Shannon's Job Update

Well, we've been speeding up hill since we've been here, it was only a matter of time till we started a slight decline. Many of you may be confused by my Facebook status one day saying "I got the job" and the next day saying "Back on the job hunt." Well, here's what happened.

Last Tuesday was my first day at my new job downtown LA. I was hired to be a Program Manager. Tuesday and Wednesday were good, trying to get a grasp on the job. While I was there, though, a couple red flags started waving at me about the job, the environment, my boss and the company itself. I don't want to be negative on here, so if you're really interested in what those flags were, I can elaborate in person. However - Thursday was the breaking point.

Early that morning Christian woke with night terrors. I ran in there to hold him, then he started crying for "Dada." Chris took him and held him for a little bit, then we laid him back down. This began the self reflection and fear of "what am I doing to my child?!" All day Thursday at work I kept thinking about him. I know kids are resilient, but we've had so many changes in such a short time, our time with him has decreased tremendously and he's in a new environment at preschool. I kept thinking that we pushed too hard too fast. So - that was on my mind. Then being at work little things started to bother me A LOT! I was trying to be patient and tell myself to give it some time, because starting a new job always takes getting used to, but I was miserable.

All weekend I kept thinking about the job, talking to family about it and trying to talk myself in to just being patient. I prayed hard on Sunday about what to do...well, answered prayer on Monday. Got to the office and my boss wanted to talk to me, closed the door behind us, and I saw my employment folder on the table. I knew this was it. Basically she said this wasn't a good fit, that I would be bored in the position, and instead of working to help non-profits, I should be running my own program. She had very nice and kind things to say. Of course, I agreed with her on everything. :) Nothing she said was about me personally, but that what I brought to the table was more than what they needed. She helped me process what I should be looking for, paid me for the work I had done and sent me on my way. That was it...the fasted employment I have ever had.

So-yes a shock, but I am incredibly relieved. I know God has a plan for me, I just don't know what it is. As I stumbled into BreakDown I know I will stumble into the next thing he wants for me. Many ideas are floating around my head, but in the meantime I am signed up for some temp work, and there may actually be an opportunity to temp at WB - Chris and I back together ;) Kidding - I'm just going to be taking temporary positions as I continue to figure out my next move.

Thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement during this time. I take a deep breath and think - it's only been 4 weeks :0 I am blessed I had employment for a short time, and in time I will understand my place here.

Shannon's Birthday

Friday, August 7th I turned the big 2-9. One more year to act crazy and irrational - then it's all seriousness from then on (yah right!). Thirty's the new twenty :) Well, I had a good birthday. Christian and I went to visit Chris at work. He gave us a tour of the animation office, which was really neat. There is so much history there. Not only did they have walls of the new stuff they're working on, but they had old concept art framed (Flinstones, Looney Tunes, etc). It was really cool. We walked around the WB Ranch, but they were setting up to film a new sitcom coming up with Rebecca Romijn, so we couldn't see too much of it. This is the location of the waterfountain that is in the intro to the Friends show, where they're dancing around and in the fountain. It's right in the middle of the WB Ranch.
(Christian sitting at Daddy's desk)

(At Warner Brother's Animation: Display case of old characters..."Look dad, Bugs Bunny!")

We headed over to the other studio lot, where the the WB water tower is and all of the movies and other sitcoms are filmed, and I think Ellen is there, too. We didn't do the long tour (which I want to one day), but we walked around, had lunch at the comissary and then headed over to the WB Museum. The whole upstairs of the museum was Harry Potter cosutumes and props from the movie. Chris and I both sat under the Sorting Hat - I am a Hufflepuff and he's a Slitheran :)
The downstairs area were costumes from the 1940's - Casablanca, some costumes from the Matrix and much more. It was really neat.

(Lunch at WB Studios)

Chris had to head back to work, so Christian and I dropped him off, then headed home. Later that night my friend/roommate Genevieve won tickets to a jazz concert on a public radio station. So - we went on an adventure. The place was kind of hidden and a backdoor entrance, but we entered this classic, old-school super club with a small stage. We sat in the front, had a couple drinks and chatted with an electic mix of jazz with a Latin influnece played. It was a great time.

It's Been a Week - Now What?!

(Chris' sunset walk on our first night here)

So, many of you have heard pieces of the story of what God has done in just one quick week. Well, let me fill in the details.

Tuesday, July 28th - we flew into L.A. with a child who did not have a seat the whole flight and desperately needed a nap, a cat who was drugged and did very well, and two parents crazy nervous about their big venture away from security and loved ones. Well, we made it (will be getting Christian his own seat from now on) - but we made it. We were picked up by my high school friend, Jamie who waited in traffic for over an hour to get us, and her car started overheating on our way back. Our roommate Genevieve was due to arrive that day with the truck of stuff and our car, but because of many factors made it to New Mexico and needed to stop. We hung out at Jamie's for awhile then decided to take her air mattress and the pack-n-play to our new place and call it a night. It was amazingly HOT here, and our bedrooms did not have air conditioning, so we ran to Home Depot for a fan to at least cool Christian off for the night. Well, our poor little guy with the heat, dehydration, lack of sleep and just being disheveled lost it, I mean lost it - he threw up all over himself, me and the Home Depot floor. We pushed him too hard that day, and I've never seen my jovial child so lethargic and sober. We called it a night and tried to get him back to health.
(the living room filled with boxes)

