#40 Read 10 of the following books (4/10): The Magician's Nephew

I've tried so many times to read the Chronicles of Narnia.  The same thing always happens.  I start with good intentions (afterall, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is on just about everyone's list of books you must read).  I force myself through 50-100 pages, trying to get interested.  Finally I succumb to the fact that I'm NOT interest, and put the book down.  Even the movie I didn't find too interesting.

When writing my list of books for this goal, I decided to start with The Magician's Nephew.  Perhaps if I began at the beginning I'd like it better.  I always like starting things at the beginning.  They make more sense.  I wish The Hobbit movies had come out before Lord of the Rings.  It all would have made a lot more sense!

Turns out, this was a good choice!  Although it took me 4 months to finish this book, it's more because of grad school than because of lack of interest.  The book starts slow, but the last several chapters were fantastic!  I loved it!  I love knowing how Narnia started.

Now if you hadn't read the book and ever plan to, don't keep reading.  I want to tell you some of the things I noticed/enjoyed:

• The lion (Aslan, a symbol of Christ) created the land of Narnia by...SINGING!  I thought that was beautiful!  First he separated the light from the darkness--in the beginning it's totally dark.  Then as he sings, stars appear.  Finally the sky lightens from dark to gray to white to pink and finally to gold.  As he hears the song, the cabby comments that "I'd ha' been a better man all my life if I'd known there were things like this."  After creating light, Aslan sings a new tune and grasses start to grow, spreading out from the lion like a pool, going over the hills like a wave.  Then trees and other plants shoot up.  Then he creates animals and chooses several of them to breathe life into and making Talking Beasts.  I love that this parallels the order of the Creation story in Genesis.  But I love looking at it with the new perspective of how this creation happened.  Very beautiful.
• I like the first words the Talking Beasts say to Aslan after being created.  "Hail, Aslan.  We hear and obey.  We are awake.  We love.  We think.  We speak.  We know."  I think those words are carefully chosen, and I think the order is significant.  Do I hear and obey?  Am I really "awake"?  We love even before thinking.  We think before speaking.  And finally, we know.
• Aslan chooses humble, imperfect people (the cabby and his wife) to be the king and queen of Narnia.  This is consistent with my view of God; he works with humble, imperfect people that are teachable and trust Him.
• I think it's interesting that Uncle Andrew only hears growling, not the words Aslan and the other animals are saying.  He's not willing to receive the gifts Aslan has for him.  He's blinded to only see what he's willing to see.
• With the silver apple, I think it's fascinating that the apple always does what it's meant to do, but the way you partake of it determines whether it is for good or for ill.  When explaining that the it is precisely because she ate the apple that now the witch loathes it, Aslan says, "that is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way.  The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after."  If taken in the right way, when Aslan sanctions it for a specific purpose, it brings joy and life and health.

Quite a lovely book.  In fact, it almost makes me want to read the next one.  We'll see.  :)

#14 Eat out at 10 new places (11/10): Sodalicious

Earlier this month I decided to do something different for visiting teaching (a thing in my church where two ladies will go visit another lady and see that she's doing well and be her friend), and my companion and I took both of our visiting teachees out to a new place for drinks!  A friend had told me that it was really good, and I couldn't wait to try it out.

I didn't realize until I saying it that this place sounds like "so delicious"!  I knew it was a play between the words soda and delicious, and was delighted to find that out as well.  Clever.  I love it when places have clever names!

And although I've already completed this goal, I had to blog about this place because it's that good.  Brilliant.  It's a soda bar!  For a buck you can get a soda (you can mix as many sodas as you like, if you want, although we were warned that the suicide isn't great) and a mix-in flavor.  I had diet Dr. Pepper with horchata.  It was amazing.

They also sell hot chocolate and "hot lava."  What's hot lava, you might ask, well it's like a really thick and rich hot chocolate. The hot chocolate and lava come in decadent flavors from salted caramel to pumpkin pie to peppermint bark.  They have over 20 soda flavors and more than a dozen flavor add-ins, including a decent sugar-free collection for those wanting a low calorie pick-me-up.  Next time you have a long paper to write, you might pick yourself up a dirty Coke, with lime and coconut!  They also have 5 different kinds of cookies, which are all big, soft, and delicious, and rice krispy treats.  See the full menu here.

How did this place appear in Provo?  Well there were these two women that would always bring drinks to work.  It's been a few weeks, so the details are hazy, but I believe they worked with actors or artists in Salt Lake.  They would always bring flavors and mix the drinks (mostly soda, as we Mormons don't drink coffee or alcohol).  Then they went to Italy and learned how to make hot lava.  When they came back, they thought that such a place would do well in Provo, and voila!  We got Sodalicious.

Sodalicious is nestled a few yards off of University Ave and 300 North.  Although the location is a little hard to see, they've got a good spot and have made a name for themselves.  This little start-up is sure to survive.

Note: there's nowhere to sit, so whether you drive through or park and come to the window, plan on taking your drink elsewhere to enjoy.