal from my past, it just reminded me of how important it is for guys to have other guys to just talk and relate to each other in guys stuff...Did that make any sense? Well, if it did then great you got it. If not, then just read on. Guys, chime in, tell me if you relate to this.

Iron Sharpening Iron
Jul 25, 2006 3:58 PM

This weekend I was honored to go to a couple from church little girl's birthday party, actually to help out. So, me and my wife made Dirt Cakes. Side note, if you never had it, OMG its good and it looks like dirt and everything. Anyways, so I to the house and drop off the cakes to the wife and immediately look for the husband. Well, I guess its the man thing to do, but there he was outside with another guy friend from church, working the grill. You know after exchanging the hello's and hi's and what's up's, we just lounge back on the patio, just talking about everything under the sun that guys talk about. Over the next hour or so, the patio was filled with laughter and chatter of men. About 7 or 8 of us. You know, you never know where or when you going to get your next encouraging word or give it. Cause you see, I truly believe that all guys go through pretty much the same situations one time or another. Might not be at the same time in each other's lives but usually the same situations. Oh and they usually have or think about the same concerns. It's funny, alot of times we, guys, don't out right come out and say, hey I got this issue or hey help my out with this. But you know what, let one person open up with the same concern and watch out, cause like a crack in a dam, it starts with a trickle, but them the flood gates open. Being the, what seems to be, the only married guy there without a child or children, it was just amazing to hear the stories and jokes that were shared with being a father and husband. I sat back and just laughed, thinking of the day that I'll be sharing my story. It was great to be around a group of Godly Men.

Fellowship

itsBASICally...The Power Within...

2008-12-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

The Power Within

Blogs of the Past #3...

2008-12-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

This is the 3rd entry of the journal entries I wrote some 2 yrs ago. I remember this one very well cause it was during a time in both my wife and myself life, when we had just experience a miscarriage. It's a touchy and sensitive subject, but what we learned out of this situation is that God is a Loving and Soverign God, Who's plan is always in control. You see, coming out of this, made us sensitive to others going thru the same situation. And because of this, we were able comfort them. Now, this is not to say that it wasn't a time of hurt, cause we were. After all, God knows that we are human.

So please read on.

Just thinking....

Jul 20, 2006 9:55 AM

It's just amazing how whenever things happen in your life, it changes your out look or it makes you just think. This is what I mean, after our miscarrage last year, even though we are trusting in God and honestly have peace in that in His time and His Will, He'll bless us with a child or children, i guess the human nature outlook at things are, why not me? I mean, if i stop and think about it too long, i can actually get upset at the fact that there are many people, married couples who wham bang thank you we're pregnant. No hush no fuss. *sigh* You know, I'm at work and there are windows pretty much all around. One set on windows face a park, and every Thursday they have something there for the kids. I was standing looking out there, and amoung the sea of moms and their kids, i saw a dad and his little boy. It looked so touching. I was like, why not me? You see if all was ok, we would be looking to have our child now. *sigh* But you know what, i know people who cant have kids. So, really and truly, I have nothing to complain about. It's all about His time. I know a couple that it took them 7yrs to get pregnant and you know what, They have twins! Like i said, I was just thinking....

Not Again...

2008-12-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

Okay so get this right, yesterday was just one of those day. To start off, it had been raining for like 2 days. Now, I'm one of those crazy people who love to go to sleep to rain and wake up to it, but there's a line that comes up where its like come on now, give me some sunlight, oh and it's cold. If it was any colder, with the amount of rain, it would had been quite abit of snow.

The other thing was that our dog ran off, again. He did once when we were away and then again yesterday. He has a pen outside, which, he hasn't really been in these last couple days due to the weather. He has had the luxury of the indoors. Well, and this is my only explaination, because of the breed he has in him, Husky, he likes to run. On top of that, he has the deer that comes out of the woods so very often to chase. And chase he does!! The other day I allowed him to take me into the woods to try and get an idea of where exactly he goes. I really didnt know the woods were that deep. It got to the point that when we stopped running, I looked around, and there was nothing but trees. Not a single sign of a house or anything and this is in winter. So the trees have not one leaf on them. I brought my phone with me and made sure i had a signal, called the wife to let her know where we were, you know just to be safe. Anyways, so yesterday he ran off while I carried the wife to work. I guess I didnt latch the pen door properly and he was off. I didnt know where or what direction he went. I went to the edge of the woods and called, nothing. To make it worst, it was raining and cold! The next 5-6 hours or so was nerve racking. My wife made up posters, pretty nice ones too :) She was ready to call the humane society, but I was counting on one thing. The last time he ran off, he came back in the evening, why, FOOD :) He knew where his food was and he was back ready to eat. Home is where the stomach is huh :)