Wednesday, July 29th - ok, Wednesday (I feel like Tuesday was a week worth of stuff). Genevieve arrived Wednesday morning and had to take off and go to work - yes, I know, nothing like a trip cross country in 3.5 days and then have to run off to work all day. She blows my mind how she can push herself. So, the truck was there, but we waited on our friend from Chicago, Johan and some guys to help unload. In the meantime, I had an interview that day and all of my clothes were somewhere on the truck. Melissa to save the day.... Our friend Melissa (also from Chicago now in Pasadena - soon to be back Chicago) ran home and brought me some clothes for the interview. Being there about 24 hours, I was on my way to downtown L.A. to find this job site. Yes, I'll admit I was about 2 minutes late, but I found it. I interviewed at a non-profit called City Scholars, which I had had a phone interview with 2 weeks prior. The job is a Program Manager position setting up and planning trainings for after school program workers. The interview went really well, and I felt excited about the job after leaving. When I got home, everything was moved in, so we chose two rooms - ours and Christians, put them somewhat together and passed out. Soon after we fell asleep, Christian woke up feeling sick again. We sat in the washroom for about 30 minutes as I tried to catch anything he was going to grace us with. But, I think the day before scared him, so he kept everything down. He finally fell asleep due to exhaustion.

Thursday, July 30th - This was a pretty light day, it was dedicated to unpacking. About half way through the day, Chris' phone rang. (I'll let him tell the rest....) So prior to leaving for LA i applied for an entry level position (my level in the Animation industry) at Nickelodeon Animation Studios, which is like 10 minutes from our house here in Burbank. When i applied for the position i called a friend of mine who is VERY well known at Nick named Joaquim Dos Santos. Jo was a director on the hit series for Nick called Avatar, and is now responsible for a few hits at WB. Well when i called i asked him to put in a good word for me at Nick, and he was totally cool with it, and actually called a few people that he knew there and put in that word, but got nothing in return. This went on for about 2 or 3 weeks. Well here we are chilling at our new house, and me thinking to myself that "all i need is a shot" and who should call me but Joaquim Dos Santos who was now at WB. He told me that he had spoken to his producer, and that she expressed to him that the were looking to recruit new talent at WB and wanted to know if he knew anybody that would be interested in taking an entry level position with the intent to move up at WB... well, long story short, i've been at WB for about 5 days now, and its AMAZING! God really hooked up things so much faster and so much more AMAZINGLY than i could have ever asked for, and this is seriously just the beginning. That phone call was such an amazing call as it represented all of the prayers that you guys have put up for us, all of the struggles that i went through as an artist, and through High School, and here i am at WB animation taking part in some of the most AMAZING pieces of animation in the history of the media, and i couldn't be more excited......now back to our regular scheduled post, lol.

Other Days -
Saturday - Well, from then on, it's been kind getting into a groove. We went to the Burbank Farmer's Market on Saturday morning and got yummy fruits and veggies, an amazing block of Pesto Jack cheese and artichoke hummus - YUMMY!


Sunday - Chris and I took Christian to Venice Beach, one of our favorite spots. It was super crowded that day because of a festival, but we got to walk the boulevard and have lunch at a really yummy Mexican restaurant. A hip-hop street performing group from Chicago was there and Chris got to be apart of their show. It was cool to see them, cause I watched them once on Michigan Ave.

(At Mexican Restaurant) (Show participant at Venice Beach)

(Admiring B-ball players) (Needed new sunglasses :)

Monday - Chris' first day of work, Christian and I did laundry and continued to work on the house. I got an email from the job I interviewed with. They wanted letters of recommendation as well as a writing sample.
(Chris' office space at WB)

Tuesday - We had lunch with Chris' uncle, Uncle Bobby at the famous Big Boy Restaurant on Riverside Drive. It was so great to see him and have family close by.
(Lunch with Uncle Bobby)

Wednesday - FINALLY GOT CABLE AND INTERNET!!! I feel like my electronic friends have returned! Thank goodness. Just in time to watch the finale of So You Think You Can Dance.

Thursday. Aug. 6th - I got a phone call from City Scholars asking me to come in on Monday for a 2nd interview with the President of the company, and...my favorite dancer on SYTYCD WON!!! Yeah Jeanine!

So, there you have it. You are officially caught up. Christian is doing really well. He's becoming more independent and has a lot more opinions and is able to express them. He seems to be loving his new digs. We did finally get air conditioning in our bedrooms, so it has been a lot more enjoyable and he's feeling great.

Stay tuned for more news. They won't always be this long...promise :)

Love to all - and thank you for the prayers, they are definitely working!

Love,
Shannon, Chris and Christian
(See ya!)

We're Here!

Hello from Cali Everyone!

It has taken us about a week to get our internet set-up, so sorry the first entry is a week old. Well, we're here...where exactly? Burbank, California, home of NBC's Tonight Show, Disney Animation Studios, Warner Brothers Animation Studios and oh so much more. I've posted a picture of our home, and for those interested in our address, it is:

Shannon, Chris & Christian Copeland
508 E. Elmwood Avenue, Apt. A
Burbank, CA 91501

We will be trying to post here regularly so anytime you miss us or want to hear what the latest is, stop on by and check out our family blog.

I will post the status update in the next entry.

We love you all, and thank you for all of the words of encouragement and support as we stepped out into the unknown. We are following God's lead, and He continues to inspire us and surprise us at every turn.

Talk to you soon...