Hasta La Gadget!

Cathryn “CC” Copeland and Conner Wood were set to tie the knot in Scottsdale, Arizona on November 1. But when Copeland learned that her mother Janet — who had been battling cancer for 11 years — was admitted to the hospital, the couple knew they had to make other arrangements.

“Once we realized how serious the situation was, we asked Mom what she wanted us to do,” Copeland told The Huffington Post over the phone. “And she said, ‘I want to see you get married,’ so we told her, ‘OK, that’s what we’ll do.'”

Credit: Jess Barfield

Copeland and Wood moved the wedding date to October 22 and the ceremony venue to a rose garden outside of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where Janet was being treated. The 75-person reception was held on her mother’s floor of the hospital, where they enjoyed Nutella cake and champagne.

Credit: Jess Barfield

Credit: Jess Barfield

“We think God had his hand in it and really allowed us not just to have this kind of bittersweet bedside ceremony, but instead we were allowed to have this huge, awesome day that was everything we hoped for and even better than what we had planned,” Copeland said.

Credit: Jess Barfield

Sadly, Janet died roughly two weeks after the wedding.

“One thing I hope that will come from this is to encourage anyone who’s going through cancer or any issues and let them know that family can come together and you can get through these times,” Copeland told The Huffington Post. “What’s gotten us through has been our faith in God and that’s certainly what’s gotten my mom through the last 11 years of cancer and those really tough five weeks there at the end.”

Below, check out more photos from the family’s beautiful celebration of life and love.

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By Jazmine Hughes

Do you want to have children, and if so, when? How many?

How important is religion to you? Could you survive in household where there are two different, perhaps disparate views on religion?

Are you gonna eat that?

How close will we be to your parents?

OK, well, can I at least have half?

Do you like my friends? Do you expect me to hang out with your friends often?

How will we divide up money? How will we tackle debt? How will we decide what to save?

How important is equality in a marriage?

I just don’t understand why you won’t give me half–like, I know it’s a good sandwich, but can I at least have a BITE?!

If we ever hit a rough patch, would you be willing to partake in couples’ therapy?

Oh my god, this has a tomato on it. Why would you let me eat this?!

What will our morning routine be? Our evening routine?

How will we divide household chores?

You’re really being super rude right now. Do you need to take a nap?

Are we able to openly talk about our sexual needs and preferences?

Do you see us traveling often?

Where will we spend the holidays?

What the hell is bugging you?

What do you mean, you’ve been reading my text messages? Those are private! I gave you my passcode six months ago and you held onto it this entire time??

Where do you want to settle down? Where do you want to retire?

How much affection do you require in a given day?

Why don’t you trust me?!

Do you like animals? Do you want a pet?

For the rest of the piece, head over to The Hairpin.

More from The Hairpin here:

• How To Write An Email
• Five Things Guaranteed to Turn Him On

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World

The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills California California

“The Pink Palace” is the new Plush Pup Resort for You and Your Pet

It’s the mecca for Hollywood’s elite, a home to stars and high society patrons, it remains one of the most iconic hotels in the world. Nothing can compare to its history or compete with its 12 lush acres of tropical gardens and exotic flowers… just ask Journey he’s been on the prowl.

He’s a celebrity! They rolled out the red carpet to greet him.

“What becomes a legend most is when controversy collides with politics but tradition remains the same. The Beverly Hills Hotel has always preserved the vestibules of Hollywood’s Golden Age and beyond. It is the most iconic hotel in the entire Dorchester Collection.” Nancy Chuda

We just returned from Paris and London having stayed at Le Meurice, The Dorchester, 45 Park Lane and Coworth Park in Ascot… all properties part of the collection. Each hotel offers exceptional culinary choices but what brings the memories to life is the Tasting Menu served by the Beverly Hills Hotel.

LuxEcoLiving Travels with Journey

We sampled some of the best. But the Chocolate Souffle remains the crown jewel of deserts from the Polo Lounge.

