Feeling great!!!

Well to say that I am feeling great is an understatement.  As you may know I am actually on vacation until Monday the 25th.  The family and I are traveling to Kentucky Lake with my dad and sister for a family vacation.  Growing up we use to spend 2 weeks every summer enjoying Kentucky lake and I think the last time I was there was probably 1993.  WOW!  The van is pretty much loaded, the kids are excited and I am very much looking forward to a "different" vacation that we are usually use to.  We are typically on the go go go the whole time but I am looking forward to some fishing, boating, family time and maybe so mini trips to do putt putt and such.  So a girl has to feel great when she is on vacation!

I feel fabulous since on Thursday I went back to have my band checked out.  As you know I have really struggled eating lately.  It was determined that at my last appointment Dr. Rohrscheib put in 1 cc and Jeannie and I planned to do far less than that.  No biggie just it was to tight and so it was making eating hard for me.  I did lose 7 pounds since the last time I was there so that was great news for everyone.  I meet with the dietitian and we talked about how I need to get back on eating a well rounded meal including grains and meat.  So since Thursday I have been doing much better and I have been trying to try some of those foods that sometimes have been difficult recently.  So far so good!

When we get back from vacation football will start for Seth so I have decided that instead of just sitting there and watching I am going to go to the gym and workout.  I am looking forward to getting back into the gym.  I really enjoy the gym and my summer was so busy that I had a hard time fitting it in.  So back I go!  I will work on Cardio and I need to get more strength exercise in since this skin is starting to sag a little. Not that I want skin filled with fat but I am starting to get a few areas that might have looked better full of fat.  LOL 

So I feel great, I am told I look great, and I am looking forward to doing so great things on vacation...I may even go tubing!  Take care till next time! 

Have I heard the Spirit?

This post has more to do with my faith rather than a weight loss journey but I have always given the Lord much of the glory in my weight loss journey. I believe that everything in life is a journey and our walk as Christians is one of those too. As some of you know Tony was raised Mormon and I was raised Methodist. A bit of a different upbringing. We have not found a church that we both feel that we want to be apart of. I guess I should only speak for myself but overall the consensus is that we refuse to “play” church. We do not want to say and do something on Sunday morning and then do something totally different rest of the week. We have many christian influences in our lives and I feel like I have grown so much in my faith lately. We have had a certain church working hard to get us to join them and to be honest….I am very grateful for their interest, prayers and constant trying but of late the pressure is getting more than I can handle and if anything is starting to push me away. So this weekend was a great opportunity for me to “listen for the answer” that they have been encouraging me to listen for. I am a strong believer in prayer but  I have not heard the Lords voice say…”Jane Sprandel this church it the one right church and this is where you should go as a family.” Well last night specifically we had talked about not watching the Chris Tomlin concert instead we were going to go ride some rides. This sort of bummed me out but I knew the kids wanted to ride more. Tony suggested that we catch at least a few songs….well we stayed for the entire concert and I really heard the answer I have been looking for. We need a church that is contemporary, lively, loving, and able to recognize that everyone is unique and we have all sinned and continue to sin. Something that Chris Tomlin kept saying during his concert was the idea of “the church” all singing together worshipping together being “one“. I had just been told a few days prior that unless I am in church I am not following Christ to my potential….do I believe that? Heck no!!! I think it is how I live my life not how many services I attend, how much money that I give the church, or what I even wear to church. So as I listened to Chris Tomlin lead the Lord’s church in worship last night I felt the spirit loud and clear…I had some tears come to me because I knew it was time to listen to my Lord not what I am being told by a specific church. During a moment in the concert Tony and I were standing hand and hand together and I told him I was so glad we stayed and that I really needed this concert…we needed this moment of worship. I told him it was to bad that we would not have a chance to talk later in the night since we had a very small hotel room and 3 kids but I had heard my answer….we needed a contemporary Church where I can worship and feel safe, loved and able to be there for God and not to “do the right thing” in the eyes of others. So this Sunday we traveled home from Ohio and next weekend we will be in Kentucky. I have been telling Tony for a while that I think we need to check out some churches and find the one that compliments us, encourages us to be better in our faith, and one who allows us to grow and glorify our lord rather than one that we are just going through the motions. I have talked to a few of you about your church but if you have a good recommendation of a church in the Champaign-Urbana area let me know.

Sorry to those of you typically read my blog for weight loss and lap band content but if you read this article and were able to question your walk with the Lord today I am glad. We all have our struggles it is part of our faith. We all have sinned, we all continue to sin but that is okay because a GREAT man died for YOU and I. He would do again for each one of us, he only asks that you believe in him and know that he is the 1 true God. May you have a blessed week!

Jane

Vacation to Kings Island

So we have just returned from a great family trip to Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. We had headed there to participate in the SpiritFest christian concert fest. Some of our favorite bands were there: Newsboys, Skillet, Chris Tomlin, Disciple, KJ52, Toby Mac, Red, Jeremy Camp, Family Force Five and more. Family vacations are always an adventure in families but even more so with the Sprandel 5. We had a regular room this time rather than a suite and boy could I tell the difference….it felt like everywhere I turned there was a kid underfoot. We packed a lot of stuff into our 4 days. We seen many concerts, road some rides, checked out the awesome water park and did some shopping at the outlet mall before heading home. Any time a family travels it is hard to keep everyone happy. No need to share stories I am sure you can top me with any of your family travel stories. As a family it was fun.

Traveling after losing 100 pounds was a different event in its self. Some of the highlights. I am sure I did not eat enough. It is hard to find foods that agree with me. Seeing that I really do not eat fried foods, bread, meat and such does not leave much for someone to eat at fast food places or amusement parks. So did not eat much food overall and what I did eat did not seem to agree well with me. McKenna had totally banned me from Slimming within her hearing or sight. But yet I can hold her hair when she is vomiting. Only a mom’s love will do that. J I seem to be having some problems in the digestion overall department so I am hoping this week I can get some of this figured out before we head off on our week long vacation in Kentucky.

In a good note I was able to ride many rides feeling so much more comfortable, was able to walk without being tired or worn out, no pain in my knee. So 100 pounds less made a huge difference on this vacation. Also while on this vacation I was able to do some shopping. I tried on a cute coat at a Meijer store and it was an extra large. That was amazing to me. I did not buy it since it was more than I wanted to spend on Ohio State wardrobe since I am Orange and Blue Illini except when cheering with my husband a true buckeye. When Ohio and Illinois compete against each other I am all about my beloved Illini. Another exciting/sad thing was I got a bra fitting today it was sort of a mixed experience feeling. I was wearing a 48DD and now I am a 42C. Love the 42 part but was sad that I am down to a C but I guess we can not all be perfect.

Overall it was a great trip and I am glad that we got to have this great time together as a family and look forward to more future trips. Hopefully I can get the whole eating thing figured out better this week before our next adventure.