Are You Still My Friend?

This is the question my friend John asked me as I was driving home from my very first Bikram Yoga class.
90 minutes of Yoga he said...Heck yeah! I can do that! I danced for nearly 18 years of my life. I played tennis throughout junior high, high school and some college. Up until my pregnancies, I worked out and did step aerobics and kickboxing regularly! No problem!
John told me my first goal was to just STAY IN THE ROOM. I sort of chuckled, but knew he probably was telling me the truth, so I prepared myself for that. I'll just stay in the room. I'll do as much as I can and just hang in there till the end.
He also told me to bring a frozen water bottle...because it's HOT in there! Ok, so I'm not the biggest fan of heat, but I can hang. It's only 90 minutes.

Can anyone tell where I'm going here?
Well, let's set the stage for Lori's introduction to yoga!

I arrive ready for this! I check in, grab my mat, and my non-frozen water bottle (it's at least cool), my towel and head into the room.

HOLY COW!!! Ok, there's HOT, and there's ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE DEGREES WITH HUMIDITY!!!!!
Ok, Ok, Ok...just 90 minutes. You ready? Let's go through the 26 poses and I'll let you know how I ranked...





- Breathing...check!

- Backwards stretch...check! (I was a ballerina!)

- beginning of some squatting thing (head becomes very dizzy!!!! Had to lie down.)

- Up again Lori!!! You can do this!! Arms crossed - well, the sweat dripping off me like I've NEVER experienced before made this a little tricky. Ok, dizziness back...ok, nauseous...time to lay back down!!!!

SO, MY NON-FROZEN WATER BOTTLE IS PROBABLY ABOUT READY TO BOIL. YUMMMM...REFRESHING!

- yeah, didn't see this pose...I did see the back of my eyelids

- back up again! I can do it!! OK, MAYBE NOT!

- um, let's pretend I at least observed this one.

- still too nauesous to stand up

- the girl next to me totally rocked this pose!

- nope, don't remember it!

- my leg can do that?????

- please tell me you're joking. We (they) did this???

- the one and only pose I have mastered. The yoga style situps that followed...not so much.

- ok, the sweat on every inch of your body does not make it very conductive to "grab" anything. But at least I tried!

- dizziness setting back in...go back to that lying down pose...quick!!

- who knew lying on your stomach when you're hot, dizzy and queasy can actually make you feel WORSE!

- ok, they're FUNNY! I'd be laughing, but I think I'm actually too hot to laugh!

- didn't see it.

- nope!

- hahahahaha...oh yeah, I was still too hot to laugh.

- eyes closed again.

- I'm at least STILL IN THE ROOM! That was my goal, after all!

- sorry, not moving from this position

- don't remember this one

- looks easy, huh?

- just BREATHE! Who knew breathing could actually be exhausting?!?!?!?!

BUT I MADE IT!!!! I LASTED 90 MINUTES IN THE HOTTEST ROOM I'VE EVER BEEN IN!

AND...would you believe the room actually gave me and the two other newbees a round of applause for lasting the whole time!?!?

A few more minutes of just lying there, trying to get the energy to stand and finally I exit from the room. Going from 105 degrees, to probably 75-80 degrees was some sort of shock! Immediately I felt more nauseous than I ever was in my first trimester with Aubree...and that was bad! I sat on the bench and knew it was time to move closer to a toilet. Got to the restroom and the wonderful instructor came in to check on her newbee! She brought me a gatorade and it totally helped the nauseousness go away. Nearly 10 minutes later I was finally ready to take my disgusting, dripping self home!

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CLASS!!! :)

Hopefully I'll have a few blog updates with more comments like: "I made it through the first 7 with no break!" Or, "I finally got my leg to twist that way!".

Stay tuned...the more people I tell, the more I become accountable and the more likely I am to go.

SO, Yes, John...I'm still your friend! But you OWE me! ;)

All Things Benich...

Well, I told you to stay posted for details on our Arkansas trip...here they go! This is the story of our Spring Break weekend in Arkansas. Starring: Avery Claire Benich (16 mos), Aubree Paige Benich (7 mos) and Brock Austin Benich (4 yrs). Supporting roles played by Craig, Cathy, Tom & Lori Benich.

Since it had been nearly 2 years since we were last in Arkansas, none of us could actually remember what we did last time! Therefore, it was definitely a "must" to make this trip quite memorable!

Saturday we arrived a little after noon and were very happy just to stretch our legs and get out of the car! The kids decided they would see what sort of record they break in terms of turning a perfectly clean house into a perfectly big mess! They were quite successful!

Saturday night the girls had their first big girl bath together. Their very first bath Aubree was not more than a bump on a log. This time, she decided to watch Avery and find out what cool baths were all about!