As part of the in room dining service we reminisced about our exquisite culinary experiences throughout the Dorchester Collection.
LuxEcoLiving

From the moment we checked in… Journey got his treats!

LuxEcoLiving Travels with Journey

Our suite was magnificent. On the third floor and overlooking the palm-trees, a forest to be exact.

Journey settled in comfortably on his favorite blanket, a Native American designed towel by Pendleton from Outpost Trading Company. Perfect for traveling with your pet.

Keeping the tradition alive

Over the past one hundred years, Hollywood stars have enjoyed the timeless glamour of this dramatically beautiful setting. Some left their marks (BC) Before Cells.

Rita Hayworth

Journey and I had a chance to linger by the palm-tree lined pool, complete with newly refurbished private cabanas. Breakfast was cooked to perfection poolside at the Cabana Café. Journey took time to warm our waitress’s feet.

History abounds mixed with rumors but some say the one of the biggest splashes heard around Hollywood was Katharine Hepburn once dove fully clothed into the pool after a tennis game. Compared to today’s stars and their behavioral antics that seems rather dull. In the ’60’s the Beatles were sneaked into the pool through a back way.

Hernando Courtright, who ran the hotel in the 1930s and ’40s, is responsible for the hotel’s pink facade and striped awnings.

The History of the famous Beverly Hills Hotel Bungalows

Our last night we dined in the Polo Lounge. What a treat! Chef Robert Antonyan is a rising star! WATCH

LuxEcoLiving’s Nancy and James Chuda with Robert Antonyan

The Polo Lounge- “John Ehrlichman learned of the Watergate break-in while breakfasting here.”

No hotel in the world can compare to its history There is only one Polo Lounge and the man who knows all. Meet Pepe De Anda the Director. WATCH:

Editor’s Notes:

Dugongs?

The Okinawa Dugong (Dugong dugon) is a large, fleshy marine mammal related to the Manatee (Trichechus sp.). Its dwindling population lives in sheltered waters around the island of Okinawa in Japan, feeding on beds of seagrass. Traditionally, the dugong is a sacred animal on Okinawa, associated with the ancient origins of the Okinawan people and with their continuing welfare. As a result, the dugong is officially listed as a “Natural Monument” under Japan’s “Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties” (LPCP).

The Henoko/Oura Bay Project

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), under pressure to reduce its military footprint on Okinawa , has proposed to consolidate operations at Camp Schwab, a Marine Corps base on Henoko and Oura Bays on the island’s east coast. The proposal involves runway expansion over part of one of the few remaining seagrass beds available for the dugong. Per treaties with the U.S., the Japanese government supports the proposal.

Okinawa residents and Japanese environmentalists have fought the project, but have been thwarted by Japan’s relatively weak and centralized environmental review laws, which give concerned citizens little opportunity to influence decision making. So the Japan Environmental Lawyers’ Federation (JELF) and its allies turned to U.S. law. With the help of Earthjustice , in 2003 they found an obscure legal handle — Section 402 of the U.S. National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) .

Sections 106 and 402 of NHPA

The best-known section of the NHPA is Section 106, which requires U.S. government agencies to “take into account” the effects of their domestic activities — such as highway construction, military base management, and energy development — on historic places, which are defined as places included in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Regulations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) spell out how this is to be done – it involves consultation with interested parties, studies to identify historic places and determine how they may be affected, and negotiation of agreements about how to deal with the effects.

Section 402 of the law is the international version of Section 106; it requires U.S. agencies to take into account the effects of their proposed actions on resources listed in any host nation’s equivalent of the U.S. National Register. However, there are no regulations governing compliance with Section 402, so agencies tend to ignore it.

As did DOD in planning its expanded base at Henoko and Oura Bays.

The 2003 Litigation

On behalf of JELF and its allies, in 2003 Earthjustice filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charging that DOD was in violation of NHPA Section 402. Obviously, they charged, destroying the habitat of the dugong would have serious impact on the animals, whose listing under Japan’s LPCP brought them under NHPA’s protection.

