| Dec 2, 2008 |
|
Hello Everyone...
Well I have a bit of good news ... especially after a really slow year in music for me. I just found out yesterday that my song, "Running Back To You" made the USA songwriting Finals in the electronica/dance category.
Finalists of the 2008 competition: www.songwriting.net/winners.html This is actually a really neat thing cause there are literally hundreds of thousands of songs that get submitted from all over the worldso making it to the finals is a really big honor. While it would be cool to win, (my producers of HITPLAY and Ari Gold won last year) in truth I am just really happy to make it to the finals! Now that I think of it, I think my friend Jenna Drey won the pop category, too. Small world! Anyway, we will see.... The winners announcement drops on December 4th. The Tina Turner concert in Atlanta was fun. (Got to sit next to Tyler Perry, which was cool. I think I enjoyed watching him watch Tina *almost* as much as I enjoyed watching Tina herself! LOL! Madonna's show in Houston was good. Even though the sound kept falling out. Also, I wish there had not been so many songs done from the new album, I am not so crazy about this one as the others ... but I have to give it to the girl. She sure can work a stage as good as Beyoncé, even at 50! (Ever try dancing around like Beyoncé? As a joke I tried once ... and almost gave myself a heart attack! LOL!) As of today ... I am now up on www.FACEBOOK.com ... so find me if you want to. (Just do a search on Christian Andreason.) Hugs! PS: Thank you to everyone who checked up on us after the neighborhood fire and IKE. We are just about back to normal now... Christian |
| September 29, 2008 |
|
I want to send a great big THANK YOU
to everyone who checked up and me and my family before and after
Hurricane IKE.
And thank you to
all of you who prayed for me and the people of Houston and
Galveston. We needed your prayers more than you know, and I
want you to know ... that for me and my family ... those
prayers worked!!
So ... how did I personally do in
IKE?
Well... let's say that I will not
soon forget this one.
The very hour the storm hit.
About 1:30 AM, I heard a huge ..."BOOM!!!"
I went outside as the wind was
going nuts and at first saw nothing. I came back in, yet my
intuition was really bothering me. A minute later, I went back
outside. This time I saw a strange blue and green light
flashing behind my neighbor's home.
I come back in.
Jamie says he is hearing some sort
of a ringing sound. I do not hear it.
He goes up stairs to check, then
comes running down the stairs saying... "I smell smoke." I
realize I do too. Suddenly the power goes off.
I go back outside.
Now I see that my neighbors roof
(1 house down) is completely engulfed with flames!
I immediately cry out over and
over, "FIRE!!!" and run to get my neighbors out of the house.
I tell Jamie to call 911 and get
our cats together.
I run house to house beating on
doors. We have 28 homes in our gated enclave. I only got to
4 or 5 before I started to feel like I was about to have a heart
attack!
While beating on the last door, I
turn around, gasping for breath ... only to see that the house I
have listed for sale (and was to be put on the market that very
morning) is now looking as if it too is about to catch fire as
well!
I run back into our house. The
lights are still off.
All I can see is a yellow glow
coming from behind the blinds in the kitchen.
I pull up the shades and see that
my backyard is now on fire. The high storm winds are now
(right about this time) picking up speed ... and blowing
huge chunks of the house that is on fire ... into my backyard.
I run outside grab the hose and
wet everything I can as falling debris is hitting me, my house
and wooden fence at 60 miles per hour. Embers are now getting
into my house because the door has flown open. I spray inside
at my kitchen table and rug, which is near the door. I realize
the hose is useless. I realize trying to "fight" this fire ...
with this storm ... is useless.
I run in and find a wind-up
flashlight my mother had given us a few weeks before. It gives
me just enough light to run upstairs to look for Jamie. I find
him in the master bedroom, sobbing and holding a candle. He is
crying because he can't find our other cat. We come
downstairs with one cat under our arm and throw her and our 60
lb dog, Sierra, in the back of the car.
We go back upstairs to try to find
the other cat one more time. The sounds of sirens and fire
horns are now blaring. We hear them in the background, but the
sound the of the storm (which is getting worse) is just as loud,
as it is now falling out of the sky like some furious demon.
We hear the sound of extreme
cracking and know that the fire is demolishing the house next
door. We listen as we actually hear the floors ... now
collapsing, one on top of the other in the 3 level home.
Jamie is now crying out in terror,
"Oh My God Christian, we have to get out of here!"
We are in a
nightmare.
I realize I have dreamed all of
this before. In the dream all I do is run around and grab the
things most precious to me. My photos, mementos, etc ... But
now, all I wanted was to get me and Jamie (and our animals to
safety!) I could not believe how ready I was to just let all my
things (which had meant so much to me) ... go.
