Shop 'Til You Drop & Help a Sista' Out!

That's right peeps!

Who doesn't LOVE shopping from the comfort of your own home, lounging on the sofa in your yoga pants, perusing the latest Stella and Dot catalog, discovering the amazing power of essential oils, searching for the mythical secret to shedding those pesky Holiday pounds, viewing testimony after testimony from those who have done the Advocare cleanse. No? Just me?

Or maybe you are like many I know that have an uncontrollable urge to monogram everything they own? Perhaps you didn't even know how much you really DO need a utility tote from Thirty-One with your family's last name sewn onto it! Well ladies (and gents), fear not, for you are in luck! For the entire month of January you can shop until you drop at these and several other vendors for whatever your heart desires (or whatever you didn't get for Christmas)!

And the best part? All these amazingly selfless vendors are opening their hearts and their wallets just to help our little family raise money for our adoption!

These amazing individuals are very generously offering the proceeds of their January sales for our cause! They are available to answer any of your questions and all of their personal links are below for you to purchase their wares. I cannot tell you how much we appreciate your kindness and support! This event will be open the entire month of January, so take a look, share with EVERYONE YOU KNOW and shop on!

Where do I even start? doTerra essential oils have been just that for our family... ESSENTIAL! I cannot sing the praises of essential oils enough and what they have meant for my family, and I haven't even scratched the surface of their potential! This is based on a few years of experience with only 2-3 oils! Can you even begin to image the possibilities of how EVEN MORE of them can help my family?! I am so super pumped that my friend Jenn became a rep for doTerra and even more pumped to actually get my oils and diffuser in this week!!! Make this the year you ditch the pharmaceutical companies and take charge of you and your families health in a more natural way - the way it was intended! I could seriously go one for days about the benefits of these oils and my own testimonies of how it has worked! Just try it, and I promise you WILL NOT be disappointed in your results! You can check out Jenn's Facebook page Texas Oil Mama, where she posts tips, tricks, and oil combinations that are awesome! Totes can't wait to use some PastTense and some Lavender for my kiddos! Hello Sleep, it's been a while! #crunchymamasrock

What woman doesn't love to feel beautiful and confident while not breaking the bank?!  You must check out Lia Sophia! I had actually not heard of this company until I noticed a beautiful bracelet my mom was sporting one day. My MOM y'all, talk about being out of the loop - she was ahead me on this one! If you're a fan of Silpada and/or Stella & Dot, then you will LOVE all the amazing pieces offered by Lia Sophia! Whether its a fashion show, a wine gathering or a girls night out, my girl Crystal can hook you up! Did I mention the unmatchable lifetime replacement guarantee?! Hello! Who does that?! Lia Sophia does! I have ear marked at least 15 pieces that I am coveting!

I love gooooold

And just for you awesome people, Crystal is having a special sale! Once on website, click Browse Our Jewelry, then type in "Baby Miksovsky" as the hostess. The sale is buy 1 @ regular and get 2 @ 50% OFF BUT I will sweeten the deal and give them BUY 1 @ regular and they can get 4 @ 50% OFF and a FREE gift on me! What?! Are you serious Clark? That is AWESOME! Plus the privilege of shopping from my "personal" clearance items as low as $10. All jewelry comes with our Lifetime Replacement Guarantee. They can also contact me via my website to place their order. 100% of my commission will go into this fundraiser! Bonus...anyone books a party, I will also donate a portion of my paycheck for the cause! This chick is aaaaaahhhhhhh-maze-ing!!!!!

Meet Regan, my friend and fellow mom of multiples (identical girls) was recently turned onto the amazing products offered by Advocare and after seeing the results for herself first hand, decided to become a rep for the company and would love to tell you all about what their awesome line of products can do for YOU! I've done the 10 day cleanse, and lost pounds and inches y'all! And totally recommend it for ANYONE looking to jump start their clean eating and weight loss! What better time than now to make good on those New Year's resolutions! Looking to ditch the coffee in 2014, but don't know how you'll possibly manage it while still keeping those around you alive?! One word friends... Spark! Please contact Regan to get started today, she's got spark y'all! Here is the direct link to her site: ShesGotSpark

So yeah, I pretty much want this whole ensamble and I want to wear it NOW! LOVE the necklace, earrings bangle and bling bling ring!

and these earings?!

Love, love love!