The U.S. government initially responded that Section 402 didn’t apply, because Japan’s LPCP wasn’t “equivalent” to the U.S. NHPA. Why not? Well, because it didn’t use quite the same words, and because it includes animals, like dugongs, while the U.S. National Register does not.

The plaintiffs pointed out that “equivalent” does not mean “identical,” and showed that while the U.S. Register indeed doesn’t list animals per se, it does list places made historically significant through association with animals, such as traditional fishing sites. The lists, they argued, and the laws that govern them, are functional equivalents.

The court agreed, and directed DOD to refrain from pursuing the project until it had complied with Section 402 – which meant, the court said, following the basic outline of Section 106 review in partnership with the Japanese government and “other relevant private organizations and individuals.”

DOD’s Response

On April 16 of this year, DOD informed the court that it had done its work and determined that the base expansion would have “no adverse effect” on the dugongs. But the procedures it employed to reach this determination seem to bear only rhetorical resemblance either to Section 106 review as conducted in the U.S., or to the direction of the court.

DOD says its determination is based on studies done by various professionals – but it refuses to release their reports, or even their full titles. I’ve personally made two requests for the key report, and been stiffed by DOD both times. They haven’t even told me to seek it under the Freedom of Information Act — the government’s usually favored means of keeping the public in the dark while pretending “transparency.”

DOD says it “consulted,” but it did so only with Japanese government agencies and with its own selected groups and individuals. It consulted neither with any of any of the plaintiffs or other opposition groups or with the general Okinawan public – or even notify them as to what was going on. I’ve seen no evidence that they even consulted with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, whose Section 106 regulations lay out the processes that the court said DOD should emulate.

DOD relied on essentially uncontrolled secondary data and a questionable environmental study conducted by the Japanese government to conclude that dugongs really don’t use Henoko or Oura Bays very much, and if they do, well, they won’t be bothered much by the construction and operation of the base. And while it assures the court that the project will have no adverse effect on the dugongs, it promises a good many measures supposedly designed to mitigate the adverse effects it says won’t happen. But unlike under Section 106 of NHPA, where binding agreements are executed on how mitigation will be done, DOD simply says “trust us.”

Having now – to its own satisfaction if to no one else’s — “complied” with Section 402, DOD has petitioned the court to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint.

And if the court isn’t satisfied with the quality of DOD’s “compliance?” Well, says DOD in its filings, that really doesn’t matter, because the court has no jurisdiction anyway. The base consolidation/expansion is required for purposes of national defense and vital to our relationship with Japan, so under what DOD calls “a universal understanding ever since George Washington’s administration,” the court is barred from interfering in the executive branch’s decisions.

Whither the Dugong?

The plaintiffs are not impressed; they have released their own studies, which criticize the inclusiveness and methodology of those relied on by DOD and predict that if the project proceeds, it will likely have disastrous consequences for the dugong. They have decried DOD’s failure to consult or reach agreements in a manner parallel to ordinary practice under Section 106 of NHPA, and they have marshaled a considerable body of case law indicating that DOD is drastically overreaching in its interpretation of that so-called “universal understanding.”

I’m told that arguments will be heard in court in San Francisco next week. What will become of the dugongs’ case? Will the court find that whenever the U.S. Department of Defense decides that national security and international relations are involved, U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over how DOD planning considers environmental impacts and addresses the concerns of the affected public?

Stay tuned. The dugong — reported to have good hearing and long memories — doubtless will, as though their lives depended on it.

Every woman has her story. Mine could be “Surprised by Fertility.” I hear my daughter play with the salt and pepper shakers and pretend that they are getting married by the mustard, on the verge of creating many salt-and-pepper children. This was never me growing up. I remember picking up beetles and studying them. I remember loving to dance and reading a lot. When my grandma took me to St. Sophia’s, I loved every moment. Dolls were okay, but they didn’t get my blood pumping like colored pencils and paper. I liked climbing trees. Boys were interesting but I never planned a wedding officiated by Mr. Condiment. I wanted to travel, interview people, and write about it. Like a hot gypsy nun.  

