Christina (Chris) Young Biggs
Birthdate: August 10, 1976
Birth Name: Christina Michelle Young
Nicknames: Chris, The Kid, Sporty Kid
Birth Location: Wake Memorial Hospital, Raleigh, North Carolina
Hometown: Youngsville, North Carolina
School: Ravenscroft (K-12) Class of 1994
College: North Carolina State University (1994 - 1999)
First Job: Office Manager, Birkdale Golf Card (1990 - 1999)
Second Job: Software Engineer, Scarab Software (1999 - 2000)
Third Job: Senior Software Engineer, Ateb (2000 - 2004)
Fourth Job: Senior Software Engineer, Trebax (3 months in 2004)
Current Job: Senior Business (Design) Analyst, AllscriptsMisys (2004 - present)
Married: September 18, 1999
Husband: Marvin (Marty) Eugene Biggs III
First Child: October 11, 2005 - Samantha Michelle Biggs
Second Child: March 9, 2008 - Alexis Haley Biggs
Growing 'Young' - When I was growing up I remember riding around with my parents in our old yellow Chevy Luv truck looking at property for sale all around the Wake County/Franklin County/Granville County area. In 5th grade my Mom picked me up from school and told me they'd purchased a piece of property (thank goodness, no more spending weekends riding around looking at LAND). Of course little did I know how much WORK was ahead of me. To make a VERY long story short(er) we went to the almost 9 acre of heavy hardwoods next to Falls Lake and cleared a spot for the house. We dug and poured the foundations (and washed them everytime it rained), laid a LOT of block and about 46,000 brick, put up some stud walls, ran the plumbing and electrical, put up some sheetrock, and just when we were getting close to being done I moved out and went to college. Things that I remember about working on the house the most is that as much as I HATED knowing that every weekend I was going to have to work on that thing, I liked the sense of accomplishment I had when I did a good job on something. I really enjoyed being outdoors (it's an amazing piece of property - very scenic). I know the value of a penny (or the 50 pennies I got for every hour that I hauled brick). I now enjoy doing household and automotive repairs (and am more confident that I can get these things done).
I've learned that my Dad can fix anything, no matter how bad it looks when he's in the middle of it. And when I get bogged down thinking that I have too many things to do and not enough time I remember that my Mom worked a full time job, raised a kid (not just any kid either, The Kid), kept up our old house, worked on the new house, went back to school and got a degree in Accounting, and did the books for my Dad's company when he started that. I think there was a garden and some canning of food in there somewhere too.
Softball - When I was 9 years old I started playing softball for a summer recreational team in Wake Forest. I think our team was named "Shoes N' Things" (after our sponsor of course). I also think we came in last place in the league, losing every game but one and I think they gave us a tie on that one. For the next 10 years or so I played softball every summer. I went through the "Ponytail League" and then the older girls league which I always knew as the "Big Girls League". I tried starting a JV team at school but there wasn't enough interest. I guess I bugged them enough so that they let me play on the Varsity team in 8th grade. I made an enemy on the team because I started every game (in right-center) while one of the seniors sat the bench (what can I say, she wasn't dedicated and I was). I played Varsity Softball for 5 years and after high school played in another summer recreational league in Raleigh. I'm not very good at many things but I used to be a pretty good softball player. I practiced a lot and was consistent when I played.
I learned more from playing softball than I can even imagine. Teamwork, leadership, standing up for myself, working hard to obtain a goal... the list goes on and on. And did I mention I had a lot of fun?
Dating - When I was 16 I started dating. What an awkward experience. I don't want to go into too much detail here. I dated a guy for almost 3 years (on and off but mostly on). That relationship should've lasted about half that time. I had this idea in my head that I HAD to have a boyfriend. There's a long story behind that thought process which mostly involves that boyfriend I should've dumped at a year and a half. Anyway, towards the end of that relationship I did what I guess you'd call "dating around". I met a lot of new people and went on a lot of dates. One of those people I ended up dating for almost 4 years before marrying him (he's a keeper).
What did I learn from dating? No matter what they say, there are some aspects in which all men are the same. And... I am an independant person who can most definately be responsible for myself (my husband taught me that while we were dating - really!). I know that doesn't make much sense but I guess you'd just have to be there.
College - When I started at NCSU in '94 my major was Electrical Engineering. After a year and a half I switched to Mechanical Engineering. After 1 semester and a summer school session of that I switched to Computer Science. I wasn't very good at the whole class thing. I tried really hard my freshman year and got so discouraged when I made a couple bad grades that I didn't feel like trying hard was the way to go. The great part about college was the total lack of responsibility. I mean, yes, you have to do what you have to do get through (class, grades, etc) but the rest of the time there is no one there to tell you what to do or not to do. How refreshing. No chores, no responsibilities.
I had the same roommate the whole time I was in college (all 5 and a half years). I met Tiffany for the first time on move-in day our freshman year. We became very good friends almost instantly and best friends over the years. Through all our relationships, bad grades, good grades, bad times, good times, deaths, and all other life-altering changes we were there for each other (in that TINY little dorm room).
Getting Married - Marty is a sweetheart (well, most of the time). He's probably one of the few remaining chivalrous southern gentlemen (well, most of the time). Unlike most other guys I went out with, Marty knew exactly what to do and when to do it. He met all my expectations. We knew very early in the relationship that we would be together forever, but there's that college thing that we had to wait for.