Every Woman. Every Stage. Every Style. That's the motto for Premiere Designs Jewelry, and it's soooo true! I dare you to find a piece of jewelry here that you don't absolutely LOVE!  Premier Designs offers fabulous bling at great prices! Check out their catalog online at jodyhamblet.mypremierdesigns.com

Access code: WOW

Message or call her at 281-686-6520 for ordering

If you order in the month of January through Jody, 45% of your purchase goes to our adoption fund!  Get decked out in bling and help us give a forever family to a sweet little one, I call that a WIN-WIN!

Seriously, who doesn't LOVE Scentsy?! I have one in almost every room of my house! They have a scent for every season, holiday, mood... there is literally something for everybody! My girl Katie can get you hooked up on all your Scentsy needs! And what's even more exciting is that they are running a promotion right now if you have ever considered selling it yourself. Maybe you'd like to earn a little extra chedda' on the side? Now's your chance!

Joining Scentsy can be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make! As a Scentsy Fragrance Consultant, you’ll have the chance to earn extra income while enjoying flexible hours and the satisfaction of connecting people with products you believe in.

Scentsy's Join in January program makes this decision even easier. When you join in January, you’ll also enjoy free shipping on your Starter Kit and have the opportunity to earn Scentsy Fragrance products — valued at $300 — for free! Just ask Katie how you can Join in January! OR if you like me and you just want to buy the awesome aromas, you can do so here! My favorite is Camu Camu - what's yours? Be sure to check out their Scent of the Month... Forever Yours and get it 10% off - woohoo! Here is her direct link: https://katieking.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Bio

You've switch your eggs to pastured, beef to grass-fed, produce to organic, but what about the products you put ON your body?? Are you looking for a safe, organic and herbal based skin care line, that actually works just as well as the chemical laden expensive stuff?? Well fear not, Arbonne has got you covered! Arbonne's product line has since grown to include both inner and outer health and beauty products that are unparalleled in quality, safety, value, benefits and results! For more information on how to get your hands on these products, please contact Joanna Chagra Krancher at joannachagra@earthlink.net or 713-591-1162 to place your order.

Bring your family together with Velata kitchen products. Serve up memories with their gourmet raclette grill, and chocolate and cheese fondue pots! Come on, who doesn't LOVE fondue?! Don't spend all that money at the Melting Pot when you can have it any time in the comfort of your own home! Contact Katie today so that you can start serving up memories!

Can I just say, I heart Thirty-One! And their new line, ugh, swoon worthy! Thirty-One has 21 new items in the Spring catalog and 13 new prints! Be one of the first to get your hands on them. They also have a great customer special this month, too!  Spend $35 and get your choice of one of our 8 new styles! Pinterest is a dangerous place, but my goodness they have a million and thirty one awesome ideas Check out Jennifer's Pinterest board, um yes please! Spring cleaning anyone?! Spring sports? Spring Break trips? Seriously, Thirty-one can handle it ALL and my girl Jennifer can tell you how you can get some!

We've all seen the commercials and heard of Proactiv, but have your heard of it's cooler, more sophisticated and smarter older sister, Rodan+Fields?! This company is taking over the skincare industry and proving that they deserve their place at the top with their proven and amazing skin care line! If you haven't heard of them or seen their amazing transformations, now is your chance! Rodan + Fields just announced new 2014 product specials. If you want to see some real-life results, check out this link for some stunning before and afters. If you don't know much about this new line, these are products made by the same doctors that created the billion-dollar acne line, Proactiv, and now they have committed to helping everyone else improve their skin, be it wrinkles, sun damage, adult acne or sensitive skin like rosacea or psoriasis. We have a 60-day money back guarantee, so it's worth a shot to try it! No risk!
Email my girl Nicole at nicole.binnicker@gmail.com or call 512.785.3111 and together y'all can figure out what's right for you!

Holla if you love new clothes! HOLLA! In my attempt to avoid mom jeans and living in yoga pants, and the mall with my kids! I have discovered the beauty that is shopping on-line for awesome, trendy, and affordable women's boutique clothing! Sa-weet! Whose got two thumbs and just ordered herself a new pair (or perhaps more than that, don't tell the hubs) fleece lined leggings!

This girl! If you have to get out of your yoga pants, THIS is an awesome transition! And a $10 a piece with free shipping, you just can't beat the price! And the Dolman top, so flattering on anyone!

Get yours today at Commelina Boutique!

