Top 10 reasons to join us for the Chosen Marathon!

Top 10 reasons to join us for the Chosen Marathon!

It's hard to believe that we are finally *almost* "OFFICIALLY" a waiting adoptive family! This will be our first year participating in this incredible fundraising event and we pray many many of our friends will join us on Team Miksovsky.

While we may still have a bit of a wait ahead of us, and we have no idea who our precious birth mother will be or the sweet baby the Lord has chosen for us, they are both in our hearts and we will be running for them.

So here are 10 reasons to run the Chosen Marathon on Team Miksovsky

10. Joining over 2,000 runners from around the country for one purpose – running for orphans around the globe

The atmosphere at the Chosen Marathon is heart warming and beautiful. You can truly feel and see the purpose of the event. As you near the finish line, huge banners line the street with the faces of children that have come home thanks to funds raised through the Chosen Marathon. You realize that by simply running you truly are making a difference in children’s lives.

9. Marking “Run a half (or full) marathon” off your “bucket list”
I never ever thought I would run a half-marathon, let alone a FULL marathon, but the satisfaction of completing my first half-marathon in 2012 was amazing. Bettering my time in early 2014 was even better (almost a sub 2), and completing my marathon in February was an accomplishment I never dreamed I could do!

8. Preparing for the Chosen Marathon will get your body in amazing shape
Training for a half-marathon is hard work, no doubt, but it is exciting and rewarding to see your level of physical fitness improve week by week.

7. Enjoying the scenic route in New Braunfels, TX along the Guadalupe River
It is a beautiful course which makes the run so much more enjoyable. But be prepared, it is slightly hilly in a couple spots. And bonus, you can float the river and/or hit up the Gristmill & catch a show at Gruene Hall when you're done!

6. Friends and complete strangers handing you water and cheering you on as you run
It IS possible to complete 13.1 (or 26.2) miles when you are being constantly encouraged. The environment at the Chosen Marathon is so exhilarating and full of love. My kids LOVE making fun signs for my races and cheering me on.

5. For those super serious and slightly crazy runners, the Chosen Marathon is a Boston Qualifier, thanks to U Run the course is USATF certified.

4. Receiving a super cool Chosen Marathon t-shirt in your runner’s packet
You know you feel like a stud wearing your marathon t-shirt around town and to the gym. And the Chosen team always designs a super cool and incredibly comfortable shirt!

3. Seeing a child on the side of the course cheering you on by holding a sign that reads, “Thank you for running. I was Chosen”
You see a child that was once an orphan and is now home with their forever family and you are reminded of the fact that you’re involved in something way bigger than just a race.

2. Free food and drinks at the finish line
If you are afraid you will be starving (or rungry as I like to refer to it) after completing the half marathon (which you probably will be), don’t worry, you will be well taken care of. And there is usually a free beer involved, if that is of interest to you ;)

1. And in my opinion, the most rewarding reason – the joy of one day seeing our child's face and knowing that you helped to bring them home!
If you register under Running on Faith: Team Miksovsky, 100% of your registration fee will go directly to our adoption fund. God has continued providing for us in this process and we are only $15,000 away from our financial goal. We can’t wait to one day show our future son or daughter pictures from the Chosen Marathon and show them the friends that ran out of love, a love that helped bring them home to us

Please register under Running on Faith: Team Miksovsky and help us recruit other runners to join our team!

click the banner for more info on how to get registered!

One day these little shoes will be filled!

Running For A Purpose

On October 25th, over 3,000 people will come together for a common purpose. Together we will be encouraging one another, sweating, cheering and RUNNING for a common cause, to bring awareness to and raise money for adoptive families and orphans around the world. The 5th annual Chosen Marathon (ful, 1/2, and kids fun run) will be October 25th in New Braunfels, TX.

An Amazing part of the Chosen Marathon is that 100% of registration fees go directly to adoptive families, everything needed to put on the marathon is sponsor donated! So, Jason and I are thrilled to form a team for this year’s marathon and invite you to run with us to help bring our baby home and support other adoptive families and orphans around the world. If you are not a runner, you can walk or run/walk, volunteer, or make a financial contribution. If you would like to join us, you can register here. Please be sure to register under Running on faith: Team Miksovsky so your fees will go towards our fund.

We know 13.1 miles can be a bit overwhelming (and 26.2 miles sounds insane!), therefore it is wise to begin training to have a successful and pleasant marathon experience. You've got about 15 weeks, which is MORE than enough time to prepare! Hal Higdon has never steered me wrong in all my race training, please check out his website for almost 20 different training guides to help you get half or full marathon ready! There's even one for walkers! hint hint Mom & Dad I will personally be using his Intermediate Half Marathon training schedule and Jason will be using the Novice 1 plan.

We would GREATLY appreciate if you would invite friends, coworkers, neighbors, family members, anyone that might be interested in joining our team! This is guaranteed to be an amazing day and we can’t wait to share the experience with others! (I haven't figured out how to put a Facebook "like" button on here, but if you could share this post and our team info on FB, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media, we would be forever grateful!)

For information on the marathon, visit www.chosenmarathon.com

Please email Candice with any questions, candice.miksovsky@gmail.com

click on the banner for more information

Register today and start training!

