There are things in life that are generally expected to take our breath away, you meet that great love (yep, still looking), you experience the birth of a baby, (adorbs) or you hit your big toe on the corner of your dresser…OUCH!  Whelp, I’m still holding my breath that is…until this past weekend!  No, I didn’t find that great love, or hit my big toe, BUT I did experience something so much greater than any of that!  Are you curious yet?

I don’t know if you remember me talking about CHOSEN in my previous posts, but this past weekend we had the half marathon here in Tampa.  I was introduced to this race by a good friend of mine, and blogmate, Orangespoken who had a friend that was looking to adopt and participate in this race.  I’ve written about BabySanchez in a previous post.  Over the past couple of months leading up to this race, I’ve gotten to know the Sanchez family a little bit better.  We’ve moved from the “friend of a friend” kinda stage to now “friends.”  I have been keeping up with their adoption story and hearing them praise CHOSEN!

 The wonderful Sandra Sanchez! 

That weekend, I didn’t hit the payment and do the 13.1 miles as the other 500 or so runners did, I decided to volunteer at the finish line handing out the medals to those who came across it.  I wanted to look in the eyes of those who were running to give others a SECOND CHANCE, HOPE, a LIFE, a HOME, and LOVE to congratulate them or to comfort them as some had big tears as the finished!  What they didn’t know was that SECOND CHANCE was standing right in front of them.

So why did CHOSEN take my breath away?  See for yourself…

  Seeing these kids who are or in the stages or being adopted running as fast as they could to greet the runner with a medal!  

 Seeing those in PURPLE shirts supporting BabySanchez!  What I found to be most amazing about this is that Sandra had over 70 ppl running for her!  Most of these ppl she didn’t know……but met after the race 🙂

 Two strangers who are from different paths, came together on one for a purpose!

 The people’s SECOND CHANCES!

  The encouragement we get from a friend…

  CHOSEN’s Angels…

 She was running for her SISTER… To be able to capture that moment….

 This AMAZING boy ran for himself and his family!  What an inspiration it was to see him cross  this…

 Ed, who was on a CANE completed the 13.1 mile marathon.  I was so moved with hearing his story, that I had to run out to him and walk with him to the finish line!  This right here was the most inspirational moment, I’ve ever experienced and to know the reason behind it…  he has adopted children…

 Loved this picture!  Waiting on the sidelines and being the cheerleaders for bringing home BabySanchez!

But the BIGGEST MOMENT for me was…

 watching Sandra Sanchez run across that finish line and being greeted by her son who put the medal on her!  Such an epic moment. 

 🙂

Yep, CHOSEN, you did take my breath away, not once, but SEVERAL times!  I have never experienced a more real, heartfelt, motivational race such as CHOSEN!  I walked away that day with my heart so FULL!  I know that BabySanchez will arrive very soon for the Sanchez’s.  CHOSEN soon will be taking their breath away!  I just know IT!

If you’re interested in adopting or would like to participate in a race near you, be sure to check out CHOSEN.

The post is written by me about Chosen Marathon. The opinions are all mine.

The post CHOSEN Took My Breath Away… first appeared on #NoOrdinaryLiz.

Hi! I’m Sandra, my husband’s name is Dean, and our fun-loving 7-year-old son Diego. I wanted to share with you our story on how, why, and the process of our adoption. After having our first son in 2007 we knew that we wanted more children. When the time felt right we decided to try to became successful on getting pregnant immediately. Unfortunately this ended in miscarriages and left us feeling sad and disappointed. We attempted 2 more times but the end result was the same. I went to a fertility doctor and they worked me up to a diagnosis of premature ovarian failure. I couldn’t believe that I was 28-29 and basically going through pre menopause. I never knew how bad I wanted a child until it was taken away from me. I went back on birth control (BC) so that there was no chance of pregnancy and miscarriage. I continued with my life and put a ton of time into my job and tried to just move forward with my family. In 2013 we went to visit Dean’s family in the Philippines and had a wonderful time. After being surrounded by such a loving extended family I decided that I wanted to try again for a baby. I thought that by some miracle I would come off the BC and get pregnant, and everything would be great. I quit taking it and I soon found myself in a very awful place. I was miserable with flushing in my face, sweating, anxiety, loss of concentration, depression, and feeling crazy. I had no idea what was going on but I quickly made an appointment with the doctor and soon found out that my estrogen levels were like of 90 year olds. Once again I had to deal with the disappointment that I already knew but didn’t want to believe. I felt like I had to deal with two diagnosis instead of one. It wasn’t just that i’m infertile but I’m going through menopause. After I was stabilized with hormones and my brain begun to function like a normal person, I knew that I still wanted another child. Dean and I talked about IVF (using a donor egg and his sperm) but it was very expensive and not guaranteed. We had briefly talked about adoption a few years back but didn’t think too much more into it because of the expense. This time will be different; we are determined to adopt!  (written by Sandra Sanchez)