With this thought, part of
me became so calm, yet I desperately wished all this was not
really happening ... so ... my heart started to race again.
I ran and ripped the blinds and
drapes off the windows so I could see just how much time we
had.
As I look out of my bedroom bay
window ... it looks EXACTLY like we are in some kind of
industrial steel mill. With the wind blowing so wildly, there
are literally thousands, upon thousands of embers and sparks
flying everywhere! They are filling the street and glowing on
the tops of the neighbors houses...
I realize we are now out of
time.
We have to get out.
Fireman are now beating down our
door. Screaming and ordering us out!!
I am starting to realize I can't
breathe well any more.
The house is incredibly hot--it is
as if there is little oxygen in the air.
Jamie and I run downstairs to
the car parked in the garage. We can't get out because the
garage door opener will not work with out the power on. We are
now both choking on the smoke. It is hard to see,
but the wind-up flashlight my Mom gave us gave enough light for
us to see what we were doing.
Jamie nearly rips his hands open
trying to force the door open.
Finally he is able to release the
latch.
We calm each other down for 2
seconds and announce that we will work as a team.
I tell him I will back out the car
... and he will quickly shut the garage door when I am out and
then get in the car.
He does and runs into the car.
Once we are out of the garage
the orange glow all-around us is hot and blinding!
We feel like we have just backed
our car out into HELL.
A new fire truck enters the
community and comes rushing up from behind. The truck nearly
creams us, but we miss it by a mere half an inch. I still
don't know how it did not hit us, but it didn't.
As we drove forward, leaves,
papers from books on fire and tree branches started falling all
over the car. At one point the hood of my SUV looked like it
was on fire because there was so much on it.
Crying neighbors, some nearly
naked, some with babies in hand ... are running for their lives
besides and behind us.
I drive us out of the complex just
as the firemen come running in with hoses. I park the SUV at
the church across the street and tell Jamie that I want to try
one more time for the cat and see if anyone else needs help. I
tell him ... "Stay here!"
Jamie tries to tell me no, but I
do not stay long enough to listen.
I run back. Using my arm to block
flying embers and debris. I cannot believe how the fire is
spreading.
I see that my listing (the house I
have been working on all month long, staging, redoing the
landscape--to help my neighbor get a better price) is now fully
on fire.
I do not see anyone around needing
help, so I go inside my house. My eyes begin to sting from all
the smoke. I run upstairs and still cannot find the cat. I
realize I have to go ... or I will die from smoke inhalation.
Before I head out, I see the cross
necklace my Mom gave me for my 21st birthday hanging on the hook
I keep it on when I am not wearing it. I grab it, thank God for
helping me find it and run out.
As I come out of my house
a fireman comes rushing up to me, asking where is our
communities "other fire hydrant?" "We don't have one!" I
exclaim. He cries out... "Oh My God!" and then runs to the
other firemen. I then flash to all the times I have pleaded
with our HOA board to do more to find out whether or not we are
a fire ready community.
I put on the cross my Mom had
given me so long ago ... and it reminds me to reaffirm my faith!
I hear more sirens coming from a
distance and then see Jamie running toward me ... with all the
noise it is hard to make out what he is saying, but I know he is
telling me we have to get to shelter!
With the storm's gusts now coming
full force against us ... strained, Jamie and I walked holding
on to each other against the wind ... gradually making our way
toward the front gate of our complex and our car (waiting for us
on the other side).
The whole time we were chanting
The Lords Prayer ... at the top of our lungs!
When we were done, I yelled to
Jamie...
"I KNOW THAT THE FATHER IS
WITH US!"
I repeated over and over!
"GOD IS WITH US!"
Suddenly (like something right out
of a movie) out of nowhere ... came the rain!
I knew this was going to help the
fires that were now starting everywhere around the community.
Then ... another miracle came:
Because the old, famous,
downtown restaurant, Brennan's (where I attended a Christmas
party with Leigh Anne last year) caught fire **and by the way I
was watching that fire as it was in progress--right before the
power went off** the firemen from that fire saw our flames from
the freeway and decided to try and save us--even though the
Mayor had issued an order that there would be no more emergency
help for the rest of the night.
Thank God the firemen came
anyway ... because the 2 trucks who were there fighting the fire
... were totally overwhelmed and in jeopardy themselves.
Then another truck (from southwest
part of Houston) had heard about the fire and they too disobeyed
the Mayor and came to help anyway!
Jamie and I sat in the car ...
with our dog and 1 cat, and the wind-shield wipers on frantic
... totally stunned by the scene that was happening right in
front of us.
