Lil Tony has been going to speech therapy all school year and for most of it he has had a little classmate, his name is Nathan.  They get along pretty well.  His mom had a baby about a week ago.  I want to make her a little something.  I have been looking online for ideas of personalized birthday gifts for baby.  I want to make something special and one of a kind.  Since I am capable of making something I just can’t see myself buying something.  I have a couple more days to think about it. 

So Tony and I are in full force to  getting our house in order to move.  Tony spent the morning in the basement cleaning things out.   I am pursuing a move in August. I am trying to get Tony warmed up to the idea.    I think  we decided that when the movers pick up our stuff  we will  spend an extra day or two in town and clean the house, paint and just get the house in order.  We will need to replace all the blinds and buy levers and knobs for the kitchen.    After going through the house today I feel a bit more behind being prepared to leave in August.  Lots to do.  LOL!!

I cannot believe how far we have come.  I mean, I remember when we didn’t have a computer or internet in our home.  I was about 15 or 16 years old.  Yikes!!!  I am almost 35 years old so, 20 years ago.   NOW, we have cell phones that have internet and so many options.  These smart phones, however sometimes not very smart, have applications that give your phone that many more perks.  One of the recent ones Tony introduced me to was a barcode scanner app.  It allows you to scan a barcode and it will tell you where (locally) you can find the product.  How cool is that??  I really love how far technology has come!! 

Almost two years ago Tony and I decided that we needed a change.  We decided that in order to do better for our family, we could keep traveling down the same path we had been.  The original plan was that I was going to go back to work when all the kids were in school.  This was the perfect plan but I knew that when that happened after being out of work for (by then it would be almost 8 years) so long I was going to find an awesome job.  I would destine to be a cashier or server somewhere and with a family of 6, well we knew we all deserved better than that.

It was the summer of 2010 that Tony and decided we needed an education and what better time than then.  I had just had the last baby we would have so I knew I had about 3-5 years before I would need/want to go back to work.  We also knew within a few short years we were going to want to move again so we needed to go back right away.

We submitted our applications for admission and also completed our financial aid paper work.  We knew we wouldn’t be able to afford to go any other way.  By July 2010 we were registered and ready to go for the Fall semester.  The first semester we bought all of our books and supplies from the school book store.  We were paying an arm and a leg to get those supplies but we didn’t really have enough to pay for any of it out of pocket.  We decided that with the refund of financial aid money, we would save it for the upcoming semesters so we could try and find books cheaper.

We searched and tried various other companies, from buying books outright to renting them.  We realized very quickly that the most economical way to go was to rent our books.  For the price of one book purchased, we could rent all of our books for the semester.  Yes that’s right, book rental is SO MUCH cheaper and so convenient.

After trying out several companies we decided that CampusBookRentals was the best.  They were so easy to use and navigate their website. You know what I love the most about the website?  I love that I can chose which do date I would like.  Tony and I usually register for our classes the day registration opens up so we like to make sure we have our books in hand well before the new semester starts.  At CampusBookRentals you can chose a due date.  There are 3 other options too.  You can chose to rent for a semester, quarter, or summer.  Those are pre-set days and a pre-set amount for the rental.  They are pretty accurate to how long you would need it too, in addition to giving time to return it.  OR, you can chose your date you would like to have it returned.  This is especially helpful for Tony and I who like to get our books early.  The amount for the rental is then prorated based on days of rental.  Here are some benefits of renting and renting from CampusBookRentals over buying or renting from somewhere else.

As it says above you get FREE SHIPPING both ways and that is for their standard shipping.  If you chose an expedited shipping it doesn’t cost much more and you get it super quick.  I will say though that I usually get my standard shipping SUPER QUICK too.  With your book you also get a bubble mailer so you can use to return your book.  The best part about the free shipping is that even if you misplace or ruin the mailer that was sent to you, you can go under your account with CampusBookRentals and request and duplicate mailing label.  You would have to use your own packaging but the shipping would be free.  How awesome is that????

I have only bought a few of my books since we found CampusBookRentals and that was only because they were Accounting books that I knew I wanted to keep.  Other than that I rent all of my books through CampusBookRentals.    I highly recommend them and I think YOU should give them a try…….remember there is a 30-day RISK FREE Return policy.  For more questions and answer, check out this super cute video.

Oh wait, I almost left without telling you another cool feature they offer, if you did buy books from somewhere, they also buy books back.  It is super easy to use their website.  There is a tab at the bottom of the screen called “We BUY books.”  It will ask you to enter the ISBN  and then it will generate an immediate quote for how much they will buy your book for.  Now I will say they don’t always buy books but I have sold several books to them and it was quick and easy.  Then once you get a quote and accept, you can print the shipping label that will allow you to mail your book to them FOR FREE!!!!!!  Click here for more details on their buy back program.    So what are you waiting for???  Are you planning on taking summer classes, rent your books from CampusBookRentals……you won’t be disappointed. 

I am addicted to Grey’s Anatomy.  LOL!!  Seriously I wake up early just to watch it.  They do a lot of surgeries, they probably do a lot of blood testing california.  I am always so grossed out by blood I am surprised I don’t get ill when I watch this show.  I mean heck I just watched a heart explode all over the doctors.  It was gross but I didn’t get grossed out.  LOL!!  I just can’t get enough of this show.  I am half way through season 3 and there are 7 seasons.  I have a long way to go.  LOL!!

I have been applying to many, MANY, places this past week or so.  Maybe the last month.  I have been submitting applications like crazy and I have only had two interviews.  And obviously bombed them.  I am still unemployed.  I just don’t feel that in the two years of schooling that I have not been prepared for what is to expect in the real working environment.

I started to apply to at home jobs and realized that I am TOTALLY not prepared for being an REAL Accountant.  The tasks that were expected of me I have never been taught nor have I ever experienced.  One place that I applied said they have teleconferencing from ActConferencing.com.  Basically all their employees are at home workers.  I didn’t even get to apply for that job because I couldn’t do the tasks they asked me for the “interview.”  I feel really discouraged.

I really hope I will be able to find a job.  And SOON!!!

We will rent a home when we move to Arizona, at least for a year or so.  We have found some homes that have a pool and some homes that don’t.  I am sure we would all enjoy having a pool to play in on the weekend.  I am just not sure about the safety.  And all the maintenance on the pool.  The cleaning and upkeep.  I did some research on new parts and repairs and a rheem heat pump is pretty expensive.  Maybe when we buy a home we will get one with a pool, but as long as we rent it would be best to have a home without one.