And of course, you'll need some bling to go with your new duds! I just love how colorful the pieces are at Stella & Dot! Like these gorgeous green earrings... swoon!

and LOVE the initial necklace - like LOVE LOVE! Like I must have it!

would also like to be able to add an initial to it if you know what I'm sayin!

Stella & Dot is a company that needs no introduction, they have proven themselves year after year as a jewelry company adored by celebs & seen in magazines. They have remained chic yet affordable! And did I mention that Allison is going to donate 100% of the profits from all jewelry sold through this trunk show for the month of January! Did I mention that I don't even know Allison?! Just think, every time you look at the piece of jewelry that you purchase from Allison you can know that you have made a HUGE impact in helping our family adopt a child! Talk about jewelry that makes you feel good about yourself! Seriously, LOVE all of Stella & Dots jewelry, your really can't go wrong!




So that's pretty much it! I cannot even put into words so honored I am to have ALL of these amazing women come together all to help our family. Most of these women I have never met. Talk about stepping out in faith and helping others! No matter what comes of this, I am and will always be humbled by this entire experience and it only pushes me to be more giving of my own time, talents, and finances! Like Dave Ramsey says, we have to live like no one else so that one day (and that one day is coming soon!) we can live and give like no one else! May the Lord bless all these women! Happy shopping y'all!

The 18 miler that uh...wasn't :(

Yup. Ventured out for my scheduled 18 miler over the weekend. Which would have been the longest distance I have ever run. But yeah... it didn't happen. womp womp. The first 4 miles flew by, and I had to try hard to keep my pace at around 11 min miles so as not to burn myself out, but somewhere around mile 10, everything started to hurt and I began to lose faith in whether or not I could pull this 18 mile run off. I'm pretty sure the fact that around mile marker 10 I was also dangerously close to my house and had to make the mental decision to go the distance, or wuss out. Yeah. I wussed out. Ironically, when I stopped my watch as I entered my driveway, it was at 13.1 - weird. So yeah, I ran 13.1 miles, which to the average person is huge, but when you set out to run 18, ehh, not so much.

Sure hope I can get the 26.2 sticker instead of this one!

I'm not sure how much of me was "listening to my body" or just psyching myself out. Regardless, it WILL happen after my half. January 25th, I hope you're listening, cause I AM going to make you my bitch! (OK , I know I'm a Christian and shouldn't talk like that, but I've gotta pump myself up, plus, Hi, my name is Candice, and I'm not perfect, but I still love Jesus, so there.)

I came across this verse this morning while I laid in bed reading a devotional (it was actually from Sunday - which I supposed I should have read that morning, and perhaps I would have actually ran the 18 miles, but I digress):

Ah to run and not grow weary... so many life applications there. This may be my new favorite verse. Tattoo worthy? We'll see :) I'll just let that soak in a minute....

 

Mkay, moving right along. If one more person asks me how the adoption is going, I think I may scream, and maybe cut somebody (awesome verbiage brought to you by the ever funny Gayla). And that somebody might be our adoption coordinator. I'm not sure how much of this is me being impatient and type A, but it sure seems like this guy has sub par communication skills. Like for real. Everything is still hinging on whether or not we get into this February adoption training class, if we do, then we can schedule our homestudy, and once approved can "officially" be waiting, aka paper pregnant. But, the only way to get into the February class is to wait for placements between now and then. For every placement made between now and the class, a spot will open up. If we don't get in, we have to wait until August :( Which also means we can't do our homestudy until September, wait for it to be approved, and then wait (usually 9-18 months), so basically Max and Emma will be in college before we can give them a sibling! Dramatic much?? It just makes me sad. I wish someone would just drop a baby off on our front porch. On the other side of the coin, we've got surrogacy. Not much going on there at the moment either. A friend of a friend did express interest in possibly carrying our baby, but alas it was not in the cards :( It did give me hope though that there are amazing people out there willing to offer such sacrificial love to complete strangers, how cool is that?!

So yeah, still looking for a womb and/or a baby - any leads?? I kid. But no really, if you hear something say something :) Pretty sure this was not the context they had in mind when coming up with that phrase, but whatever works, right?!

Things I am grateful for right now (cause I feel I need to balance this post out)... I LOVE our new house, and we are almost completely unpacked! PTL The kids are back in school = mama gets a break! Holla! I have amazing friends & family!