As we saw yet another truck pull
up, we knew it was time to get out of there and out of the
dangerous storm.
Jamie and I drove to our dear
friend, Leigh Anne's house, which was only 3 blocks away.
But getting there was a challenge
because it seemed the whole world was exploding on the
way!! WHOLE TREES (roots and all) were blowing down around us
everywhere--from the huge gusts of wind. I started to wonder if
we weren't going to get blown over ... the SUV was shaking so
much! Driving in this kind of madness felt like I was
trapped in some sort of video game!--dodging branches and
debris coming at us like missiles.
In about 5 minutes, we finally got
to Leigh Anne's house. We already knew she would not be there,
as she was staying with her Dad and aunt in Magnolia. Thank God
I had kept a key on my key ring.
I called Leigh Anne and then I
called my Mom to let her know we were OK in case she saw the
fire on TV.
I called my step Mom, too.
It felt so strange telling everyone we did not know what had
happened to our house?
Or what had happened to our other cat?? With my Mom on the
phone I felt the adrenaline finally hit it's peak within
me and I allowed a few tears as I tried to explain what had
happened. I just begged Mom to pray. ...And God how I know
she did!
We got the dog and the cat
in Leigh Anne's house.
And then lit a candle and sat in her living room on the floor
saying nothing for several minutes.
Then ... I started to feel ill.
I threw up non-stop for 3-4 hours. Later, I realized, it
was from carbon monoxide poisoning ... from the smoke. I was
so sick--I nearly drank half a bottle of pepto.
After I had nothing left in me ... Jamie and I just sat up all
night in the dark, totally wet and numb--listening, as
the storm beat down on the city.
The sound of high winds, trees
snapping and debris hitting the roof was constant for at least
6 to 7 hours. There was one time I managed the courage to
look outside, and the storm was just terrible. But I could
not feel anything. All I could think about was the fire and
the cat I had left behind.
Finally at 9:30 AM: The storm was
still going--but seemed to be taming. Jamie and I could not
stand it any more--we had to go see about our house!!
The mere 3 blocks home took 20 to
30 minutes:
Backing the SUV up... turning it
around... trying another street (because there was just too much
junk in the road). We had to get out every few seconds to move
trees or huge branches out of the road ... just so we could
cross. The city looked like a bomb went off. People's
roofs crushed in from trees that had fallen from clear across
the yard. Electrical wire thrown all about -- looking more like
wads of thick black yarn than anything else.
Finally we got to the front gate
of our community. It looked calm. But before we actually
saw our house ... Jamie and I promised each other that no matter
what we saw ... we would give everything to God in prayer and
just let it all go.
We pulled in far enough to fully
see the house.
While it was somewhat black from
smoke...
It was still there!
We could not believe it!!!
Jamie screamed out loud, "Oh thank
you, God! Thank you!"
I just laughed with Joy.
We went in. The smoke smell was
terrible.
We ran upstairs to find the cat
hiding behind my desk.
I grabbed her up and pressed my
face into her smokey smelling, gray, long-hair coat.
Then I thanked
God. ; )
Later that night, a huge thunder
storm rolled in that washed all the soot from our homes and the
street into the sewer. It was such a nice present from Heaven.
The following day all the
neighbors came out to see about one another and helped with the
clean up. The love and feeling of brotherhood was amazing.
The sound of shovels, brooms and even people laughing ... was
everywhere. The family who had lost their home was helped with
clothes and food ... and one generous person in the neighborhood
even gave them their house to live in (within the actual
community) for half of a year--while they rebuild their home!
My folks (who were selling the
house that also burnt down) luckily already had a new home ...
so they were safe and sound.
So, the cause of the fire:
As the wind blew the electrical
poles in the neighborhood down, one set of wires fell against
the first house (that was set ablaze) and caught it on fire as
the sparks generated found their way to a gas water-heater in
the attic. This caused an explosion, thus the big "boom" I
heard.
Interesting enough, I have photos
from that very night, just a few hours before the storm hit ...
where I was taking final pictures of my listing so I could put
the house on the market the next morning. However, I could not
take my eyes off of the power lines that were so near the
house. It bothered me so much ... I took several photos just so
I could show my seller the next day. Well, it was those wires
being so close to the houses that caused us all to all have to
run for our lives that night!
Also...
We are having a massive problem
with copper wire thieves in our area ... these guys steal the
copper wire from electrical poles for money, and in so doing
... take away the electrical grounding capacity for
the electrical pole.