She even got a bit adventurous and decided to take a swim to the deep end!

The Benich girls were quite a cute pair in their polka dot Carter's pajamas!

Avery + Aubree = Cutie Patooties!


Sunday we decided to head out in 2 groups: The Boys and the Girls!

The Boys headed to Sportsmans Warehouse while the Girls headed to the mall. Aubree decided to show her high maintenance colors and objected pretty much the entire time. Didn't slow this mom down! If I stopped every time Aubree objected...well, I'd never do anything! The child has an opinion of her own and a strong one at that. Many people mention how they just "wonder who that comes from"! Hmmm, I have no idea! ;) hehe!

The girls did decide to show their shopper side! They began picking out a new wardrobe just as soon as they were in arms reach! I think despite Aubree's complaining early on...we have a couple future shoppers on our hands!!!

We met back up with the boys at Fast Lanes and Brock had a great time bowling! Avery was pretty enticed with the game as well. She also showed off her fashion sense and seemed pretty focused on ensuring the ball matched her shirt! Atta girl!

After bowling, the kids (big and small) played some games and won lots of tickets! So many tickets we came home with some really cheap prizes!!! Amazing the junk you can come home with!!

How many Benich's does it take to stomp a spider? Apparently, Five. (Six if you count the one being held.) I should have taken a video, not picture...it was quite the group effort!

Do I have to wait 15 more years, Dad?

Merry-go-Round fun!

Followed up by dinner at a local Pizza place, we wrapped up a busy, but fun-filled day!

Monday the big boys went fishing and were pretty successful in catching both fish and hell from their wives! If you don't recognize the tone of these lyrics, just ask a Benich! "The phone...the phone is ring-ing! There's a fisherman in trouble..." :)

While I didn't tag along to photograph the fishing adventure, I did manage to get a couple cute brotherly moments:

* How many similarities can you find in this picture? *

* How bout this one? *

We wrapped up the night with some more cousin fun and as you can most certainly tell...we had a great time! Hopefully Spring Break 2010 will bring us on another adventure with all these Benich kids!

On the road again!

Just can't wait to get on the road again!

Our second adventure of Spring Break took us traveling up North. (Or as North as we tend to go!)

On Friday we packed up and headed out the door after work. We got on the road around 4:30pm and started North on 281 to skip downtown Austin traffic at 5:00! The trip started out perfectly as not one, but TWO Benich children fell asleep within the first 20 minutes!! Around Waco, Aubree had had enough. Things went downhill quickly and we were VERY happy to be stopping in Dallas at cousin Allison's apartment!

A very special THANK YOU goes out to Allison (who I now know is a fan of my blog! :) yea!) who housed the entire Benich clan in her efficiency apartment! It worked out just perfectly and we were so happy to be able to split the trip like we did.

We were back on the road by 9am and heading North on 75 into Oklahoma. Aubree had her first out of state trip, though, I doubt she was that excited about it! Nearly 4 1/2 hours later we were in Arkansas and Aubree was ready to get OUT!!! Brock was always a great car rider. He would always fall asleep in his car seat. Aubree hasn't let us down, and we're still finding ways she likes to differ from Brock! The car seat is NOT for her! She was more than happy to finally arrive at Aunt Cathy & Uncle Craig's house in Arkansas early that afternoon!

Brock was a real trooper! He was absolutely WONDERFUL on the entire trip and we had a lot of fun coloring together! If you haven't colored in a few years, go invest in a dollar coloring book and some crayons. Good times!!

We all had a great time in Arkansas! We thorougly enjoyed playing with Little Miss Avery, hanging out with Craig & Cathy, and just enjoying the family time together!

On the way home, we had quite the weather adventure. It absolutely POURED on us from Hwy 412 in Arkansas all the way past Muskogee, Oklahoma. Nearly 2 hours of having our windshield wipers on HIGH speed, non-stop! (this picture was not of the heavy downpour...I was too occupied trying to look for tornadoes to take a picture...yes, I'm WAY paranoid!!)The weather cleared out by the time we got to Texas (of course!! No rain for us!) and the kids did pretty well. We had planned to stop for dinner at one of our favorites: Cheddar's in North Austin, but about 2 miles from the exit, Aubree actually fell asleep! In an effort to seize the moment, we continued on and finally took a break in San Marcos. Just 45 minutes from home!!! Crazy as it was, we needed the break, the kids needed out of the car, and I got to run in to the Gymboree outlet!!!!! (Aubree's wardrobe says thank you...not that it needed any new additions!)

Now, it's back to work, keeping the house clean, and business as usual in the Benich household. aka...crazy! :)

What else happened in Arkansas?? Stay tuned to the next post to find out! :)