I'm Back & Peace ATC

Holy cow, it's a damn good thing I pre-scheduled so many blog posts for when I was away, or I would have heard crickets chirping when I logged in today!  ;)  I got back from my trip back East late last Thursday - I almost always buy my tickets through either Orbitz or Expedia, because you can find the cheapest tickets that way.  This last time, the return trip brought us into San Jose rather than San Francisco, which I did not even realize until I was already in Massachusetts (just a blonde moment).  Not a big deal, really, but it is an extra hour and a half drive time for my husband to pick us up. Each way.  LOL  So anyway, we were on our layover in Chicago's O'Hare Airport (Cass likes having a layover as she's a bit ADD and it drives her bonkers trying to sit still for the 6-hour direct flight), literally in line to get on our plane, when they announced they had over-booked the flight and needed 2 people to volunteer to go to San Francisco instead.  I looked at Cass and said "let's do it, why not?"  So we went up to the agent and she said "The flight is leaving 10 minutes before this one - so you have to get over there fast."  I don't know if you've been to O'Hare, but that is one big-ass airport.  Cass called Jeremy to give him the good news, and we ran to our gate which was like 10,000 miles away (OK it was probably a quarter mile, but it felt like 10,000!).  The agent was printing our new boarding passes and then handed us another one and said that we each got a $300 voucher from American Airlines for any flight over the next year.  I was totally psyched - I was just trying to be nice and figured it would be a better flight for us anyway, and we got rewarded for it.  Jeremy laughed at me and said they always offer something in those situations, but I had no idea.  I'm not a seasoned traveler like he is - hee hee.  Needless to say, I felt like I had won the lottery.  LOL

So then we got home late Thursday - and the weekend was a whirlwind.  We are moving up to this house in the mountains in Santa Rosa, about half hour from where we were living.  We're renting an old farm property and we're having a blast.  Jeremy and Trevor have been busting their butts planting gardens and tending to the fruit trees and grapes.  We got egg-laying chickens and we're thinking about getting goats or sheep.  Eventually, I plan to have a horse - that's been my dream since I was a little girl.  I know nothing about horses besides the fact that they are huge and they poop a lot.  hee hee  But I'm willing to learn and I am looking forward to being a country girl.  The only thing I'm not sure I'll ever get used to is the flies.  I can handle the spiders (no joke - some of them are as big as my hand!), the bees, the snakes... but let a fly buzz by me in my house and I won't be able to rest until I've killed the little bastard.  Flies breed maggots.  *SHUDDER*  I hate flies.

So I spent the weekend organizing my crafty area and then trying to get my printer hooked up so I could get to crafting.  No luck (wireless printer, signal not strong enough to find it). After contacting our Internet provider, we realized that we needed some serious upgrading - so they are coming today between 1-5 to upgrade us and hopefully get me back in business.  I am anxiously awaiting his arrival and it's only 8:00 a.m.  ;)

So - yesterday I decided to do a little hands-on rubber stamping since I couldn't print anything out for the projects on my "to-do" list.  I decided to make this little ATC for the:

Stampotique Designers Challenge: Anything Goes

 and

Eureka Stamps Challenge: All White OR No Design Paper

 and

One Stop Craft Challenge: Anything Goes

I used the Stampotique "peace definition" stamp on my ATC after I had colored it with alcohol inks and blending solution.  Then I attached a little peace sign sticker and a butterfly and it was done - so easy yet I love how it came out!  Hope you all have a great week!  Peace.