As any college student knows other than tuition the books are the most expensive part of going to school. I can remember when I was in college spending around $400 for book. I really wish I would have know about CampusBookRentals.com when I was in school. They rent textbooks for cheaper than what it would cost to buy them. After you are done with the class you just mail them the books back and rent what you need for the next semester. If you decide you want to keep the book you just pay the difference.
What makes this even a better company is that they have partnered with Operation Smile. For those that haven’t heard of Operation Smile before they perform surgeries on children who are born with cleft. They are known as an international charity for children. They have been in existence 1982. Children that are born with a cleft life or cleft palate can be sunned because the look different than other children. Also most of the time the child’s parents can’t afford to have the surgeries done to fix them.
CampusBookRentals.com is going to donate a portion of the money that you pay to rent books from them to Operation Smile! Not only will get books for a cheaper price you will also be helping out children all over the world.
If you are a college student please at least look into renting your books and help raise money for this great charity.
Disclosure: I was not paid to write this review. All opinions are my own.
These are the girls costumes from last year. I didn’t get them any new ones this year so I am going to dress them up in some of the other ones I have used over the years. The pictures are blurry because they wanted to run away from me.
I have had quite a few new followers in the last few months and I figured that I would re-post the story of me placing my daughter for adoption. This post is just the story of all everything went and the following post will be about my feelings and thoughts on everything.
I was 19 and going to school up at Weber State University. I was a sophomore and going to school for nursing. I was living in the apartment style dorms and moved a few times because of one thing or another. If you want to know more about that whole situation let me know and I will write a post about that.
Anyway, I found out that I was pregnant in the ER because I was so sick. I already knew in my head that I was pregnant but didn’t want to admit it to myself or anyone else for that matter. I remember when they told me that I was pregnant that I knew that she wasn’t meant for me. My family was always for adoption, or at least the family that knew.
I moved out of the dorms and back home after the fall semester was over because of all the drama that had gone on that semester. After I moved home I started working 2 jobs and taking one class online to keep me busy. I decided that I was going to place through LDS Family Services because I am LDS and I wanted my child raised in a home like I was raised in. They also had a support group for girls that were pregnant and unmarried that attend almost every week after I moved home.
In January I started looking through profiles of couples that were looking to adopt. The first time I looked I picked out two couples and brought them home to see what my family thought. This is where the story gets weird to say the least. Come to find out my grandma had talk to my social worker and asked her to pull a certain profile so that I could look at them. One of the profiles that I brought home was the family that she picked out. I didn’t know that until she told me after I delivered and everything was done. She knew that if she told me that I wouldn’t have picked them because that is how my brain works. If someone tells me to do something I won’t do it even if I know it is right.
In the mean time they did a blood test at the doctors office and they told me that the baby could possible have either downs syndrome or what they call Trisomy 18. Because of that blood test I had to go up to the University of Utah and have a longer ultra sound to rule out both of those. After we got done with that the chances of it went done some and I decided that anymore testing could just wait until she was born.
After I picked them I made up a really cute basket of stuff for them and sent it to announce to them that I had picked them. Well come to find out they had a gotten a baby in March and the agency didn’t know if they could place my daughter with them as well. I told my social worker that I still really felt that is where she was supposed to go and that she needed to try everything that she could to make it work. After a few weeks of going back and forth and asking the other birth mom if it was okay with her they finally decided that she could be placed with them.
This was such a relief for me. After we got that decision we started the process of meeting with them and getting to know them. While this was all going on I was getting huge and super tired of being pregnant. I was due on the 7th of July and my doctor scheduled me to be induced on the 7th if I didn’t go into labor on my own before then.
Well the morning I was supposed to be induced my water broke and lets just say I knew she would come on her own time and she waited until the last possible second to do it on her own. I was in labor for about 12 hours or so. When it was time to have her I had the adoptive mom in the room so that she could see her being born. They ended up having to use the vacuum thing to get her out because she was stuck on my tail bone and I was too tired to keep pushing.
Two days after I had her I signed the papers and said my goodbyes to the baby that I named Gracelynn but they later changed to Brita. There isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t pop into my head and I just wonder is she happy?? Did I do the right thing???? Will she hate me one day because of the choice I made to place her for adoption???? I hope one day I will get to meet her and get to know her but I also know that it is totally up to her and I will have to live with her decision.
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This week I chose to write about 1.) Last week we wrote about what we have never done…this week write a list of 22 things you HAVE done. (inspired by Sellabit Mom).
Placed a child for adoption
Got married
Walked out of a job instead of turning in my two weeks notice
Been to jail
Lived in the dorms while I was in college
Started my own business
Been diagnosed with a chronic illness
Graduated for high school
Dropped out of college
Bought a brand new car
Tried to reunite with my mom but she has made it clear she wants nothing to do with me or my brother
Decided that I am not dealing with crap from my family
Cut out family members that like to cause drama
Learned to design blogs
Gone to Yellowstone more times than I can count
I worked at a nursing home and ended up loving every minute of it
I got two cats to replace the little girl I placed for adoption
I didn’t drink alcohol until I was 22
I have never learned to drive a manual transmission
Said no
Peed my pants
Wrecked my car because I wasn’t paying attention
It has taken me most of the day to come up with 22 things because I was trying not to post things that most people already know about me.
Some of you may know that my best friend is pregnant with her first baby. I am so excited for her and happy that she is finally getting the family she has wanted for so long so please don’t take this post the wrong way. When I see how happy she is I wish I could have felt that happiness when I was pregnant. From the moment I found out I was pregnant I knew that she wasn’t meant for me and that I was going to place her for adoption. I never got to be excited that I was pregnant. I see women that are so excited and I wish that my pregnancy could have been like that. I was so sad the whole time because I knew what the end out come as going to be. It is hard to explain what it is like being pregnant and knowing that after you give birth that you are going to walk away and place your child with another family. I also wonder if it would be harder to place a child for adoption if you didn’t know from the start that is what you were going to do. I don’t regret placing her for adoption but I wish things were different while I was pregnant.
I have been thinking about volunteering to help out other birth moms that have placed their children or are going to be placing them. While I was pregnant I attended a support group that was held at the agency I went through. I went through a agency that is run by a church and I think there need to be more groups for birth moms to go. I know that some people wouldn’t be comfortable attending the group I did because of the ties to the church. I just see such a need for birth moms to have a place to go and take to others who know how they feel.
People see how I am now and get frustrated because they aren’t were I am. What they don’t understand is my daughter is now 6 years old and I have had people to talk to about it all. Now that being said people don’t know that I can’t look at her baby pictures because they make me cry. I have her pictures when she is older framed and on my walls but I can’t bring out her baby pictures because they make me sad. I am sorry this post is all over but I have been thinking a lot about adoption lately and I hope I can find a way to help other birth moms.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Margaret Margaret
This week I chose to write about 1.) Last week we wrote about what we have never done…this week write a list of 22 things you HAVE done. (inspired by