Suddenly I was pregnant, and just as suddenly I was pregnant again. Two kids. Married. The funny thing is my husband is also a little like this. As we are expecting our third child, we are still surprised. I thought I’d be meditating in Tibet, and he thought he’d be counting his money on a throne in order to invest in businesses. Instead, I’m teaching my kids to pray in one of the most polluted counties in America. He is pouring money into health insurance companies, grocery stores, preschools, and enrichments services.  But we are still the same people inside who dream, love traveling, and crave being outdoors. We just have kids now and a different perspective.  We had no idea how much we would love each other and our children. I go to hug my husband and it turns into a side hug because I am all belly in the front. I thought I’d be leading a company, but here I am leading with my belly.  At home. With two kids. My mom — the epitome of tenacious — often says, “Go with what you’re given.”  If God gives me children, I receive and appreciate them as gifts.  I am a tenacious learner in the classroom who became a tenacious learner at home.

It hurt to give up going to graduate school when little guy was born, but I knew I wanted to be there for my little people, plus my husband’s job was 1,000 miles away. I wanted us to be together as a family (this choice was right for me). Leaving school had many consequences — mostly negative for my career in academia, mostly positive for my familia. It was hard to give up something in which I was excelling for something that is constantly humbling.  I say, “These people are more important than my career right now” but my heart hears “These people are more important than me.” Then the whisper of a voice says, “You chose this because you love them so much. It is a testament to the strength of your love, valuing family at a time when family is being devalued.” Yet that doesn’t take away my desire to nurture myself. I am finding more time to write and celebrate successes in the kitchen, like my mean minestrone (call me “E” for Epicurious). I am so deeply thankful for my family, though sometimes I feel frustrated and overwhelmed, dreaming of walking in Paris along the Seine. I am tenacious.  I am staying to do the best job I can with and for my family, even when I’m discouraged and exhausted.

Facebook recently asked me, “What is your position at Stay-at-Home Mom?”  Well, it’s on my knees cleaning up pee around the gorshok because my little guy is potty training. In just a second, I will be squatting to bathe him, just like I washed his sister five minutes earlier.  The position is “I’m here for them.” I am here to make chicken soup and stay up with them when they are not feeling well. I am here to give them a hug after we sit together at the chapel service. I am here to take them to swimming, tae kwon do, ballet, tennis, language school, church, and a birthday party every weekend. I am here to make dinner that little guy will eat voraciously and to which my daughter will initially say “No, thank you” unless it has pasta or “myaso,” particularly steak. I am here to listen, laugh, and discipline. I am well-positioned to be present to them. 

I heard on NPR a person complaining that anyone could add to his schedule at the office, and it felt maddening to have someone impose on his time. When you have children, especially the first year, it feels like you gave your Google Calendar to a baby gorilla. “Here, go ahead, plan my life.” With a newborn, you can schedule some things, and increasingly more activities and routines as the she gets older, but you are never going to have a conversation that sounds like, “Perhaps you could schedule the poop meeting to earlier in the day, let’s say 9:00 a.m.” Your baby is not going to answer, “Sure! I was thinking 7:00 p.m. right after you washed me, but I can see how that may be inconvenient for you.” Life is constantly asking you to be flexible, understanding, and available immediately to address each issue. Sometimes you have help to keep your sanity, but most of the time, you are on your own, learning to survive the most difficult job of your life. There is no going home and putting your feet up (you’re grounded theory research is really developing whether you like it or not). There is just day-in-and-day-out family life. Moment by moment, you are moving your kids in the right direction, with what must be the steepest learning curve of any endeavor. And who better to be at home than a life-long student? Your grade comes in every smile, in every laugh, from every tickle.

It’s that thing that professors say that drives me crazy, “The process is the reward.” But in this case, it’s true.