Chosen 1/2 and full marathon details here.

Register here.

About Chosen (from the website):
From the Founder and Executive Director: In the beginning…The seed for Chosen was planted on the start line of another race. Founder Jenni Lord just couldn’t imagine sacrificing to train for another race unless she was doing it for something she believed in. Since that day in 2008, core teams of more than 100 individuals have contributed to the cause with their diverse gifts and talents. The heart that drives these Chosen teams is simple—to bring orphans out of darkness. Our Core Race Team is made up of volunteers who believe in what we are doing and want to help bring orphans out of darkness. From website design to race day music, we have been tremendously blessed by people donating out of their abundant gifts & resources to advance this vision. Chosen’s mission is to host a sporting events to financially impact orphans & adoptive families and raise awareness of the 165 million orphans worldwide.

So I leave you with this video.  If it doesn’t move you to put on your new, freshly minted, bright Asics, Nike’s or sneakers to hit the pavement in bringing a child HOME, then I CHALLENGE you to at least make a donation.  I didn’t have that chance at ADOPTION, but I have the CHOICE to CHOSE my RACE!  I will be volunteering for not only baby Sanchez, but for every 165 MILLION ORPHANS WORLDWIDE!  I will see YOU at the FINISH LINE!

Chosen video

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Gzskgv2ng]

Would you like to WIN an IPAD Mini?

Leave a comment with your email address and how many tickets you would like.  Sandra Sanchez will then invoice you through Paypal.

1 Ticket = $5.00

5 Tickets = $20.00

10 Tickets = $35.00

We will announce the winner on August 15th at 7pm.

Congratulations to Sydney at Tastefully Frugal for winning the Children’s Books by K.D Brown.  I will be in touch with details. Thank you for participating!

The post Wanna Help? IPAD Mini Raffle to Benefit “BabySanchez” Adoption first appeared on #NoOrdinaryLiz.

Chosen 1/2 and full marathon details here.

Register here.

About Chosen (from the website):
From the Founder and Executive Director: In the beginning…The seed for Chosen was planted on the start line of another race. Founder Jenni Lord just couldn’t imagine sacrificing to train for another race unless she was doing it for something she believed in. Since that day in 2008, core teams of more than 100 individuals have contributed to the cause with their diverse gifts and talents. The heart that drives these Chosen teams is simple—to bring orphans out of darkness. Our Core Race Team is made up of volunteers who believe in what we are doing and want to help bring orphans out of darkness. From website design to race day music, we have been tremendously blessed by people donating out of their abundant gifts & resources to advance this vision. Chosen’s mission is to host a sporting events to financially impact orphans & adoptive families and raise awareness of the 165 million orphans worldwide.

So I was introduced to a friend of a “friend”, named Sandra who is in the process of expanding her family and adopting, she will be using CHOSEN to assist with the funding to help bring baby Sanchez home.  If you are interested in learning more about Sandra and her family or if you would like to donate, please follow the links below.

Baby Sanchez blog.

Baby Sanchez donation page. 

So I leave you with this video.  If it doesn’t move you to put on your new, freshly minted, bright Asics, Nike’s or sneakers to hit the pavement in bringing a child HOME, then I CHALLENGE you to at least make a donation.  I didn’t have that chance at ADOPTION, but I have the CHOICE to CHOSE my RACE!  I will be running for not only baby Sanchez, but for every 165 MILLION ORPHANS WORLDWIDE!  I will see YOU at the FINISH LINE!

Chosen video

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Gzskgv2ng]

The post Adoption, Chosen Marathon & BabySanchez2014 first appeared on #NoOrdinaryLiz.