Anyone in the market for some Scentsy? Advocare? doTerra Essential Oils? Arbonne? Velata? Thirty-one? Rodan+Fields? Cute women's boutique clothing? Stella & Dot? Premiere Designs jewelry? Lia Sophia jewelry?  AND help us bring home baby in the process? Stay tuned and I'll tell you how! I am about to make a new post now and you don't want to miss it!!!

Happy Tuesday all!


-Candice

New Year, New Goals

I'm all for people making New Year's Resolutions, but I always find that I set myself up for disappointment when I do that, because I inevitably fall short of the resolutions I set for myself. Does this happen to you??

For instance, I have had floss everyday on my resolution list for the last 10 or so years. Have I ever once flossed everyday for a year? That'd be a big fat NO! Do I floss for a week straight before a dentist appointment? You betcha! So, a few years ago, while sitting in our ABF (adult bible fellowship), our group leader suggested choosing a word for the year instead. I really loved this idea and adopted it for myself (interesting choice of words, eh?) So, what is my word this year you ask??? Well, I couldn't decide on just one, so I picked two! Surrender and Intentional.


I chose Surrender because that's exactly what I need to remind myself to do in all situations.

Everyday. Surrender my control. Surrender my fears. Surrender my worry. Surrender it all to Him and let him to do His work in my life.


I chose Intentional, because I often find myself not being the parent or the wife that I know I should be.

I need to be more Intentional with the time I spend with them. For me, that means, less yelling at my kids, spend quality time with them. Try to see the wonder and the world through their eyes. Laugh more. Be more intentional about teaching them about the word and living out the gospel through my actions and more importantly reactions (I struggle with this one). Be more Intentional about the words I use, cause these guys are sponges I tell ya! Be more Intentional about the time I spend with the hubs (ie: read the bible together, pray together, spend time in conversation rather than Homeland and Mad Men). Be more intimate with the hubs. (sorry for the tmi. sorry I'm not sorry)


So yeah. There you have it. Those our my words of the year! Aside from my WOTY, I also try to set a few goals for myself:


-Run a marathon

-Get out of debt once and for all (Thank you Dace Ramsey)
-Take my medication as directed, everyday (I am SOOOO bad about this, seriously it's embarrassing! But in my defense, it's a lot of medication!)
-Read the bible (like the whole thing, can't tell you how many times I have started this task! Let's just say I have read Genesis ALOT)


And of course, there is always the usual, eat better, work out more, yada yada yada. I left off: grow our family, because we are not clear yet if that is what God has in store for us, we hope it is, but we will just continue to listen and follow where the Lord leads us.


My half marathon is in a week and half!!Well, 10 days, 22 minutes, and 22, 21 20 seconds (you get the idea). I was worried at first that I might not be ready for it, and I'm not yet at the pace I was before my injury, but I'm getting there! I am proud of myself for getting every single run in since December 20th! Over the weekend, I had a 12 miler on tap, and was able to get it done in 2 hours 3 minutes (about a 10:15 min/mile pace), so if I keep that up, I am set to PR in this half! I'm pretty pumped about that. If you also take into account that the 3M half is almost entirely downhill (holla), then there is no doubt that I should PR (double holla!). I was finally able to break through the 10 min/mile pace yesterday in my 4 mile run! 9:50 pace yo! I am slowly but surely getting my pace back to where it was. I have my longest run ever scheduled for this Saturday... 18 miles baby! I'm a little nervous about it, but I know that it is supposed to be a be-you-ti-ful day, so that makes me feel a little better about it.


Let's see what else... oh yeah, we moved over the weekend, so that was fun, said no one ever.

I really loathe moving, especially since I know we are going to have to do it all again in a year or so - ugh, gag me! Anyway, at least we aren't moving on my birthday. What? It's almost your birthday you say? Yessir! I'll be turning the big double 3 on Friday, which I will likely not remember until I am almost 34 - that's the way getting older go, take note youngins!

I literally have to do math to figure out how old I am sometimes. But, at least I still get carded sometimes, so I have that going for me :)


So yeah, that's what's been going on around here lately. Oh and an awesome Adoption Fundraising opportunity which deserves it's own post, so be on the lookout for that today too!  For now, we are off to the gym for some 400 yard sprints and a little mommy sanity break (don't act like you don't know exactly what I'm talking about!)


I hope you all have an awesome hump day!


-Candice