New Years Eve/Day (midnight to be exact) of 1998/9 Marty proposed to me on Coquina Beach, NC. It was.... cold! Yes it was romantic and merely seconds after I said "yes" fireworks went off everywhere (we must've been a few seconds early). To tell you the truth the whole thing was really kind of funny. We were freezing our butts off and he tried to get down on one knee and I asked him "What the hell are you doing?". It was so cold he couldn't say much but hold a ring up and say "Will you marry me?" in a very shakey voice (cold or nerves? who knows). I couldn't believe it so he was sitting there on one knee freezing his butt off holding his arm (which he couldn't feel) up to me and it was a good couple minutes before I realized what was going on and said "yes".
Planning the wedding was interesting. We chose a church, Bayleaf Baptist Church in Raleigh. We chose a date, September 18, 1999 around when the church was available). My Mom helped me choose the flowers, the caterer, and the bakery for the cake. I really enjoyed picking out a wedding dress. My Mom and Tiffany, my roomate, went shopping together. It was so much fun! I loved my dress. I picked out bridesmaid dresses and a photographer. My Mom picked out the place for the reception and Marty and I helped his parents pick out a place for the rehearsal dinner. Marty and I attended about 3 hour-long counseling sessions with the preacher. He said that it was obvious that we were meant to be together. We'd been dating almost 4 years at that point and answered most of his questions before he even asked. He said that the average length of time that people date before getting married these days is a whopping 6 months!
The only snag in the whole plan was.... hurricane Floyd. This hurricane went over Raleigh and flooded most of eastern NC pretty badly. Lots of people that were supposed to come from down east weren't able to make it to the wedding. But the preacher called my Mom on the phone and told her that it didn't matter if no one came (but the 2 witnesses and the bride and groom) or if they didn't have power (which we didn't at the time). He said that they were prepared to light candles and carry on with the wedding if we were. He was so supportive. Come to find out the only problem the hurricane caused was that a few people weren't able to get past the flooded areas to make it on time and Marty and I couldn't have our bachelor and bachelorette parties (people couldn't make it due to the storm).
The rehearsal was the afternoon of Friday, September 17th. Hurricane Floyd had passed that night so Friday was a fairly nice day. The rehearsal dinner was held at a community house just down the road from the church. We had a pig-pickin' and everyone that was invited to the wedding was invited to the dinner. It was so much fun! It was a chance for people to get to know each other before all the formalities of the wedding and reception. It went over so well and I had such a great time.
Saturday, September 18th, was a fun day. Tara, best friend from high school, was my maid of honor and she spent the night with me that night. My bridesmaids were Tiffany (best friend and college roommate), Rebecca (good family friend and previous employer), Cher (Marty's cousin). I had three honorary bridesmaids Shelley, Nicole, and Janie (Marty's cousins). Marty's best man was his Dad of course. The groomsmen were Barry (Marty's best friend), Steve (Marty's uncle), and Benjie (Marty's cousin). To tell you the truth, I don't remember much about the wedding. I was rushed here and there, I repeated the words I was supposed to repeat, I was rushed around again, pictures were taken... lots and lots of pictures, I tried to get something to eat but other than some cake that was stuffed into my mouth I didn't even get a chance to eat anything. Then it was time to go.
I changed clothes at the church (phew, comfy clothes) and Marty and I went to the Sheraton where we were spending our first night. The second night we spent at his apartment (which I was paying for so really it was my apartment). The next day we headed off on our honeymoon.
Honeymooning - For our honeymoon we flew into Frankfurt, Germany and travelled to Burg Hornburg castle in Neckarzimmern. We spent two wonderful relaxing nights there. Then we took the train to Freiburg, Germany. We spent 3 fun-filled nights here. Then we took the train to Rudeshiem, Germany and spent 2 more fun-filled nights. After that we took the train to Paris, France. We spent 6 nights there, trying to see everything there was to see in Paris. Then flew home from Paris. It was a VERY fun 2 weeks.
Moving - We lived in an apartment (in Laurel Springs on Lynn Road in Raleigh) for 6 months after we got married. Then we decided that if we're going to spend $900 a month to have shelter we may as well spend another couple hundred and get a house. So we bought a nice little house on a quarter acre in Harrington Grove (huge cookie-cutter subdivision in Raleigh). We lived there for almost 7 years before buying my parents house (yes, the one I was complaining about earlier). Now we live on a beautiful 9 acre lot in North Raleigh (although not in city limits) on Falls Lake, in a 3700 square foot brick solar house.
Hobbies - So what do I do for fun? I'm a moody person (several people will attest to that) and I go through phases. So keeping in mind that I don't like to do any of these things all the time, when I'm in the mood, here are some of the things I like to do in my "spare time" (who has any of that stuff?).
Let's see, I love outdoorsy stuff such as hiking, camping, fishing, and picnicing. I like photography (okay I like to take a bunch of pictures - I'm not very good at it).
I have an amateur radio (ham) license and my callsign is KE4RHT.
I enjoy travelling to the mountains or the beach. I also enjoy seeing other states outside North Carolina as well. I think every state has something interesting and special to see.
I enjoy writing. I've co-authored a technical book on programming mobile devices and had several articles published, but am more interested in writing a novel.
I enjoy programming and learning new technologies. I really enjoy designing creative and user-friendly software.
My main hobby from mid-2000 til early 2005 was my Harley. I have a '00 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom and I used to have a 2003 (100th anniversary edition) Harley-Davidson FXDL (Low Rider). I enjoyed working on and riding both bikes, and I used to show the Sportster in local amateur shows. Marty had a Wide Glide as well.
Of course most of 2005 I was pregnant and the doctor wouldn't let me ride, and then after October 2005 I had a baby and my priorities changed. I still have the Sportster and hope to get back into riding when the kids get old enough to be able to ride with us.
So for the time being, my girls are my main "hobby" (and so much more).