Layers overlapping

This is my first try at CSS based layout and I am having a hard time
implementing a layout. For simplicity, I have made this simple page to
illustrate my problem: http://www.digitalequity.com/test/test2.htm I want the
white space to expand with the copy layer, if more text is needed (building
template). I have played around extensively with the CSS options for each
element but so far I cannot implement this extremely simple design. So far
this first excusion into CSS based layout has not been a good one. I think not
very intuitive. Any pointers would be appreciated. PS -- I have already read
the following but did not find my answer: http://www.positioniseverything.net/
http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/mx/dreamweaver/articles/dw_extreme_css.html