Love,

The Miksovskys

"...for this child we have prayed" 1 Samuel 1:27

Dear Birth Parents Letter

So I have been going H.A.M.lately getting our adoption paperwork and profile finished and organized, including on of the most difficult items... the "Dear Birth Mother/Parents" letter. Trying to come up with something to say in just a few sentences that will somehow put this mother at ease, this mother who is making the MOST difficult decision of her life, all without sounding generic or fake or pretentious or just like every other profile they've read, uh yeah, it's not easy my friends. So, without further adieu, here's what we (let's be honest, I) came up with. We'd love your feedback, so please let me know what you think, if there something else I should add, reword, etc??? Your advice, comments, and editorial prowess is greatly appreciated!

Let me set the scene - imagine a really cute pic of us, maybe something like this

or this

and a little talking balloon/bubble popping out the top that says...Hello!

and then off the right side, a long text box with the following letter written inside in an awesome font that perfectly captures who we are (whatever that's supposed to mean)...

We’re Jason & Candice, and let us start by saying THANK YOU, thank you for making the courageous decision to give this child life and also for considering us as your adoptive family to love and nurture such a remarkable gift.

We don’t pretend to understand how difficult this chosen path is for you, but please know that we acknowledge the weight of your decision, and although we don’t yet know one another, we have been praying for you, and our hearts go out to you, and we admire your love, strength and courage for considering the path of adoption.

We know that it is not by chance that you have chosen our profile and our hearts desire is that you feel a connection with us as you look through these pages and get a glimpse into our lives.

Our hearts, home, families, and friends are all waiting with open arms for a little one to arrive into this world and into our lives. We pray that whatever decision you make that your heart would be filled with peace and that you will be blessed with love, strength, and courage each and every day. 

Thanks for reading!

Jason, Candice, Max & Emma

So yeah, that's it, what do you think????

The Gift

Yeah so, you should probably grab some tissues before watching this. I totally just cried like a big fat baby!

Room On The Plate

Don't you just love it when someone can so eloquently sum up what you've been feeling in song or a poem, or in my case, a blog, in just a few short sentences?! That's exactly what just happened to me as I sat down to catch up on some blog reading, specifically Elizabeth's most recent post on her blog, Finding Mercy.

Here's what she had to say in regards to announcing that she and her husband are planning to adopt another child...

"My lap is full, my plate feels full.  The reality is though, that my plate felt full when I just had Evelyn.  And it was.  Then we added Annie and then we added Abraham, and I realized how much I could actually fit on that plate. 

So it's with that, that I say we've decided that there's room on the plate, and in our family, for more.  Not because we love chaos and are fully rested and feel totally up for this, but because it's what we want for us and our family.  It's what we want for our family long term."

Couldn't have said it better myself. But until that day comes, we will continue to wait and

Hope you all had a fabulous Memorial Weekend!

-Candice

Say something I'm giving up on you...

A. Can't get it out of my head.
B. Total passive aggressiveness going on here (too chicken and don't like confrontation)

In other news, I pretty much suck at eating healthy lately. I may have eaten (with Jason's help of course), 12 break and bake chocolate chip cookies in the last 2 days. Seriously, why does EVERYTHING that is bad for you have to taste so damn good?! Annnnnnd then there was lunch at Chic-fil-a, lunch at Freddy's, and lunch at Sonic... in the last 3 days.... yeah, fall off the wagon much?

This is such a random post, my brain is a mess right now, soooo many thoughts, and soooo many of them about babies. Did I mention that it seems that everyone I know is pregnant or recently had a baby? While I am sooooo happy for them, my heart is also very heavy, and some days it is harder and harder for me to remind myself of God's grace and prefect timing.

Meanwhile, I will just continue to day dream about being here

with a delicious pina colada in my hands, reading The Fault in our Stars, as I listen to the waves crash along the shore. And of course I look awesome in my brand new bikini, because in this perfect world, eating cookie dough actually makes you skinny! 

Cheers to a great weekend for you all!

-Candice

New favorite recipe: Cilantro Lime Tilapia

So this may be a weekly staple for some of you, but being as I've never been a big fish eater, combined with the fact that cooking fish intimidates the daylights out of me, this has been quite an accomplishment for me as far as my domesticated abilities go ;)

On whim, while Jason was working in Dallas for a week, I decided to try out a few new recipes, I figured if they were awful, at least I'd be the only one to suffer (and I could go grab some Whataburger and not have to hid the evidence!). I set out to the store to buy some fresh caught tilapia, which you should know is no easy task - what's a girl got to do to get a fish that was caught here

instead of here

So yeah, here's the recipe I made, and have since made several times for the fam, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Cilantro Lime Tilapia with Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice (or brown rice if you eat that sort of thing)

Ingredients

• 4 Tilapia fillets
• 1/4 cup Cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 T lime juice
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 T olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• In Ziploc bag, combine all ingredients.  Ensure that all fillets are evenly coated.  Remove all air from bag, and let fish rest at room temperature for ~30 minutes.
• Place into greased baking pan, make sure to dump the marinade into the pan as well – this will allow for especially moist fish.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your fillets.
• Remove from oven. Serve over a bed of Cilantro lime cauliflower "rice", and a veggie (my family likes to eat steamed broccoli with it). Enjoy!