The electric company knows of this
issue. The matter has even been on the news several times,
but they (the electric company) have refused to replace the
missing wires or find a way to hide the valuable copper wire.
Well, 2 homes burnt down because of this issue!
Lastly:
All I can say is ... THANK
GOD FOR THE FIRE DEPT.
Houston Stations 11 (TC
JESTER) ... 15 and ladder 34 ... YOU ALL ROCK!
Those guys worked so hard and went
beyond the call of duty!! They withstood the high winds and the
fire and the falling, missile-like debris and saved the rest of
our community, and probably the entire Heights community as
well--which is the oldest part of Houston. If it had not been
for those brave firemen ... God only knows how many raging and
out of control fires there would have been that night!
All in all, it took 7 trucks and 7
total hours total to put out the fire. (They even had to come
back one more time cause the fire restarted.)
The power was off for about 3-4
days. We were lucky, as the majority of our neighborhood
remained in the dark for over a week after that.
All I can say is...
We are here ...
MIGHTY BLESSED!
PS: Here is a story taken from
the Chronicle. (And no, my listing was NOT empty **as
reported** ... 'cause we lost well over a hundred thousand
dollars worth of fine furniture, etc.)
Neighbors reach out after fireAs Hurricane Ike lashed Houston with wind and rain, it was fire that forever changed a gated Shady Acres Landing neighborhood. The Honig family had been settling in to ride out the storm at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, when a small fire broke out near a water heater. In a few seconds, the entire utility room was ablaze, and flames soon shot more than 100 feet in the air. Arm-sized embers were blown a half-block away on the city's north side, threatening to spread the fire even further among the homes that were built tightly side-by-side. The home next door, which was empty and just put up for sale, quickly caught fire as people ran door-to-door warning everyone to get out. "It went from 'Oh my God, there is a fire!' to the flame bursting out of the roof in less than three minutes," recalled Mike Honig, a salesman, as he took a rest Sunday afternoon from salvaging what he could from the home's burnt remains. "We've got nothing, the shirts on our backs." After the Honigs scrambled out of their home and into the storm, they might have thought they'd never be back. But what happened next makes them sure they will be. "It has really been overwhelming," Honig said of how neighbors quickly reached out to his family. They've been given food, clothing and a place to stay, as well as the chance to bond with people they previously hardly even knew. DANE SCHILLER -- HOUSTON CHRONICLE
|
| May 8, 2008 |
|
Hello Everyone...
As I will be attending the Tina Turner concert in Atlanta, Georgia - November 9th; I plan on arriving in Georgia a few days early to do in person one-on-one sessions in my hotel suite. The booking dates are 8pm to 6pm - Friday November 7th and 8am to 1pm - Saturday, November 8th. Please send an e-mail to AngelsAngel444@aol.com if you are interested in booking a session. Christian |
| April 1, 2008 |
|
My Mom just called me and told me to
turn on Dr. Phil today.
His show is on MSRA. (Pronounced: Mersa) This is becoming a huge issue in our world right now! It is what has been killing people with staph infections in hospitals, such as my grandmother, Edith, in 2006. They (the media and medical institutions) are starting to realize MSRA is a much greater issue that anyone might have realized! It is starting to mutate to a level that is almost impossible to treat. If a person gets a cut, a bug bite or a minor scrape on their skin today ... they could be in grave danger if their immune system has been compromised after having been recently ill or they are not maintaining a high enough level of hygiene. It is becoming more and more typical for us to carry staph and MSRA (also called, "The Super Bug") on our skin and many people do not have the ability to fight the bio hazard once it reaches the bloodstream. Unfortunately, because this issue has not been taken seriously enough, it is starting to spread more-so (than normal) to public areas such as the work place, gyms, stores and schools. This is why is it important for us to
maintain (more than ever) stringent daily habits that help promote
wellness and cleanliness of one's person and personal environment at
home, the car, school and work.
Lastly, I believe our congress and
senate should begin demanding legislation where hospitals are made
to publish documented MRSA levels (that resulted in death) to the
public, because I believe this issue has been kept hush, hush via
hospital administrators for obvious reasons; yet not enough
enforcement of strict germ prevention policies are being implemented
... and people are contracting MSRA and dying from it needlessly.
Please take good care of yourselves!
Christian
|
| February 1, 2008 |
|
Some of you have been asking me about
the current Presidential race.
