Off to the races...

This labor day weekend was one of the most random, but also one of the most fun of my life, besides the fact that my husband was sick and crabby all weekend (he was crabby mostly because of what happened at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, not because he was sick...) This may be a really, really long college football season at the Copeland household!

I was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway by 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. I was so blessed to be asked by my good friend Chris to sing with the incredibly talented Journey Church band in conjunction with RaceWay Ministries on the Sunday morning of race weekend. I've had a few opportunities to sing with them in the past, and it's always so much fun! After some sounds issues, we got down to the business of leading worship for people from all over the country.

Our set list was:

Happy Day by Tim Hughes

Your Love by Chrystina Fincher (this was the one I sang)

Mighty to Save by Hillsong United

Beautiful Jesus by Kristian Stanfill

Grace is Enough by Chris Tomlin

I sang harmony with Chris and sang on "Your Love" which is now my new favorite song! The youtube video doesn't do it justice.

My observations from the track:

1. Wow is the Atlanta Motor Speedway HUGE. I had no idea the magnitude of this thing. I got lost trying to find the tent where we were playing.

2.This is one of the few places where the line to the bathroom is shorter for women than men.
3. Those are some REAL women who camp out all weekend and get ready in the bathroom at the race track.
4. Having a "big tent revival" at a race track is really fun!
5. Race fans are very courteous after they've been up all night when you "warm up" at 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday!

I really enjoyed our "big tent revival." I hope I can get more opportunities to do things like this. More on this great weekend later.

If I had a million dollars...

I have a confession. When the mega millions lottery hit $350 million last week, four of us in my building went in together and bought 40 tickets. We had high hopes too. And I think we won $3. Great return on our investment, huh?

Anyway,I'm reminded of one of my all time favorite songs, "If I had a million dollars" by The Barenaked Ladies. In case you've never experienced this song, I'm kind enough to share. :)



Some of the great lyrics:

"if I had a millions dollars
we wouldn't have to walk to the store...
if I had a million dollars
we'd take a limousine cause it costs more!"

or how about:
"if I had a million dollars
I'd buy you a monkey
(I bet you always wanted a monkey!)"

I just love that song. Anyway, the lottery got me thinking about what I would do if I had that kind of money. Would I hoard it? Would I blow through it? Give it away?

I know one thing, after visiting Savannah this weekend (pictures coming soon), I could definitely live there. There's something magical about that city. But, if I was going to live there, I'd want to live in one of the big mansions on one of the squares, hence the "if I had a million dollars.." thought process.

Anyway, what would you do "if you had a million dollars?"

August 31, the day that will live in infamy...

Maybe I was a bit extreme in my post title, but August 31st is a special day. Especially in the Copeland family. Let me tell you a story, not quite a fairy tale, but perhaps it will end up like one.

You see, 41 years ago on August 31, a young couple named Buddy and Linda decided to tie the knot. It also happened to be the bride's 23rd birthday.

Then 3 years later, on August 31st, their first was born, a son they named Scott. Scott lived a rather nomad life (hmmm, am I sensing a pattern here?) and finally settled down at the ripe old age of 31. He married a lovely girl named Carmen on his 31st birthday which fell on, you guessed it, August 31st. And they've continued to live a nomad life in the seven years they've been married. Who knows where they will be when they celebrate their 8th anniversary?

But hopefully they will live happily ever after.

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to Scott!

Boston Before and After

I know you have been highly anticipating the before and after pics of Megan's apartment in Boston. Here was the breakdown of our trip: I drove from Macon to a Park and Fly in Atlanta, who promptly took me to ground transportation...where I hopped on a Groome van to Chattanooga. Once I reached Chattanooga, I hopped in the car with Mom (we were driving Megan's futon and other "valuables") and we proceeded to drive 7 hours to northern Virginia. Whew. What a day. Then we were up and on the road by 7:30 a.m. and drove the rest of the way to Boston...reaching our destination at around 4:30 p.m. Thank goodness for GPS! We spent the next few days shopping and putting furniture together and getting her organized. Then, Sunday morning, Megan drove us to the airport where I was flying home on a standby ticket provided by my awesome flight attendant brother-in-law. I was able to catch the first flight AND fly business class!

Back to Boson...Megan is living in a VERY large Victorian house. This house has four apartments in it... and hers (with 4 other people) is the top two floors...which means we had to bring all this stuff up three flights of stairs to get to her apartment AND then another flight to the attic where her room is. There are 5 bedrooms, a large kitchen, sunroom/dining room and family room in her apartment and the house has 3 other apartments in it! It was HUGE! Anyway, here is the house (please excuse these pictures...I took them with my point and shoot... I wasn't trying to be creative, just documentative.)





















the "before" shot of Megan's room.















Several "After" shots... her desk area...she used two tables from IKEA (one for sewing and one for computer)

The chair area. I banged my head on this ceiling!

Megan and I put together this futon chair.

It folds out to a twin bed! Go visit her, she has an extra bed!

I know I will...

Megan with her bookshelves from IKEA.

Mom and I put these together. They contain all her cameras,

bins full of clothing, scraps of fabric and all her little priceless

knick knacks. If you know Megan, then you know she has LOTS of these.

The futon...her sofa/bed... it folds out to a queen size bed.

Surprisingly comfortable!

