Ok........not sure "exactly what happened" but it's working now.

I changed the method to post from get (as well as any associated settings for variables) when a user presses the submit button and I moved the connection file into the root. Now it works.

Just need to add an .htaccess file to that folder and I should be good to go. Still doesn't explain why it won't get to the file outside of the root but I'm assuming it's some sort of permissions issue.

Anywho, thanks to everybody that provided input!

DaK