Well ... this is what I think: I WOULD BE THRILLED ... if HC (Clinton) & BO (Obama) would run together! I think with the current line-up...
they would be unbeatable!!! I totally see HC & BO together on
the cover of TIME - featured as running mates. All I know is, this upcoming Presidential election is going to be a very important one. There is quite a bit of clean up to be done. I am really hoping that everyone is being responsible and getting their voter registration in-line. YOUR SAY MATTERS! YOU NEED TO VOTE!!! Hugs and Love! Christian PS: Happy February Birthday to Suzanne, Stony, Drew, Ayn, Elim, deMarco, Norma, Todd and Don |
| January 1, 2008 |
|
Happy New Year Everyone!
I have a feeling if we all thought 2007 went by fast, then 2008 is probably going to go even faster! What do you think? Because of this I am already off to a running start to put 2007 WAY behind me and get all my plans for 2008 underway. With the exception of the Christmas tree (still so beautifully lit and decorated with a zillion lights ... *I am actually gonna miss it when it's gone*) I already have most of the X-mas decorations put away. I spent most of December doing one-on-ones and those went wonderfully. I still have a few more sessions to do through January. Thank you especially to those of you who traveled far away from home to come see me. You honor me greatly! Christmas (as fast as it came and went) was rather interesting this year. We flew our dear friend Kitten and her pink dog, Ms. Kisses (who is as cute as can be!!) to stay with us for a week during the holidays. Kitten is always so delightful and I just adore her! However, her Dad is not doing too well and I know she would appreciate your prayers toward him and the rest of her family. (Thank You!) We got the oppurtunity to see some family and visit with some dear friends we had not seen in sometime over the holidays. We saw our dear friend Kelly Kidd from L.A. (who has been working with mega producer Glen Ballard, who just recorded Annie Lennox's last album) a few times. But even with all the good times that occurred during the holiday, I have to say that I had a hard time actually FEELING Christmas this year. For some reason the Spirit of the Season was difficult to discern and I am hearing from so many that they too felt similarly. Hmmm? Of course, here in Houston ... with all the warm weather we have had lately did not help! Jamie and I stayed home by our selves on New Year's Eve and watched re-runs of reality tv show competitions on the food channel. While it was low key time for us (we usually have family and friends over to bring in the new year) we had a nice time. We got out the same champagne glasses we have been using since 2000 and filled them with left over orange soda from Christmas. Orange is (of course) the color symbolizing JOY. We figured we could use all the JOY we could muster in the new year! : ) Jamie made a delicious fish and veggie dish and after we ate, we turned off the TV for a bit to take inventory of what we had accomplished during 2007 and what we might want to achieve for 2008. After we made our verbal list, we were both actually so surprised about everything we had achieved in 2007 that we really didn't plan or say much about what we wanted to do in 2008! I guess since I had decided to dedicate 2007 to building up my real estate biz here in Houston, it sometimes felt as if I had done little else... but after our talk I realized that quite a bit had actually occurred in our lives. It seems (for me) that 2007 was a year of trying a few new hats on ... I got to work on the business, more left brain side of me and while doing this I now see I went through a kind of letting go, clearing out of the old to make ready for the new. I have a feeling that 2008 will be more of the same, only much more focused. While I did do a few events, it was really weird for me to not make my music and ministry the focus this past year, but I can honestly say the break did me good. We will see where 2008 takes me. After our talk, (as far as accomplishing our goals) Jamie and I decided that we were going to divide our upcoming year into 4 parts (or quarters) and spend the first quarter really organizing our lives and clearing out whatever remaining clutter we can find that is existing on any level. Our garage and attic is packed with stuff left over from selling Jamie's Mom's house and making room in our storage unit, so we are ready to get things straightened out. For whatever is coming our way in 08, we both agreed that after last year it is important that we 'simplify' as much as possible. Now Hear This: For those of you who do not already know, I am happy to announce that Jamie passed the Texas real estate exam!! He worked and studied hard! I am so proud of him for that accomplishment as he passed the exam the first round! Take it from me, it is no easy task getting your real estate license in Texas! Now, Jamie will be able to work more directly with me on all our transactions and I will be able to get back to doing some recording and do a small amount of traveling, as he will be able to hold down the fort when I am away on weekends. Also, I will be getting back to working on my book. Thank you to all of you wonderful people from all over the world who take the time to write me, send me your love and tell me you are anxiously waiting for "Remembering Heaven" to be done. When it comes to my book (or rather... "books" ... as I am working on several projects at once) I know *they* will be done when it is time. Until then, please know I am still working on them. ; ) OK ... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I send you much Love in 2008! Christian |
| READ JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM YEAR 2007 |
| READ JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM YEAR 2006 |
| READ JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM YEAR 2005 |
| READ JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM YEAR 2004 |
| READ JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM YEAR 2003 |
| READ JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM YEAR 2002 |
| READ JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM YEAR 2001 |