We had so much fun even though we didn't sightsee at all.

I'm so glad I was able to spend that time with my sister and mother.

Bye from the Road!

Long walks with dogs that pull...

I see so many bloggers out there with endorsements and recommendations. Well, about the only things I feel comfortable recommending are home improvement items and various pet items. One of the few exercises that I love to do is walk our dogs. It's actually quite funny- I exercise so irregularly that all I have to do is pull out socks and tennis shoes and the dogs go nuts with excitement because they know we are going for a walk. We have two dogs: a beautiful, albeit crazy beagle

named Alexandra (Lexie) and a labrador/sharpei mix named Anastasia (Anna). The lab/sharpei mix (or "flabrador" as we have affectionately dubbed her) is 67 lbs of solid muscle (well, with a lot of extra skin built in.) She is STRONG and when we walk Scott is usually in charge of her because she pulls so badly. Let's just say that she usually is the one taking us for a walk. With Scott gone it's virtually impossible for me to take both of the dogs for a walk at the same time. Well, not anymore! We bought a Control Ease Head Collar and it works wonders! Basically it's a collar that fits around the dogs snout and the leash hooks to it. When they try to pull it snaps their mouth shut and their head down...it basically forces them to walk calmly and not pull on the leash. And it's a pretty instantaneous training tool. I highly recommend it! The only downside is that she looks like the is wearing a muzzle (as you see in the picture above) and some may view her as a vicious dog, which is totally not!

So today I was able to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take the dogs on an extra long walk by the river. The picture above is of Anna collapsed on our cold tile after the long walk. She was tuckered out. And so is her mommy.

Does anyone else do this?

My mom and I just got back from Boston, where we did not sightsee at all. We drove up there, loaded with my sister's priceless treasures and junk (no offense, Megan!) and helped her get unloaded, unpacked, and organized. We spent lots of time at Home Depot, IKEA and even more time putting furniture together sweating in her non-airconditioned attic apartment. I'll get to all that, including the adventure of getting there and before and after photos, in another post. I'm just too tired to download photos right now.

Because we drove up there (16+ hours!) I wanted to get a good book that would keep my interest. I'm reading Anna Karenina right now, but I didn't want to bring it because 1) it's in 19th century language and sometimes hard to follow and 2) it's super thick and we were flying back... had to pack light. So, therein lay my dilemna. Scott and I are shoppers of all the local Friends of the Library sales, and I had a bunch of books to choose from. I chose a recently purchased (for $3) autographed copy of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt, because (hopefully) we will be traveling to Savannah for our upcoming anniversary. Other than the fact that it was set in Savannah, I had no idea what the book was about. This book is considered a non-fiction book, although parts of it have been fictionalized. It tells the tale of a murder committed by a prominent citizen of Savannah and the drama, gossip, rumors (and truth) that surrounded it and the subsequent trials. The book also weaves in many colorful and eccentric characters of Savannah and their stories. Warning: this book is not for the faint of heart- some of these characters are VERY colorful. :)

I become obsessed with books and stories like this... after I'm finished I do tons of research on the subject/characters, and in this case real people. Now I'm ready to go on a specialized tour about the book and movie when we are in Savannah (although I think I'm about a decade too late!)

Does anyone else do this?

I guess another reason why I found this book so interesting is because tourism skyrocketed in Savannah because of this book and movie. Hotel/motel tax funds soared, the Savannah Economic Development Authority presented the author an award and the mayor created a "John Berendt Day" in Savannah. Now, if only we could get these kinds of results in Jones County, GA (although without any murders!)

I'm starting to get offended...

It's been a year, and I'm starting to get offended that no one wants to buy my house. It's a pretty house, right?


Not that I'm fishing for compliments or anything... :)

You see, when we moved to Macon, everything fell into place. Scott was losing his job in Franklin, TN (outside of Nashville) due to church troubles and we were looking into other options, including him leaving the ministry. Then, out of the blue, the worship pastor at a large church in Macon, GA called and asked him about taking a job that Scott never even applied for. I remember saying "Macon, GA- isn't that in the middle of nowhere?" (no offense, Maconites.) It was what you would call a "lightbulb" moment- you know, the kind of moment you pray for. For God to make His will obvious. And we put our house on the market- and it sold- IN THREE WEEKS. I applied for ONE job in Macon, and I got the job even before I had officially left TVA. My last day at TVA was literally on the last day of the fiscal year of my fifth year. Therefore I got my full bonus for being there for a complete year AND I was fully vested with my 401K and pension. Nice bonus, huh?

So it's hard not to question things when you feel like you are doing God's will, but nothing seems to be falling into place. And I know, the economy is BAD. It's the worst housing market in decades, etc, etc, but God can sell a house if He wants to. He's God.

In a lot of ways, this has been great year. Scott is loving working at the church in Lawrenceville. I've gotten to fill in at the Chamber/Development Authority as Interim Executive Director, and have been able to prove to MYSELF that I can do the job... a definite confidence booster. But that job is coming to a close - my replacement starts Monday. Ok, God, I'm ready. Something has got to give soon. Your will be done.

(disclaimer: These are the views of the author on this particular day. Normally she is a ray of sunshine- a downright pollyanna, some would say. She apologizes for any distraught or misery she caused with the writing of this post. )