So, all day I was checking outside, upstairs front door, the car porch, everywhere, nothing. I left to pick up the wife from work. By now, I was just upset about the whole situation. We devised a plan. We got back to the house, I suited up in my warm as ever waterproof clothes, I took the sun....I need to make a short post about the sun :) just the most awesomest flash light there is
:)...I degris...Grabbed my walking stick and my cell phone and headed into the cold, windy, wet woods. I think I made to the edge of the woods when I heard Philippa calling me saying he's back. *whew* Sigh of releaf and joy!! He was wet and dirty and cold. We had some bounding time in the bathroom as I gave him a long hot bath :) Sandy was happy to see him also, her playing buddy, Kitty on the other hand, eh, not so happy :)

What a day.

Blogs of the Past #2...

2008-12-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

Heys another entry for the blogs from my past. I still love to read thru them and just remember the things I was going through at the time.

Enjoy...

Back to the Grind

Jul 18, 2006 12:08 PM

Well, its 12:49pm and I'm back to the grind of things at work. The pass couple days were very quiet and at times boring, this being that my boss was on vacation. Well, she back!! With that, there are papers all over my desk, my daily task list chart is again a rainbow of colors from highliters, cross outs, arrows, and check marks. I dont mind the work, it makes the day go by really fast. Oh, a plus today, one of my gifts for Philippa came today. A little earlier than i expected, but better than late. July 31 will make it 2yrs married. WOW that was fast! After work is the soft-ball league with my church. It's really hot up here, close near over 100 degrees today. Should be interesting playing today.

Sandy and Puppies

2008-11-30T07:53:00.000-08:00

Enjoy this little montage I put together of Sandy and the puppies.

Later

Blogs of the Past....

2008-11-29T18:35:00.000-08:00

So get this right, appently I did actually start a sort of blog. I called it a journal. That's what it was to me, a personal journal, to share with others...is that contradicting itself, a shared personal journal...ummm, anyways, yeah so I started it on another website. What I'm going to do is bring them over to this blog site one at a time. I was reading them the other day and I was like wow, I really liked to share my thoughts and give people a peek through the window of the mind and life of this crazy thing called Chris.

Well, with out furtheradue, here is the first of the entries.

Enjoy.

Hopefully the First of Many
Jul 12, 2006 10:29 AM

Supposed to be working and sad enough just started my new job as a IT Recruiter. Me in IT, wow. Well, been in it going 3wks now. MD is ok. Me and the wife still really miss O-Town. It wasn't til i left that i realized just how much of my life and who i am was shaped by my experiences and people while i was in O-Town. O-Town was my home.

It's a Girl...

2008-11-29T07:47:00.001-08:00

That's right folks, it's a Girl!!! Her name is Sandy, she's now 6wks, not sure how much she weights, she eats like every 4 hrs, poops about the same amount of times, cries when she wants attention, *sigh* what else, and snuggles up to you when she wants to sleep. Yes, Sandy is the newest addition to the family, our new puppy.

She's just the cutest thing. She's essentially Shadow's sister. She came from the same parents, just a different litter. (I'll get a picture up of her in a minute). So she's the same mix, Rottwielder, Husky, German Shepard and Pitbull, only difference is that she's brown. Trust me, you'll hear more about her in future posts. Right now, she is sleeping, so it is quiet and the world can go on, until she wakes up and the world starts revolving around her again :)

Later

Happy Thanksgiving...It Begins

2008-11-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well well well, look who's finally got his blog started, yup, Me. It's been alittle while coming, but you know what, hey, it's Thanksgiving and what a perfect way to say thanks for all the things in my life, than to post it on the internet in the form of a blog. Cool huh? Anyways, before I get that going, alittle bit on how my blog thingy is going to be set up. I'm try and update as much as I can with whats going on in my part of the world. Yes, pictures will definately be included & in some cases, get ready for this, VIDEOS!!! What?!?!? :) Anyways, like I said it's Thanksgiving and we all have things to be thankful for.

First of, I thank God for His gift to us all, His Son, and just His mercy and grace day by day. I thank Him for just an AWESOME wife, see Boogie, I started my blog :) , who's just a supporting driving force in my life. Her Love and everything is one reason I want to press on. My family and friends who have helped shaped the person who I am today. The pets I have and have had thru the years. Just so much stuff to be thankful for.

Okay, this is good for now. I gotta get ready for food time and football time and family fun time. Hey, be sure to come back and like I said, come on in, take your shoes off, have a seat, relax, enjoy yourself cause its FREE....

Peace out