"For Narnia! And for Aslan!"

I shouted that in my head mentally today, as I was confronted with what (according to Janine) is "just what high school is like".

I volunteer at our town's hospital and work with a bunch of other kids and a few adults. We weren't getting a lot of calls so everyone was sitting around and playing cards. Mid-conversation, one of the boys I was working with gave me a very direct question.

"Are you Christian?"

My reply was : "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Are your parents, like, strict Christians?"

"What do you mean by 'strict'?" I recalled a saying that went something along the lines of (don't quote me on this one) 'Love God first, then do whatever you want second.'

"You know: strict."

"They trust me and let me make my own decisions." I had no idea what this guy was getting at. I love being a Christian myself, and it has nothing to do with my parents.

"Do you like Narnia?"

I thought we had a conversation finally going. "Of course!"

"I'm leaving. Don't follow me." He got up suddenly and left the room. A minute or two later he returned and said, "I'm done throwing up."

The conversation drifted elsewhere thanks to a bunch of other kids chatting about less personal stuff. He beat me at cards three times in a row, then hit all the buttons on the elevator when I needed to get back down to the first floor. (6 floors... funnnn...)

Tell me that I handled this right. I didn't want to start a fight, especially considering the fact I have to see this kid once a week. ("First, make friends with your opponents. It will become easier to persuade them." Somethin' like that...) I hope I handled this properly... I still don't know what this kid wanted to get out of me. I just hope I did the right thing.

"A lady of Narnia must try and contain her anger when this same guy says she makes funny faces when doing her British accent... do I? Seriously?"

Remember When?

Thanks, Elwen, for inspiring me to write this post. (You can read her post, 'A trip down Memory Lane' at www.narnianindisguise.blogspot.com) You got me thinking about my childhood and also my Narnian history.

Let's begin with my first Narnian experience. My father came home one day, raving about these books that were classics and they were so wonderful and I should be a good student and read them someday. 7 books in a nice, neat, boxed set were placed on my bookshelf, not to be read until years later.

Along with the books came a collection of films, a.k.a. the BBC productions of The Chronicles of Narnia. Let's just say that my first taste of Narnia was not my favorite. My sisters and I were slightly terrified by Reep (looked more like Chuck E. Cheese) and Lucy's bucked teeth. After watching the movies a few times, I decided to 'take a break' from Narnia.

Years later, out comes 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'. I had managed to get through the first three books of the series as a young child, but my memories were distant and faint. Watching the movie resparked my interest. I read all seven books. Correction: DEVOURED all seven books. I talked to myself, laughed, cried, and talked of nothing but Narnia at family dinner conversations. I was hooked.

After completing the final book, 'The Last Battle', I was an emotional wreck. C.S. Lewis had purposefully left Susan's fate for the imagination, and I was distraught. I continued reading, however, and I am still working on 'A Field Guide to Narnia'. I also read books concerning the making of the movies, more facts about Narnia, 100 most asked questions about Narnia (didn't find out much but what Turkish Delight really is, questions were aimed for young children), and a guide to accompany Prince Caspian.

Prince Caspian was in theaters, but of course, I missed it. I waited until Christmas, begging for the DVD. I finally had the shiny disk in my hand by December 25th. A few days later, my sister and I stayed up until 1:00 AM, giving ourselves a private, bedroom screening on another sister's portable DVD player. I woke up a few people when I shrieked during the intense battle scenes and I couldn't stop correcting ever little detail that was off. (My only real disappointment: RUINING PETER PEVENSIE'S CHARACTER!!!)

So here I am today, anxiously awaiting 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'. Still reading, still watching the films, and writing an ever growing line of Narnian fanfics. That is my not very exciting Narnian history. I challenge you to post yours, because I would love to know how you ended up at this website.

Now, for specificially Elwen's reading enjoyment... MY MEMORY LANE! My isn't nearly as interesting as hers and is noticably illustration free, but i would love to play a game of 'Remember When'.

Remember when...
We first met?
Your brother ended up taking his nap in my bed?
I hit my head on a church pew?
Our families went swimming?
You had that great Christmas party?
Your mother wore my shirt?
We sat together in church?
I cried at a slumber party?
You got super hyper after the football game?
Only you showed up for my 13th b-day party?
We had fun at the church picnic?
I spotted you at the amusement park?
We went skating?
We watched 'Battle of the Boys'?
You turned 'tomato red'?
We began spontaneously skipping?
You came to my graduation?
I made your family laugh so hard in the car we pulled over?
I gave you my painting?
We worked together at VBS?
We both made Narnian crowns?
I took you to Night At the Museum 2?
You first heard Demi Lovato?
I first heard Relient K?
We all ran outside and hugged your dad?
We had our amazing 'photoshoot'?
I first went up inside your treehouse?
I slipped twice on the stairs?
You slipped on the stairs?
You gave me my friendship bracelet?
I danced with a rope?
We argued over the true nature of cats?
Your mom's hair nearly set on fire on her birthday?
The day where you came to my school and got us extra recess?
The day you told me Phil was coming to school instead of you?
When your cousin thought HoHo was older than me?
We stayed up late writing our joined fanfic?
I told you that you were my best and most trusted friend in the entire universe? Oh wait, that's right now.

I love you, Elwen, and I miss you so much on vacation. I miss all of my friends and all of my family. I miss our stupid newspaper and laughing at inside jokes. I miss my Mom saying goodnight and my Dad blessing me. I miss knowing where everything is in the house and coming to your house on Monday nights. I miss everything so much, and if I may dare say it, I'll be happy when I'm home.

"A lady of Narnia must try and not choke her sister when she can't swallow the stupid pill. Grrrrrrr..."

Return of the Blogger

Sorry I've been gone for so long! I've been crazy busy, especially with CHEER CAMP!!! My new team is awesome. I have to admit that I can be a bit of an upperclassmen kiss-up, but I have to admit, I think I sort of like them better than some of the girls in my grade. NOT YOU, EL! I'll fill you in later. There are some things we must discuss dear. ( ; I only wish you could have seen our DHS Wonder Woman hair! It was amazing! We also had Michael Jackson Day. That was cool. We danced to 'Thriller' and 'Beat It' and stuff. Let's see, unrelated to Narnian things I want to tell my friends... My family (not me, though) spent the past four days at my cousins' house and apparently had a ball. We also found out that my mother may possibly maybe ever so slighly considering a dog!!! HoHo was like, "We were talking about dog names and we wanted to name them after a famous person. We were like, Swift? No. Joel? No. (Kinda cute, actually.) Lovato? No. Then we were like, COSTELLO!" Then I said, "I WAS JUST THINKING THAT A FEW DAYS AGO!" Then we figured out then when I marry Nick Jonas, our dogs will be Elvis and Costello!!! YAY!

Back to Narnia... HAPPY 14TH, GEORGIE HENLEY! Gosh, we love you! ("Big fan, big fan.") I am only a few days younger than you, girl! This is so cool! Good luck with VDT and another amazing year.

Well, uh, the Narnian front is kinda slow for me right now... Or at least I think it is... I have been computer-less for the past few days. You wouldn't believe camp: we were working out non-stop. I mean NON-STOP. El, next time your bro makes fun of cheerleaders, I am going to beat him to a pulp. I can hardly move right now. Unfortunately, another team got what should have been our Top Banana ("We didn't even get Gatorade!" - Cara) but things went well. Well, I have to catch up on things so...

"A lady of Narnia must try and not punch a girl's lights out when the girl is hollering at her to shut the lights off."